THE PEACH 27 



pairs of characters to be borne in mind by the grower who is trying 

 to improve the strain. Some of these pairs may be mentioned here : 

 white and pink cobs; long and short ears; large and small cobs; 

 deep kernels and shallow kernels; ears high on the stalk or low on 

 the stalk; many ears and few ears on the stalk; abundant sucker- 

 ing and little suckering; large stems and slender stems separating 

 the ears; early maturity and late maturity; ear protruding beyond 

 the shucks or well covered with the shucks. 



In the breeding of any plant we will find numerous pairs of 

 characters one of which is always dominant over the other. In 

 deciding what pairs of characters to use or to keep uppermost in 

 plant selection, the breeder should determine which are most prac- 

 tical or useful to man. 



Pedigreed Seed. — Gardeners saving seed from their own plants 

 know the history of those plants better than when seeds are pur- 

 chased elsewhere. If plants of one variety, tomatoes for example, 

 are grown in the home garden, the grower knows that there have 

 been no tendencies to cross with other varieties. The seed is per- 

 haps purer than any he could buy from the neighbors or growers 

 where several varieties are produced. The term "pedigreed seed" 

 simply means that seed is grown, the producer having knowledge of 

 the parents, grandparents, etc. (Fig.15). 



Need of Attention to Improvements; — It is important that the 

 grower as well as the plant breeder should give attention to the im- 

 provement of plants. Too often we allow good varieties to deterior- 

 ate because of little attention to improvement. Selection should be 

 practiced constantly, not merely for a generation or two. The 

 gardener can easily watch for mutations and favorable variations 

 which if used will greatly improve the strain or help to establish 

 better ones. 



Take the strawberry, for example. In any variety we find ber- 

 ries which far surpass those about them. They may be earlier, 

 larger, sweeter, finer, more prolific, less subject to drouth, etc. 

 Plants formed by runners from these may be used to start new 

 beds with very satisfactory results. 



The Peach. — Some seedling peaches come rather true to the 

 parental characters. Others vary considerably. Probably this 

 is because of pollen being introduced from other sources. The 

 orchardist will be able to detect the best seedlings and find very 

 promising variations. By taking buds from the best individuals, 

 a nursery may be started and a new variety is the result. Our 



