2 BULLETIN 1255, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



from typical trees of the strains arising from bud sports might be of 

 value. In developing a method for conducting such a study, it was 

 decided to analyze samples of fruit from some of the strains having 

 distinctly different physical characteristics. 



The object of the work was to determine whether or not there are 

 characteristic differences in the composition of citrus fruits which can 

 be correlated with the physical characteristics of the fruit produced 

 by trees or branches of trees belonging to different strains. If such 

 differences of composition exist, the results obtained in these studies 

 will be of value in measuring the progress of the work for the improve- 

 ment of citrus varieties through bud selection based upon systematic 

 individual tree performance records. This bulletin gives the data 

 from the analyses of samples of lemons borne on trees belonging to 

 distinct strains of the Eureka and Lisbon varieties. 



The results of this work have also suggested the possibility of 

 securing through bud selection, based upon performance records 

 which include a comparison of the fruits and their physical character- 

 istics, strains adapted particularly for oil production, acid produc- 

 tion, or other specific purposes of lemon by-products manufacture. 

 In any event, it gives a more definite measure of the comparative 

 quality of the fruits than is possible from any other method of study 

 thus far tested. • 



With these preliminary studies and the records of production, 

 including the quantity and commercial quality of the fruits produced 

 by typical parent trees of the different strains of the lemon varieties, 

 and with adequate progenies from these trees now coming into full 

 bearing, it is hoped that these investigations may be continued to a 

 point where they can be made of practical value in the selection of 

 strains for commercial propagation for specific purposes, and for the 

 selection of individual trees in those strains as sources of budwood 

 which will be used in propagating important strains for commercial 

 orcharding. 



THE PROBLEM. 



The work here reported was done with the hope of showing the 

 extent to which fruit from different Eureka and Lisbon lemon trees 

 varies in composition, whether or not this variation is greater between 

 different strains of trees than between individual trees, and whether 

 or not the peculiarities of composition found in the fruit of parent 

 trees are transmitted to the fruit of progeny trees by vegetative 

 propagation. 



Some characteristics, of course, are inherited by certain species. 

 For example, the acid and sugar contents of lemons differ from those 

 of oranges and pomelos. Moreover, certain strains of navel oranges 

 are so different from other strains as to be readily recognized without 

 chemical analysis. Thus Washington Navel oranges differ from 

 Thomson oranges, such differences apparently being transmitted to 

 offspring by budding. 



The extent to which inheritance of composition prevails is of 

 interest to plant breeders and to citrus growers. Certain strains of 

 Eureka and Lisbon lemons have physical differences which they 

 transmit to their progeny. An effort will be made to determine 

 how far this property extends to the elements of composition. If 



