BUD SELECTION 393 



rank growth and low yields, and such trees have been successfully top- 

 worked with scions from fruitful types. 



Deciduous Tree Fruits. The efficacy and practicability of bud se- 

 lection in other species than the citrous fruits is not yet determined. But 

 there is considerable evidence that in certain varieties at least it is 

 possible to find distinct types which remain constant when propagated 

 vegetatively. In the apple and peach bud sports are known and they 

 may be more frequent than has been supposed. Dorsey mentions four 

 varieties of apple which originated in this manner and reports the dis- 

 covery of another sport. It is possible that certain varieties have a 

 greater tendency to sport than others. The Baldwin apple may be such 

 a variety. It is claimed by some authors that the many variations occur- 

 ring in this variety are purely environmental, while others assert that they 

 have propagated such variations successfully. But in the apple and most 

 other deciduous fruits there are plenty of good varieties which are adapted 

 to conditions in the regions at present devoted to fruit growing. Here, as 

 with citrous fruits, new varieties are not needed so much as profitable 

 orchards. Will it pay to keep performance records as a basis for bud 

 selection in deciduous fruits? That is the critical point, and it is not yet 

 settled. Both favorable and adverse evidence has been presented. The 

 Virginia Station kept a record for four years of the yields of 1245 trees in 

 the same apple orchard (variety or varieties and age not known). Of 

 these 375 yielded an average of four barrels to the tree and produced 60 

 per cent, of the crop, while 215 trees averaged less than one barrel per tree 

 and were kept at a loss. The Dominion Experiment Station, Ottawa, 

 Canada, has kept records of yields of different trees in the same orchard 

 covering a period of 18 years. The most productive tree of McMahon- 

 White yielded 1250 gal., and the least productive, 882 gal. Of Patten 

 Greening the most productive tree yielded 974 gal., and the least produc- 

 tive 586 gal., while in the case of Mclntosh Red one tree yielded 1219 gal., 

 and another 670 gal. Clearly there are wide differences in the produc- 

 tivity of individual apple trees. Much of this variability in production 

 is probably due to soil differences. It is claimed by Powell, however, that 

 one cause of the marked decrease in the number of apple trees in New 

 York State is the absence of profits due to low-producing trees. The true 

 condition can be determined only by keeping performance records on an 

 extensive scale. Even though many healthy but low-producing trees 

 may be found, there still remains the question whether or not it will pay to 

 top-work these low-producers with scions from high-producers. It has 

 not yet been determined whether any of the wide differences in the 

 productivity in individual apple trees are due to bud mutations. 



Next to yield, uniformity of fruit is perhaps the most important 

 commercial consideration. But there are marked differences in varieties 



