SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, APRIL II. 



Ivii 



of known excellence being again sent out under new names. Varieties 

 may deteriorate locally, i.e. when badly grown on unsuitable soils or 

 under adverse conditions, but no one can prove that varieties like the 

 ' Black Hamburgh ' grape, ' Royal George ' peach, ? Moor Park ' apricot, 

 ' Ne Plus Ultra ' pea, ' General Jacqueminot ' rose, ' Old Clove ' 

 carnation, ever deteriorate as varieties all over the area of their culti- 

 vation. Did anyone ever hear of any variety of banana, pineapple, or 

 seedless grape wearing out ? Do osier willows ever wear out ? Varieties 

 may be neglected and weakened by being planted too constantly on 

 the same soil or in unsuitable localities ; they may also be renamed or 

 superseded by novel kinds being "boomed" over their heads, so to say; 

 but no variety fairly well grown on fresh and suitable soil ever dies out. 

 No one variety grows or is as productive on all soils alike ; but the 

 best varieties are very adaptive, and their produce averages well on all 

 soils. 



Most of the figs, mulberries, and grapes grown to-day are practically 

 those known for centuries. Brown Turkey or white Ischia figs, the 

 Zante currant grape, black Monukka grape, bananas, pineapples, and 

 other seedless fruits increased vegetatively are as healthy and productive 

 to-day as they ever have been. Of course, the words " a variety " often 

 mean that we are dealing with a group of distinct individuals, and not 

 with a multitude of individuals precisely alike. Good culture, continual 

 change of soil, and rigid selection are all necessary to keep at their best 

 "varieties " so called, and under such conditions I do not admit that the 

 deterioration or wearing out of varieties ever takes place either in gardens 

 or in the fields. In Professor Hugo De Vries' work Species and 

 Varieties : Their Origin by Mutation, in which book some aspects of this 

 subject are ably dealt with, it is shown that any crop of either corn or 

 roots consists of individuals of varying vitality or productiveness. This 

 makes selection possible. There are certain individuals in every crop, 

 as in every flock or herd, that can either utilise more food than others, or 

 that in any case are more productive than are others under the same 

 conditions. The simple art of selection enables the gardener or farmer 

 to improve the best varieties or strains by continual selection. Some 

 individuals in any variety or strain may show a retrograde tendency, and 

 these are eliminated, so as to give added opportunity to the best and most 

 productive individuals, and in this manner the variety is improved and 

 its life insured. In a word, varieties are constant or ever improving only 

 under the best conditions of cultivation. By the same token they will 

 deteriorate only if neglected and grown under bad conditions. 



Mr. Clarke : It is a fact that the potato does deteriorate. It is not 

 wise to grow the same stock for more than two years. We find in this 

 district that the further north we get our seed from, the better it is. It is 

 generally considered that the second year's crop gives the best results, but 

 at any rate it is not wise to grow the same variety more than two years on 

 one farm. I should not say that after being grown, say, here two years 

 and then moved some miles away, it would increase in vigour. It might 

 probably grow as well for two seasons and then it would be exhausted. 

 It is a good change from this country on to the black soils, but it will not 

 do to change thence back again, and I think that where the tubers 



