112 BULLETIN 697, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
are of an undesirable strain; hence, the use of sucker wood for bud 
wood is probably directly responsible for much of the propagation of 
trees of inferior strains of the Marsh grapefruit. 
SUMMARY. 
The grapefruit industry in California, while of comparatively small* 
commercial importance at present, is growing rapidly and seems 
likely to become an important factor in the citrus production of the 
State. Many of the varieties of grapefruit first planted in California 
proved to be of inferior commercial value. The success of the in- 
dustry began with the introduction of the Marsh variety. 
The Marsh variety originated at Lakeland, Fla., and was named 
and introduced there by Mr. C. M. Marsh, of that place, about 1895. 
Previous to this date, in 1890, before the variety had become estab- 
lished in Florida, it was introduced into California by Twogood & 
Cutter, of Riverside. 
Bud variations in the trees of the Marsh variety of grapefruit are 
of frequent occurrence, and are a great commercial handicap to the 
growers and consumers. 
Six strains arising from bud variations have been found during 
these investigations up to the present time. 
The most valuable commercial fruits and those of the best quality 
are produced by trees of the Marsh strain. This strain only should 
be propagated for commercial purposes. 
The undesirable strains which are found in commercial plantations 
heretofore have been propagated unintentionally through a lack of 
care in bud selection. 
The Marsh strain can be established and maintained and variation 
within the strain reduced to a minimum through bud selection based 
on individual-tree performance records. 
Healthy trees of undesirable strains can be successfully top-worked 
by using select buds from trees of the Marsh strain. 
Only fruit-bearing bud wood should be used for propagation, and 
it should be selected from the most productive and otherwise most 
desirable trees. A practical method for locating such trees in com- 
mercial orchards is presented by the United States Department of 
Agriculture in Farmers' Bulletin 794, entitled " Citrus-Fruit Im- 
provement: How to Secure and Use Tree-Performance Records." 
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