New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 393 
the process of fertilization and thus eventually caused the death 
of the entire blossom. 
Blossoms which had been open several days before they were 
Sprayed seem to have reached a stage where the treatment did 
not check the progress of fertilization, and the fruit set. as 
abundantly as it did from corresponding blossoms which were 
not sprayed. 
Tum STRUCTURE OF AN APPLE BLOSSOM. AND THE PROCESS OF 
SETTING FRUIT. 
The following brief description of the structure of the apple 
blossom and of the way in which it sets fruit may help some 
readers to a clearer understanding of the subject. 
When the fruit bud of the apple tree opens it releases a cluster 
of blossom buds. Such clusters usually contain five or six blos- 
som buds. The central one in the cluster is regularly the 
strongest, opens first, and sets first. Its fruit has the best 
chance of hanging on through the period when the weaker of 
the yourg fruits drop and of remaining till it ripens. Several or 
even all of the blossoms in a cluster may set fruit, but, if any of 
these pass successfully through the period when the young fruits 
drop, generally only one or perhaps two of them are left to ripen. 
Fig. 2, Plate LVII, shows a typical Baldwin cluster shortly after 
the blooming season passed and before the dropping of the 
weaker fruits began. It shows clearly the superiority of the cen- 
tral fruit in the cluster. 
An apple blossom cut through the middle shows different parts 
as illustrated in Fig. 12. The outer green portion which covers 
the bud is the calyx. Where the blossom opens it turns back- 
ward as shown at c, Fig. 12, and c, Fig. 18. It remains after the 
fruit has developed as may be seen by examining the blossom end 
of a ripe apple. The showy white or pink tinged part of the 
flower is the corolla. Its separate leaves are called petals, pt, 
Fig. 12. If calyx and corolla be taken away it is still possible 
for fruit to develop. These are therefore not the essential organs. 
The essential organs are inside of the petals. They are the 
