Shamel: Bud Variation in Lemons 



81 



trees, and their habits of growth and 

 production.^ 



One of the factors contributing to the 

 success of the CaUfornia citrus industry 

 has been the eUmination by the growers 

 of a great many varieties of questionable 

 value, and the adoption of a few stand- 

 ard varieties. These include a winter 

 ripening orange, the Washington navel; 

 a summer orange, the Valencia; a 

 seedless grapefruit, the Marsh; and two 

 important varieties of lemons, the 

 Eureka and Lisbon. This action has 

 led to the establishment of a valuable 

 reputation, in important markets, for 

 standard California citrus fruits. 



The next step in this connection is 

 the elimination of all of the undesirable 

 strains of standard citrus varieties that 

 have been introduced in the citrus 

 orchards, unintentionally for the most 

 part, through lack of systematic and 

 careful bud selection. This possibility 

 has been clearly and umistakably shown 

 to be practicable by the studies and 

 demonstrations which have been carried 

 on in these investigations. It seems 

 probable that, sooner or later, in the 

 case of lemons, one variety will be 

 adopted and not more than two or 

 three strains of this varietv be used in 



commercial orcharding. These strains, 

 varying in season of heavy production, 

 will produce crops during the entire 

 year, and will enable the growers to 

 establish a more valuable reputation 

 among consumers, for a standard 

 California lemon. 



PROGENY TESTS 



After considering the behavior of 

 individual lemon trees, and selecting 

 the most desirable ones, the final test 

 of the value of the trees to be used for 

 propagation purposes is the behavior 

 of their progenies. There is some evi- 

 dence at hand which shows that the 

 progenies of some parent trees are more 

 uniformly like the parents than others. 

 In other words, there is little doubt but 

 that parent trees differ in the extent to 

 which they transmit to their progenies 

 a tendency to variability. In the many 

 progeny tests of select trees, now under 

 way in California, it is believed that 

 some particularly good parent lemon 

 trees for propagation will be discovered. 

 The buds from such trees, where per- 

 formance records of one or more prog- 

 enies have been secured, may be said 

 to be truly pedigreed buds. 



Annual Meeting in New York Successful 



The three sessions of the Association's A fourth 

 annual meeting in New York City, 

 December 26 and 27, were attended by 

 about 200 people. Sixteen papers were 

 presented by their authors, and five 

 were read by title. A report of the 

 meeting is to be published in Science. 



session was held jointly 

 with the Botanical Society of Amer- 

 ica. In accordance with the decision 

 of the A. A. A. S., the next meeting 

 of the American Genetic Association 

 will be in Pittsburgh, December 28-30, 

 1917. 



' My associate, C. S. Pomeroy, has called my attention to the fact that Samuel B. Heiges, a 

 former pomologist of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, recognized the importance of bud 

 variation as early as 1894. On p. 34 of his report for that year, under the heading "Improvement 

 of Strains," he says: " It is a well-known fact that certain varieties of fruits are subject to influences 

 resulting in modification more or less valuable. For want of a better term these new forms have 

 been called strains. Upon the line of improvement of fruits through selection of strains, but 

 little practical work has been done, and it is desirable that the attention of nurserj^men and others 

 be directed to the importance of propagating from their best strains, thereby improving the quality 

 of fruits in the same manner that the stock breeder has improved breeds of domestic animals. 

 Without attempting to wholly explain the cause of this variation, it may be stated that much of 

 it is due to bud variation, and this may be perpetuated intentionally or otherwise by the removal 

 of scions for propagation." 



After further consideration of this subject and the citation of several cases of well-known 

 bud sports, Mr. Heiges concludes by saying: "It is believed that as great improvement is possible 

 along the line of selection of strains as by the endless multiplicity of new varieties, the great 

 majority of which are not equal in value to those already under cultivation." 



