ON THE APPLE 
duced in a combination of good qualities. Some 
of the individuals improve in certain points from 
year to year, and reveal new strength in certain 
valued characters, while others may fail to fulfil 
their early promise. The test must extend over a 
series of years, after the trees have commenced 
to bear, and each new strength or weakness in 
every direction must be noted with unflinching 
fidelity. 
With the record of my own experiments as a 
guide, let us briefly glance over the field, to gain 
such clues as we may to the opportunities that still 
lie open for the betterment of this fruit. 
A Few PracticaL HInts 
Great emphasis has been laid on the fact that 
apples do not breed true from seed. It should be 
noted, however, that some varieties are much more 
nearly fixed than others. The Fameuse, Graven- 
stein, Garden Royal, and Golden Russet may be 
named among those that tend to reproduce a good 
many of their characteristics in their seedlings. 
Yet from any of these there may be produced 
apples showing almost every possible variation 
as to size, shape, acidity, flavor, and color. And 
so the growth of seedlings will be undertaken only 
for the purpose of securing new variations or to 
supply stocks on which to graft cions from old 
ones. 
[191] 
