CHANGES IN OUR FRUITS. 



719 



out sufficient moisture are markedly bitter ; while peaches 

 ripening near the coast, where the air is constantly cool 

 and moist, are lacking in sweetness. 



At a recent meeting of the Northern Iowa Horticultural 

 Society, Professor J. L. Budd told of an instance where 

 the Bethlehemite apple, having been worked on Ameri- 

 can wild-crab stock, had all the astringency of wild-crab 

 fruit. This astringency was probably caused by polli- 

 nation of the graft's flowers from wild-crab bloom, al- 

 though common apple trees do not usually bloom at the 

 same time with crabs. 



I have seen, though rarely, instances where such polli- 

 nation resulted in complete changes in the variety polli- 



variety with which it is pollinated. In our Illinois or- 

 chards, however, pollination of Rambo with Maiden's 

 Blush only resulted in change of color and shape, the 

 true Rambo flavor remaining. We had numerous exam- 

 ples of these changes in Rambo, as it was top-worked on 

 many trees, and growing near a number of other varie- 

 ties ; hence we had summer, autumn and winter Rambos. 

 The Rambo bears but little fruit if isolated from other 

 varieties of apples. The same is true of Willow Twig ; 

 or at least these were the facts noted in my Illinois or- 

 chTrds. I found Willow Twig to be a very poor bearer 

 when planted in solid blocks of its own sort only, but 

 enormously productive when growing near other varie- 



-Mr. Dunning's Barbarossa. 



eleven in all ; average weight, 6 pounds. (See pag 



nated ; sometimes the changes were but partial ones, 

 affecting only color and size. In cases where there was 

 no possibility of mistake, I have seen such changes ef- 

 fected by pollination in the fruit of apples, native plums, 

 native grapes, strawberries, etc.; they are more frequent 

 and more marked in apples and native plums. 



Any one may see this change in apples by top-grafting 

 a portion of the head of a Willow Twig or Rambo with 

 Maiden's Blush, or Rambo with almost any variety of 

 apple which will bloom at the same time with the stock. 

 The Rambo will be changed in every characteristic ex- 

 cept color— that it usually retains — but its shape, size, 

 flavor and keeping quality all vary according to the 



ties of apples. In one tree in a block of Willow Twigs I 

 set a graft of a large, fine, early autumn (French Russet) 

 apple. When this graft began to flower, it caused nearly 

 every apple on the Willow Twig in which it grew to be 

 more or less russety. Some of them were in all partic- 

 ulars as perfect russets as the apples growing on the 

 russet graft. The second year, when the graft was larger, 

 it flowered and fruited profusely, and all the apples on 

 that tree were russety. The same russet showed on the 

 fruit of six trees directly around it, and on five trees 

 more than 100 feet from the French Russet graft. 



Some of my native plums (I have fruited more than 

 5,000 varieties) were extra-fine when pollinated by certain 



