AN EXPERIMENT IN BREEDING APPLES.'^ 



U. p. HEDRICK AND RICHARD WELLINGTON. 



SUMMARY. 



1. There have been few efforts to improve apples, nearly all 

 varieties having come from chance seedlings. Under the knowl- 

 edge and inspiration of recent discoveries in plant-breeding we 

 ought to breed this fruit more advantageously than in the past. 

 This bulletin is a record of an experiment in breeding apples in 

 the light of the new knowledge. 



2. Apples are improved only by the introduction of new vari- 

 eties. These originate chiefly from cross-fertilized seeds. Pos- 

 sibly a few have arisen from self-fertilized seed and it is known 

 that a very few sorts have come from sports or bud-mutations. 

 It is very doubtful if apples can be improved by bud selection 

 and the so-called " pedigreed " stock is probably worth no more 

 than trees grown under general nursery practices. 



3. The material for this experiment came from 148 crosses 

 made in 1898 and 1899. Grafted trees of these crosses began to 

 bear in 1904 and the seedlings came in fruiting in 1908. The 

 crosses have been studied from both the grafts and seedlings, 

 the orchards having had the care usually given commercial 

 plantations. 



4. The crosses which have fruited, with the number of each, 

 are: 



Ben Davis X Esopus 4 



Ben Davis X Green Newtown 13 



Ben Davis X Jonathan 11 



Ben Davis X Mcintosh 11 



Ben Davis X Mother . 20 



Esopus X Ben Davis 29 



Esopus X Jonathan 2 



Mcintosh X Lawver i 



Ralls X Northern Spy 9 



Rome X Northern Spy i 



Sutton X Northen Spy 5 



*A reprint of Bulletin No. 350, June, 1912; for "Popular Edition," see 



p. 840. 



[443J 



