256 



Plant-Breeding 



in clusters, the fruits are usually borne singly. That 

 is, most of the flowers fail to set fruit, and they complete 

 their mission when they have shed their pollen for the 

 benefit of the one which persists. 



The American colonists brought with them the staple 

 varieties of the mother countries. But the needs of the 



new country were unlike those 

 of the old, and the tastes and 

 fashions of the people were chang- 

 ing. So, as seedlings came up 

 about the buildings and along 

 the fences, where the seeds had 

 been scattered, the ones that 

 promised to satisfy the new needs 

 were saved, and many of the old 

 varieties were allowed to pass 

 away. In 1817, the date of the 

 first American fruit-book, over 

 sixty per cent of the varieties 

 particularly recommended for 

 cultivation in this country were 



Fm. 70. -Japanese anemone Qf American origin In 1845) 



nearly two hundred varieties of 



apples were described as having been fruited in this 

 country, of which over half were of American origin. 

 Between these two dates introduction of foreign varie- 

 ties had been freely made, so that the percentage of 

 domestic varieties had fallen. But the next thirty years 

 saw a great change. Of 1823 varieties described in 

 1872, nearly or quite seventy per cent were American, 

 and a still greater proportion of the most prized 



