BUD SELECTION 
and Its Value to the 
Commercial Fruit Grower 
All horticulturists recognize that when plants are propa¬ 
gated by budding or grafting, the offspring are not new indi¬ 
viduals; but are simply multiplications of the same individ¬ 
ual—literally, “Chips off the old block.” One would therefore 
not expect plants resulting from such multiplication to be 
subject to variation—as are new individuals produced from 
seed. 
In view of the above, it may seem at first thought that 
nothing is to be gained by selecting budwood and scion wood 
in fruit tree propagation from superior producing trees. In¬ 
deed, until a few years ago, little or no importance was 
attached to bud selection, and the nurseryman’s only concern 
was getting his varieties true to name. 
But with the passing of the years, those working closest 
to the industry, in orchard, packing house, and cannery, be¬ 
gan to notice variations among orchards and individual trees 
that could not be accounted for by differences in cultural 
conditions alone. In other words, with some varieties, differ¬ 
ent strains were observed within them. During recent years 
this has been the object of considerable interest and investi¬ 
gation, until today probably everyone who has made a criti¬ 
cal study of varieties is convinced of the existence of sepa¬ 
rate and distinct strains among a large number of our com¬ 
mercial fruits. 
When it is considered that fruit trees are propagated ex¬ 
clusively by budding, it is hard to explain in an entirely 
satisfactory manner, how these variations come about. The 
occurrence of bud sports, or mutations, however, undoubtedly 
account for many of them. A mutation is a change in the 
inner structure of the cells within a bud, causing that bud 
to send out a “sport,” or branch that is slightly different in 
some respects from other parts of the tree. 
Such sport limbs usually produce fruit very much like its 
parent, but differing in just one character. For example it 
may be larger or smaller than the standard type; better col¬ 
ored, or less well colored; superior or inferior in flavor. It is 
often so similar to the original, that it would, except to the 
most careful observer, be taken for the same thing. But if 
buds are taken from such a limb, a new strain will be propa¬ 
gated. If the sport is an improvement over the parent, it 
may—and indeed occasionally does—prove to be a valuable 
new strain or variety. But unfortunately, the vast majority 
of such mutations are inferior, to a greater or less degree, 
and their propagation would result in loss to the grower. 
Variations within varieties are also sometimes due to seed¬ 
lings. Very few of our fruits will reproduce true if the seeds 
are planted. The seedling is usually widely different from 
the parent; sometimes there is a close resemblance, al¬ 
BLACK TARTARIAN CHERRIES (Actual Size) 
hese cherries, from an outstanding orchard at Centerville, actually measure 
le inch in diameter. This strain is the finest we have ever seen, and our 
Tartarians are propagated exclusively from it. 
Upper Row: French Prunes (Petite d’Agen) 
Lower Row: French Improved Prunes 
Our prunes are propagated from one of the largest and best strains 
of the Santa Clara Valley. 
though the seedling is nearly always inferior. It will thus 
be seen that new—and in all probability, inferior—strains 
could arise from seedlings of the variety in question. 
Thus, regardless of how they come about, the nurseryman 
today is confronted with the fact that although his trees 
may all be “true to name,” they do not necessarily comprise 
the best types or “strains” of each variety. A few examples 
will serve to illustrate our point. 
The price received for Royal apricots, when used for ship¬ 
ping, depends largely upon their earliness of ripening. The 
first fruit reaching the markets almost invariably brings the 
best prices. In the Winters district, which is the leading 
apricot shipping district, it can easily be demonstrated that 
there are two or more distinct strains of this variety; one 
of which consistently ripens its fruit almost a week ahead 
of the others. If a grower is planting Royals for fresh ship¬ 
ment, it is of utmost importance that he get this early ripen¬ 
ing strain. 
In many orchards the Black Tartarian cherry is used chief¬ 
ly as a pollinizer for other varieties. Yet pollination tests 
with Tartarians from different sections have shown that 
different strains exist, some of which are much more effi¬ 
cient pollinizers than others. The Bing cherry furnishes 
another striking illustration. Within a radius of five miles 
from Niles we have, for a number of years, been observing 
orchards which have consistently produced Bings 25 per cent 
larger than other orchards in the same vicinity. While such 
variations are often accounted for by different soil and cul¬ 
tural conditions, we feel sure that any independent observer 
would agree that two distinct strains are being grown here. 
It may be almost superfluous to add that the large fruit 
returns net profits, whereas the small sizes often bring little 
more than harvesting costs. 
We do not claim that such variations exist with all varie¬ 
ties. In fact, with many varieties, although striking differ¬ 
ences are found, we must frankly admit that we have not 
carried these investigations far enough to be able to state 
definitely that inherent variation does or does not exist. BUT 
WE DO MOST EMPHATICALLY STATE THAT IN THE 
SELECTION OF BUDWOOD WE MUST ASSUME THAT IT 
DOES EXIST IN ALL VARIETIES. In other words, the 
only safe and logical thing to do is to select all budwood 
from the best producing, or most desirable type trees which 
can be located. Only by this means will the purity of vari¬ 
eties be kept intact, and inferiorities guarded against. 
To this end, we spend a great deal of time during the sum¬ 
mer and fall searching for superior orchards, and making 
comparisons of the fruit and tonnages produced. These in¬ 
vestigations often lead us from 100 to 200 miles away from 
our growing grounds, but we do not hesitate to travel these 
distances in order to get buds from orchards famous in their 
respective communities for their heavy bearing records, or 
the excellence of their fruit. 
For example, our Royal apricot budwood is obtained from 
an orchard in the Winters district which has been a consist¬ 
ent money maker on account of the fact that it ripens its 
fruit ahead of other types of Royals in the same vicinity. 
Our Blenheims are the famous “Losse” strain of the Santa 
Clara Valley—demanded by experienced growers on account 
of the size and quality of the fruit, and because of the 
unusual fine tonnages it produces. Drying peaches are taken 
from Fresno County, and clingstones from some of the 
“world’s record” orchards near Modesto. For prunes we 
have selected orchards producing the largest type fruit in 
the Santa Clara Valley. 
When you plant an orchard, you are making a permanent 
investment—the total cost of which will amount to many 
times the purchase price of the trees. You cannot afford to 
plant anything but the safest and best, as the whole success 
or failure of your enterprise may depend upon the budwood 
from which your trees were propagated. We believe that in 
our practice of bud selection, we are going a step further 
than ordinary nursery practice, and are furnishing our cus¬ 
tomers with THE BEST TREE INSURANCE TO BE HAD 
