On the Longevity of Apple Trees. Pp. 6. By 

 L. H. Bailey. This first philosophical attempt to ac. 

 count for the lessening longevity of apple trees — re- 

 printed by the author from the transactions of the Kan- 

 sas Horticultural Society, to which it was presented last 

 December — sums up the question as follows : 



" Apple orchards appear, as a rule, to fail sooner now 

 than they did formerly, but much of the opinion to this 

 effect is exaggerated, because of fallacious observation. 



' ' This lessening age is not a degeneracy due to culture, 

 but it appears to be incidental to methods of cultivation 

 and extensions of apple culture over great areas. 



"The chief particular causes appear to be lack of 

 adaptability of varieties to regions and conditions, clim- 

 ates unfitted to the best development of the species, and 

 lack of fertility of soil." 



The author first discusses the probability of the deca- 

 dence or running out of varieties due to culture — a prop- 

 osition which is styled ' ' cultural degeneracy " — but finds 

 that " No proofs are advanced in support of this propo- 

 sition, and from our present knowledge. 

 Longevity of I do not see that it can be sustained. It 

 Apple Trees. is an easy matter to find highly improved 

 varieties which are tenderer or weaker 

 in constitution than seedlings ; but this proves nothing. 

 It only compares one variety with another, for all varie- 

 ties were originally seedlings, and they owe their dis- 

 semination to the fact that they chanced to be worthy of 

 dissemination. And those that chanced to be unworthy 

 of dissemination — for which we pai'ticularly reserve the 

 word seedling — differ as much among themselves in hard- 

 iness and vigor, as named varieties differ from seedlings. 

 The seedlings which have survived in waysides and old 

 plantations have been able to do so, no doubt, because 

 they were constitutionally fitted to survive. No one 

 knows how many seedlings have perished because of 

 weakness, and it is certainly not fair to compare those 

 varieties which we chance to cultivate, with those wild 

 or half-spontaneous individuals which have chanced to 

 be able to endure all vicissitudes. We are fond of say- 

 ing that the farther the species departs from its original 

 or wild type the weaker it becomes, but we have no proof 

 for such statement." Thereafter the subject is divided 

 into two parts : extra-cultural causes, including change 

 in climate, greater abundance of insects and fungi ; and 

 cultural causes, comprising lack of adaptation of varie- 

 ties to conditions, forceful methods of culture, lack of 

 fertility and neglect, methods of propagation, pruning. 

 The supposition that methods of propagation cause a les- 



sening of vitality and longevity is handled in this manner ; 



"Much is said concerning the devitalizing influence 

 of the common methods of propagation, but I have yet 

 to find any proof that they have such effect. There are 

 two features of propagation in particular which appear 

 to be held accountable for much mischief : growing 

 stocks from pomace seeds, and grafting. 



"Domestic apple seeds are obtained indiscriminately 

 from pomace, and imported seeds are procured in essen- 

 tially the same manner from the crab stocks of Europe. 

 This promiscuous seed-growing is supposed by some to 

 tend towards the deterioration of the constitution of the 

 species, but there are no facts in support of the assump- 

 tion. Others contend that by this means we obtain an 

 uneven and variable basis upon which to propagate our 

 orchard trees, and this is certainly true. Seedlings vary 

 much among themselves in constitution, and we practice 

 little elimination of the tenderer or least adaptable ones. 

 But I do not see that this unevenness of stock should 

 exercise greater influence upon the vitality of orchards 

 now than it did in former generations. We have ob. 

 served that the old seedling orchards were usually un- 

 even, from the very fact that the weak individuals could 

 not persist. At the present time, our even and symmet- 

 rical orchards are proofs that this unevenness of stock 

 has less marked effects than formerly, probably from 

 the fact that the seedling root is dominated by the graft- 

 ed top, or that it has disappeared altogether, the cion 

 having rooted from itself. Promiscuous stocks probably 

 influence the character of our orchards, but, as I have 

 stated, the same influence was present in former gener- 

 ations as now, for everywhere and always promiscuous 

 seedlings, whether grafted or not, have formed the basis 

 of orchards. 



"The last year or two has witnessed a renewed activ- 

 ity of the old assumption that grafting or budding tends 

 to weaken the individual. In the first place, much of 

 the discussion upon this point is misdirected, because 

 graftage is necessary to success, and to discard it means, 

 practically, to discard apple culture itself. There is no 

 other easy and practicable means of perpetuating varie- 

 ties of apples. 



" Some contend that graftage is necessarily mischiev- 

 ous, because it is unnatural. This reasoning here, as 

 elsewhere, is puerile. All cultivation is itself unnatural, 

 as is also all domestication in this sense ; and if we pro- 

 pose to perform all operations just as nature performs 

 them, we must at once abandon all domestication and 

 betake ourselves to barbarism. 



