310 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Fruit Tree Bud Selection in California 
By George C. Boeding 
During a recent tour of observation and study occupying about 
tbree months’ time and covering the Southern States (notably 
Florida), the Atlantic coast and middle eastern section, I visited 
many of the leading nurserymen, and so far as possible put my¬ 
self in touch with state and federal investigators and research 
workers. My aim was to learn all I could concerning ways and 
means of growing trees and plants of better quality and larger 
economic values. Naturally I heard a great deal about bud 
selection, although the word “selection” was not in evidence 
quite so often as that of “pedigreed trees.” And in the minds 
of many the latter was severely criticized. As applied to nur¬ 
sery trees it is certainly deceptive. It implies offspring from 
male and female parentage, which in their main outlines typify 
ancestral characteristics. It is particularly significant when ap¬ 
plied to the values in horses and cattle, in sheep and hogs. The 
selected bud from a record performance tree has no such back¬ 
ground. It is a single unit which has no relation whatever to the 
matter of sex, much less a breeding propensity. Hence, pedi¬ 
greed trees are only in name, even though certain nurserymen 
advertise, “Quality and pedigreed trees certified to under affi¬ 
davit.” In California the expression has for some years been in 
the discard; as a matter of fact it never should have been toler¬ 
ated. 
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BUD SELECTION 
It is quite generally recognized that the product and habit of 
budded grown trees will be somewhat variable; literally no two 
trees are quite alike, even when the buds are the selected pro¬ 
duct of record performance trees, though commercially both 
fruit and tree will qualify for quality and uniformity. If selected 
buds show differentiation, what shall we say of those cut at ran¬ 
dom either from orchard trees or those in nursery rows? Are 
not the chances of better trees immeasurably in favor of the 
buds cut from robust record performance trees? While bud 
selection will not give us a race of super fruit trees, its intelli¬ 
gent application in both citrus and deciduous fruits has demon¬ 
strated its capabilities by enhancing quality and yield. To what 
extent is problematical, but when done under close observation, 
and conditions are favorable, it certainly has considerable bet¬ 
terment to its credit. In this connection it is indeed high time 
that the indiscriminate methods of cutting buds practiced by 
nearly the entire nursery trade should cease and the nursery 
plant industry become the recognized leader in the adoption of 
methods which will produce only the very best of trees in the 
matter of growth, productivity and quality of fruit. Fruit grow¬ 
ers should not be led astray by statements that the trees offered 
for sale will prove to be super trees in quality and quantity pro¬ 
duction; but proof should be honestly presented that every effort 
has been put forth to secure buds from trees which possessed 
the necessary qualifications to make them worthy progenitors 
for the propagation by bud selection of more trees of like 
character. 
As an illustration, let me cite the use of the improved French 
prune which came under my observation and that of other nur¬ 
serymen (notably Leonard Coates, who has acne more valuable 
research work with the prune than any other one individual in 
California) about 10 years ago. Practically all of the trees in 
the orchard under consideration had for a period of 20 years 
pioduced prunes which ran to large sizes; even a novice wander¬ 
ing through the orchard year after year could not avoid being 
impressed with the fact that the trees producing these large- 
Sized prunes repeated the performance year after year—a fact 
fully authenticated by the dried product as it was delivered an¬ 
nually to the packing house. A nurseryman who refuses to 
acknowledge evidence like this and continues to cut his buds 
from trees which produce the smaller-sized prunes is not worthy 
of his calling. The fact that nursery trees grown from selected 
buds cut from the trees here cited when coming into bearing in 
different places have maintained the bearing values and charac¬ 
teristics of the trees from which the buds were obtained fully 
demonstrates the value of this selection. If this holds good of 
the prune, why not of other stone fruits; why not also apply it 
to the pomaceous fruits? To expect a tree grown from a 
selected bud to give a good account of itself where soil and cli¬ 
mate conditions are unfavorable is hardly reasonable; it is, how¬ 
ever, quite possible and even probable that under more favor¬ 
able conditions of soil environment and certain localities the 
progeny may even show an improvement over the host tree from 
which the selected bud was cut. Under unfavorable conditions, 
the opposite might occur. The truth of this we must admit. 
AN EXPANDING INDUSTRY 
The California fruit industry is growing by leaps and bounds, 
and under our favorable soil and climatic conditions it will con¬ 
tinue to expand and dominate commercially. To this develop¬ 
ment there can be no backward step, and if me nurserymen are 
going to live up to their obligations they must become leaders in 
an endeavor to greatly improve the size, quality of flesh with 
less waste in size of pit, flavor, shipping, drying and canning 
characteristics, and other conditions as may be warranted by 
such a large specialized business as horticulture is getting to 
be, not only in California, but also in a number of other states. 
Just what method should be followed in propagating meritorious 
varieties and strains of fruit is hardly possible to define at the 
present time, nevertheless much of the confusion which fre¬ 
quently arises with a new and worthy fruit can be avoided if 
first tested out by the originator and then submitted to state 
and federal experts with a view to definitely defining its par¬ 
ticular uses and values, and in what particular it differs from 
those already in the market. If bud selection is feasible with 
citrus trees, why not with deciduous? The experience of Cal¬ 
ifornia observers bears out the opinion that it is a working 
proposition, which is in large measure demonstrated by the 
uniform quality of our fruit and fruit food products and the 
dominant position they hold in the markets of the world. 
RELIABLE SOURCES OF SUPPLIES 
The practical application of bud selection in the growing of 
nursery fruit trees calls for skill, judgment and some detail. 
Obviously records should cover a period of years. In the case 
of citrus fruit in California the record trees and orchards are 
under the control of the Citrus Fruit Exchange, composed of 
8,000 members, and the buds are cut by their experts and sold 
to nurserymen. No buds are cut from trees under a five-year 
performance record, which must show quality and quantity 
yields up to certain averages. The guarantee of the Fruit 
Growers’ Supply Company (subsidiary organization of the Cal¬ 
ifornia Fruit Growers’ Exchange) is behind every selected bud 
it sells, as being genuine, because cut from a record tree. If 
selected buds,, under such conditions as here outlined, are to be 
had at reliable sources, it requires no prophet to foretell im¬ 
provement in quality of our commercial fruit and a larger and 
regular yielding capacity. 
SHALL WE HAVE SELECTED ROOTSTOCKS? 
This question does not imply kinds and varieties to meet vary¬ 
ing conditions, but quality. We all know that there is variation 
in any given block of seedling trees, no matter where or how 
grown. Now those trees in nursery row that show the most 
growth, possess stamina and virility, will invariably make the 
best trees. If these are budded to selected buds cut from record 
performance trees, and properly grown, it seems to me that the 
nurseryman so producing his stock has done about everything 
in his power to produce and deliver a profitable tree when placed 
in orchard form. And in large measure this is just what the 
advanced nurserymen are trying to do in California. They are 
practicing bud and rootstock selection with the firm conviction, 
as has been demonstrated with citrus fruits under the direction 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, that it tends 
to insure (1) maintenance of type; (2) quality and size of fruit; 
(3) yield of fruit and character of tree; and (4) takes some of 
the chance out of fruit culture and puts into it a little more 
science that leads to, better trees and better production. 
AN AUTHORITATIVE BUT NEGATIVE VOICE 
While visiting some of the representative nurseries and fruit 
growers of New York state it was my privilege and great pleas¬ 
ure to have come into personal contact with U. P. Hedrick, of 
the Agicultural Experiment Station at Geneva, with whom I 
had an animated discussion on bud selection. Having accomp¬ 
lished a great work in the publication of books on the pears, 
plums, cherries and grapes of New York (all of which are des¬ 
tined to become classics) and being recognized as an authority 
on fruit culture, I was interested to know his opinions on the 
subject, which are at variance with those entertained and pro¬ 
mulgated by Mr. Shamel. Mr. Hedrick is firmly of the opinion 
that the practical difficulties in growing trees from selected-buds 
(granting for the moment that improved nursery stock may be 
so obtained) are almost insuperable. He states his position 
briefly in the following numbered paragraphs to which our com¬ 
ments follow: 
1. Hedrick: A bearing tree surpassingly good in one quality 
