PEDIGREED NURSERY STOCK.* f 



U. p. HEDRICK. 



The horticulturist at an experiment station is a focus for all 

 of the new conceits of his trade. Letters and inquiries fall upon 

 him like the traditional thousand of brick whenever a new theory 

 or a new practice is born which may affect crops. It is his duty 

 to examine all of the discoveries .that do not savor too much 

 of vagary or of personal gain, and report his findings. To dis- 

 tinguish fairly between gold and dross requires much travail, 

 long-continued experiments often being necessary to learn the 

 truth, and in giving judgment the right of reversal of opinion 

 must be held as a privilege. With this introduction, I am ready 

 for my subject, one which of late has had much attention from 

 fruitgrowers, nurserymen and experimenters. 



'' It takes three generations to make a gentleman," after which 

 a man may record his pedigree with some pride. " Breed is more 

 than feed," is well recognized with all domesticated animals and 

 a horse, a cow, a pig, a dog is valued according to its pedigree. 

 In 1862, Hallet, an Englishman, offered pedigreed wheat for sale, 

 bred upon the same principle of repeated selection which has 

 produced pure races of animals. " Pedigreed " seeds of plants 

 are now very common. A genealogical tree may tell as much 

 about the past of plants grown from seed as the pedigree of an 

 animal tells of its ancestry. But the attempt is being made to 

 attach importance, as in the case of men, animals and seeds, to 

 the pedigrees of plants propagated from buds, cions, cuttings and 

 off-shoots of plants. Thus it is claimed that varieties of tree, bush 

 and vine fruits, propagated from parts, should have their lineage 

 set forth before they find a place in the plantations of up-to-date 

 planters. 



To show the position held by those who believe that such plants 

 should be passed through the sieve of selection, we make the 



* Ba«pd on an address given at tl>e meeting of the New York State Fruit 

 Growers, Rochester, N. Y., January 5, 1912. 



t A reprint of Circular No. 18, February 10, 1912. 



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