XXIV.] RUNNING OUT IN FRUITS. 383 



discussion [reprinted above] upon the running out of 

 varieties, in which I reached the conclusion that plants 

 grown from seeds constantly tend to vary or run out, 

 as also do those which are grown from buds of highly 

 developed or abnormal parts, but that those grown 

 from buds of normal or natural parts, as the or- 

 chard fruits, remain practically permanent. While 

 my general conclusion, that some varieties run out 

 and others may remain more or less permanent, 

 appeared to meet with the approval of those who 

 took part in the discussion, there was some objec- 

 tion to the statement that the varieties of orchard 

 fruits do not run out, and I was cited to the fact 

 that the catalogue of these fruits is constantly 

 changing and that many of the varieties which were 

 popular a generation or more ago have disappeared. 

 It is my purpose at this time to examine more mi- 

 nutely into the permanence of these varieties of or- 

 chard or tree fruits. I must say, before proceeding 

 further, that running out does not necessarily mean 

 the deterioration of a variety, but simply a change or 

 modification which obscures its identity ; but inas- 

 much as varieties of orchard fruits — being prop- 

 agated by buds — do not vary or change to any 

 marked extent, the discussion now in hand really 

 turns upon the question as to whether varieties may 

 not wear out or be limited in duration without 

 having passed by variation into other forms. Is 

 the Esopus Spitzenburgh apple, for instance, ap- 

 proaching the limit of its life ? 



The most direct means of approaching the subject 

 is through the historical method. What proportion 

 of the varieties cultivated fifty or a hundred years 



