ORIGIN AND IMPROVEMENT OF FRUIT 321 



variety is grown more largely in California than any other, 

 but the small size has been a matter of concern, and many 

 efforts have been made to improve it. Leonard Coates, a 

 nurseryman and fruit-grower of Morganhill, California, ob- 

 served a branch of a French prune tree that produced fruit 

 of large size. Grafts of it were inserted into peach stock 

 and the new form was found to be identical with that of 

 the original branch. Extensive tests were made to deter- 

 mine its value, and so successful do they appear that it is 

 believed it may prove to be "the most valuable addition 

 to the commercial prune varieties ever introduced ia 

 America." 



There are no known cases of bud variations of the cherry, 

 and only four mutations of the peach out of 2181 varieties 

 described by Hedrick in "The Peaches of New York." 



Knight records the case of a Yellow Magnum Bonum plum, 

 one branch of which bore red Magnum Bonum fruits.' A 

 Coes Golden Drop is reported by Powell as producing a 

 branch which bears red fruit. An Isabella grape vineyard, 

 in California, is said to have produced several mutating 

 vines which bore fruit superior in quality to the mother plants, 

 and that have been propagated under the name "Pierce." 

 The Golden Queen raspberry originated as a sport from 

 Cuthbert, formerly called Queen of the Market, and was 

 introduced to public notice by J. T. Lovett, Little Silver, 

 New Jersey. 



The occurrence of nectarines as bud-sports on peach trees 

 is, of course, common and has been observed by horticultur- 

 ists for a long time. 



Whitten took cions from a high- and low-yielding Ben 



Davis tree in 1895 and has observed trees propagated from 



them until 1917. He says: "Summing up the results for 



the entire period of years since the trees came into bearing 



1 Munson, W. M. Loc. cil. 



