EETEBT SUDDENLY TO THE OKIGINAL TYPE. 505 



From this it would seem that we are to infer that the climate 

 of N. America is so mifavourable to the Apple and Pear, that 

 when these trees were first raised there from seeds, they imme- 

 diately lost their domesticated qualities, and went back to their 

 original wild nature. If the facts are reaUy as stated, we must 

 infer that the seeds had been accidentally crossed in Europe 

 mth wild races ; which is quite possible, and this becomes the 

 more probable when it is recollected that in the remote times, 

 three centuries ago, to which the American authorities refer, 

 wild Pears and Apples must have been much more abundant 

 than now, and their pollen was far more likely to contaminate 

 domesticated plants. 



We can scarcely doubt indeed that something of this kind 

 occurs even now. Mr. Thompson states as the result of his 

 own great experience that " Seedlings from the same tree not 

 only differ widely from each other, but even those from pips, 

 taken from the same Apple, produce fruit possessing qualities 

 entirely different. For example, the excellence of the Eibston 

 Pippin need only be mentioned ; but the " Sister Eibston 

 Pippin " was a white, semi-transparent, sour-fleshed Apple, or 

 rather a large Crab. It therefore appears that the same fruit 

 may contain the germs of good and bad, both protected by the 

 same pulp and nourished by the same juice. Whether the fruit 

 of the parent tree of these - possessed intrinsic merit has not 

 been ascertained; but this we know, that many seeds from the 

 Eibston Pippin have been raised, yet none of its progeny are found 

 to inherit its peculiar flavour and excellence. The same remark 

 appHes to the old Nonpareil." From these facts he infers that 

 there is a strong tendency in plants from seeds of cultivated 

 frmt-trees of high quality to revert immediately to the state of 



Undoubtedly this may be so, but we incline to refer such 

 sudden changes much more to accidental cross-breeding. We 

 do not now receive from our colonies complaints of the bad 

 quality of the seedlings raised from highly domesticated 

 European fruits, and yet for at least twenty years the 

 Horticultural Society has annually sent considerable quantities 

 of Peach, Nectarine, Plum, Cherry, and Apricot stones, pips of 



