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PROMISING NEW FRUITS. 



By WLLLIAM A. TAYLOR, 

 Pomologist and Assistant Chief, Bureau of Plant Industry. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In a country possessing the broad area of the United States, with its 

 wide range of climatic and soil conditions, the question as to what 

 varieties of fruits should be selected for planting is of necessity an 

 important one. While with some of the fruits in some sections expe- 

 rience with certain varieties has proved them to be so satisfactory 

 that there is little incentive to seek better sorts, this is far from true 

 with regard to most fruits in most sections. And while in general 

 it is to be expected that the varieties best adapted to a particular 

 region are such as originated therein, there are many conspicuous 

 instances where varieties have found very congenial homes at points 

 far remote from their places of origin and under climatic and soil 

 conditions very different from those places. 



The exceptional success of such varieties as the Yellow Newtown 

 apple in portions of Virginia, Oregon, and Washington; the Jona- 

 than apple in Illinois, Colorado, California, and Idaho; and the 

 Esopus (synonym Spitzenburg) apple in portions of Oregon and 

 Washington, all of which varieties originated in eastern and south- 

 eastern Xew York, are cases in point. Such examples should en- 

 courage the systematic testing of promising new fruits as they come 

 to notice from time to time throughout the climatic range of their 

 respective species or groups. Such testing should, of course, be done 

 in a small way rather than through commercial plantings, particu- 

 larly when the test is to be made in a locality where conditions differ 

 widely from those to which the sort is known to be adapted. With 

 the tree fruits a few buds or scions of the new variety afford a suffi- 

 cient start to quickly determine its probable value for planting, 

 while with the small fruits a few plants or cuttings are sufficient, if 

 so handled that they can be fully contrasted with the proved stand- 

 ard varieties of the section. Half a dozen trees reserved for use as 

 stock trees upon which to top- work new sorts afford adequate oppor- 

 tunity for such experimentation on the average fruit farm if used 

 with wise discrimination. The results obtained from such an ex- 

 perimental plat not infrequently point the way toward very impor- 

 tant varietal readjustments of commercial plantings sooner and 

 more accurately than can be done in any other way. 



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