526 Ri<;poRT of the Department of Horticulture of the 



character can be transmitted to the next generation can be deter- 

 mined only by trial. 



There are variations of another kind, much more common than 

 those just described, due to the effect of the environment of the 

 plant. The richer the soil, the more sunlight, the better the care, 

 the greater the freedom from insects and diseases and the longer 

 the season, the more vigorous is the plant, the more fruit it pro- 

 duces and the larger and the more perfect is the fruit. But though 

 these changes and conditions produce a direct effect upon the 

 plant during its lifetime, there is no evidence to show that any 

 of the variations so brought about can be transmitted from parent 

 to offspring. The fruitgrower who wants to perpetuate such 

 variations, must renew for each generation the conditions which 

 gave him the desirable effects. It is a question of " nurture " not 

 of " nature." 



To illustrate: A man living in JSTorthern Michigan had a Spy 

 tree which bore small, green, scrawny Spies. He attributed the 

 poor ap]iles to the nature of the tree and talked much of the Spy 

 tree in Mother's yard " back East " that bore man^elous apples. 

 He brought on grafts of Mother's Spy. In due time the grafts 

 bore the same small, gnarly, green Spies. ISTorthern Michigan Spies 

 are worthless because of climate and soil and not because of the 

 tree. The fruitgrower or nurseryman who attempts to raise stock 

 from the "mother's trees," that grov/ in every community, will 

 usually meet with like disappointment. 



A Baldwin tree taken from ISTew York to Virginia produces an 

 apple different from the Kew York Baldwin; taken to Missouri, 

 the Baldwin is still different; taken to Oregon, it is unlike any 

 of the others. If the trees are brought back from these states 

 to ISTew York, they become again ISTew York Baldwins. It is 

 not likely that selection can change this. 



If it were true that characters acquired because of environment 

 were inheritable, the resulting medley would be overwhelming. 

 Let us see where the transmission of acquired characters would 

 lead us in a particular case — taking, it is true, a somewhat 

 extreme one. If a growing apple be put in a bottle, it will continue 

 to grow and will assume the shape of its covering, making a bottle- 

 shaped apple. If one such bottle be red and another blue, the 

 color as well as the shape of the apples will be changed. If many 

 A'ariously shaped and colored bottles be used and if from their 

 seeds or buds the resulting products come true, especially if the 

 seeds were crossed, the imagination cannot compass the confusion 



