The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-08-15
Edited by r. Walden

years DClOT6 we Call expect Tie lOTuld-
tion of fruit buds. But we must bear
in mind that this book from which
we quote was written in Germany and
has to do with the conditions there.
In some parts of America the same
conditions largely obtain but not so
on the Pacific Coast. Here trees
reach the bearing age in half the time
and sometimes much sooner. But the
underlying principles are the same,
and if we can rightly apply them, we
can intelligently proceed. What
Sorauer calls the period of "apical
growth" is what causes the variations
in the coming into bearing of our diff
ferent varieties of apples. Till this
youthful period" is passed, no fruit
buds will be formed. Do what we
may, we cannot do away with this
"apical growth" No doubt but Mr.
Leedy has noticed this difference in
coming into bearing.
Let me give an illustration from my
own experiences: In the spring of
1905 we top grated about 1000 of our
Oldest apple trees. They were mostly
Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and Nor
thern Spy. We grated these trees
W ItOIllC bCduJy, OOudIudu, w luCoop,
Arkansas Black, Spitzenburg and
NewtOwns. The stock on which we
grated seemed to make no apprecia-
BILE difference on the earlinesS OF
bearing-the difference was wholly in
the scions, hence, it was the variety
that made the difference. In two
years after doing this grating, that
is, in 1907, the results were as follows:
The Rome Beauty tops averaged two
boxes of good merchantable apples
to the tree; the JOnathans came next
with about half that many; the Wine
saps did not yield a half box to the
tree, and the Arkansas Blacks about
the same; but the Spitzenburgs and
Newtowns did not average five apples
to the tree. In 1908 the relative pro-
portions remained about the same.
The fact is that the Spitzenburg and
the Newtown are late in coming into
bearing. Why one variety of the ap-
pie will come into bearing early and
another variety will be late is some
thing we cannot answer. Why the
stock will not affect the scion in such
cases is equally unsolvable. That the
same variety of apple will come into
bearing sooner in one locality while
it will be later in another, and some
times not many miles away, is an I'M
disputed fact but what leads to this
difference we know but little about.
We may say that it is the climate or
the soil, or both, and may be right in
our conjectures. but neither is wholly
under our control.
Some things are made very clear in
this extract from SOrauer. One is that
we must have a good growth of leaves
to secure the formation Of fruit buds.
If the leaves are in a healthy and Wig
orous condition there will be a stor-
ing up of food material, which is an
essential to the formation of fruit
buds The closing statement in this
quotation is the key to what we can
do in assisting nature in this work
of forming fruit buds. Note we'll this
statement: "But we must also ensure
a period of rest at the right time"
But what is the right time? This able
writer shows that fruit buds are form
ed in the latter part OF the summer
But this formation of Towering buds
will not take place if we stimulate
the growth of the trees at that time.
The terminal buds must cease or no
fruit buds will be formed and even If
they are formed and then stimulated,
they will turn to leaf buds.
| want to give again my experience
along this line. When we were pick
ing some Rome Beauty apples in Octo-
Der, 1906, I found that a leak had
sprung in a fume and the ground
around a half dozen trees was SO
soaked we could not drive across 1t.
We thought nothing of the matter till
the next years crop was ready to
IL l.. thnf HILhil0 Tho