New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 847 



stant, being subject to none of the fluctuations that arise in con- 

 tinuing a variety from seed. 



Also, if certain characters of a parent variety reappear with 

 considerable constancy in a considerable number of seedlings of 

 that variety, especially if the cross is made with two or more other 

 varieties, it is fair to assume that these characters will also appear 

 when other crosses are made, even though we can not say that the 

 character is a pure dominant or recessive. This would be true, in 

 particular, if any variety were prepotent in regard to some of its 

 characters, as appears to be the case with Ben Davis in these 

 crosses ; that is, many of the Ben Davis characters are apparently 

 dominant characters of Mendelian pairs, so that they appear in 

 the first generation crosses, no matter what the characters of the 

 other parent may be. 



Among the best of the eleven varieties used 

 Some characters in this breeding work, so far as production of 



transmitted in desirable new kinds is concerned, are ISTorth- 



these crosses. ern Spy, with three named varieties and four 



promising ones out of 15 seedlings ; Mcintosh 

 with two good and four promising seedlings out of 12, and Ben 

 Davis, with every eighth seedling worthy of naming and nearly as 

 many more of enough merit to be retained for further testing. 

 Green Newtown was crossed only with Ben Davis, but seems a 

 very desirable parent, as four seedlings out of thirteen, or more 

 than 30 per ct. of those grown, received names as desirable new 

 varieties. 



Northern Spy gave large-fruited seedlings in most cases, some 

 of them larger than either parent ; but in the cross with Ralls, a 

 fruit of moderate size, small fruited descendants appeared in such 

 proportions that it is probable that some ancestor of the Spy as 

 well as of Ralls must have borne small fruit. The Spy also im- 

 pressed its own shape when crossed with Sutton, but not when 

 crossed with Ralls. It gave some yellow-fruited seedlings when 



