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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLVIII 



from the fine texture and well-developed flavoring con- 

 stituents not shown by the analysis. 



The Winesaps, though high in total sugars, are low in 

 sucrose, indicating a heavy juice rather lacking in rich- 

 ness. The comparatively high acid content corresponds 

 to the sprightly subacid character of the fruit. The high- 

 est acid content was found in the fruit from Cloverland, 

 where it is associated with a total lack of sucrose result- 

 ing in a comparatively poor fruit. The apples from 

 Cashmere and White Salmon were also devoid of sucrose 

 in the juice, but the acid content was low and the flavor- 

 ing principles well developed, as a result of which the 

 quality was fairly good. The poorly developed Winesaps 

 grown at Pullman were deficient in sucrose, acid, and 

 flavors and were correspondingly poor in quality. 



The Yellow Bellflowers, though low in total sugars, 

 were rather high in sucrose and also in acid. The bal- 

 ance between these constituents is good and results in a 

 moderately rich, pleasant, subacid flavor. 



Summary 



The opportunity for the study of apple variation was 

 unusually good, owing to the facilities afforded for the 

 examination of fruit from various localities and different 

 environments, and it has been possible to work out the 

 fundamental principle upon which variation resulting 

 from external factors depends and to apply it in the study 

 of environmental adaptations. This principle, the Laiv of 

 the Optimum, states that, for any given variety there is 

 for each character a certain intensity of each essential 

 factor of the environment at which, other conditions re- 

 maining the same, that character reaches its highest de- 

 velopment. 



In the application of this law to varietal adaptations, 

 the essential point is the proper balance between char 

 acters and environmental factors, that is, all factors 

 should be of such an intensity as to permit a good all- 

 round development of the fruit. In the absence of sue 



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