PEDIGREED NUKSEKV STOCK 159 



This leads us to observe that among our fruit bearing plants, so far 

 as is known, this is a comparatively rare oc jur.rcnce. There are manj"-, 

 many cases in which it is supposed to occur where really it has not yet 

 been demonstrated. We should not lose sight of the fact that many 

 of the differences which different orchard trees show in habits of growth 

 and productiveness; in the size, color and quality of fruit produced; in 

 resistance to disease and in other ways, may be satisfactorily accounted 

 for on the ground of differences of environment. Take for example the 

 case of certain apples which are known to attain their highest degree of 

 perfection in certain regions?, whereas in other regions they do very 

 poorly, and this occurs regardless of where the plants of the particular 

 variety in question were obtained. The Fameuse attains remarkably 

 high color and quality along the shores of Lake Champlain and in the 

 St. Lawrence valley, whereas when grown in many sections of w^estern 

 New York it lacks in both color and quality. This holds true in so many 

 individual trees and in so many different orchards in the regions named 

 that it is impossible to account for it on the assumption that it is due 

 to differences in the buds from which the stock was propaga.ed. Many 

 other instances of this kind might be cited. 



Those who have bad opportunity to compare the Baldwin apples 

 which are grown on the Pacific coast with those which are grown in 

 New England and New York have observed that they are distinctly dif- 

 ferent from the eastern grown fruit, being decidedly elongated. The 

 Baldwin trees which have been shipped from eastern nurseries to Wash- 

 ington and Oregon are grown from buds and scions taken from widely 

 separated sources. The uniformly peculiar form of this fruit which is 

 grown in the Pacific Northwest can not be accounted for on the suppo- 

 sition that the buds from which the trees were propagated all came 

 from some bud sport of the Baldwin. It must be attributed to a char- 

 acteristically local difference in environment. There are many other 

 differences which are observable among orchard varieties in habit of 

 tree and color of fruit which are known to be due only to differences 

 in environment. Such differences in tree or fruit can not be expected 

 to be transmitted under propagation. 



What reply shall we make, then, to the question as to whether or 

 not it is good policy to follow the pedigree idea in securing stock for 

 planting in the orchard? If one happens to know of an individual tree 

 or of a particular orchard showing superior characteristics of tree or 

 fruit is it desirable to propagate from such a tree or from such an orch- 

 ard rather than from one which does not show superiority? Certainly, 

 it is desirable. Although we may not be sure that anything can be 

 gained by so doing, yet w-e feel that we are on the safe side, at least, 

 and that possibly we are making progress in the right direction. 



The question is often asked whether it is desirable to pay higher 

 prices for the so-called pedigriee stock tiian for the ordinary stock of the 

 same variety. If one can be sure of the pedigree and know that the 

 desirable features which it stands for have been transmitted by propa- 



