NOTES ON CALIFORNIA PLANT BREEDING 



By E. J. Vickson, University of Calif crnia, Berkeley, Cal. 



Plant breeding has been pursued in California ever since the establish- 

 ment of the missions by the Spanish padres. The first of these establish- 

 ments was made at San Diego in 1769, and here the first cultivated fruit was 

 grown. Gardens surrounded also the missions established later as the padres 

 proceeded northward through the coast region of the State. INIany kinds of 

 fruit were grown, and quite marked differences in the varieties of the same 

 fruit were noted by visitors to these missions before the date of American 

 occupation, and many of the fruits survived after that date. While the 

 "mission grape" and the "mission fig" were the same at all the missions and 

 indicate continuous propagation by cuttings, the mission olive has local varia- 

 tions which have never been accounted for. The deciduous fruits varied 

 greatly and seem to indicate selection from seedlings. There is no evidence 

 that the padres practiced budding or grafting, and there are some reasons 

 for thinking that they relied upon growth from seed and secured better 

 varieties here and there by selection, although they developed nothing by the 

 process equal to the varieties known to Europeans and Americans at the 

 middle of the last century. 



Very soon after the American occupation and the announcement of gold 

 discovery, a sharp interest arose in new varieties of fruits upon the widely 

 prevalent idea that such varieties would be better adapted to local soils and 

 climates than the popular sorts of the humid regions of America and Europe. 

 There were thousands of seedlings to select from, because seeds and pits 

 were easily brought along the various routes followed by the pioneers, while 

 the shipment of nursery stock was very difficult and expensive. The firsf 

 fruits grown in the State by Americans were counted worth as much for seed 

 as for pulp, so sharp was the demand for the multiplication of trees. Many 

 very satisfactory seedlings were fruited, some of which have ever since main- 

 tained their places in the fruit lists of the State. When the introduction of 

 grafted trees from all parts of the world began by enthusiastic horticulturists 

 who came from all civilized countries to the new El Dorado, there became 

 available many new elements of parentage. It may be doubted whether in 

 any part of the w^orld so many varieties came to fruiting at the same time as 

 were to be found in Central California. The growth of seedlings continues 

 still, in the belief that the wonderfully favorable conditions for growth would 

 produce horticultural wonders in size, beauty and quality. Of course, not all 

 such anticipations were realized. Selection of seedlings began to be pursued 

 upon a rather more rational ground, namely, to secure particular adaptations to 

 local needs in season of ripening, in suitability for preservation and transporta- 



