v.] RUNNING OUT OF VARIETIES. 145 



dislike to handle them, and so on. If we could trace 

 out every case of the disappearance of varieties, we 

 should no doubt find a special and separate reason for 

 each one. On the other hand, we should find various 

 varieties, like the Green Gage plum, the Ribston Pippin 

 apple, Bergamot pear, and others, which have persisted 

 for centuries in undiminished excellence ; and everyone 

 must recognize the fact that in the past a variety of 

 apple has rarely gained much prominence until the first 

 or second generation of trees has passed away. It is 

 significant that many of our best fruits are also the 

 oldest, as, for instance, the Baldwin, Greening, Roxbury 

 Russet and King apples, and the Bartlett pear. 



There are various other contributory reasons for the 

 founding of this hypothesis of the different behavior of 

 seeds from new and old varieties. It was conceived that 

 new varieties, and particularly young trees of new varie- 

 ties, are not yet fixed in their characters and are in a 

 state of variation or amelioration. One of the best 

 proofs of this, to Van Mons' mind, seemed to be the 

 experiences of the colonists in America. At first, no 

 famous or notable varieties of fruits appeared. This 

 was conceived to be because the seeds had been taken 

 from old varieties in the mother country; but after a 

 time, through the successive generations of trees coming 

 from these first sowings, there began to appear many 

 excellent varieties of fruits. I am afraid that if this 

 argument could be tested by historical facts, it would be 

 found to rest upon a very slender foundation. The fact 

 that pomologists know of the existence of few merit- 

 orious varieties in the early days does not prove that 

 such varieties did not exist; for the fruit plantations 

 were few and scattered, there was little incentive to 



10 SUR. 



