NEw YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 413 
15. It is believed by some that early varieties bloom earlier 
than late ones and that late varieties are therefore less liable to 
have their blossoms injured by late frosts. By selecting a large 
number of any of the several fruits for which blooming dates are 
given and by making a list from the fruit manuals of their period 
of ripening it is found that there is absolutely no correlation 
between blooming and fruiting, although there are many apparent 
exceptions. 
16. The averages of the data for the five years considered in 
this bulletin show the length of time the several fruits are in 
bloom: For apples as a species it is about g days; pears, 7 days; 
peaches, 8 days; plums, 7 days; cherries, 7 days; grapes, 10 days. 
The time from first blossoms until all have dropped varies in 
accordance with the factors we have discussed as affecting bloom- 
ing time. In very hot, dry weather blossoms of some fruits do 
not last longer than forty-eight hours. 
17. An inspection of the dates of blooming of all the fruits 
shows that there is a variation of several days in most seasons 
between the appearance of the first blossoms of the different 
varieties. This can be taken advantage of in selecting sorts to 
avoid injury from frost. 
18. It is probable that early blooming varieties are not nearly 
so well cross-pollinated as the late blooming sorts; for there are 
always many -blossoms on the early blooming sorts appearing 
late and until the late blooming kinds are in full bloom; and it is 
likely that pollen carried by insects maintains its viability for a 
considerable length of time making it available for the cross- 
pollination of the late blooming varieties. 
INTRODUCTION. 
In the current discussions of the failure of blossoms to set 
fruit we seem to have lost sight of the relations of weather to 
fruit formation and development. The uncertainties at this period 
in the growth of orchard crops, in recent years, have been at- 
tributed almost entirely to the lack of cross-pollination. It is 
probable that the latter factor is an important one with some 
fruits. It has been so proved by a number of careful experi- 
menters, and the experience of fruit-growers confirms it as a 
fact and attests to its importance. Yet there are many orchardists 
in this State who, having tried mixed planting of tree-fruits, apples 
