312 POMOLOGY 



interested in the improvement of fruits, particularly the 

 pear. He placed himself in the unfortunate position of 

 conceiving a theoiy and setting about to prove it. How- 

 ever, in so doing, he greatly stimulated the science of plant- 

 breeding; and although his theory was without foundation, 

 the net result of his work is a landmark in the progress of 

 the origination of new varieties of fruits. 



His theory, in brief, may be summarized as follows:^ All 

 fine fruits are artificial products; the aim of nature, in a wild 

 state, being only a healthy vigorous tree, and perfect seeds 

 for continuing the species. It is the object of cultivation, 

 therefore, to subdue or enfeeble this excess of vegetation; 

 to lessen the coarseness of the tree; to diminish the size of 

 the seeds; and to refine the quality and increase the size of 

 the flesh or pulp. 



There is a tendency for fruit-trees to return, by means of 

 their seed, to a wild state, and such a tendency is more 

 marked in old trees than in young ones. Hence, the older a 

 tree is the nearer will the seedlings raised from it approach 

 a wild state, although they will never return entirely to it. 

 Therefore, in order to secure superior varieties, the seed 

 from young trees only should be selected, as these are in a 

 state of amelioration. Again, there is a certain limit to 

 perfection in fruits. When this point is reached, as in the 

 finest varieties, the next generation will be more likely to 

 produce poor fruit, than that from seeds of an indifferent 

 sort in the course of amelioration. 



In following out this theory, Van Mons began with seeds 

 from inferior sorts and sowed a new generation as soon as 

 fruit could be procured from the last sown, continuing this 

 process year after year. "To sow, to re-sow, to sow again, 



1 Van Mons, J. B. Arbres Fruitiers. 1835-36. Downing, A. J. 

 Fruits and Fruit Trees of America. 1900. pp. 5-7. Bailey, L. H. 

 The Survival of the Unlike, pp. 141-151. 1897. 



