I02 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



it is not an uncommon })henomenon to have an old character 

 (Iroj)ped. For ilUistration, in the nectarine we have nothing 

 more or less than a peach in which the character of "fuzziness" 

 on the fruit has been suddenly lost. If, on the other hand, we 

 should find a plum that suddenly "took on" the character of 

 fuzziness of fruit we would have a true progressive mutation. 

 I doubt if such a similar case will ever be found. 



Variations of the first class, that is, variations that are not 

 heritable, are common, and, as we have shown, it is absolutely 

 time and labor lost to try and propagate new types or new varie- 

 ties from them. Bud selection of such a character is futile. 

 Yet this is the kind of bud selection that is generally practiced 

 in the production of the so-called ''pedigree" nursery stock 

 offered to the trade. Variations due to environment are also 

 worthless for ''pedigree" purposes. We must not mistake nur- 

 ture for nature. A Baldwin apple grown in the mountain 

 regions of Western Maryland might not be recognized as a Bald- 

 win by half the men in this audience. But a bud taken from 

 one of these Maryland Baldwins and grafted on a Maine Bald- 

 win tree would bring forth the type of Baldwin that you all 

 know. 



Stable variations in the form of sports may occur; but the 

 crucial point in our argument against "pedigree" nursery stock 

 lies in the fact that as far as our common fruits are concerned, 

 they seldom occur. Lucky indeed is the man who finds and 

 recognizes a true bud s{x)rt. Allow me at this point to quote 

 Hedrick of the New York Experiment Station, He says : "For 

 several years the speaker has spent much time in studying the 

 histories of varieties of fruits. In the 'Grapes of New York' 

 he has had to do with about 1500 grapes; in the 'Plums of New 

 York,' 2000 sorts of plums ; in 'The Apples of New York,' with 

 about 700 kinds of apples. When this knowledge of thousands 

 of varieties of fruits is focused, one sees in fruits stability and 

 not variation. The generations of varieties of fruits do not 

 change." 



The Rhode Island Greening of today is the Rhode Island 

 Greening of our grandfathers. True it is that there may be 

 strains of some of our commercial varieties. We recognize 

 more than one strain of Baldwins, there are perhaps two slightly 

 different strains of Rhode Island Greening, and there are prob- 



