SEEDLINGS AND BUDDED TREES. 277 



if confined to the original plant. The supporters 

 of the opposite theory argue against this, by saying 

 that the family becomes diseased and extinct through 

 the influence of something analogous to scrofula in 

 the human family. But, can this be the case, when 

 their off'spring from seed are often perfectly free 

 from infection 1 Thus some pears, which were once 

 very fair and fine in growth, become uniformly 

 cankered and cracked, and finally disappear, while 

 plants from their seed are entirely free from both. 



An eminent gentleman of this country has said 

 that " the plant which springs from a bud is as 

 really a new plant as that which springs from a 

 seed." No seedling is exactly similar to its parent. 

 It differs either in the flavor, form, or size of its 

 fruit, or in the habit of its groAvth. There is some 

 point by which we can instantly determine that it 

 is an entirely different individual. Is such the case 

 with the plant derived from the bud ? Must they 

 not be the same, when their fruit and habit are 

 exactly alike ? Can it be said to be a distinct in- 

 dividual ? The same author adds, that " if the 

 feebleness of a tree be general, its functions languid, 

 its secretions thin, then a bud or graft will be feeble ; 

 and so will be its seed." Although the former 

 is generally true, are not the seeds of such trees 

 often unusually plump and fine? and is not this 

 feebleness often caused by expenditure of strength 



in forming them 1 But, while the seed does often 

 24 



