172 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



originated as a bud sport. It came originally from a bud on one 

 side of that Concord vine which grew into the cane that bore the 

 giant Concord fruit. Something had so fundamentally changed 

 the nature of that original bud as to affect not only it, and the 

 cane which grew from it, but also the seed which the giant Con- 

 cord produced. 



Not only may we have the development of new varieties as 

 bud sports, they may come also as seed sports. For example: 

 we may get a smooth skinned peach, which we call the nectarine, 

 originating from the pit of a peach. This is a case of a sport 

 originating from the seed. 



Finally we may have new varieties originating as selected 

 strains, either from seed selection or bud selection. By a long 

 process of gradual selection and change a new variety may be 

 developed in this way. For example, some lettuce growers of 

 Rochester, New York, starting with Henderson's Gold Ball let- 

 tuce, after many years produced a selected strain which was 

 somewhat different from the original type with which they 

 started. Through a series of generations extending for over 

 twenty years they developed a lettuce gradually by selection 

 towards the type which they wanted. At the end of that time 

 they had a variety which was distinct enough from the old Hen- 

 derson Gold Ball so you could properly call it a distinct strain. 



So, also we may develop selected strains asexually, as for 

 example, strains of violets, Madam Salleroi geraniums or, per- 

 haps, of potatoes, or of other plants which are propagated by 

 division of parts. Selecting the propagating material, buds or 

 scions or cuttings, or whatever it may be, through a succession 

 of asexual generations, we may thus sometimes succeed in de- 

 veloping something different from the original type, which may 

 be called an improved strain. 



The Work Should Have State Aid. — We must study scien- 

 tifically these processes of reproduction and origination of im- 

 proved types in order to make the greatest progress. The work 

 which men like Mr. Patten is doing is a splendid type of work. 

 It is the kind of work that ought to be perpetuated. Mr. Patten 

 has but the life of an ordinary man in which to do his work ; the 

 state is perpetual; it will live on year after year, generation 

 after generation. We expect that centuries from now the people 

 of Minnesota will be growing apples and grapes and other good 

 things here in this region long after we and our children's chil- 

 dren have passed away and have been forgotten. It certainly 



