194 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



VARIATION IN APPLES.' 



BY J. K. SHAW. 



It is safe to assume that the Ben Davis is the most widely 

 cultivated of any commercial variety of apples in America. It 

 is known in almost every apple-growing section. It is therefore 

 grown under a great variety of conditions of climate, from the 

 short hot summers and long cold winters of Quebec to opposite 

 conditions in Ai'kansas and Texas. It also flourishes in a great 

 variety of soil conditions. Moreover, it seems to be in itself 

 more variable than other sorts, and responds in a greater degree 

 to varying environment than do most other varieties. 



These considerations led to its selection as a variety f or^ the 

 study of variation in apples, and the results of two years' in- 

 vestigation are here reported. The matter is presented under 

 two headings, (1) the variation in size and form as grown in the 

 Clark orchard of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and 

 (2) the variation in form, quality and other characters when 

 groAvn under widely varying conditions of climate and soil in 

 the United States and Canada. 



Variation in the Colt.ege Oechabd. 

 In the fall of 1908 the product of four trees in the college 

 orchard was picked separately and divided each into four lots, 

 comprising the product of the upper south, lower south, upper 

 north and lower north quarters of the trees. These were studied 

 with reference to size and form. This arrangement gave op- 

 portunity for two comparisons: (ft) from difterent trees, {h) 

 from different parts of the trees. 



i Work on this subject wa.s begun by the v^•riter in 1007 a-s a part of the requirements for the 

 decree of M.S. by the Ma.ssachusetts Agricult.iral College, and ^as continued and extended m 

 1908. It was done under the direction of Prof. F. C. Sears, to whom the thanks of the wr.ter are 

 extended for encouragement and suggestions, and also to Prof. F A. Waugh who J- a U,d .n 

 many ways. Assistanceand .suggestions have also been received from many hort.cultunts and 

 fruit growers fro.n various parts of the country. It is impossible to name them here, but the 

 debt to all is gratefully acknowledged. 



