158 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE 



I this year gathered a half-dozen apples from a Rambo tree, 

 that were as completely riisseted as any apple can be, and those 

 were more crisp and firm than the ordinary Eambo apples — 

 very like the Pomme Grise in quality, and no one would sus- 

 pect from their appearance that they were not that apple. 

 And I have seen many kindred facts that go to show that the 

 subtle influence that effects fructification does not stop with 

 that act, but is traceable in every stage of development of the 

 fruit from the quickened germ to the ripened pulp. 



And does not this view accord with all the known laws of 

 generation in every department of nature? And while we 

 may not doubt that the stock exerts often a very marked mod- 

 ifying influence in determining the character of the fruit, we 

 must not overlook in our estimate the less obvious, but no 

 less powerful principle of inflorescence. 



