AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



BOTANY. 

 Second Blooming of Pear Trees. 



I have received from Hon. Samuel Libby of Orono, specimens of 

 pear tree twig's in full bloom, taken from a pear tree in the orchard of 

 II. H. Libby of Newport. We have also received recently from Aroos- 

 took county specimens of cherry twigs bearing bloom. The follow- 

 ing facts regarding - unusual and second blooming may be worthy of 

 record. 



It is a principle well known to botanists that the last effort of a 

 plant is to reproduce itself. When a tree puts forth unusual bloom, 

 or bloom out of season, it may be reasonably inferred that something 

 is disturbing its normal functions or sapping its vitality. There are 

 several causes, external and internal, that may produce this result. 



(a) If a tree puts forth unusual bloom beyond what is normal and 

 the tree shows no other signs of injury, it would be well to look for 

 borers in the trunk or insects that feed on the roots. 



(b) Fungi that attack the foliage, or injurious insects that feed 

 upon the leaves may so check the growth of the annual shoots that 

 the effort to reproduce will show itself the same season in late bloom- 

 ing. 



This is the case with the pear tree in Mr. Libby's orchard. The 

 blades of the leaves upon the twig's shown us, were almost entirely 

 eaten by some unknown insect, the petioles and midribs only being- 

 left. The new shoots and flower buds were formed before the in- 

 sect began its attack. The leaves were almost entirely eaten, the 

 vitality of the tree checked, and the effort to reproduce caused the 

 tree to put forth full bloom. The insect had done its work and g-one 

 into the ground to transform when attention was called to the tree 

 by the late bloom. 



Of course a tree suffers from such a shock and the bloom for the 

 following season is destroyed, and without leaves the plant cannot 

 elaborate food for present or future use and is quite liable to die. A 

 few twigs maj r be affected by insects or fungi and the gen- 

 eral vitality not impaired. 



(c) Sometimes when growth is checked early in the season by 

 drought and followed by a wet fall, plants take on a second or fall 

 growth. They put forth the flowers in the fall that normally would 

 not develop until the next season. Of course the following season 

 would be a shy bearing year. Fall and spring growth is shoAvn in 

 the trunks of exogenous trees by two narrow rings which together 

 about equal those of ordinary years. 



Advantage is taken of the tendency of plants to reproduce when 

 their vitality is checked to bring trees into early blooming. By put- 



