Page:Treatise on Cultivation of the Potato.djvu/31

 The second question, and one upon which the discussion about the wearing out of varieties generally turns, is,—Will varieties propagated from buds, i. e., by division, grafts, bulbs, tubers and the like, necessarily deteriorate and die out? First, Do they die out as a matter of fact? Upon this, the testimony has all along been conflicting. Andrew Knight was sure that they do, and there could hardly be a more trustworthy witness.

'The fact,' he says, fifty years ago, 'that certain varieties of some species of fruit which have been long cultivated cannot now be made to grow in the same soils and under the same mode of management, which was a century ago so perfectly successful, is placed beyond the reach of controversy. Every experiment which seemed to afford the slightest prospect of success was tried by myself and others to propagate the old varieties of the apple and pear which formerly constituted the orchards of Herefordshire, without a single healthy or efficient tree having been obtained; and I believe all attempts to propagate these varieties have, during some years, wholly ceased to be made.'

To this it was replied, in that and the next generation, that cultivated vines have been transmitted by perpetual division from the time of Romans, and that several of the sorts, still prized and prolific, are well identified, among them the ancient Grascula, considered to be the modern Corinth or Currant grape, which has immemorially been seedless; that the old Nonpariel apple was known in the time of Queen Elizabeth; that the White Beurre Pears of France have been propagated from the earliest times; and that Golden Pippins, St. Michael Pears, and others said to have run out, were still to be had in good condition.

Coming down to the present year, a glance through the proceedings of pomological societies, and the debates of farmers' clubs, brings out the same difference of opinion. The testimony is nearly equally divided. Perhaps the larger number speak of the deterioration and failure of particular old sorts: but when the question turns on 'wearing out,' the positive evidence of vigorous trees and sound fruits is most telling. A little positive testimony outweighs a good deal of negative. This cannot readily be explained away while the failures may be, by exhaustion of soil, incoming of disease, or alteration of climate or circumstances. On the other hand, it may be urged that, if a variety of this sort is