Fruit-bud and flower formation in the sultanina grape

Abstract

does not appear. First page follows. Introduction The fruiting habit of the Sultanina4 grape has required the development of special cultural methods to secure satisfactory crops. These methods, however, are based solely on empirical field observations. An anatomical study of the buds should reveal the differences in fruiting habit of this variety as compared with other varieties and might lead to the development of better cultural practices. The specific objects of this study were to determine (1) the time at which fruit-bud differentiation occurs in the Sultanina, (2) the fruitfulness of the individual buds from the basal to the 20th bud, (3) the rate at which the cluster primordia develop in buds at different positions on the canes, (4) the extent of development of the cluster primordia by the end of the growing season, and (5) the sequence and rate of development of the inflorescences after growth starts in the spring. Review of Literature Former studies of grape-bud anatomy have dealt with the differentiation and early development of the fruit buds and to a less extent with the later stages of flower development. These studies, consisting primarily of field experiments, throw little light on the subject in question. Although Goff(8)5 presents considerable data on the initial stages of bud differentiation of different deciduous fruit trees, he simply states that in the grape the embryonic flower is discernible in the autumn prior to blooming.