1872.] REPORT ON APPLES. 33 



Now in the vegetable kingdom and in most of the invertebrate orders of 

 animals — all perhaps, except insects — the two methods of reproduction, 

 sexual union and budding, regularly alternate with each other. Thus the 

 polyps, coral animals permanently attached to rocks in the bottom of the 

 «ea, commence the process of reproduction by forming buds which at 

 length detach themselves, and floating away become jelly-fishes which 

 lay eggs, from which arise the young polyps which after swimming about 

 for a while, either attach themselves to the parent reef and assist in its 

 construction or start a new colony upon another rock. This is called 

 ■alternate generation, and though limited in the animal kingdom to the 

 lower forms of life, is i^robably universal among i:)lants. And it is a well 

 established fact in natural history that no animal at least can be perma- 

 nently reproduced hj the process of budding alone. There must be 

 regular recurrence to the other method, the union of sexes. In some 

 cases of animal reproduction there are several intermediate generations 

 produced by budding, allways followed however b}^ sexual union and 

 recurrence to the original form. 



Nor does it make any difference that in most of the low forms of ani- 

 mal life the individuals are hermaphrodite or both male and female. Such 

 is the case to a large extent, though not universally, among plants. Such 

 is the case with the apple tree, which produces its stamens and pistils 

 both in the same flower or to use the technical term is androgynous. 

 The wondei-ful facts of alternate generation, though our familiarity with 

 them excites less wonder, are as true of the apple tree as they are of 

 the oyster or the polyp. Its generations go on alternating in an endless 

 and ever recurring cycle from seeds to buds and from buds to seeds. 

 Propagation from the seed reproduces the species ; from buds, the indi- 

 vidual. By the artificial transfer of buds from one stock to another, 

 called grafting or budding, we for a time perpetuate a variety. The 

 question we are attempting to answer, is, whether a variety can be per- 

 manently reproduced in this way. Can nature be compelled by art to 

 abandon her cycle of alternating generations and follow one of her 

 methods to the exclusion of the other ? 



Looking at this question in the light of the physiological facts above 

 referred to, reasoning from analog}'^, we should be led to the conclu- 

 sion that varieties cannot be permanently reproduced by grafting. Of 

 course it might be replied that " analogy is an unsafe guide," that in nat- 

 ural historjr no question can be positively determined by a deductive 

 argument, and that experiment is the only true test. The verdict of 

 experience, it is true, is not yet fully made up, but a considerate view of 

 all known facts as to the permanence of varieties seems also to indicate 

 the negative answer. All our existing varieties of the apple are compar- 

 5 



