March, 191 5 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



63 



Fruit Improvement Through Bud Selection" 



L. B. Scott, Bureau of Plant 



(Continued from 



SHORTLY after the beginning of 

 the efforts to improve fruit through 

 bud selection, Mr. A. D. Shamel 

 started some preliminary observations 

 with peaches at South Glastonbury, 

 Conn. Our plots include Carmen, El- 

 berta, J. H. Hale, and Belle of Georgia. 

 Similar variations were found as in the 

 citrus trees, varying from absolute bar- 

 renness to very great productiveness. 

 These differences were consistent from 

 year to year. 



Work also was started in the J. H. 

 Hale apple orchards near Seymour, 

 Conn. Because of limited time, these 

 trees were not picked, but the crop from 

 each tree was estimated each year. Cer- 

 tain trees were found that were consist- 

 ently heavy producers each year, others 

 that bore a large crop in alternate years 

 and still others that were consistently 

 poor producers each year. 



It seemed worth while because of the 

 self-evident fact that there was a marked 

 variation among trees of the same var- 

 iety in deciduous fruits, to secure more 

 detailed information on this point. Ac- 

 cordingly, after a survey of a number of 

 apple orchards in the State of Michigan 

 by Professor H. J. Eustace, of the 

 Michigan Agricultural College, and the 

 writer, this last summer two apple bud 

 selection study plots were located, one 

 of Northern Spy and one of Baldwins. 

 The same general plan was followed as 

 in the California citrus work. 



Each tree had its individual tree num- 

 ber printed on the tree trunk or large 

 main limb with white lead paint. This 

 number includes the plot number, row 

 number, and number of the tree in the 

 row. Thus, number 14 — 18 — 20 instant- 

 ly located that tree as being in plot 14, 

 row 18, and the twentieth tree from the 

 end of the row, always numbering from 

 a certain given point. 



The fruit from each tree is picked 

 separately and the fruit assembled at 

 the base of the tree. The fruit is grad- 

 ed into first, second, and third grades, 

 and each of these grades can be further 

 subdivided into large, medium and small 

 The fruit in each grade is counted and 

 weighed and the notes recorded in spe- 

 cial blanks. The notes are then trans- 

 ferred to the six-year blanks. 



Our deciduous fruit work naturally 

 divides itself into three parts, as in the 

 citrus work. 



fi) A study of the differences as they 

 (Kcur among trees under the same con- 

 ditions. 



•The results set forth in this address, which 

 was delivered during December before the annual 

 meeting of the Kansas State Horticultural 

 Society, we desire to call to the special atten 

 tlon of Canadian fruit trowera.— Editor. 



Industryj Washiagton, D. C. 



February issue.) 



(2) Can these differences be propa- 

 gated ? 



(3) Will these differences be consist- 

 ent in the budded trees? 



We can already distinguish six types 

 of Spy and six types of Baldwin trees. 

 In most cases a difference in the habit 

 of the tree growth is co-related with a 

 difference in fruit. 



These types in the case of the Spy are : 

 (i) The open productive type. 



(2) The alternate bearing type. 



(3) The upright unproductive type. 



(4) The light-foliaged type. 



(5) The deeply ridged fruit productive 

 type. 



(6) The Mcintosh Red type. 



(i) The open productive type of tree 

 corresponds to our open productive 

 lemon tree, all the branches are loaded 

 with fruit and they bear a uniformly 

 heavy crop each year. You may ask 

 "How can you tell that by one year's 

 observation?" Partly by the old fruit 

 scars, but more so by the owner's testi- 

 mony. The owner of the orchard where 

 our plot is located knows his trees and 

 can tell what a number of them have 

 done in the past. 



(2) There are a number of trees of the 

 alternate bearing type which bear a large 

 crop every other year. While the.se are 

 profitable trees, they do not represent 

 as great a financial return to the owner 

 as the trees which bear a large crop 

 every year. 



(3) A very common type of Spy tree in 

 all orchards we have visited is the up- 

 right unproductive. This type of tree 

 is a large upright one, a very lig'ht 

 cropper, and in some cases absolutely 

 barren. Associated with this distinct 



habit in tree growth is a markedly ridg- 

 ed, flattened fruit. The poorest tree of 

 this type in our plot this year bore one 

 bushel of these poor quality flattened, 

 ridged fruits, as compared with thirty- 

 eight and one-half bushels as borne by 

 the best tree of the productive type. 

 (These trees I am referring to are 

 twenty-two years old.) Just think what 

 that difference means in dollars and 

 cents, one bushel compared with thirty- 

 eight and one-half bushels. 



(4) The light foliaged, unproductive 

 type shows a distinct variation in foliage, 

 has a spreading habit of growth and 

 bears a fruit somewhat flattened and 

 ridged at the calyx and blossom ends. 



(5) Another type for want of a better 

 name we have called the deeply ridged 

 productive. The trees are productive, 

 and the fruits resemble a standard Spy, 

 with the exception that they are a deep 

 red in color and markedly ridged. 



(6) The sixth type we have called the 

 Mcintosh Red type. Probably some 

 other name would be more appropriate. 

 The fruits are flattened, but they have a 

 color resembling a Mcintosh. 



We have found these types in other 

 orchards. In orchards that were in sod, 

 in orchards that were cultivated, in low- 

 headed orchards and in high-headed or- 

 chards. 



In the Baldwins we have found at 

 least six types. Some are characterized 

 by differences in production and others 

 by differences in the fruits. These are • 



(i) A standard yearly productive type 

 There appears to be a marked variation 

 in the color in the fruits borne by differ- 

 ent trees of this type, varying from a 

 brown on some trees to a deep red on 

 others. 



(2 An alternate bearing type. 



(3) An upright barren type. 



An attractire display made by a Vancouver retail fruit dealer last fall during "Apple Week." 



