FRUITS—SETTING AND DROPPING 
favorable influences, no matter how slight, 
may cause them to perish. Fertilization 
gives the tiny fruit life, and enables it 
to hold upon the parent plant through 
nourishment drawn to supply the em- 
bryo which has been formed in the seeds. 
Thus fertilization usually, not always, de- 
termines whether a fruit is to develop 
or to drop. Shortly after blooming time, 
we have the fruit “drop,” resulting for 
most part from a lack of fertilization 
But fertilization does not insure the 
complete development of fruit. Even af- 
ter a perfect union of male and female 
cells, so far as it can be determined, much 
fruit drops in every orchard and without 
regard to whether the trees bear few or 
many blossoms. 
Crops of many varieties of several 
fruits do not set because of the infer- 
tility of the blossoms—that is, with many 
fruits pollen may be produced in abun- 
dance, seemingly perfect in appearance, 
and potent on the pistils of other varieties, 
but which may wholly fail to fertilize the 
ovaries of the variety from which it came. 
There is a great difference in the quan- 
tity of pollen produced by the varieties 
of the several fruits, but it is doubtful if 
insufficiency of pollen is a factor of much 
importance in the failure of trees to set 
fruits. 
Varieties that do not set fruits often 
have abnormal or abortive pistils or 
stamens. A high percentage of abnormal 
flowers nearly always indicates a weak- 
ness in fruit setting. Another cause of 
the failure to set fruits is the difference 
in time of maturity of stamens and pistils. 
When these organs do not mature at near- 
ly the same time, fruits do not set unless 
rollen is supplied from some other source. 
The female organs of fruits are receptive, 
however, for several days and the pollen 
is not shed at once from all anthers and 
is produced with such prodigality as in 
most cases to insure the pollination of 
late maturing stigmas. 
The solution of the problem of self 
sterility in the main, then, is to so plant 
that varieties will be cross-fertilized. It 
is obvious, if cross-pollenization is to play 
an important part in fruit growing, in 
1063 
planting to secure it varieties must be 
chosen which come into blossom at the 
same time as those that they are expect- 
ed to fertilize. 
There are several causes of dropping 
other than lack of fertilization that need 
the attention of fruit growers. 
Weather 
Weather conditions have much to do 
with the dropping of fruit. Prolonged 
cold saps the vitality of young fruits and 
causes many of the more tender ones to 
perish and let go their hold upon the tree. 
Rain, whether a dashing shower or a pro- 
longed drizzle at a low temperature, or 
even an extremely moist atmosphere with- 
out a fall of rain, weakens the chances 
of full development of fruits if such con- 
ditions prevail soon after fruit forma- 
tion. Sometimes a lack of light causes 
fruit to drop, and thus we may explain 
the greater number of fruits at the tops 
of trees, on well pruned trees, in open- 
centered trees and in orchards not thick- 
ly planted. 
“June Drop” 
The “June drop,” especially of the 
peach, may be explained in part as fol- 
lows: When fruits reach a certain size 
the food stored in the tree the previous 
year is exhausted. Now if the leaves of 
such trees are not fully expanded and if 
they are not able to furnish a new sup- 
ply of food, the young fruits often drop. 
The June drop is especially liable to take 
place if there be one or more of the un- 
favorable conditions mentioned in the 
previous paragraphs. With some fruits 
there is a tendency to drop in late sum- 
mer when seeds are making great de- 
mands for food. In such cases the trees 
become exhausted and cast a part of their 
load. If at this time there be a drought, 
or, on the other hand, too much rain, as 
is often the case, fruit not infrequently 
drops in considerable quantities. 
It seems worth while with trees which 
habitually drop their crop to try to 
direct the food to the fruit-bearing 
branches by pruning out surplus wood, 
cutting out water-sprouts, and stimulat- 
ing the growth of fruit buds the previ- 
ous season. All factors which are con- 
