The flowers of the apple are true hermaphrodites. The blossom has five stigmas. If each one is fertilized, better apples will be produced. The June drop of apples in many orchards is a direct result of poor pollination. Unless three or more seeds are developing, the young apples will not reach true size and will no doubt drop immature sometime before harvest time.
Most apple varieties require cross-pollination.
Those not requiring it usually produce more and better fruit when crossing occurs. In normal blossoming years, from 5 percent to 10 percent of the blossoms, if properly pollinized, will usually result in a satisfactory fruit set for the tree. It should be remembered that about 90 percent of the fruit set of apples is the result of insect activity during the period the tree is in full bloom. It is possible to have the pollinizer trees of a variety equally as productive and valuable as the principal variety. They should bloom at the same time and have plenty of mature pollen.