394 GENETICS JN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE 



in respect to uniformity and in the extent to which this feature is trans- 

 mitted to vegetative offspring. The experience of Tyson Brothers in 

 Adams County, Pa., illustrates this point. They propagated 8000 trees 

 with scions from two old trees of York Imperial apples which had been 

 noticed because of their productivity and the uniformity in shape of 

 their fruit. Unfortunately no scions were taken from average or poor 

 trees, and hence there is no basis for comparing productiveness in the young 

 orchard. Furthermore it is possible that these trees will exhibit less 

 variation in form of fruits with increased age. But, as yet, so far as 

 uniformity of fruit is concerned, the experiment seems to have been 

 decidedly inconclusive. Progress with a similar experiment on the Ben 

 Davis variety has been reported by Whitten. Scions were taken from an 

 exceptionally poor tree and from another tree which produced the largest 

 and best apples of its kind on the station grounds. Examination of the 

 third year's crop showed no perceptible difference in size, color, grade or 

 quality of the fruit from the two lots of trees. In fact the average yield 

 per tree was somewhat higher in the lot propagated from the poor tree 

 than in the lot propagated from the superior individual. There appeared 

 to be as much variation between individual trees in each plot as between 

 the two plots. 



"Pedigreed" Nursery Stock. In response to the growing interest in 

 bud selection many nurserymen have taken advantage of the idea of value 

 which is commonly associated with pedigree. The more conscientious 

 ones have selected their scions from trees which they believe to be supe- 

 rior, but a certificate of source is not a pedigree. This term, it must be 

 admitted, has been used in scientific investigations of vegetatively 

 propagated plants, where careful records were kept for a relatively 

 large number of asexual "generations," as in Stout's work on Coleus. 

 But no nursery stock now on the market is entitled to be known as pedi- 

 greed and even though such stock may be produced in future years, 

 the danger from misrepresentation, either intentional or unintentional, 

 will be as great as ever. Coit has suggested that stock propagated from 

 tested trees be known as recorded stock and recommends a simple plan 

 by means of which Deputy County Horticultural Commissioners may 

 officially seal and record each tree when it is budded. 



Bud Selection in the Potato. No one doubts the occurrence of bud 

 mutations in the potato. Numerous instances of the origin of new 

 varieties as bud sports are on record. Yet there is considerable difference 

 of opinion regarding the relative frequency of bud mutations in this 

 species. Numerous investigations have been made on the improvement 

 of the potato by means of tuber and hill selections. The most important 

 papers have been reviewed by East and, more recently, by Stuart. East 

 observed over 700 named commercial varieties during a period of 3 



