466 Report of the Departaient of Horticulture of the 



other. It would seem that in Ben Davis crosses, Ben Davis 

 characters most hirgely crop out. The progeny in crosses with 

 Ben Davis, more often than not, have a Ben Davis aspect. 

 Whether this is due to prepotency in one or more characters or 

 to the fact that most of the characters in Ben Davis are a little 

 off the ordinary — particularly striking — and because of this 

 distinctness dominate in the appearance of the Ben Davis crosses, 

 cannot be said. 



We cannot prove from the behavior of these crosses that the 

 varieties of apples involved are prepotent in any of their char- 

 acters, but such prepotency is strongly suggested. In breeding 

 work with grapes, raspberries and strawberries on the Station 

 grounds, where many times as many crosses and plants have 

 been under observation, we are more certain that varieties are 

 prepotent in some characters. Such, too, is thought to be the 

 case by workers with other plants and it has long been held by 

 breeders of animals that individuals were " prepotent," which, 

 if true, in light of present knowledge, probably means that there 

 was prepotency in one or more characters of the animals. 

 Knowledge regarding prepotency is a great desideratum in apple- 

 breeding. The improvement of this fruit will go on much more 

 rapidly, if we can select varieties for crossing which have the 

 desired characters in greatest potency. 



MENDELIAN INHERITANCES IN APPLES. 



No study of heredity at the present time is worthy the name 

 unless it take in consideration the laws brought out by Mendel 

 and his followers. By aid of these laws in this experiment w© 

 are enabled to focus ideas which otherwise would have been dim, 

 to give value to facts which a few years ago would have been 

 worthless, and to see clues running through the work which with- 

 out Mendel's discovery would have remained hidden. 



It had not been the intention to discuss ]\rendelian inheritance 

 in these crosses until we could add the testimony of the F2 gen- 

 eration. That time seems at the very least a decade off and it 

 is thou2;ht best to see what, if anvthing, can be learned from the 

 Fi progeny. It must be remembered that since apples are 

 propagated by budding or grafting, a variety always possesses 



