Apprmlis. 483 



//. REMARKS ON CLASSIFYING AND DESCRIBING 

 FRUITS. 



We name the varieties of fruits in order that we may speak and 

 write about them. Since the name is a definite thing, it is commonly 

 assumed that the variety is also a definite thing. It is a fact, however, 

 that varieties are not definite or definable. This follows from two facts, 

 that there is no original or necessary standard or measure of what 

 shall constitute a variety, and that the variety may vary or change 

 through the influence of climate or other agencies. There are, there- 

 fore, varieties representing all degrees of differences, some being so 

 unlike all others as to be universally accepted as distinct, and some so 

 like others as to cause dispute as to whether they are really varieties or 

 not. Again, we must not assume, because one name has been retained 

 for a certain stock, that the stock, therefore, remains the same. For 

 example, the fact that we still use the name Catawba does not prove 

 that the Catawba grape is the same now as it was when first named 

 and disseminated; the King is not the same apple in Oregon and New 

 York, although the name is the same in both states, and all the trees 

 have been propagated from one original. 



These remarks are made for the purpose of pointing out the facts 

 that the classifying and describing of varieties involve two classes 

 of problems, the questions connected with the making of the names 

 and the systems (as the form of the name, rules of priority, schemes 

 of classification), and those associated with the natural history of 

 varieties (as to whether given varieties are distinct, the value of 

 geographical names and synonyms, and the like). The practical ap- 

 plication of these remarks is, that we are not to expect uniform 

 exactness, either in the classifying of varieties or in the describ- 

 ing of them. We can deal only with types, expecting that numerous 

 exceptions will be found to the most painstaking description, and to 

 the most carefully made key. Varieties are not entities or things, 

 as machines are, a fact which, though usually not recognized, has 

 been the reason for the failure of the many attempts to protect the 

 originator of varieties by means of patent rights. 



The first step in making a sketch of a variety is to distinguish 

 clearly between a description and a characterization. A description 

 gives a full account of all the attributes; a characterization gives 

 only those attributes which are unique to the variety. For example, 

 ten kinds of cherries may be large, red and heart-shaped; in descrip- 

 tions, these three attributes are repeated for each variety; but in 



