FIXING GOOD TRAITS 21 



Were it not for the contradiction of terms, 

 one might say that all Seckel pear trees constitute 

 a single tree. 



All these Seckel pear trees are essentially alike ; 

 they bear fruit that may vary in size and luscious- 

 ness with varying conditions, but that is every- 

 where essentially identical in flavor and in the 

 characteristic qualities of texture and color. But 

 if you plant the seeds of one of these pears you 

 do not secure Seckel pears, unless by the merest 

 chance, among the progeny. You secure instead, 

 representatives of a galaxy of ancestors, no one 

 of them individually just like the Seckel, although 

 collectively they represent all the qualities of 

 that fruit, plus almost numberless undesirable 



qualities. 



PAIRS or QUALITIES 



The fact that our most familiar and best prized 

 fruits and flowers show this lack of fixity sug- 

 gests that the inherent difficulties in the way of 

 fixing the type of these plants so that they will 

 breed true from seed are very great. Otherwise 

 some one would long ago have remedied the de- 

 fect, for the advantages of being able to grow 

 these useful plants from seed are obvious. 



Nevertheless, it should not be assumed that the 

 task of fixing the type of a newly developed race 

 of fruit or flowers is of necessity a hopeless one. 



