360 



The Journal of Heredity 



GROWINC; UNDER CULTIVATION 



A wild apple of the Cordilleras, domestieated in the Rio Negro valley. When given some care, 

 these trees bear large crops of fruit, and although the quality is very diverse, as is usual with 

 seedlings, much of it is good. (Fig. 9.) 



many branches the apples arc gathered 

 to the extent of hundreds of bushels 

 and usually made into cider, or they are 

 eaten by the numerous herds of cattle 

 that ranj^e the mountains. The woolly 

 aphis has commenced its depredations 

 among the trees and is fast penetrating 

 to the most remote. 



HISTORICAL RECORDS 



The generally accepted explanation 

 of the a])ijle in this region is that it was 

 introduced by the early Jesuit mission- 

 aries. The oldest record found is that 

 in the diary of D. Basilio Villarino, pilot 

 of the royal armada, who had been 

 ordered to lead an expedition up the 

 Rio Negro from the sea for the purpose 

 of reaching Valdivia on the Pacific 

 coast by an overland route. His voyage 

 lasted 8 months, from the twenty-eighth 

 day of Septemlx'r 1782 to the twentv- 

 fifth day of May, 1783, only three 

 weeks of which were needed for the 



return. Hardly a month out, October 

 26, and not yet far from the Atlantic 

 coast, he speaks of the Tier r a de las 

 Manzanas (apple land), about which 

 he had heard through the Indians that 

 were accustomed to descend to the 

 Pampas in search of cattle and horses. 

 By January 23 he had reached the 

 juncture of the rivers Neuquen and 

 Limay, and ascending the latter, about 

 three weeks later, his advance j)arty 

 brought in branches from apjjle trees 

 found on the banks of a small stream 

 flowing into the Limay from the west. 

 Unfortunately, for the purpose of his 

 expedition, Villarino did not continue 

 to follow the Limay to its source, 

 but went up the CoUoncura which was 

 more easy of navigation; he then 

 jDrobably jjroceeded uj) the Chimehuin, 

 a river flowing into the CoUoncura 

 from the west just a little north of the 

 40th i)arallel, to the neighl)orhood of 

 lake Huechulaufquen. Almost daily, 



