Appendix. 483 
II, REMARKS ON CLASSIFYING AND DESCRIBING 
FRUITS. 
We name the varieties of fruits in order that we may speak and 
write about them. Since the name is w definite thing, it is commonly 
assumed that the variety is also a definite thing. It is a fact, however, 
that varieties are not definite or definable. This follows from two facts, - 
—that there is no original or necessary standard or measure of what 
shall constitute a variety, and that the variety may vary or change 
through the influence of climate or other agencies. There cre, there- 
fore, varieties representing all degrees of differences, some being so 
unlike all others as to be universally accepted as distinct, and some so 
like others as to cause dispute as to whether they are really varieties or 
not. Again, we must not assume, because one name has been retained 
for a certain stock, that the stock, therefore, remains the same. For 
example, the fact that we still use the name Catawba does not prove 
that the Catawba grape is the same now as it was when first named 
and disseminated; the King is not the same apple in Oregon and New 
York, although the name is the same in both states, and all the trees 
have been propagated from one original. 
These remarks are made for the purpose of pointing out the facts 
that the classifying and describing of varieties involve two classes 
of problems,—the questions connected with the making of the names 
and the systems (as the form of the name, rules of priority, schemes 
of classification), and those associated with the natural history of 
varieties (as to whether given varieties are distinct, the value of 
geographical names and synonyms, and the like). The practical ap- 
plication of these remarks is, that we are not to expect uniform 
exactness, either in the classifying of varieties or in the describ- 
ing of them. We can deal only with types, expecting that numerous 
exceptions will be found to the most painstaking description, and to 
the most carefully made key. Varieties are not entities or things, 
as machines are, a fact which, though usually not reeognized, has 
been the reason for the failure of the many attempts to protect the 
originator of varieties by means of patent rights. 
The first step in making « sketch of a variety is to distinguish 
clearly between a description and a characterization. A description 
gives a full account of all the attributes; a characterization gives 
only those attributes which are unique to the variety. For example, 
ten kinds of cherries may be large, red and heart-shaped; in descrip- 
tions, these three attributes are repeated for each variety; but in 
