AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 35 



Valery apple, the stamens of which are abortive, and being arti- 

 fically pollinated, the fruits are said to differ from one another in 

 size, flavor and color, resembling in character the various kinds 

 by which they have been fertilized.* 



In the cultivation of pistillate varieties of strawberries, it is 

 usually considered necessary to set some variety with well 

 developed stamens in the immediate vicinity to furnish the pollen 

 requisite to the fertilization of seeds, and consequent development 

 of the receptacle. It is believed by many growers that the 

 character of these pistillate varieties may be varied at will, by 

 using different varieties for the male parent. In other words, 

 it is believed that there is an immediate effect of the male 

 element in determining the time of maturity, the color, the shape, 

 and even the flavor of the receptacle of the variety crossed. If 

 this theory be based on fact, it is of no small practical importance. 

 If it were true, that in all cases, or that as a rule, the fruit partakes 

 of the character of the male parent, there could be no fixed 

 character to any pistillate variety. But will the facts warrant the 

 assumption that this immediate effect in the case of strawberries 

 is by any means universal, if common ? Personally I have con- 

 ducted no work bearing upon this point, but several experiments 

 have been performed by careful observers, and the results obtained 

 by them are of interest in this connection. The results as pub- 

 lished differ considerably, but in general, the weight of authority 

 goes to show that the receptacle is not materially affected by the 

 male element. 



At the meeting of the American Pomological Society in 1885, 

 extended and spirited discussions of this subject were held. 

 Professor "W, E. Lazenby of the Ohio Experiment Station, had 

 found the influence of the male element decidedly manifest. 

 When blossoms of Crescent were fertilized by pollen from Down- 

 ing, Vick, or Sharpless, the characteristic shape, texture and other 

 qualities of the male used, were impressed on the receptacle to 

 such an extent that it was possible to determine the male parent 

 from the general appearance of the crop.f A repetition of these 

 experiments the following season, however, failed to give an}' 

 marked results. J 



A. S. Fuller who has made a careful study of the subject since 

 1859, claims to have obtained very marked indications of an 



* Darwin, An. and Pits. Under Domest I, 432. 

 t Proc. Am. Pom. Soc, 1885, 66. 

 i Rep. Ohio Exp. Sta., 1885, 107. 



