BUD SELECTION 398 
rank growth and low yields, and such trees have been successfully top- 
worked with scions from fruitful types. 
Deciduous Tree Fruits.—The efficacy and practicability of bud se- 
lection in other species than the citrous fruits is not yet determined. But 
there is considerable evidence that in certain varieties at least it is 
possible to find distinet types which remain constant when propagated 
vegetatively. In the apple and peach bud sports are known and they 
may be more frequent than has been supposed. Dorsey mentions four 
varieties of apple which originated in this manner and reports the dis- 
covery of another sport. It is possible that certain varieties have a 
greater tendency to sport than others. The Baldwin apple may be such 
a variety. Itis claimed by some authors that the many variations occur- 
ring in this variety are purely environmental, while others assert that they 
have propagated such variations successfully. But in the apple and most 
other deciduous fruits there are plenty of good varieties which are adapted 
to conditions in the regions at present devoted to fruit growing. Here, as 
with citrous fruits, new varieties are not needed so much as profitable 
orchards. Will it pay to keep performance records as a basis for bud 
selection in deciduous fruits? That is the critical point, and it is not yet 
settled. Both favorable and adverse evidence has been presented. The 
Virginia Station kept a record for four years of the yields of 1245 trees in 
the same apple orchard (variety or varieties and age not known). Of 
these 375 yielded an average of four barrels to the tree and produced 60 
per cent. of the crop, while 215 trees averaged less than one barrel per tree 
and were kept at a loss. The Dominion Experiment Station, Ottawa, 
Canada, has kept records of yields of different trees in the same orchard 
covering a period of 18 years. The most productive tree of McMahon- 
White yielded 1250 gal., and the least productive, 882 gal. Of Patten 
Greening the most productive tree yielded 974 gal., and the least produc- 
tive 586 gal., while in the case of McIntosh Red one tree yielded 1219 gal., 
and another 670 gal. Clearly there are wide differences in the produc- 
tivity of individual apple trees. Much of this variability in production 
is probably due to soil differences. It is claimed by Powell, however, that 
one cause of the marked decrease in the number of apple trees in New 
York State is the absence of profits due to low-producing trees. The true 
condition can be determined only by keeping performance records on an 
extensive scale. [Even though many healthy but low-producing trees 
may be found, there still remains the question whether or not it will pay to 
top-work these low-producers with scions from high-producers. It has 
not yet been determined whether any of the wide differences in the 
productivity in individual apple trees are due to bud mutations. 
Next to yield, uniformity of fruit is perhaps the most important 
commercial consideration. But there are marked differences in varieties 
Digitized by Microsoft® 
