The chilling and heat-sum requirements of seven commercial almonds ['Managa' (early-bloom), 'Ne Plus Ultra' and' Azar' (mid to late-bloom), 'Sahand', 'A200', 'A230' and 'Shokofe' (late-bloom)] were studied in 1994- 96, with a view to assessing their adaptability under different climatic conditions. 'Sahand', 'A200' and 'A230' maintain their late blooming qualities because of their high chill and heat-sum requirements, and' Azar' is a middle-bloom cultivar with a medium chilling requirement and low heat-sum requirement. Therefore, this cultivar will probably flower late in warmer climates. 'Managa' can be grown in warmer climates with no problems due to its low chilling requirement and minimum heat requirement. 'Shokofe' is a late-blooming cultivar, despite its lower chilling and heat-sum requirements than 'Ne Plus Ultra' and therefore more compatibility studies will be required for various zones. 'Ne Plus Ultra' is not recommended for cold climates owing to its limited chilling and heat-sum requirements and early blooming.

Sahand volcanic massif settled to the northwest of Iran between Tabriz in north and Maragheh in south. This area has the most greater thickness of crust (46-48km) and isostatic equivalence. Gravity measurement shows a positive gravity anomaly to the south of this area which is connected to deep igneous massif or metamorphic basement. Sahand sedimentary basement formed from the sediments of different period which its parts appear in 3100 high in the end of Chiniblagchary valley. The study of Sahand volcanic rocks showes that there are three kind of magma in Sahand volcanism: and esite and basaltic land site of upper Miocene, dacitic magmas and magmas rich of K. B. a,Sr with composition of latite or banakite in the end of sahand activity. Tectonic structures are exteud N-W- SE trend that created by compressional and extentional forces with trend of NE-SE. By attention to sheare perspiration of northwest of Iran the exicrence of strick-slip faults specialy Tabriz fault in this area plio-quaternary volcanism of Sahand volcanic massif to pull-apart basins which are formed in trend of ancillary faults of Tabriz fault by collisional tectonic regim in different trends.

To determine the effects of three constant temperatures (5, 15 and 20°C) on in vitro pollen germination in three apricot cultivars, a factorial experiment was carried out based on RCB with three replications. Branches with flower buds of 'Dorosht-e-Malayer', 'Shastemy-e-Yek' and 'Ghermez-e-Shahroodi' cultivars in Sahand Horticultural Research Station were cut at Fleckinger's D stage. After collecting and culturing the pollen grains, the process of germination was observed under a microscope. The results revealed that the effects of temperature and cultivar on percentages of pollen germination were significant. The interaction between temperature and cultivar was also significant. The percentage of pollen germination in all three cultivars at 5°C was low, so that they showed a significant difference with those at 15 and 20°C. The maximum germination potential was found in 'Dorosht-e-Malayer' whilst the minimum was noticed in Shastemy-e-Yek'. However, at 15°C 'Ghermeze-Shahroodi' had a high germination percentage in comparison with the 'Dorosht-e-Malayer', having no significant difference.

In order to evaluate the effects of supplemental light and its economic feasibility, in lettuce monoculture and its intercropping with tomato, two separate experiments in closed sand culture, were conducted in a complete block design (and without supplemental light) with four replicates in Khallat-Poushan research station situated 7km of east Tabriz. Pooled analysis of variance indicated that, the use of supplemental light increase the dry and fresh weight of lettuce and yield of tomatos from first cluster. Use of supplemental light did not have significant effect on both the number of fruits developed in cluster and the internodes length of tomato plants. Light treatment reduced effectively the number of days needed in developing the first inflorescence in tomato plants. The evaluation of economic feasibility of intercropping of these two vegetable crops showed that yield increase due to supplemental light could not compensate the electrical energy costs, so it appears that due to prevailing local winter natural high light intensity, the application of supplemental light would not be regarded as a beneficial procedure.