CHAPTER XXV. 



Seedling vs. Budded Trees. 



This was the first subject fully discussed at the regular 

 monthly meetings of the Southern California Horticultural So- 

 ciety, thereby showing it was the most prominent matter need- 

 ing elucidation by the pomologists of this country. 



I can do no better than to give the arguments pro and con 

 advanced at those discussions. They brought to light the best 

 ideas of the most experienced growers. I have no reason to 

 change the views I then entertained on this important subject. 

 The discussion took place at the April session of the Society, 

 1.877, and was reported substantially as follows in the Horti- 

 culturist: 



"T. A. Garey opened the discussion by exhibiting a great va- 

 riety of budded fruit. It would pay to bud the orange, the same 

 as it pays to raise fine fruits of other varieties, or fine stock. 

 All fine fruits are at first the result of accident. The fine va- 

 rieties are propagated by budding or grafting. A thousand 

 peach pits would produce numerous varieties of the peach, but 

 only one tree of the lot might be worth perpetuating. The same 

 rule applies to the orange, though not to so great an extent. 

 The orange more nearly reproduces itself from the seed than 

 any other known fruit. Good seed, or seed from good oranges, 

 will generally produce trees that will bear good fruit, but not 

 always. Nurserymen generally get seed from the poorest or- 

 anges, because they contain more seeds; but these seeds will 

 produce trees that will, unless budded, bear an inferior fruit. 

 He exhibited a Mediterranean Sweet as being certainly a good 

 fruit. It will pay to bud the orange, even though the best varie- 

 ties be no better than the best Los Angeles oranges. Wolfskin's 



