py inter Meeting. 179 



James Lavelle says: "Before planting, first visit all orchards in 

 your neighborhood, selecting such varieties as have done well amidst con- 

 ditions similar to your own." 



J. H. Hale recently said: "There has been a peach craze for the 

 past few years. They are all planting Elbertas, and the whole thing will 

 go to smash as soon as all these trees come into bearing." But Mr. 

 Hale's fears are groundless. Half of the Elbertas planted will never 

 bear, so nature saves man from his own madness. 



Colonel J. C. Evans, in 1893, said: "We can never raise peaches 

 commercially with the kinds we have. We must find new kinds, hardier 

 than those we now have." His son, Dr. Paul Evans, is now seeking to 

 solve this problem, at Mt. Grove, by searching for hardy, annual bearing 

 varieties, 



'Mr. Goodrich, of Illinois, says : "We are looking for a hardy 

 peach, adapted to our peculiar changeable climate. Crosby succeeds in 

 Massachusetts, but does not succeed in New Jersey. We have twelve 

 sub-stations scattered all over Illinois to test varieties for each locality." 



Mr. Kreybill, of Olden, said: "The peach is a fruit of locality. 

 Some will succeed over a wider range, while others are suited only to 

 a particular locality. There are local kinds, all over the country, equal 

 in quality and much more reliable than those catalogued." 



Mr. Baxter, of Illinois, says : "We have a fine yellow peach, earlier 

 than Elberta, large, better in quality, which produces hundreds of bushels 

 to Elberta's ten. It comes almost true from seed." If this be true, 

 would it not be foolish for Mr. Baxter and his neighbors to plant El- 

 bertas if they can get ten times more and better fruit by planting a seed- 

 ling ? 



Rolland Alerrill, the noted Michigan fruit grower, has won phenom- 

 enal success by selecting buds from the best trees that bore in his locality. 

 He continues this selection of trees, and even branches, which show spe- 

 cial qualities, for his new orchards. 



Mr. N. F. Murray says: "We must select our scions and buds from 

 the most healthy and vigorous trees that produce the largest and best 

 fruit. We believe that in this manner our American horticulture must 

 be improved." 



Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, says : "Progress lies in 

 selection. Look for a plant which shows indications of your ideal, save 

 the seed carefully, plant apart and in turn save the seed. Nature gives 

 us many starting points, but few are skillful and patient enough to save 

 and improve them. Plants cannot be bred with the same precision as 

 animals. In the animal vv-orld each parent is either male or female. 



