Floral Biology of Temperate Zone Fruit Trees and Small Fruits (dedikált példány) [antikvár]

1. IntroductionThe knowledge of blooming and pollination and its use are indispensable in maximizing of cropping potential of fruits in economical fruit production. In attaining maximum yield a greater attention has to be focused on choosing cultivar combinations, and results of experiments on blooming, pollination and fertilization must be applied carefully.When the idea of writing this book arose we wanted to integrate our own research results of several decades with the extensive literature to demonstrate the generalities and correlations supported by numerous experimental data and observations and present them in a way that it is useful for the practical orchardist.This is indicated by the general layout of the book and in the arrangement and proportion of the chapters. We deal in detail with the structure and formation of the flower: the development, viability and functional capacities of the sexual organs; and we describe the flowering, pollination and fertilization processes. We placed great emphasis on the fertilization conditions of fruit-bearing plants, as well as on the factors influencing fertilization and fruit set.We hope that the information gained from this book will be useful for those planning orchards and elaborating new cultural practices as well as those involved in teaching and research. We included chapters for researchers where the observations, investigations and evaluation methods are presented and where the methodology concerning flower biology of fruit species is surrmiarized.We also present the conditions for applying knowledge of flowering and fertilization in accordance with the biological factors and production technology. This chapter will be useful to those who wish to plant an orchard of any size. Flowering and fruit set are prerequisites for successful fruit production. There is no cultivation manipulation, regardless how well it is carried out, that could supplement fruit set, therefore blooming, pollination and fertilization have to have greater attention when planning and establishing an orchard.Insect pollination, with the exception of a very small proportion of wind-pollinated fruit species, is indispensable in species requiring cross-fertilization but even in self-fertile species it can increase the extent of fruit set and the amount of yield.To have efficient bee pollination requires attention at the time of designing an orchard. It requires further attention at the time of bloom of any of the fruit-bearing species. Markets demand new types of fruit which forces constant changes in the cultivar composition of orchards. The blooming, pollinating and fertilization characteristics of cuhivars chosen have to be known before an orchard is set up. Apart from the general knowledge of trees considered to be planted, there is a great need to know the flowering, pollinating and fertilization characteristics of each cultivar in detail. This is why in this book the biological and physiological correlations are illustrated with widely used cuhivars.