^6 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



As competition in fruit growing- becomes more intense, it is 

 necessary to make finer distinctions in every way — to consider 

 matters from the special, rather than from the general point of 

 view. The fact that a variety is not an entity in itself, fixed and 

 invariable, but is, rather, in a large degree, the result of the con- 

 ditions under which it is grown, is becoming more fully recog- 

 nized each year, and of increasingly great moment in commercial 

 orcharding. It is the basis of the oft repeated question. "W^iat 

 varieties shall I plant?"' — a question easy to ask, but often 

 exceedingly difificult to answer in a safe and intelligent manner. 



In the earlier days of orchard planting but little regard was 

 paid to this fact of variation. If a man recommended "Bald- 

 wins" to his friend in A'irginia, that w^as sufficient reason why 

 the Virginian should plant "Baldwin," heedless of the fact that 

 the conditions of the Southland would manifest themselves in the 

 behavior of the apple. As a matter of fact, there are many trees 

 of this variety growing in the South. I will tell you later some- 

 thing of the idiosyncrasies of this variety as they appear under 

 Southern conditions. 



It would be interesting to follow the mutation of varieties from 

 the viewpoint of the evolutionist, but it will be more to the pur- 

 po.'-e of the commercial orchardist to consider the subject in its 

 more practical bearing. To one who is carefully observing vari- 

 eties which are grown under widely diiTerent conditions, the 

 remarkable departure from usual types is a most conspicuous 

 feature and often a most puzzling one as well. Frequently, the 

 A'ariation from usual forms is so great that the identity is nearly 

 obscured and no doubt, oftentimes, completely so. 



There are many agencies at work which conspire to produce 

 these variations concerning which we are speaking. They may 

 all be summed up, however, in the one category of "environ- 

 ment." If we should attempt to analyze and classify these agen- 

 cies, it is safe to assume that the most of them would come under 

 two headings, namely, soil and climate, of which the latter is the 

 more important in the present consideration because more nearly 

 beyond the control of man's power. In the final analysis, these 

 two general headings, soil and climate, would admit of almost 

 endless division and subdivision into the elements of which they 

 are composed, each one of which may be assumed to have its own 



