124 



something more underlying propagation than we have been 

 in the habit of assuming; in other words, it will naturally 

 bring up the question as to whether there may not be not 

 only bud variation in the tree itself, but whether the rela- 

 tive position of some of the buds on the bud stick may have 

 some importance which we have not given them credit 'for 

 Hedrick of Geneva has suggested that there may be, and cer- 

 tainly is, a necessity for investigation along this line of the 

 relative importance of position of buds. I know of no data 

 thereon. From other data which is contained in this report 

 of Dr. Shamel's we are led to assume that the Navel orange 

 is in a particularly variable mood ; in other words, the fre- 

 (|ueney of varience is remarkable and nothing -has revealed 

 the variation so much as statistical measurements of the 

 yield secured. The grading and counting and weighing of 

 the fruit from each tree has revealed the presence of enor- 

 mous variation apart from those which were readily seen by 

 the eye and one interesting thing is the frequency of off-type 

 brandies in a given tree ; in other words, the bud mutation 

 is quite frequent and easily recognized by one who goes 

 through the grove carefully. In the Dixon grove, planted 

 to Marsh's seedless grapefruit, where part of this work was 

 carried out, out of a total of 500 trees, it was found that 123 

 were unproductive, some of them bearing fruits with as 

 many as 96 seeds. Many of the off-type trees, produced 

 extremely large, coarse skinned, juiceless and flavorles-; 

 fruits or same were otherwise undesirable or unsaleable. In 

 addition to these off-types they had found a type of th-; 

 standard Marsh's seedless tree that bears a full crop only 

 every alternate season, being practically barren in other sea- 

 sons. In some of the standard type trees there was fruit 

 borne which sold as high as $3.75 a half box or $7.50 per 

 box, which Avould make an enormous difference from the in- 

 come from an orchard as compared with an orchard of tho 

 undesirable type. Again, in another case, there were found 

 three trees in one experimental plot of 25 tiiat have borne 

 consistently large crops of the finest qualities for three sea- 



