REMARKS ON THE DEGENERACY OF FRIUT. 



spots and an occasional crack would appear upon the fruit, the pears would cease to 

 swell, and the whole crop would prove an utter failure. Was not this failure of the crop 

 the immediate effect of the attack of this fungus called the leaf blight, and is not this fun- 

 gus the partial cause of the so-called decline of some of the old varieties? Further obser- 

 vation will establish the truth of these conjectures if they are correct, and as the attacks 

 of fungi are not past prevention, we hope something may also be discovered to answer this 

 purpose. At any rate, this is an important subject of investigation.. Ed. 



REMARKS ON THE DEGENERACY OF FRUITS. 



BY A. MARSHALL, WESTCHESTER, PA. 



There is an opinion prevalent with some pomologists, that fruits of various kinds, ap- 

 ples and pears for instance, degenerate by a continuation of grafting or budding, through 

 a long series of generations, and that new varieties obtained from seed are not subject to 

 this degenerating process, until the variety has been long cultivated and propagated by buds 

 or branches. 



They say — that propagation by grafting or budding is a continuation of the original tree 

 of the jjarticular variety thus propagated. That is — all the Baldwin Apple trees now grow- 

 ing in the world, are parts and parcels of the original Baldwin Apple tree grown in the 

 state of Massachusetts, and that the ages of those trees are not to be counted from the 

 times they were respectively grafted or budded, but from the time the seed germinated 

 that produced the original tree of that name; that at some future period' of time, (not 

 very well ascertained,) this variety of tree will produce degenerate fruit; that the quality 

 of the fruit can never be bronght back to its primitive character, because of the age of the 

 parent tree. Yet a seed of this degenerate fruit grown on a tree whose parentage may 

 be traced back two or three centuries, will produce a new variety possessing distinct cha- 

 racteristics; that it Avill retain those qualities until it arrives at a certain age, when its 

 degeneracy will commence also. 



Although this theory has strong names in its support, some of whom have, no doubt, 

 received it on trust without investigation — I have never seen sufficient evidence in the facts 

 relied on, to convince me of its truth. 



A jjarticular variety of the apple, (called new,) is discovered in a new settlement, grow- 

 ing on virgin soil; the fruit is large, handsome, and of good flavor. It becomes a fovorite, 

 and is extensively propagated by budding or grafting, and spread over large districts of 

 country. The soil on which this variety was first discovered as a "seedling," is culti- 

 vated, cropped, and impoverished — manures are applied — the soil is improved and 

 strengthened — it again produces good crops of corn, wheat and grasses; but this apple, 

 (now called old,) does not exhibit its former fair proportions and other praiseworthj^ qua- 

 lities. It is condemned as a worn-out, degenerate variety, and the onl}^ reason assigned 

 for thus giving the cold shoulder to an old friend is, that it has been legitimately propagat- 

 ed through a long series of generations. Such a reason for casting off an old friend is very 

 easily gotten up, and may be made to assume a very plausible shape. 



Now let the " rejected" apple tell its own tale of woe. " j\Iy ancestors were highly 

 prized by your fore-fathers. Both flourished together in primitive times. The virgin soil 

 furnished our family Avith plenty of such food as suited to produce our then fair propor- 

 tions and peculiar flavor. That soil was cropped and impoverished by your relatives, un- 



