A Specific Example of Organized Work in Plant Improvement
Willet M. Hays · Journal of Heredity · 1905
N. B. White, Norwood, Mass., writes as follows concerning his experience with a lot of seedling apple trees: Some fifteen or twenty years ago, the writer purchased 1,000 two-year-old seedling apple trees for the purpose of budding them, but when the budding season came around I was too busy to do it and the next season it was the same, and after that they had become so large I thought I would let them grow up and fruit and see what the result would be.The result was as follows:-Some commenced to bear at eight years old, others one and two years later.As they came into bearing, I was surprised to find that three-fourths of them were sweet and that a large majority of them were yellow striped with red, mainly of medium size, but a few were large and, from the 1,000 trees tested, I was able to select 5 that are large and of very good quality, and worthy of cultivation.They cover all of the seasons: summer, fall, winter, and spring, of both sweet and sour apples.