STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 63 



shall find that both shape and color will vary, and these changed tubers 

 may continue to reproduce thenisclves. The same thhig has been 

 obserxcd in the propagation of the sweet potato — a red skinned variety 

 will now and then be found to yield tubers without the color, albi/ios, if 

 you choose, and these may continue to produce white tubers of the red 

 variety, perhaps not ditlering in other qualities. 



Grafting. — Mr. Darwin attributes variation to the effect of grafting. 

 He quotes Cabani's assertion, that when " certain pears are grafted on ^ 

 quince, their seeds yield more varieties than do the seeds of the same 

 variety when grafted on the wild pear." In the case of some of our 

 American plums that reproduce themselves from seed, Downing asserts, 

 that "when a graft is taken from one of these trees and placed upon 

 another stock, this grafted tree is found to lose its singular property of 

 producing the same variety by seed, and becomes like all other worked 

 trees." On the other hand, the Heath cling peach, and perhaps some 

 other very distinct varieties, though budded for many generations, retain, 

 in a wonderful degree, their power of producing seedlings that possess 

 similar characters. 



As to variation for the sake of the improvement of the qualities of 

 our fruits, and it is in this direction that we value these eilects, let us see 

 whether many of the changes have not occurred in a condition almost 

 natural. How often we find the word wilding as part of the names of 

 fruits in English catalogues, as we do the similar word bczi in the French 

 lists of pears, and seedlings in our own reports, which are nearly 

 all accidental products of the hedge-rows and fields. Besides these, we 

 know bv their history, that many others in all the fruit catalogues have 

 had a similar origin, though their names do not indicate it. How few 

 of our choice fruits have been the result of human efforts, for their 

 improvement is quite as remarkable, as that, in a little more than half a 

 century, so many of superior character should have been found, which 

 are the result of spontaneous change or variation in the seedlings that 

 have been allowed to produce fruit, even though there be but a very 

 small proportion of the whole number planted. Indeed, we can not 

 feel any great encouragement to look for decided improveinents in our 

 seedling: fruits now that our standards of excellence have been raised to 

 their present status. 



In Horticulture, and in our horticultural studies, as already stated, 

 we meet with many puzzles. We find many facts and conditions con- 

 nected with them, in which we may perceive tiie /^0IC, but can not guess 

 the -why sucli things may be. The very classification of our plants and 

 fruits is often obscure, and sometimes exceedingly unsatisfactory. Take 

 an example in the grape, and see how greatly our botanists differ as to 

 the number of species into whicli the genus may be divided. The wine 

 grape of Asia, Vitis vinifera., embraces varieties that are very distinct, 

 while, among the natives of our own country, we have quite a number 

 of species, according to some authorities, many of which appear to be as 

 closely related as some of the varieties of the foreign species. And 

 when we agree upon any of the botanical classifications, we still find 



