FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. 67 



APPLE BREEDING. 



R. E. LOREE, EAST LANSING. 



The subject of apple breeding should be of interest to every Michigan 

 apple grower, and, I am sure that it is worthy of our serious considera- 

 tion. A few facts may be of interest to show what has been accom- 

 plished in this particular branch of horticulture. 



In the "Apples of New York" 698 varieties are described. Of all 

 these, there is only one of which both male and female parent is known : 

 two have one parent given and the other one guessed; four are said to 

 be bud sports or mutations; the female or seed parent is given for 39 

 varieties; and 71 are chance seedlings. No origin is known for the re- 

 maining 517 varieties. 



From these facts we may draw the following conclusions: First, 

 that there has been no systematic effort to improve varieties of apples; 

 second, that improvement has been brought about by the introduction 

 of new varieties; third, that most of these varieties have originated 

 as chance seedlings. Thousands of seeds have been planted, with the 

 idea that, perhaps, at least one might develop a tree and fruit of 

 superior quality, hardiness and habit of growth. 



Now it seems to me that such methods are entirely too slipshod; to 

 say the least they are unscientific. Why can we not eliminate this 

 element of chance and uncertainty? I believe we can. I believe that 

 any radical improvement will be brought about only by the crossing 

 of desirable varieties. This, of course, involves the artificial pollina-, 

 tion of the apple blossom. The method is simple. Buds are selected on 

 both male and female parent, selecting those which have not yet opened. 

 The stamens are removed from the bud of the female parent, care being- 

 taken that none of the anthers are dehisced; it is then covered with 

 a paper sack. In a day or two, or Avhen the stigma is receptive, the 

 sack is removed, and pollen from the flower of the male parent is ap- 

 plied to the stigma. The sack is then replaced and allowed to remain 

 until seeds have formed; later the paper sack is replaced by a cloth sack 

 which is allowed to remain until harvest time. Much care should be 

 exercised during the whole operation to exclude all foreign pollen. The 

 fruit resulting from this cross will not differ from any other fruit on 

 the tree used as female parent, but the fruit grown from the seeds re- 

 sulting from the cross will be entirely different in character. 



About twelve years ago an experiment was started at the Experiment 

 Station of Geneva, New York. A large number of crosses were made. 

 They found that, contrary to popular opinion, seedling apples do not 

 revert to the wild type; that certain varieties are prepotent as re- 

 gards certain characters, or that these characters are carried over in the 

 fruit resulting from the cross. They also found that the seedlings were 

 much more vigorous, even when crowded in the nursery row, than the 

 common seedlings which were not crowded. 



Probably most of our valuable varieties have resulted from accidental 



