Obituary

John Carlton Cain, professor emeritus of pomology at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, who retired from the Department of Pomology and Viticulture at Cornell in 1973, died June 16 in Canandaigua. He was 86.

Cain had been associated with Cornell since 1940, first as a graduate student and then as a professor, where he served the New York state fruit industry as a research pomologist for over 30 years. He was widely known for his outstanding contributions in the field of tree fruit nutrition. His studies demonstrating nutrient uptake and interactions in fruit plants were universally recognized. Cain also researched mechanical pruning and harvesting and their effects on orchard and tree design. His research brought about many recommendations for change in planting, growing and harvesting tree fruits.

Cain was born in Blakely, Ga., and received his B.S.A. degree from the University of Florida in 1935. Following that, he served at the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station as a research assistant and assistant horticulturist, with primary responsibilities in citrus.

He came to Cornell in 1940 to pursue an advanced degree. His education was interrupted by his military service from 1942-45, when he served in the U.S. Army as a commanding officer and received a Bronze Star. He returned to Cornell and received his Ph.D. in 1946. He was appointed associate professor of pomology the same year, and professor in 1951. In 1954 he served as a consultant at the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Science in Turrialba, Costa Rica, and as a horticultural adviser to the Catholic University in Santiago, Chile, in 1964.

In 1972, Cain was elected a fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science. He served as president of the Northeast Section of the American Society for Horticultural Science and was associate editor of HortScience for five years. He was the author of over 73 scientific papers in the field of fruit nutrition, mechanical harvesting and pruning, and orchard design.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Marie, of Tavernier, Fla., and Geneva, and two sons, James McRae and John Jr.