354 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



PLANT BREEDING AS A PRACTICAL PURSUIT. 



PROF. C P. BUtL. 



(A disotissioii follow ing the above paper. See page 318, Aug. (190.?) 

 Hoi'tieiiltiirist.) 



Mr. Wyman Elliot: I would like to ask Prof. Bull a question: 

 How can we fix the nature of corn ? 



Prof. Bull: By selection, by having a number of individuals 

 from which we may select. In a seedling apple you are com- 

 paratively more or less limited, which is not the case with corn. 

 In the apple we have a tree with a number of branches, and the 

 branches all bear the same kind of fruit. If you want to fix the 

 type of a certain seedling you have only one seedling, but in the 

 case of corn you have a number from the same stalk, and from 

 that stalk you select the seed which appears to be the most uniform. 

 There is a certain inherited tendency in the production of any line 

 of fruit, and this will give you an advantage wherever you are 

 in a position to take it. 



Mr. Elliot : Do you think in breeding by grafting, budding, 

 etc., we can change the varieties very much? 



Prof. Bull : There may be a relation between the stock and 

 scion which has an influence. I am afraid I cannot answer that 

 question satisfactorily. 



Mr. Elliot : Well, do you think it might be done ? 



Prof. Bull : I think it might be done in a very slight degree. I 

 am not experienced along this line. Prof. Hansen could answer 

 that better than I. 



Prof. Hensen : There are some apples that have been under 

 cultivation for hundreds of years without having any change occur. 

 Take the Lady apple ; it is the same now as it was several hundred 

 years ago. On the other hand, we may have a variation in three 

 years, a bud variation. As Mr. Ansel Gideon said, the Wealthy 

 has changed under cultivation. I suspect the Walbridge is a varia- 

 tion, something of a bud variation. We cannot tell of any changes 

 unless the variety bears. I have planted white potatoes and red 

 potatoes and got new varieties in that way. When we see the 

 Ben Davis apple seedlings come up, any number of them resemble 

 the Ben Davis, and we have Wealthy seedlings that very much re- 

 semble the Wealthy. The apple that is raised in considerable quan- 

 tities is apt to resemble the original, just as the Wealthy is apt 

 to resemble itself when crossed with itself. You can do that on a 

 small scale by putting a paper sack on a Wealthy before it sheds 

 its pollen, and you are apt to get something that resembles the 

 parents, and for two or three generations you will fix the type. 

 You cannot do it to any great extent, it is too big a job. You 

 would have to have each tree by itself, you would have to keep 

 the bees away, and you would have to keep the trees away from 

 any other place. So we prefer to get the same results by budding 

 or grafting. 



Mr. Ferris (Iowa) : I would like to say a word in regard to 

 the work Professor Hansen is doing. I do not believe you are 

 aware of the work he is doing. He has commenced a wonderful 

 undertaking. He wants to create a new northwestern pomology. 



