THE BLOSSOMING OF OUR HARDY CULTIVATED FRUITS. 561 



on each kind of stock, with shght advantage in some cases of, say, half 

 a day in favour of the Paradise. 



In some cases standard trees commenced to flower a day or two 

 later than bush and espalier; in some espaliers the branches nearest 

 the ground commence to flower first. Trees growing on arable land 

 appear to come into flower at much the same time as the same variety 

 on grass, but if there' is a difference, those on arable land are the earlier. 

 Cider apples are in. general later in flowering than cooking and dessert 

 apples. 



This year the crab flowered before apples generally, and the broad - 

 leaved Paradise was among the late flowering apples. 



It is found that flowers that have been fertihzed are more resistant 

 of the effect of frost than those unfertilized. 



Of the apples long in flower in 1909 may be mentioned : * New 

 Hawthornden ' in flower twenty days, ' Hoary Morning ' twenty, ' Eib- 

 ston Pippin ' twenty-one, ' Bismarck ' twenty-one, * Graham's Eoyal 

 Jubilee ' twenty -one, * Golden Noble ' twenty-one, ' Baumann's Eed 

 Winter Eeinette ' twenty -two, * Wellington ' twenty-three, ' Newton 

 Wonder ' twenty-three, * Lane's Prince Albert ' twenty-two to twenty- 

 six days. 



Hoffmann, of Giessen,''' in 1886 determined the relative retardation 

 of vegetation as determined by the dates of the first blossom of several 

 plants at different altitudes. The result for the pear is a retardation 

 of 3.7 days for each 100 metres, and corresponding to this a retardation 

 of 2.8 days for each 1° of latitude, in the case of apple two days for 

 each 100 metres and 4.4 days for each 1° of latitude. 



In New York State from a record of six years the average duration 

 of flowering of apples was nine days; no correlation generally was 

 found between the time of flowering and that of maturing of the fruit, 

 but much stress is laid on the importance of cross-fertilization and the 

 planting together of varieties that bloom simultaneously. In spraying 

 apples, also, it is a convenience to have varieties that are in flower at 

 the same time near together. 



In the experiments of 0. T. Lewis and G. 0. Vincent in 1907 and 

 1908 on the " Polhnation of the Apple " at the Oregon Agricultural 

 College at Corvallis, it was found that out of eighty-seven varieties of 

 apple fifty-nine were self -sterile, thirteen partially fertile, fifteen fertile, 

 including 'Keswick Codlin,' 'Duchess of Oldenburgh,' and 'Wash- 

 ington. ' 



Mr. Chittenden, in his trials with apples, found, out of twenty- 

 four varieties of apples, only ' Gladstone,' ' Stirling Castle,' and * King 

 of the Pippins ' set fruit without the influence of foreign pollen. This 

 year I placed paper bags over buds of about twenty varieties of apple, 

 to test whether they would set fruit with their own pollen, but none 

 set, and only one set among pears, and that fell off later. 



Co7nparison of Order of Blossoming in England ivith other Countries. 

 — A note in the " Journal of the Department of Agriculture of Victoria, 



* Relations Between Climate and Crops, by Cleveland Abbe, p. 242. 

 VOL. XXXVI. P P 



