Effect of Seeded Fruits and Foliar-Applied Auxin on Seedless Fruit Set of Pear the Following Year

Abstract In a test designed to study the effect of cross pollination on pear fruit set Stephen (4) found that seeded fruits result almost entirely from cross pollination rather than selfing. He found also that seedless set was mainly from selfing, although a small proportion was parthenocarpic. When he first caged entire trees against insect pollination during the period of open bloom, an average set of seedless fruits resulted. However, after caging during bloom each year for four years, seedless set was gradually reduced to only a few fruits. Stephen extended this study and found (5) that renewed exposure of the caged trees to cross pollination resulted in a good set of seeded fruit. If only one leader of a previously caged tree was exposed to cross pollination, it alone produced fruit. The following year, however, when the entire tree was again caged to prevent cross pollination, a substantial set of seedless fruit occurred on all leaders.