APPLES 



149 



1905-8 — Munson, W. M, Variation in 



Fruitfuluess of Individual Trees. 



(Maine Bull. 122, 139, 155, 134, 137, 



138.) 

 1907— Card, F. W. Scion Selection and 



Blooming Dates. (R. I. Rept. 1907. 



P. 211-14, 220-65. Pis. 7.) 

 1908— Powell, G. T. $1,000 an Acre from 



Pedigreed Trees. (Country Life in 



Am. 13 [1908], No. 5, P. 504-6, 538, 



540. Fig. 12.) 

 1909— Beach. S. A. Rept. of Com. on 



Breeding Vine and Tree Fruits. 



(Am. Breeders Assn., Vol. 5, P. 28, 



1909.) 

 1909— Ballou, F. H. Bud Sports in Ap- 

 ples. (Ohio Circ. 94, P. 70. Fig. 



20.) 

 1911— Wright, W. ,1. What About Pedi- 

 greed Trees? (Rural New Yorker, 



P. 155, 1911.) 

 1912— Hedrick and Wellington (N. Y. 



Bull. 350). 

 1912 — Hedrick, V. P. Pedigreed Nursery 



Stock. (N. Y. Circ. No. 18.) 

 1912— Shame!, A. D. (Mo. Bull. Cal. Com. 



Hort. 1, 9. 1912.) 



Am. Breeders Assn., Vol 8, P. 497. 



Bu. Pit. Indust., Circ. 77. 



E. S. R., Vol. 19. P. 1142: Vol. 16, 



P. 265. 



American Agriculturist. Vol. 74. No. 



9, P. 60. 



Wm. Worthixgtox 



Pedi§rreed Stock, Does It Pay 



Nurserymen understand what is meant 

 by "Pedigreed Stock." They may believe 

 in it or they may not. 



There has been a good deal of discus- 

 sion as to the correctness of the term 

 "pedigreed." as applied to plants. A "pedi- 

 greed" animal infers known parentage on 

 both sides. With fruit trees and other 

 plants the female parent is often known, 

 but not the male, and many of our best 

 fruits are what is known as chance seed- 

 lings, both parents being involved in ob- 

 scurity. 



Moreover, a flower, or a fruit (using 

 the term "fruit" commercially, not scien- 

 tifically) may be pedigreed in the most 

 literal and scientific sense, being bred by 

 artificial methods, and still be worthless 



so far as any economic or commercial 

 value may be considered. 



The term "pedigreed," however, implies 

 exception and fixed quality, and that is 

 what we desire; no other name has been 

 proposed, except "selected," which is 

 meaningless. 



Pedigreed stock is simply the propaga- 

 gation of selected plants, whether bud 

 Tariants, mutants, or by whatever name 

 they may be known by scientists. 



There is at present in Southern Cali- 

 fornia a systematic work being carried 

 on under the direction of an expert sent 

 out by Dr. Galloway of the Department 

 of Agriculture, to segregate certain indi- 

 vidual citrus trees which have made a 

 record as to quality of fruit, good bearing 

 habits, and general vigor, and to use these 

 trees from which alone to propagate. 



The leading citrus growers believe in 

 bud variation, and its propagation, or 

 perpetuation by budding or grafting, and 

 are working to the end that their or- 

 chards may be improved by breeding up. 

 Some growers already are budding over 

 their bearing trees from these individual 

 specimens. Such trees will surely be 

 "pedigreed." 



An increasing number of fruit growers 

 all over California believe in pedigreed 

 trees, the theory and practice of selecting 

 individuals from which to propagate being 

 warmly upheld by Professor F. T. Bio- 

 letti, of the University of California, Mrs. 

 M. E. Sherman of Minnewawa, and others. 

 Occasionally most distinct bud variations 

 are met with, or sports, which are en- 

 titled to the classification of a new va- 

 riety. 



My attention was first called to this varia- 

 tion of individuality in 1882 when studying 

 particularly what we call "French Prune." 

 I have a water color sketch, made at that 

 time, showing the different types of the 

 French Prune, but all propagated as one.» 

 These "types." or variations are just as 

 fixed now as 25 years ago, and no one 

 has endeavored to segregate them until 

 I commenced this work in 1905 by propa- 

 gating only from marked individuals. 



But the question arises, "Does it pay?" 

 And this question Is paramount with 



