432 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



for the selection and propagation of certain desirable strains of other 

 varieties already known, it will only be in keeping with his past achieve- 

 ments if he should score another improvement in this direction. 



A seedling peach from China, now the subject of an experiment by 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry at the Chico station, promises a stock 

 that is remarkably resistant to alkali. If present expectations are 

 realized it is probable that peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums and 

 almonds can be worked on this root and grown on soils now wholly 

 unsuited to their culture. 



An interesting field for the improvement of nursery stock has been 

 opened up during the past few years by the work of various investi- 

 gators in propagating from selected strains within any given variety. 

 Shamel's work with citrus fruits is an example with which all Cali- 

 fornians are familiar. Authorities on plant-breeding recognize the 

 occasional occurrence of mutations or bud-sports within a variety that 

 lead to some modification of type characteristics. These modifications 

 may be so slight as not to be easily recognized as a departure from the 

 original type, or they may in truth constitute a sub-variety that rep- 

 resents a regrouping of varietal traits sufficiently striking to represent 

 a marked improvement on the original type. Probably many of our 

 so-called ' ' improved ' ' strains of certain varieties are merely bud-sports 

 closely resembling the parent type. 



The propagation of trees from these mutations is one of the sources 

 for the improvement of nursery stock that is not yet fully appreciated, 

 and both nurserymen and orchardists should give greater attention to 

 the recognition of desirable bud-variants. At the same time, nursery- 

 men must recognize the fact that bud-sports are as apt to occur in the 

 descending as in the ascending scale, and should be extremely careful 

 to take wood for budding or grafting from trees that show the desirable 

 characteristics of the variety to be propagated. In deciduous fruits 

 there seems to be less of a tendency toward reversion to a less desirable 

 type than in citrus, but probably the general principle holds good 

 with both that an apprecialjle improvement in nursery stock will result 

 from careful bud selection. 



However, it is probable that the hereditary influence of bud selection 

 merely creates a tendency toward certain results, and that this tendency 

 may be wholly nullified by unfavorable environment, at least so far as 

 color, size, or fruitfulness is concerned. These characteristics are vari- 

 able, often changing in the same tree from year to year, and are so 

 dependent upon climate, moisture, culture, plant food, and pollination 

 that it is wholly unlikely that they can be controlled by any improve- 

 ment or lack of improvement in nursery stock, although it is reasonable 

 to believe under similar conditions better results will be obtained in 

 the orchard from nursery stock propagated from trees representative 

 of the best strains of any given variety. 



Although many of the best horticultural authorities of the nation do 

 not accept the theory that trees can be "pedigreed" in the same sense 

 as live stock, the evidence is certainly sufficient to indicate that careful 

 selection of budwood on the part of the nurseryman is a wholly desir- 

 able practice. In connection with a selection of the best rootstocks 



