314 Report oF THE HorTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 
of them, generally speaking, is faulty. Data can be given in 
this investigation only as regards fruit, and at first thought 
there may be objections to conclusions drawn from such data. 
But since yield and quality of fruit constitute the ultimate cri- 
terion of the value of any orchard treatment; and since tree 
characters are not so important with old trees as in this experi- 
ment; and since the data regarding fruit are unusually full and 
detailed, the lack of information regarding tree characters does 
not seriously lessen the value of the experiment. 
It is true that a crop is an uncertain standard of measure- 
ment; for with the apple there is a tendency to biennial bear- 
ing; the accidental variations in the crop are large; there are 
marked individual differences in the trees as to yield; and the 
varieties differ greatly in bearing capacity. These uncertainties 
have been largely overcome in this investigation by taking an 
average for twelve years and by including five varieties in the 
experiment. 
In harvesting the crops the yields of the trees were recorded 
separately in pounds and ounces for the firsts, seconds, culls, 
and total weights. This enables us to study the crops from the 
standpoints of weight of product and of average size, there 
being three grades as to size. Attention is called to these two 
quite different standards of measurement. Size of individual 
fruits is one of the best criterions of the vigor of a tree if there 
be the average number of fruits. Large, succulent fruits indi- 
cate, as a rule, rapid and vigorous growth. The number of 
fruits, however, is probably a more accurate index of the food 
used by a tree, and therefore of the exhaustion of the soil and 
of the need of fertilizers; for it seems fairly well established 
that a small and possibly poorly developed fruit contains practi- 
cally as much dry matter, which represents plant food, as a 
large fruit. In other words, fruits seem to increase in size 
chiefly by the enlargement of cells, the contents being largely 
water, rather than by the multiplication of cells, a process 
seemingly requiring more solids. 
YIELD OF FRUIT. 
The yield of fruit is shown in. Table III. The average yield 
per tree is given for each variety for the twelve years and the. 
annual average per tree for the whole period. Fortunately the 
