North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["robscott@freeshell.org" <robscott@freeshell.org>]

mIEKAL

My understanding is YES you can make a selective cutting because the
various
branches of a tree generally have some low level of genetic variability,
and
thus the potential to produce exceptional branches for propagation. I
think there
are a few paragraphs on this in the "Trees and Their Interactions" chapter
of the Permaculture Designer's Manual.

In Urbana, IL we have a lot of mulberries which have self-propagated
themselves for generations from
some cultivars planted here at the end of the 19th century. On some
older trees (50 years +)
you
can literally find fruiting branches, sterile branches, branches that
don't produce ant fruit or flowers, and branches which predictably lose
their leaves early. These are hated trees for most gardeners, but they
illustrate the point.

The 5-in-one apple is a synthetic application of this
principle ... why not analytic selection?

Good luck,
Rob


> From: mIEKAL aND <dtv@mwt.net>
> I guess my question is can you select for
> these kinds of things by using cuttings, wont a cutting of a cutting
> always be an exact clone?