62 SEEDLING PROPAGATION OF VARIETIES. 



order, as lie asserted the theory, that at or near the 

 sixth generation of successive seedlings, the highest 

 point of excellence is reached, and a rapid declension 

 begins. I have nowhere seen confirmatory examples 

 of the last portion of his dogma. 



The seeds of the variety being chosen, its fruiting 

 was to be accelerated by every means, as the short life 

 of man would scarcely suffice for the six generations 

 required, when the fruiting of each was extended to 

 the natural term of fifteen to twenty years. The seed- 

 lings were therefore subjected to root pruning, summer 

 pinching, ringing of the bark and twisting of the limbs, 

 until the sap retarded in its passage was tortured into 

 forming fruit. 



The seeds of the first generation, whose fruit would 

 exhibit but slight amelioration, were sown, and the 

 fruiting hastened in the same way, and the seeds 

 sown successively until the fifth and sixth generations 

 were reached. From these he produced a great variety 

 of glorious fruits. 



The limits designed for this book will not permit 

 even a hint at the extensive discussion this theory has 

 elicited, but few can doubt at this day, that the cause 

 of the variation in all cases is hybridization through 

 the fiowers. I have never seen evidence sufficient 

 to convince me that the continual cultivation of a 

 crab pear would ever alter its characteristics in the 

 individual tree or its grafts. 



Amateurs do not, however, cultivate or preserve 

 every seedling produced. Certain indications govern 

 them in their selections in the seed-bed, or soon after 



