rEliKJKHKIi MUSEUY STOCK 101 



must be taken into consideration when you are studying the question of 

 variation. We see differences and variations on the same tree. One 

 branch may get better food supply from the soil, better air and better 

 sunlight. There are all sorts of environmental conditions to take into 

 consideration, so if we see a tree that is producing superior Wealthy ap- 

 ples we can not say because it does that or this it is superior to a bud 

 sport, it may be due to environment. If it does that in generations 

 then we have a pedigree. We have an illustration of that in Mills countj' 

 Iowa, where a man claims he has a Wealthy that ripens about a month 

 later than the ordinary Wealthy, and as desirable in size and other 

 qualities. It will be worth propagating, won't it? 



So the point I want to leave with you is this: My purpose will be 

 satisfied if I can get you to thinking about these things carefully. I 

 want to say again that the man who makes a selection of scions from 

 trees or, plants that have any superior color or size, or anything else, he 

 is on the safe side. Although it may be a bud variation, I would not say, 

 possibly it is, it may be due to variation m environment. 



Mr. Christy: The Baldwin apple you spoke of, taken to the west, 

 and growing there; if you take it there and grow it for a few years and 

 then take it back east, do you think you would get the same kind of 

 apples as originally? 



A. No, sir. I had some scions I got from Washington ten years 

 ago; they were taken back to New York state, and although I have not 

 seen the fruit myself, Prof. Hedrich says they are just like the ordinary 

 Baldwin in New York. If farmers can be sure what that pedigree repre- 

 sents, and that it represents a line of decent in which the individuals 

 have a superior performance record, I would say by all means for the 

 farmers to buy them. Isn't it better to pay a dollar for a good tree 

 than to plant an inferior tree that will be no good to you? 



Mr. Pollard: We have got onto a question that is very important 

 to a man who is planting trees in a commercial way. Now I would like 

 to inquire, does your experience demonstrate that grafts or scions taken 

 from a bearing tree that is known to be productive and producing good 

 fruit, is there an inclination of the scion to produce more prolifically 

 than are those scions that are taken from water sprouts or from year- 

 ling trees as Mr. Yeager suggests. 



Prof. Beach: I must confess that I know^ of very little reliable evi- 

 dence on that point. 



Q. Now I just want to recite a condition that exists in our orchard. 

 We have at home a ten acre plat of Jonathans. We also have a great 

 many Jonathan trees outside of that plat. But in this particular plat 

 I do not believe that there is over 30 per cent of the trees that have 

 produced enough fruit to begin to pay for the labor that has been 

 spent in cultivating them, planting them, and taking care of them, and 

 so forth. Now the reason for that may be that these scions were 

 taken from water sprouts instead of from a bearing tree. I do not 

 know whether or not we are correct in that, but we do know that we 



