The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-01-17

How much is there in the idea Of
pedigreed nursery stock? Much is be-
ing said about it. Some people even
go as far as to say that it is possible
to breed fruit trees. in fact, their
claim is it is practical to breed them
the same and with as definite re-
suits as farm animals. or course this
is impossible. Plants are subject to
endless fluctuations of SOIL tempera-
ture and moisture, which are beyond
our power to control except probable
to certain extent, whereas a cow
horse, sheep, chickens and other do.
mestic animals are largely under our
control: moreover, an animal Is one,
a plant is many individuals, each bud
is distinct from all the others. There
is no quetion in my mind that there
is something in the pedigree idea,
else the outlook for the Improvement
of our fruit would not be bright: but
the results are not nearly as predicta-
bic as is possible of animal breeding.
What Is Pedigreed Tree?
This would bring us to the ques-
ton, what is pedigree tree? A
age and ancestry are known. When
you apply this to a fruit tree it would
mean tree which was propagated
from a bearing tree having an excep-
tionally good record as regarding the
producing of large crops of choice
fruit. Thus the idea rests upon one
principle, that of selection. n the
spring or during the winter months
we pick out the best ears OF corn for
seed. the best seed from our melon,
the best cutting from the plants that
bloom the most abundantly. Then il
this be true with seed and cuttings,
it stands to reason that it must be also
true as regarding nursery stock. There
are many, however, who say practis
cally it amounts to little, others again
take the opposite view. Ny candid
opinion however is that buds taken
from prolific bearing trees will pro-
duce better results than buds taken
from the nursery row. However, tha
question of pedigreed trees does not
enter very much when it comes to
selling nursery stock, the majority OF
buyers consider only cheapness, not
quality. The fact nevertheless res
mains that constant propagating from
the nursery row makes the trees tara
dy in bearing and this is the reason
that many trees are long time CONS
ing into bearing. Another point Ia
be looked out for is the fact where
tGe stock is propagated from the nur.
scry row for many generations there
5 no opportunity for verifcation un.
til the trees become into bearing. This
is the source of large part OF the
trouble between nurserymen and
growers about trees not true to name.
Summary OF the Matter
What is there in this idea of ped-
igreed nursery stock? We must con.
clude that there is as much in it as
there is to the propagation of field
crops, florist plants, etc, the only diff
ference l find is that the generations
are further apart, thus results are
slow to appear. L am satisfied that ie
Is safer and better at all times to &c
TO bearing trees for buds, of course.
it Will cost more, but they ought to
be worth more. There have been
grievous frauds committed in the
name of pedigreed nursery stock.
Much of the stock sent out as suoh
has been no better than the ordinary
stock But the principle. Is true, how.
ever imperfectly applied. The inn
provement of our fruits is through se-
ction to which some people have
nosen to apply the term pedigree.
fhe word is misnomer. Superfne.
superior, selected, any of these terms
would be more suitable one to ex-
press the idea and describe the prao-
tice much better than pedigree.
PAUL G. KRUGER.