JUST WHAT BUD SELECTION 
and how it is accomplished 
This No. 1 Jonathan apple tree, parent for Super-Selected 
strain, produces the largest Jonathan apples known and 
nearly 3 times the crop of any other tree in the orchard of 
Robert Anderson, Covert, Michigan 
PLANTING “EYES” OF POTATOES A 
GOOD EXAMPLE OF BUD SELECTION 
The method of dividing the parent potato (or seed potato, as 
it is known) into pieces, carrying a sufficient number of buds, or 
“eyes,” for planting is comparable to the process of budding 
and grafting trees. 
The potato will not come true 
to type from seeds,- neither will 
fruit trees. Potatoes propagated 
from seed tend to revert toward 
the original wild tuber. The pota¬ 
to, as we know it, would soon 
disappear if it were not for the 
fact that it is propagated by Bud 
Selection. By selecting buds, or 
“eyes,” from the largest and best 
yielding potatoes, the olericul- 
turists developed the excellent 
varieties of the present day i.from 
the original “Sol anum Tuberos¬ 
um” (wild potato) no larger than 
the walnut. 
The potato told us that budding 
and grafting were not enough,- that 
inaddi tion,the parent must be carefullyand scientifically selected. 
While the principle of Bud Selection is simplicity itself, its 
practice must be based upon a most comprehensive knowledge 
and experience. 
4 
60 -yEAR BACKGROUND PRECEDED 
GREENING WORK IN 
BUD SELECTION 
When we started these experiments, we were fortunate in 
having more than 60 years of nursery experience. Through our 
developments in Bud Selection we have proved that modern 
scientific methods will do as much to help the fruit grower make 
more money, as scientific methods have done for other industries. 
What h as been done with the lowly potato in a simple way, 
has been done in an intricate, extensive way with tree growths 
to preserve and propagate noble traits of heredity. 
To fully comprehend our painstaking and exacting methods it 
would be necessary for you to accompany one of our research 
men as he travels about the country in his ceaseless and merciless 
search for extraordinary specimens. 
YEARS OF GREENING SKILL DEVOTED TO 
SELECTING NOBLE PARENT TREES 
At last we come upon what appears to be a perfect tree— 
apparently possessing all of the potentials for a super-crop. We 
may conclude its equal is not to be found anywhere. But we do 
not stop there. We go on trying to find something still better, 
while our super-tree is put under observation. 
Next year, and the year after, its performance is studied, 
recorded, compared. In the meantime, we have found, listed 
and cataloged for analytical study, scores of other trees. Then 
we start eliminating. 
At last we discover that our super-tree was merely a phe¬ 
nomenon,- that its apparent perfection was a delusion. Disap¬ 
pointed, we discard it. We go on and on, searching, studying, 
eliminating—never satisfied. But out of this sifting process we 
do find, after years of effort, trees with remarkable characteristics. 
Then we are sure their descendants will prove to be outstanding 
money-makers for our customers. 
How well we have succeeded is told by the accumulated 
evidence of orchardists who are harvesting bigger, more uniform 
crops of premium sized fruit, with color and other salable qualities 
accentuated to a high degree. 
The Greening Nursery Company 
Monroe, Michigan 
In connection with the one year old Northern Spy apple trees, I 
wish to compliment you on the fine, sturdy stock which you supplied 
me. They are certainly nice looking trees and have made a remarkably 
quick start. I would be glad to have you make a note to send me a 
copy of your new catalog this fall as we plan to set out a few hundred 
more trees next year. 
Oliver T. Burnham, Berlin Heights, O. 
Planting "eyes" of potatoes is 
a simple illustration of the prin¬ 
ciple of Greening Bud Selection 
Greening’s recently exhibited at the Intern’l. Cong, of Eugenics at Cornell. 
