February 22, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



87 



while on the other side of the ridge they run into the Raystown 

 Branch. South of us, across the edge of the barrens (see page 89), 

 • the forest hides a Httle orchard set in a meadow of turf, whose 

 beauty is somewhat marred by the untiring efforts of a small, 

 black animal, known in the vernacular as a " hock." The 

 gnarled old trees bear apples that in most instances are to be 

 avoided, but one sort, known as "Johnny or Jenny," with 

 small scarlet and white striped fruit, combines beauty and 

 goodness in a remarkable degree. From our summit we 

 look down the length of the broad, shallow depression where 

 Trough Creek flows north, and beyond that to the great local 

 landmark, Grave Mountain. Except for a few clearings, 

 nothing but forest is before us, most of it composed of 

 deciduous trees, though the upper levels are outlined by belts 

 of Pines. It is quite noticeable that the Pines, as well as the 

 lateral ridges, all run diagonally from the axes of the two main 

 ridges. 



Around to the right there is a break in the forest where the 

 " Pinnacle Farm " lies, its stone chimney rising unbroken from 

 the fallen frame-work of the house. From the Gerardias, 

 Asters and Blazing Stars trying to cover the stony field at our 

 feet to the Pines serrating the farthest ridge, the whole land- 

 scape is a harmony of the most glorious color — color so pure 

 in tone, yet so exquisitely blended, with the Pines giving their 

 minor chords, that, as one realizes the brevity of this pageant, 

 it is impossible not to wish it might be always October. 



Harrisburg, Pa. Mir a Lloyd Dock. 



Are the Varieties of Orchard-fruits Running Out? 



PROFESSOR BAILEY'S thoughtful paper on this subject, 

 recendy read before the Western New York Horticultural 

 Society, is here reproduced almost entire: 



Two years ago I presented before this society a discussion 

 upon the general question of the running out of varieties, in 

 which I reached the conclusion that plants grown from seeds 

 constantly tend to vary or run out, as also do those which are 

 grown from buds of highly developed or abnormal parts, but 

 those grown from buds of normal or natural parts, as the or- 

 chard truits, remain permanent. Running outdoes not neces- 

 sarily mean the deterioration of a variety, but simply a change 

 or modification which obscures its identity ; but inasmuch as 

 varieties of orchard fruits, being propagated by buds, do not 

 vary or change to any extent, the discussion now in hand really 

 turns upon the question as to whether varieties may not wear 

 out or be limited in duration without having passed by varia- 

 tion into other forms. Is the Esopus Spitzenburg Apple, for 

 instance, approaching the limit of its life ? 



The most direct meansof approaching the subject is through 

 the historical method. What proportion of the varieties cul- 

 tivated fifty or a hundred years ago are now known .■' If any 

 of these old varieties are not cultivated at the present day, 

 what are the causes of their disappearance ? In 1806 M'Mahon 

 catalogued fifty-nine varieties of Apples for cultivation in 

 North America. Of these, twenty-one were offered for sale in 

 1892. In 1817 William Coxe gave a list of one hundred kinds 

 of the best Apples for cultivation in North America, of which 

 forty were still offered for sale in 1892. In 1845 A. J- Down- 

 ing described 190 varieties of Apples, of which eighty-four are 

 now offered for sale. That is, from sixty-four to fifty-four per 

 cent, of these varieties have disappeared withm a century. 

 Why? 



I. Have they disappeared because of age ? 



We do not know that any type or species of animal or plant 

 is pre-limited in duration. It is true that many of the earlier 

 forms of life have wholly disappeared, but this disappearance 

 may h;rve been due to change of physical conditions to which 

 they were subjected, or to defeat in the struggle for existence, 

 rather than to a wearing-out or predetermined death. But, 

 even if species do wear out, the deterioration is so slow that 

 it could not be detected in many centuries, probably ; and, it 

 is fair to assume that any such tendency would be much 

 overbalanced by the protecting care which man extends to all 

 species or varieties which please him. 



But there are now sufficient records to show that mere age 

 of a variety counts for little or nothing. The White Jennet- 

 ting Apple was described as early as 1660 by Evelyn, and it is 

 still grown in England, and Dovv'ning described it fully in 1852. 

 The Ribston Pippin, which is probably the most popular Apple 

 in England, and which is well known in America, is probably 

 about 200 years old. Its history is clear for more than a cen- 

 tury, at least. The White Doyenne, or Virgaleau Pear, is over 

 200 years old, and although this variety has nearly disappeared 

 in America, it has not run out, as we shall see. The Bartlett 

 Pear originated in 1770. The Green Gage Plum was mentioned 



as early as 1629, and it was probably then an old variety. Simi- 

 lar instances are frequent, especially in European fruits. It 

 is obviously a fallacy to say that certain varieties, which were 

 grown a hundred years ago, have disappeared because of their 

 age, when certain other varieties of equal age are still in 

 profitable cultivation. About two-thirds of the varieties which 

 M'Mahon catalogued in 1806 appear to have been lost, but the 

 other third, which still persists, contains some of our best 

 Apples. These persistent varieties are : Early Harvest, Sum- 

 mer Queen, Margaret, King, Bough (or Bow), Woolman's 

 Harvest, Golden Pippin, Summer Pearmain, Fall Pippin, 

 American Pippin, Orange, Vandevere, Newtown Pippin, Mon- 

 strous Pippin, Holland Pippin, Rhode Island Greening, Swaar, 

 Yellow Bellefleur, Harrison, Hughes' Virginia Crab, Cooper's 

 Russeting. All these facts show either that age does not de- 

 termine the virility of a variety, or that varieties differ widely 

 in this respect. It we can find satisfactory reasons for the dis- 

 appearance of these lost varieties, we shall be forced to con- 

 clude that varieties of orchard fruits do not wear out with 

 age. 



2. Do varieties disappear because they are ill-adapted to new 

 environments ? 



Most varieties are more or less local in their adaptations; 

 that is, they are not suited to cultivation over wide areas which 

 comprise great differences of soils and climates. It must fol- 

 low, therefore, that those varieties which are most local and 

 which must require most skill in cultivation, must constantly 

 tend to disappear, because they cannot compete with the more 

 cosmopolitan sorts which nurserymen find it more profitable 

 to propagate. There is a constant selection among the varie- 

 ties of fruits, which eliminates the least adaptive kinds. This 

 fact is remarkably well illustrated in the relative behaviors in 

 America of the old varieties of European and American 

 origin. In 1817, as I have said, William Coxe made a list of 

 100 varieties of Apples especially commended for cultivation 

 in North America. Of these, thirty-two are known to be of 

 European origin and fifty-seven of American origin. In 1892, 

 forty of these varieties were sold by American nurserymen, 

 but thirty-three of them belong to the American group and 

 only seven to the European group. In other words, only forty 

 per cent, of the Apples of American origin in Coxe's list have 

 been lost, while seventy-eight per cent, of the European group 

 have disappeared. In this instance, therefore, very many of 

 the varieties appear to have passed out of cultivation because 

 they were not well adapted to American conditions. Coxe also 

 listed sixty-five varieties of Pears in 1817. Only four of 

 them are now in cultivation, and these are all of American 

 origin. 



In 1845 there were 190 varieties of Apples in North America. 

 Eighty-seven of these are known to be of European origin and 

 ninety-three of American origin. At the present time, seventy- 

 seven per cent, of the European lot have been lost in America, 

 against only thirty-three per cent, in the American lot. This 

 shows that with the greater number of varieties which had 

 come into use since the time of Coxe and from which selec- 

 tions had been made, there had appeared more American 

 than European varieties of merit for American conditions. 

 In other words, American varieties are better adapted to 

 American conditions than the European varieties are ; and 

 this accounts for the disappearance of many of the Apples 

 in the old lists. There has been a constant tendency from the 

 first toward the disappearance of the Apples, Pears, and all 

 other fruits of European origin, and toward the persistence 

 of American kinds. There is a like tendency, very strongly 

 marked, toward the disappearance of New England Apples 

 and other fruits from the prairie states, and a corresponding 

 increase in the percentages of fruits original to those regions. 

 If a certain variety, therefore, as the Baldwin, disappears from 

 large portions of a western state, this fact is an illustration of 

 lack of adaptability to those conditions rather than of a run- 

 ning out. Many of the varieties which are commonly thought 

 to have run out, are now and then foimd thriving in perfection 

 in some isolated localities, showing that they still retain their 

 pristine vigor. 1 may illustrate this point by the fact that many 

 of the novelties of any year or decade fail to become popular 

 because they are not adapted to a wide range of conditions, and 

 some of them are almost immediately lost from this reason. 

 This is a forcible illustration that disappearance and running 

 out are very diffeient matters. I am becoming more and more 

 convinced that the study of the adaptations of varieties to con- 

 ditions of soil and climate and other environments, is one of 

 the most important subjects with which the horticulturist has 

 to do, and that the neglect of it in the past has been a serious 

 hindrance, and is a source of much confusion now that the 

 least adaptive varieties are being sifted out. 



