170 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



no variation except as produced by manure and tillage and that ot a 

 temporary nature, we could subject one set of plants to severe strains and 

 hardship and when restored to congenial environment they would produce 

 fruit of as even type as the one continued under favorable conditions. 



Plants were selected of three varieties and grown on the same soil 

 through a period of six years under the following conditions: 



Plat No. 1 was manured heavily with nitrogen, the plants set close 

 together and allowed to fruit the first year and mat very thickly. They 

 were given no winter covering and the following spring were allowed to 

 fruit all they could, and continued in fruit for four years, narrowing the 

 bed each year and allowing it to mat thick again under the influence of the 

 stimulus of nitrogen. 



Plat No. 2 having the same varieties were put in land rich in potash 

 and phosphoric acid and very moderately so in nitrogen and grown in hills 

 to preserve their individuality and enable me to more perfectly observe 

 variations. The first spring they were given extra care in all respects. 

 The blossom buds were all removed, the runners cut as fast as they 

 appeared and fully protected with mulch during the winter. The following 

 spring a careful examination was made for variations. Those having the 

 most perfect crowns and general vigor were scaled and blossom buds 

 except four on each stem removed to prevent excessive pollenation and 

 when fruit had set, two berries only were allowed to ripen. The one 

 scaling the highest and showing the most perfect fruit was selected for 

 propagating for plants the next spring. The selected plant was watered 

 and induced to throw out runners, which were potted and transferred to 

 a special bed, where they were allowed to make runners for next spring's 

 planting, the same process being repeated each year. 



At the end of four years plants were selected from each plat having as 

 nearly the same rootage as possible and each variety set in alternate rows 

 and all grown in hills under the most thorough tillage and carefully 

 mulched during the winter. 



It is ^jbrthy of note that plants from Plat No. 1 made several times 

 as many runners, and when cut they persisted in throwing out others, and 

 at the harvest time there was a very wide difference in fruitage in the 

 individual plants both in quantity and type. 



From Plat No. 2 we found that when runners were cut, new crowns 

 readily formed, and the fruitage of each plant was generally even and close 

 to type, and this difference was very marked the following year. In the 

 first case I had developed the vegetative organism of the plant so that its 

 physical ability was directed to producing runners and foliage that I dia 

 not want, and in the other I had created a strong fruit producing organism 

 and a foliage strong enough to support it in assimilating all the food 

 required by the fruit-producing vascular bundles, and by this system of 

 selection we used only the strongest plants, while weaklings and bad vari- 

 ations were annually thrown out. 



The general average of production among fruit growers is from fifty 

 to seventy-five bushels per acre of inferior berries, and this very low yield 

 in quantity and quality is due to the manner of propagating their plants. 



