A6RIC. LIBRARY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK (INCORPORATED 1902) MEMOIRS, ,VOI,. .!,.... ;•.;,; PROCEEDINGS International Conference ON Plant Breeding and Hybridization 1902 Held in the Rooms of the American Institute of the City of New York And in the Museum Building of the New York Botanical Garden SEPTEMBER 30 and OCTOBER I and 2 Copyright 1904, by the Horticultural Society of New York HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK (INCORPORATED 1902) MEMOIRS, VOL, li PROCEEDINGS International Conference ON Plant Breeding and Hybridization 1902 Held in the Rooms of the American Institute of the City of New York And in the Museum Building of the New York Botanical Garden SEPTEMBER 30 and OCTOBER \ and 2 H57 MAIN Copyright 1904, by the Horticultural Society of New York a Horticultural Society of New York (INCORPORATED) PRESIDENT James Wood, Mount Kisco, N. Y. VICE-PRESIDENTS J. Crosby Brown, Spencer Trask, F. M. Hexamer, G. T. Powell, Samuel Thome. COUNCIL N. L. Britton, Chairman. C. L. Allen, P. Duff, J. Roehrs, M. W. Ayres T. A. Havemeyer, H. A. Siebrecht, P. J. Berckmans," S. Henshaw, R. Taylor, Addison Brown, D. T. MacDougal, W. Turner, F. W. Bruggerhof, J. N. May, C. W. Ward, G. Cook, E. S. Miller, A. L. Willis, J. De Wolf. P. O'Mara, J. W. Withers. SECRETARY Leonard Barron, 136 Liberty St., N. Y. City. TREASURER Frederic R. Newbold, Poughkeepsie, X. Y. 640347 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE N. L. BRITTON, Chairman F. M, HEXAMER H. A. SIEBRECHT J, DE WOLF LEONARD BARRON, Secretary and Editor ADVISORY COMMITTEE Prof. B. T. Galloway, Chairman, Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry, V. S. Department of Agriculture. Oakes Ames, North Easton, Mass. W. Bateson, Grantchester, Cambridge, Eng. Michael Barker, Chicago, 111. S. A. Beach, Horticulturist, N. Y. State Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y. P. J Berckmans, Augusta, Ga. J. C. Blair, Horticulturist, College of Agriculture, Urbana, 111. L. Burbank, Experimentalist, Santa Rosa, Cal. F. W. Burbidge, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. F. H. Burnette, Horticulturist, State University, Baton Rouge, La. W. A. Cannon, New York Botanical Garden, New York City. F. W. Card, Horticulturist, College of Agriculture, Kingston, R. I. John Craig, Professor of University Extension, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. K. C. Davis, Horticulturist, Experiment Station, Morgantown, W. Va. Hugo de Vries, Amsterdam, Holland. Anne Dorrance, Dorranceton, Pa. R. S. Eaton, Horticulturist, Kentville, N. S. Frank E. Emery, Agricultural Experiment Station, Laramie, Wyoming. S. W. Fletcher, Horticulturist, Agricultural College, Pullman, Wash. S. B. Green, Horticulturist, St. Anthony Park, Minn. H. H. Groff, Simcoe, Ontario. B. D. Halsted, Botanist and Horticulturist, State College, New Brunswick, N. J. N. E. Hansen, Horticulturist, State Agricultural College, Brookings, S. D. C. C. Hurst, Burbage, Hinckley, England. W. M. Hays, Agriculturist, State University, St. Anthony Park, Minn. H. L. Hutt, Horticulturist, Agricultural College, Guelph, Can. Ida B. Keller, Department of Chemistry and Biology, High School, Philadelphia, Pa. Maxwell T. Masters, The Gardeners' Chronicle, London, England. D. Morris, Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, Barbados. T. V. Munson, Denison, Texas. Herbert Myrick, American Agriculturist, New York City. George Nicholson, Late Curator, Royal Gardens, Kew, England. P. O'Mara, New York City, N. Y. W. Paddock, Horticulturist, Agricultural Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Col. L. H. Pammel, Botanist, Iowa Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa. C. G. Patten, Nurseryman, Charles City, Iowa. H. J. Patterson, Director State Experiment Station, College Park, Md. C. S. Plumb, Director Agricultural Experiment Station, Lafayette, Ind. Homer C. Price, Horticulturist, Iowa Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa. F. W. Rane, Horticulturist, Agricultural Experiment Station, Durham, N. H. H. F. Roberts, Botanist, Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kan. H. H. Rusby, College of Pharmacy, New York. E. P. Sandersten, Horticulturist, State Experiment Station, Md. W. Saunders, Director Experimental Farms, Dominion of Canada. G. E. Stone, Botanist, Hatch Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass. W. A. Taylor, Secretary American Pomological Society. W. Trelease, Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. Jas. S. Troop, Horticulturist, Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind. ADVISORY COMMITTEE-Continued A. C. True, Director, Office of Experiment Stations, Washington, D. C. L. M. Underwood, Columbia University, New York City. Ph. de Vilmorin, Paris, France. C. L. Watrous, President American Pomological Society, Des Moines, la. F. A. Waugh, Horticulturist, Hatch Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass. H. J. Webber, Laboratory of Plant Breeding, Washington, D. C. J. C. Whitten, Horticulturist, Agricultural Experiment Station, Columbia, Mo. E. J. Wickson, Horticulturist, University of California, Berkeley, Cal. E. Mead Wilcox, Biologist, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala. John H. Wilson, St. Andrew's University, Scotland. A. F. Woods, Chief, Division of Vegetable Pathology and Physiology, Washington, D. C. PATRONS SUBSCRIPTIONS TOWARDS THE EXPENSES OF THE CONFERENCE WERE RECEIVED FROM THE FOLLOWING : J. P. Morgan, F. W. Bruggerhof, W. E. Dodge, C. L. Allen, James Wood, G. W. Perkins, N. L. Britton, Mrs. H. Dormitzer, T. H. Hubbard, W. H. Parsons, D. O. Mills, Mrs. E. Herrman, S. Thorne, Mrs. L. T. Valentine, Miss P. Q. Thorne, Nicola Tesla, T, A. Havemeyer, H. H. Rusby, C. W. Ward, G. A. Archer, M. Carnegie, H. F. Walker, Mrs. Bryce, Miss J. R. Cathcart, Mason A. Stone, G. T. Powell, F. L. Stetson, Mrs. T. K. Gibbs, G. C. Rand, Mrs. H. J. Aldrich, W. Nilsson, A. G. Mills, W. H. S. Wood, -C. Pryer, H. A. Siebrecht, Mrs. Dwight, W. L. Conyngham, M. Barker, J. C. Brown, E. F. S. Arnold, H. P. Frothingham, J. de Wolf, J. D. Archbold, I. L. Powell. S. T. Peters. MEMBERS OF THE CONFERENCE THE FOLLOWING REGISTERED WITH THE SECRETARY. N. E. Hansen Brookings,. So. Dak. W. Paddock Fort Collins, Col. G. B. Brackett Washington, D. C. C. L. Watrous Des Moines, la. W. A. Orton Washington, D. C. Wm. B. Alwood , Blacksburg, Va. R. M. Kellogg Three Rivers, Mich. C. A. Zavitz Guelph, Canada. H. L. Hutt Guelph, Canada. W. T. Macoun Ottawa, Canada. H. F. Roberts Manhattan, Kansas. Jesse B. Norton Washington, D. C. R. D. Connor ,. Roseville, N. J. Will W. Tracy Detroit, Mich. C. S. Scofield Dept. of Agriculture. W. J. Spillman Dept. of Agriculture. H. C. Irish . . . . St. Louis, Mo. Frances G. Markham Dorranceton, Pa. Anne Dorrance Dorranceton, Pa. A. J. Pieters Washington, D. C. T. L. Lyon Lincoln, Neb. A. D. Showel Urbana, 111. C. L. Allen Floral Park, N. Y. W. M. Hays St. Anthony Park, Minn. W. Bateson Cambridge, England. Geo. Nicholson Richmond, England. Walter H. Evans Washington, D. C. S. Fraser Briarcliff Manor, N. Y. C. Beaman Smith U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Chas. W. Ward Queens, L. I. Fred W. Card Kingston, R. I. William Fawcett Kingston, Jamaica. D. G. Fairchild Washington, D. C. H. C. Price Ames, Iowa. F. S. Earle N. Y. Botanical Garden. D. Morris Barbados, West Indies. Alfred Rehder Jamaica Plain, Mass. S. H. Bailey Ithaca, N. Y. L. C. Corbett Washington, D. C. C. E. Allen Madison, Wis. Samuel Henshaw Staten Island, N. Y. F. E. Lloyd Teachers' College, New York City. D. S. Johnson Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Md. Alex. Wallace New York. Wm. J. Stewart Boston, Mass. S. W. Underhill Croton-on-Hudson, N. Y. F. H. Valentine Ridgewood, N. J. Nicolas M. Shaw Briarcliff Manor, N. Y. J. Austin Shaw New York City. Wm. Saunders Ottawa, Canada. Herbert T. Crouse Briarcliff Manor, N. Y. James S. Meng New York City. C. F. Austin. College Park, Md. H. H. Groff Simcoe, Ont. S. A. Beach Geneva, N. Y. F. R. Newbold Poughkeepsie. F. C. Stewart Geneva, N. Y. T. V. Munson and wife Denison, Tex. A. T. Jordan New Brunswick, N. J. Stewardson Brown Philadelphia, Pa. H. H. Rusby New York. Chas. E. Saunders Ottawa, Ont. 0. F. Cook Washington, D. C. C. S. Phelps : Briarcliff Manor, N. Y. Patrick O'Mara New York City. 1. L. Powell Millbrook, N. Y. John T. Withers Jersey City, N. J. Guy N. Collins Washington, D. C. A. Wintzer West Grove, Pa. Mrs. George \Villard Three Rivers, Mich. H. von Herf New York City. A. Dimmock St. Albans, Eng. A. Herrington Madison, N. J. Elbert Wakeman Millneck, N. Y. D. T. Macdougal New York, N. Y. COMPLIMENTARY EXCURSION On the day following the last business session of the Conference the Council of the Horticultural Society of New York invited the delegates and members of the Conference to an excursion up the Hudson River, under the guidance of Mr. James Wood, president, who explained the various points of interest passed en route. A landing was made at Poughkeepsie, where conveyances met the party, and Fern Tor, the home of Mr. F. R. Newbold, treasurer of the Society, was visited, by invitation. Here the party was entertained, and, after a short rest, the estate of Mr. F. W. Van- derbilt, at Hyde Park, was visited, Mrs. Vanderbilt receiving the visitors, and accompanying them around the gardens and farm. This place is notable as the site of Dr. Hosack's old home, where many fine specimen trees are to be seen. The party returned to New7 York City by train. The hearty thanks of the Conference Committee is due to Mr. New- bold and the Misses Newbold for their very hospitable reception and enter- tainment. The following persons attended this excursion : C. A. Zavitz, C. L. Watrous, R. M. Kellogg, H. T. Crouse, H. L. Hurt, S. W. Underbill, S. A. Beach, M. M. Shaw, G. T. Powell, S. Fraser, Mrs. G. T. Powell, A. Shaw, W. Paddock, Mrs. F. Willard, N. L. Britton, S. Henshaw, Mrs. N. L. Britton, J. B. Norton, C. W. Ward, W. Bateson, J. Wood, J. T. Withers, G. Nicholson, W. T. Macoun, D.Morris, W. B. Alwood R. Willis, T. V. Munson, W. Fawcett, Mrs. T. V. Munson. N. E. Hansen, S. Brown, A. J. Pieters, G. N. Collins, F. M. Hexamer, C. S. Scofield, G. V. Nash, W. Sannders, W. H. Evans, W..G. Johnson, A. Rehder, E. Asmus, C. F. Shaw, B. Dorrance, C. B. Smith, Miss A. Dorrance, C. E. Allen, Mi?s Markham, Mrs. C. E. Allen, L. Barren. A. L. Willis, PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE CONFERENCE Tuesday, September 30 SEE PAGE PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES IN HEREDITY W. Bate son i NOTES ON MENDEL'S METHODS OF CROSS BREEDING C. C. Hurst .... 1 1 ARTIFICIAL ATAVISM Hugo de Vrics . . 17 SOME CONCLUSIONS Max Leichtlin . . 25 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF HYBRIDS /. T. Lynch 29 DEFINITION OF "SPORT " (GENERAL DISCUS- SION ) 32 SOME OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF PLANT BREEDING Luther Burbank . 35 ON THE BREEDING OF DISEASE-RESISTANT VARIETIES W. A. Orton .... 41 BREEDING FOR INTRINSIC QUALITIES W. M. Plays 55 CORRELATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PLANT IN FORM, COLOR AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS S. A. Beach .... 63 Wednesday, October 1 EVOLUTION UNDER DOMESTICATION, DISCUS- SION ON PAPER BY .O. F. Cook 69 INDIVIDUAL PREPOTENCY Will W. Tracy . . 75 IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE BY SELEC- TION AND CROSS FERTILIZATION D. Morris 79 SOME CYTOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HYBRIDS W. A. Cannon . . 89 IMPROVEMENT OF ROSES BY BUD SELECTION. . .L. C. Corbctt ... 93 IMPROVEMENT OF OATS BY BREEDING /. B. Norton .... 103 ON BREEDING FLORISTS' FLOWERS E. G. Hill in A AIEDLEY OF PUMPKINS '. L. H. Bailey .... I [7 RESULTS OF HYBRIDIZATION AND PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA Win. Sanndcrs . . 125 WINE FERMENTS W. B. Alivood . . . 142 HYBRIDIZING GLADIOLUS SPECIES W. van Fleet . . . 143 IMPROVEMENT OF CARNATIONS C. W. Ward .... 151 Thursday, October 2 SEE PAGE BREEDING OF NATIVE NORTHWESTERN FRUITS. N. E. Hansen . .157 ADVANTAGES OF CONJOINT SELECTION AND HYBRIDIZATION AND LIMITS OF USEFULNESS IN HYBRIDIZATION AMONG GRAPES T. V . Munson . . 159 STUDY OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE SECOND GENERATION OF BERBERIS HYBRIDS C. E. Saunders . . . 167 BUD VARIATION IN THE STRAWBERRY PLANT. .R. M. Kellogg . . 169 BUD VARIATION IN APPLES G. T. Powell .... 173 HAND POLLINATION OF ORCHARD FRUITS H. C. Price .... 175 CEREAL BREEDING IN KANSAS H. F. Roberts . . 179 NOTES ON PLANT BREEDING IN JAMAICA W. Fazvcett 185 FINAL SESSIONS AND RESOLUTIONS 189 APPENDIX— PAPERS READ BY TITLE NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF PEAS AND BEANS. W. T. Macoiui . . 196 IMPROVEMENT OF CORN BY BREEDING C. P. Hartley . . 199 MY EXPERIENCE IN HYBRIDIZING CANNAS. . . .A. Wintzer 209 HYBRID PLUMS F. A. Waugh . . .211 THE MUSKMELON F \ W. Rane ... .215 ON GRAPE HYBRIDS N. B. White 221 PRACTICAL POINTS FROM THE BREEDING OF STRAWBERRIES AND BUSH FRUITS F. W. Card . . . .225 HYBRIDS AND DISEASES L. H. Pamniel . .229 SELECTION vs. HYBRIDISM F. W. Burbidge . .231 NOTES ON CALIFORNIA PLANT BREEDING E. J. Wickson. . .234 A STUDY OF GRAPE POLLEN, AND WHAT THE RESULTS INDICATE N. 0. Booth 243 SOME HYBRID NICOTIANAS P. de Vilnwrin. .251 THE EVERBEARING STRAWBERRY P. de Vilnwrin. .255 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PLANT BREEDING AND HYBRIDIZATION The first session of the conference was called to order at ten o'clock A. M. on Tuesday, September 30, 1902, by President James Wood of the Horti- cultural Society of New York, who without formality opened the proceedings and stated that the Horticultural Society had made arrangements for the pub- lication of the proceedings of the conference, the contents of the volume to be coprighted as a whole by the Society, but reserving to the authors exclusively all rights in the papers which they present. The following paper was then read by W. Bateson, of Cambridge Uni- versity, England: '} ',: ,v ^ - .-_ , * % PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE NEW \ DISCOVERIES IN HEREDITY '-'.--. •!.- By W. Bateson, Cambridge University, England, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : It is impossible for me to begin the serious discussion of these subjects without expressing the pleasure that I feel in having this opportunity of addressing you. It is and must be always <• great pleasure to a man who is engaged in a very special line of inquiry, as breeding experiments are, to meet others who are engaged in such work, whose thoughts are centred on the same problems as his own. Especially may I welcome this opportunity of speaking here in the United States, where what is being done in this line of inquiry is on a scale of comprehensiveness which I may truly say far exceeds anything that is being done in any other country in the world. We have only to glance at the publications of the agricultural experiment stations to know what progress is being made in this line. Here amid vast diversities of soil and climate the great resources of the States are being applied to the elucidation of these problems, with the result that the scope of the work carried on entirely surpasses that which is attempted by other nations. It is therefore with especial satisfaction that I welcome the opportunity of addressing those who in the United States are devoting them- selves to the study of experimental breeding. In these studies we have reached a critical moment. That crisis, as" it is known to many of those present, has been brought about by the rediscovery and confirmation of Mendel's work on heredity. These discoveries intimately concern the art of the practical breeder, and I propose to use the present opportunity to indicate some of the ways in which we can employ them for his purposes. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. The essential point which Mendel discovered in peas, and others are now discovering in various fields of inquiry, is that, though a plant or an animal may be made up of a great complex of characters, height, size, color, hairiness, form of fruits and organs, etc., yet in a very considerable number of cases, a number which increases almost every month, those characters may possess an individuality manifested in the formation of the germ cells. When two varie- ties differing in, say, color, or form, or hairiness, or whatever it may be, are crossed together a "hybrid" is formed. That hybrid when it comes to make its own germ cells, male cells, or female cells, makes them in a number of cases, indeed in all Mendelian cases, such that each germ cell represents one of the pure grandparental characters, and not both. That is the essential discovery of Mendel.. The cases that are most familiar are those in peas, the subject on which he originally worked. If a pea with green cotyledons be crossed with one having yellow cotyledons a hybrid is produced. That hybrid grows up and bears peas in its turn. Those peas will be composed, each indi- vidual pea, of a union of two germs, each germ being a carrier of either one or the other of the pure parental characters. Therefore we may have two green germs uniting, or two yellow germs uniting, or a yellow germ uniting with a gre^n-1 ;Each rg£tijcete";m ^uch a case is pure to one or the other of the two parental characters which you first put into the hybrid. In other words, we •cap frtpdgni'ze! 'iiiaay 'di&prenf characters in animals or plants which are unit characters' rfnd in "ther f donation of gametes are treated as distinct entities or units. If, instead of using pure parental forms differing from each other in respect of one pair of antagonistic — allelomorphic characters, as we call them — we use parental forms distinguished in respect of two, three or more pairs of allelo- morphs, then each germ cell in Mendelian cases will contain or transmit one character only of each pair. To use an illustration : In chemistry you may have a body, say, a simple salt, from which you can take out the base, or the acid radical, replacing the base by another base, or the acid radical by another acid radical. You can in that way decompose your substance into component parts, reforming them in various combinations. So we must imagine a plant which has one element of color, for example, another element of texture, etc., and we must conceive that when two varieties are crossed together the unit characters can be com- bined and recombined in the gametes of the hybrid, alternating with and replacing each other by substitution. You can take out greenness and put in yellowness; you 'can take out hairiness and put in smoothness; you can take out tallness and put in dwarfness, etc. The characters have their fixed possi- bilities of union, and hence it may be possible for us to form some mental picture of the constitution of the organism. Now when we come to the question of the significance of these things to the breeder or to the hybridist, it will be found that the significance is exceed- ingly great. I am afraid of saying that we have already reached a point when the practical man who is doing these things with a definite, economic object or commercial object in view can take the facts and use them for his definite advantage. But we do for the first time get a clear 'sight of some of the fundamentals on which he will in- future work, and it cannot be now very PRACTICAL 'ASPECTS IN HEREDITY. 3 many years, if the investigations go on at the present rate, before the breeder will be in a position not so very different from that in which the chemist is : — when he will be able to do what he wants to do, instead of merely what happens to turn up. Hitherto I think it is not too much to say that the results of hybridization had given a hopeless entanglement of contradictory results. We did not know what to expect. We crossed two things; we saw the incomprehensible diversity that comes in the second generation; we did not know how to reason about it, how to appreciate it, or what it meant. We got contradictory results, and the thing looked hopeless. But with the discovery of the purity of the germ cells we have the first step, which, I think, is bound in a very short time to become a path through many of those won- derful mazes of heredity. To the practical man, I take it, the importance of this discovery comes in, first, somewhat as follows : Seeing that the gametes are pure with respect to their characters, it follows that an individual which is produced as the offspring of a cross will be composed, in respect to any one pair of these characters, either of two similar gametes or of two dissimilar gametes. Take the case of the pea. Any one pea descended from an original cross between yellow and green will either be composed of two similar green gametes, or of two similar yellow gametes, or of a yellow and a green. Now, as it happens in the case of the pea, and in a great number of other cases, unfortunately for the breeder, there is no means of distinguishing outwardly by any test that we can apply whether the organism is a hybrid or pure to the dominant character. There is no way of distinguishing in the cases where yellow meets green whether the organism is a hybrid that is composed of yellow and green, or whether it is pure to the yellow character and is composed of two yellow gametes. There is no possibility of distinguishing, because the yellow is, as Mendel calls it, dominant, and the green is hidden, or, as he calls it, recessive. We have, therefore, in such a case as that, two classes of organisms, pure and hybrid, each showing the dominant character, and it is owing to the fact that the pure dominant cannot be distinguished from the dominant hybrid con- taining both dominant and recessive characters that an immense number of the contradictions which the practical breeder experiences have come about. For example, a breeder or seedsman introduces some strain of a new variety of his seed — peas, or whatever it may be. He finds a number of rogues which are not true to the character which he desires to put on the market — rogues which he is unable to eliminate. Formerly we said it was only a question of time; he must hoe out the rogues and go on, and he will gradually fix his type. But now we begin to see what the facts really mean. He hoes out the rogues, and again they come — in diminishing number, no doubt, but they are still there. We now suspect the nature of such rogues in a considerable number of examples. For example, the bearded wheats occurring among wheats which are intended to be beardless. Every year they grow, and every year the seedsman hoes them out, and again they come back. Those bearded wheats may come from the fact that the beardless wheats had a bearded ancestor, and some of them contain bearded germs. If you cross a bearded wheat with a beardless wheat, the first cross will be a beardless wheat. You allow it to fertilize itself, and you sow your crop ; you begin to get beards and HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. beardless. You take out the bearded, and again there will be a beardless crop with a certain number of bearded. To get your crop pure in a few generations you should make your selection from individual plants. Then you will begin to find that some plants carry only the bearded character and some will carry both. It is the coming out of these recessive characters, owing to the for- tuitous union of recessive germs, which shows itself in the offspring you desire to get rid of. Whenever, then, it is desired, in a crossbred strain, to fix a dominant character selections must always be made of single families containing no recessive members. We reach, therefore, a fact of immediate interest to the practical breeder. We have lost forever, I think, the conception that fixity of character is solely or chiefly a function of the number of generations during which that char- acter has been manifested, or of the number of successive selections of that particular variety which have been made. Purity of strain or fixity of char- acter is, on the contrary, due primarily to the union of similar gametes in fertilisation. Such purity may therefore occur among the immediate offspring of crossbred organisms. Another question of considerable practical significance is that of the nature and causation of dominance, involving the further question whether the breeder has any means at his disposal by which dominance may be created, modified or controlled. Upon this point experimental results are still to seek, and though there are a few cases* where we know that the dominance of one character over another varies in intensity, we have no clear indication as to the causes governing these differences of intensity. We may naturally be disposed to consider whether continued pure-breeding, or, perhaps, in-breeding, may not be concerned in the creation of dominance, but the facts at present ascer- tained give no clear light on this question. We have, however, abundant evidence that pure breeding is not essential to the constitution of dominance ; for in any simple Mendelian case the pure dominants, offspring of one cross- bred and one dominant parent, or of two crossbred parents, may, and com- monly do, show unimpaired dominance over recessives of pure lineage. But there is another class of facts which, to my thinking, is far more interesting than that, and is of more significance to the practical breeder, and that is this: I spoke in the case of the green and the yellow pea of the offspring resembling the dominant, the yellow. But in a great number of cases we find a phenomenon not nearly so simple as that. When similar germs meet they produce a pure bred organism, which in my terminology is railed a homozygote, a yoking together of like germs. When the germs are dissimilar they make a new form, a hybrid form, which in this terminology we may call a hcterozygote, the yoking together of two dissimilar germs in the zygote form. Until we have seen the heterozygote, its form is not predica- ble in any specific case. You cannot say until you have made the specific cross what the character of that heterozygote will be. It may be that, through dom- inance, one character only prevails to the exclusion of the other, or the hetero- zygote may have some form totally distinct from that of either of the parents. *The extra toe of the Dorking fowl, for . instance, is uniformly dominant in some strains, but not in others. PRACTICAL ASPECTS IN HEREDITY. O For example, in a case that I see a great deal of, in the sweet pea, you may by crossing two sweet peas produce the old purple sweet pea with chocolate colored standards and purple wings. That purple sweet pea so produced will not breed true. The old purple pea of the gardeners was a pure pea and would perpetuate itself truly from seed; but the purple pea produced as a heterozygote form will not breed pure, but will split up into the components which produced it. So that we recognize that there is a new form, a hetero- zygote form, which, though it may resemble some pure form, will not breed true. This is a case that may not interest the seedsman, because he does not \vant the old sweet pea. Nevertheless, in his fertilizations he may produce another new form which he does want, and after all his laborious selection he may find it is only a heterozygote which will never breed true. It is a curious and unexplained fact — constituting one of the most fertile fields of inquiry — that when dissimilar gametes meet they should so often produce an ancient form. That is what we now recognize as the rationale of Darwin's "reversions on crossing." When Darwin crossed his pigeons he brought back an old form ; and so in crossing many plants you can get back a reversionary form by uniting two dissimilar gametes. In my own experience a most extraordinary case of this nature has occurred. When the Mendelian discoveries were first announced it was ob- viously desirable to cross two varieties differing in some visible character of the gametes (whether alike in other respects or not). By such means we might hope to make visible that mixture of dissimilar gametes which must certainly occur in Mendelian hybrids. Unfortunately the actual gametes of flowering plants are not adapted to this experiment, but the nearest things to them are the pollen grains. So I cast about for a case of visible variation in pollen. By good fortune I found them at once in a certain sweet pea. Ordinary sweet peas have their pollen grains elongated, with three pores. The white variety known as Emily Henderson, an American sort about eight to ten years old, usually has pollen grains which, when treated with acids, etc., are seen to be roughly spherical, with only two pores. Various grains of inter- mediate types are found from time to time in the pollen of E. Henderson, and the round grains not very rarely have three pores. But the pollen of a round-pollened plant can generally be distinguished immediately from that of a long-pollened plant. Proposing, then, to cross E. Henderson with sweet peas having typical pollen, I sowed a quantity of that variety. But when the plants flowered I discovered that, though a majority of the Hendersons had round pollen, a few, though otherwise indistinguishable from the others, had nevertheless long pollen, exactly like a common sweet pea. I then crossed the round pollened Henderson with the long, and vice versa. The same experiment was also made independently by Miss E. R. Saunders. Every seed then produced (from four capsules') has given a plant with chocolate-purple standards and blue-purple wings! There are many details respecting this remarkable case which I hope ere long to publish, but I mention it now as illustrating in a striking way how paradoxical are the phenomena empirically produced by the experimental breeder, and how puzzling are these heterozygous forms. I may say that my experiment entirely failed to fulfil its original purpose. 6 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. which was to see a mixture of true long grains and true round grains, for all the pollen of these plants was typically long, showing dominance of the long pollen as a plant character. I know no example of the production of an atavistic heterozygote so curious as this. It should be stated that white color of flowers is, in general, a pure recessive character in sweet peas. Hence, had I happened to cross a long and a round pollened Henderson together without knowing of this pollen difference, I should not have Men aware of the heterozygous nature of the purple mongrel, and should have been still more hopelessly unable to bring the facts into line. Even as it stands, we may feel fairly sure that something more than simple Mendelian phenomena are presented by this case, but pending the next generation we cannot analyze it any further. The occurrence of these heterozygous forms concerns the practical breeder very closely. The breeder may breed a new variety of value, and he may be most anxious to obtain its seed pure. Year by year he selects it, but every year, if it be a heterozygote, it fails to come true; because, as we now see, its germ cells do not transmit or represent the heterozygous character, but merely the pure characters of its components. In the garden of my friend, Mr, Sutton, of Reading, I have seen a case of this kind. It is a beautiful Chinese Primrose (Primula Jtinensis) of a curious lavender color. The seeds of the self-fertilized lavenders are sown each year, but of the total offspring only about half are lavenders, one-quarter being a tinged white and one-quarter magentas. We can scarcely doubt that the lavenders are formed as the heterozygote of that particular white and ma- genta, the whites being homozygotes formed by the union of two white gametes, while the magentas are similarly formed by the union of two magenta gametes. In such a case statistical study of the offspring will show the breeder with approximate certainty what he is dealing with, and will give him a good indication whether it is worth while for him to continue in his attempt to get the variety true. A case almost certainly of the same nature occurs in poultry — the case of the Andalusian; fowl. The Andalusian was at one time a favorite breed. Its plumage is of a peculiar blue-gray, mixed with black. You may go to the poultry shows and buy the winning Andalusians, thinking that they will breed true. But they will not. Andalusians have been bred for at least forty or fifty years, and there is no good reason for thinking that they breed any truer now than formerly. Every one is agreed that the breed possesses this drawback. The "impurity" manifests itself in the production of numerous black birds and numerous white, birds irregularly splashed with blackish gray. From such evidence as I can obtain it seems almost certain that these two objectionable forms are produced in about equal numbers, and that the number of true Andalusians is about double the number of either. The Andalusian is almost unquestionably a heterozygous form made by the union of the black gamete with the white-splashed gamete. It is, moreover, on record that the two sport- forms crossed together produce only Andalusians, as they should do if the case is a simple Mendelian one. We may, therefore, predict that the Anda- lusian, like the lavender Primula, will never breed true, however well or long it be selected. PRACTICAL ASPECTS IN HEREDITY. " In these brief remarks I have indicated some of the lines along which the Mendelian discoveries will have a close bearing on the work of the practical breeder. We have for the first time a conception of the true nature of at least a part of the facts which underlie the outward and visible phenomena witnessed by the breeder. As I have attempted to show, we have at last a clear notion of the meaning of purity or fixity of type, of the consequences of dominance and of the nature of heterozygous forms — phenomena which go to make up the daily experience of those who are practically engaged in these pursuits. It is impossible on the present occasion to go into many other fascinating problems suggested by these simple facts. For example, we do not proceed far with the practice of experimental breeding before we meet the phenomenon of the decomposition or resolution of compound characters into simpler constituent characters (hypallelomorphs), themselves possessing a measure of individual- ity. Then again we are presented with a whole series of possibilities of the utmost consequence both to the naturalist and the practical breeder. It is difficult to see this phenomenon of the decomposition or resolution of compound characters without feeling the conviction that we have here the key to a great part of the mystery of parallel variations. We are led to suspect that the series of colors, for instance, into which the original color of the Car- nation has been split up may be a similar series to that into which, say, the sweetpea has been split up. We can in this way imagine that each series of component colors consists of a number of definite terms related to each other in a definite way such that, if we could ascertain the relation of yellow in the one series, we could predict somewhat similar relations for yellow in the other series. The colors of flowers give us many such series, and even classes of series, of which some have obviously distinct laws of their own. Neverthe- less, it is in a high degree likely that if one such series of colors were studied statistically in such a way that what I have called the mutual relations of 'its terms could be stated, we should have a model which would enable us to recon- struct other similar series, to predict its terms, and possibly to set about pro- ducing them at will. In this paper I have spoken only of the simpler deductions from Mendel's principles. To this audience I need scarcely say that we are well aware that those principles in their simple form cover only a part of the phenomena of heredity. In trying to extend them or to cast them into a general form many reservations must be made that cannot now be detailed, and a vast field must be covered by specific experiment before such generalizations can be successful. Chief, perhaps, of the difficulties we can at present foresee is that caused by the existence of numbers of specific heterozygotes, which may appear quite unex- pectedly owing to the presence of unknown differentiations between parent- strains presumed to be identical. Such a case is that of the E. Henderson mentioned above. Phenomena of this kind will doubtless be found elsewhere, and will lead to great difficulties of interpretation. Against such cases the observer must be on his guard. The significance of such forms can only be studied by an analysis of their offspring. In addition to the general development of the inquiry we may note three chief subjects that call for immediate investigation : 8 .HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 1. The resolution of compound characters and a statistical study of their components. 2. The nature of dominance and its possible limitations. 3. The detection of differentiation among the gametes of cross-bred or- ganisms. As to the last two we are still in ignorance how to proceed, but the first is a question we can at once attack by Mendelian methods. But apart from the profounder mysteries, the unravelling of the problems of heredity has now become a matter for simple statistical research. Owing to the scale on which they must be pursued, it is likely that for their further elucidation we must perhaps look rather to the practical breeder whose opera- tions are of large extent than to the scientific investigator whose resources are generally of a more limited character. But if in the future some co- operation between these two groups of workers can be secured, we may con- fidently look forward to the time when the laws of heredity, hitherto a hopeless mystery, will, in their outward presentments, at least, be, as the laws of chemistry now are, a matter of every day knowledge. The period of confusion is passing away, and we have at length a basis from which to attack that mystery such as we could scarcely have hoped two years ago would be dis- covered in our time. [For a fuller account, in English, of Mendelian facts and problems, the reader is referred to the Report to the Evolution Committee of the Royal Society No. i, by W. Bateson and E. R. Saunders; also to Mendel's Principles of Heredity, by W. Bateson, containing a translation of Mendel's papers, to- gether with a discussion; published by the Cambridge University Press (in America, the Macmillan Company). These papers give references to the chief writings on the subject, especially those of De Vries, Correns, and Tschermak, who almost simultaneously announced the rediscovery and confirmation of Mendel's work. In the latter publication, on p. 71, 4th line from bottom, Abab should be Ab, ab; and aBdb should be aB, ab. The following corrections should be made in the Report referred to above: p. 24. The offspring of S\ inermis x 6\ armata should stand in the column headed "S. ar." p. 105, 2nd line. For "agree precisely, being 3.0:1" read "are 2.7:1." p. 160. Note. For "tails" read "Cupids."] The Chair: We feel very greatly indebted to Mr. Bateson for his admirable presentation of these principles underlying fertilization. I am sure he has brought to each one of us here who has had any practical experience in this work the explanation of some difficulties that we have run against, whatever our work may have been. And J want to commend Mr. Bateson for the admirable presentation of a subject so full of information for us. L. H. Bailey: Mr. President, I should like to say one word in regard to this mat- ter of the Mendelian hypothesis. I have tried to follow it myself in this last year or two. I wish to say to you that if you wish to follow this with the greatest degree of accuracy you should get Mr. Bateson's recent book, "Mendel's Principles of Heredity." I don't believe that we shall get ready for a long time to formulate laws by means of which we may predict what is coming, because our premises are as yet in a way unknown. But it seems to me that the resuscitation and revival of Mendel's theories are going to open a whole new field to speculation in regard to the principles of heredity. It seems to me that the next few years are going to see a discussion of the principles of heredity in re- gard to plants that is comparable to that which followed Darwin's discovery. It seems PRACTICAL ASPECTS IN HEREDITY. 9 to me it is as important as that. I expect to use this book as a basis for all our work in plant breeding. William Saunders: Mr. President, this paper has thrown light upon many subjects which have been somewhat dark in my mind. For instance, in the cross-fertilizing of wheats we have often found that the crossing of two beardless forms will produce a bearded form, or we have a beardless wheat as the result of the crossing of two bearded forms. This explanation that Professor Bateson has given us throws light on that point and on many similar points which have puzzled many of us who are practical workers in this very interesting field. H. H. Groff: The principles referred to by Mr. Bateson are certainly of great interest as regards primary crosses, and those crosses are related to our comparatively early experience in work of this kind. But the great question of interest to us in the future (and even now to those workers of extended experience) will be in regard to those crosses which are multiple to a limitless degree. These will present the questions in the future. It is not so much what we expect to find between hybrids or crosses con- taining a limited number of characteristics, but when crosses contain many thousands the problem will be far greater. W. J. Spillman: I have with me some specimens, or rather some figures, of the specimens of wheat illustrating this law. I place them on exhibition. The Chair: I could have presented from my own fields this season ten acres of il- lustration of Mr. Bateson's statement in regard to growing wheat. I have been growing a hybrid wheat for a number of years in a practical way as a farmer, and the seedsmen have taken the crops, and every year I have had to fight these bearded speci- mens of plants that came up in this field. To me it has been one of my greatest puzzles, as I was making no progress whatever; and while I never allowed one of those plants to go into my field, yet year after year I had the same result. I can see that it has been a bottomless work that I have been trying. The following paper by C. C. Hurst, of England, was read by the Secretary: NOTES ON MENDEL'S METHODS OF CROSS-BREEDING By Charles C. Hurst, Burbage, Hinckley, Eng. The first hybrid plant, raised by hand, appears to have been recorded by Richard Bradley, in 1717, as a cross between the Carnation (Dianthus caryo- phyllus. $) and the Sweet William (D. barbatus. cO ; it was raised by Thomas Fairchild, of the Hoxton Nurseries, near London. (Ref. i.) Since then many hybrids and crosses, in many genera, have been raised by many persons, in many countries. Among others, the names of Kobreuter, Knight, Herbert, Gartner, Godron, Nandin and Darwin stand pre-eminent. The culminating point of all these being the experiments, reasearches and broad generalizations of Charles Darwin, which mark off a distinct epoch. The new epoch seems to have begun actually in Darwin's time, though apparently quite unknown to himself and to his contemporaries. In 1866 (about two years before Darwin published his monumental work on the "Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication") Gregor Mendel published, at Briinn, the records of his remarkable experiments in cross-breeding distinct races of the Garden Pea (Pisum sativum). (Ref. 2.) Curiously enough, this work remained in obscurity until 1900, when it was brought to light, almost simultaneously, by the experiments and researches of De Vries in Holland, Correns in Germany, Tschermak in Austria, and Bateson in England. So that, although 1866 marked the beginning of the new epoch, yet it was not until the last year of the nineteenth century that any marked advance was made. The psychological moment had apparently arrived, and during the past two years the progress in certain directions has been phe- nomenal. Experiments with various kinds of plants and animals, carried out on Mendelian lines, have yielded large numbers of facts, which, on the whole, practically confirm the results obtained by Mendel, though, at the same time, it is only fair to state that apparent exceptions are fairly numerous. In face of these exceptions, and notwithstanding the many confirmations of Mendel's results by different observers in different kinds of plants and animals, it is quite possible that it is too early yet to regard Mendel's principles as capable of general application. At the same time, there is no doubt that Mendel's experiments and those of his disciples are a great advance on what has been done before, and will probably prove a stepping-stone towards the final solution of the problems of inheritance. For the present it may .be wise (1) "New Improvements of Planting and Gardening," 1717; cap. ii., p. 22. (2) "Versuche uber Pflanzen — hybriden," abhandl. d. Naturf. Vereins in Brunn, 1866, iv., pp. i — 47. (See also English translation of above by the Royal Horticultural Society of London, in Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1901, xxvi., pp. 1—32.) 12 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. to suspend our judgment and wait for further facts. But while we wait, let us also work, and help to secure those further facts, of which we are so much in need, altogether regardless of whether they happen to confirm or not the principles laid down by Mendel. In order to accomplish this it will be necessary to work strictly on Men- delian lines, and to study Mendel's methods with great care. Mendel, after surveying the work of his predecessors, started with a clear conception of what he wanted to investigate, and arranged his experiments accordingly. In his own language, he wished : (1) To determine the number of different forms under which the off- spring of hybrids appear. (2) To arrange these forms with certainty according to their separate generations. (3) To definitely ascertain their numerical or statistical relations. The careful judgment, skill and forethought which Mendel displayed in organizing and carrying out his experiments with Pisum were evidently the products of a master mind, and for some time to come his classical experiments will serve as a model for the hybridist who wishes to attack the perplexing problems of inheritance. The general object of this paper is to give a brief outline of Mendel's methods, and to endeavor to show how superior they are in all respects to the methods of his predecessors. The particular object of this paper is to express the hope that the hybridists and breeders of the New World, with their progressive ideas, their many opportunities, their vast system of experiment stations, and their practical knowledge of breeding, will take up and test the matter on a much larger' scale than we can hope to do in the Old World, and thus help to bring the question to a speedy and definite issue. So convinced is the writer of the superiority of Mendel's methods that he has already in hand a large number of experiments on Mendelian lines, in Pisum, Lathyrus, Papaver, Primula, and Paphiopedilum (Cypripedium), and also in various breeds of Fancy Poultry, the results of which he hopes to publish in due course. MENDEL'S METHODS, (i) Single Characters. One of the most fruitful sources of confusion, in the older records of ex- periments in cross-breeding, has been the selection of the individual plant as the unit upon which to base the results. The individual plant is made up of a large number of characters — organs, structures, whatever one may term them — distinctly marked off from one another, the points of difference both in form and in color being sometimes great and at other times small. In working out the inheritance of specific char- acter in hybrid orchids in 1899, the writer became much impressed with the possibilities of variation in individuals, when a number of characters in each were considered together as one unit. (Ref. 3.) (3) Report of the International Conference on Hybridization, London, 1899, in Journ. l-'.oy. Hort. Soc., 1900, xxiv., pp. 106— n; ON MENDEI/S METHODS. ^ Some characters showed dominance of one parent, some of the other parent, while others were intermediate. When these several variations occurred in twenty different characters, the possibilities of variations among the individual hybrids became very consid- erable, so much so that the results became quite unmanageable. Since that time the writer has been compelled to consider each single character on its own merits. It is true that, in some cases, the correlation of characters tends to modify this result to some extent, but in the case of the orchid hybrids in question the correlation was not very evident. From this experience it follows that in any statistics of inheritance a definite result can only be determined by taking each single character separately as a distinct unit, completely ignoring, for the time being, the individual plant made up of many characters. Mendel apparently was the first to see this clearlv. and acted upon it in his experiments with Pisum, with remarkable results. (2) Constant Characters. Next comes the important question of ancestry. From the earliest times it has been observed that in many instances offspring have resembled their grandparents or their more remote ancestors, rather than their actual parents. So that in experimental crossing, if two parents be chosen, each of whose ancestry is unknown or perhaps consists of complicated factors, the resulting offspring are either incomparable and incomprehensible, or they vary among themselves in bewildering confusion. The result, in any case, is chaos, and goes a long way to account for the many contradictory records which we find in the experiments carried out in the old style. Mendel, in his experiments, carefully and skilfully avoids this confusion by crossing together only constant and fixed races, i. e., each parent has been the product of repeated self-fertili- zation, so that its ancestry has been practically the same for many generations. This effectually eliminates all the possible complications which might be caused by the influence of the immediate ancestors at any rate, though how far it affects the possible reversion to more remote ancestors is difficult to say. The writer, in his experiments with orchids, has chosen distinct species only as parents, and in this way, perhaps, reduces the possibilities of reversion still more. De Vries, Correns, Tschermak and Bateson have all for the most part followed or carried out Mendel's method by crossing constant races, and it is quite possible that some of their apparent exceptions to Mendel's results may have been due to their crossing particular races which were not really so fixed and constant as they believed them to be. As we have seen, Mendel carefully avoided this by selecting in the first instance fixed parents of pure descent ; these he further tested for two years, and satisfied himself as to their perfect constancy and fixity, and side by side with his crossing experiments he was careful to .carry out "control'' ex- periments with these original parents by still further testing their constancy and fixity through all the generations. It is just possible that these precautions of Mendel may explain the general uniformity of his results as compared with those of his disciples and some of his critics. (Ref. 4.) (4) cf. Weldon in Biometrika, 1902, i., pp. 228—254. (For complete history, exposition and Bibliography of the Mendelian question, see Bateson's admirable hand-book on "Mendel's Principles of Heredity, ' Cambridge University Press, 1902.) 14 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. (3) Differential Characters. The third point worthy of note in the methods of Mendel is that the characters selected for crossing must not only be single and constant, but also differential in the two parents. If the single characters be nearly alike in the two parents it will be impossible to determine which parent the offspring re- sembles in that character, because all three would necessarily be nearly alike, i. e., the offspring and its two parents. On the other hand, the wider the difference between the pair of parental characters, the more clearly defined will be the single character in the resulting offspring, and consequently the easier it will be to refer the resemblance in the offspring to either parent. Mendel, in his experiments, takes single constant characters in the parents which are distinctly differential and which can be clearly defined in the offspring. (4) Dominant Characters. The fourth point in Mendel's methods is distinctly new, and that is the crossing together only of Dominant and Recessive characters, i. e., one of the characters of the differential paris is always distinctly dominant over the other one, which latter is known as the Recessive character. This serves a useful purpose in giving uniformity in the first generation, and thus avoids the great difficulty of working on to the next generation with results which are not uniform. For instance, if the pair of characters were of fairly equal potency, they would, on the whole, be intermediate — either blended or mosaic, tending to one parent and the other alternately. It is obvious, therefore, that in a case like this, if one wished to carry on the experiment to further generations, the lack of uniformity in the first generation would complicate the experiment so much as to make it almost unworkable. Mendel avoids this by the selection of Dominant and Recessive characters only, consequently his results can easily be recorded and tabulated statistically in all the generations. (5) Large Numbers. The fifth point of note in Mendel's methods is his use of large numbers, and in -this respect he was without doubt far in advance of his predecessors and contemporaries. In the older experiments, for the most part, only a few individuals of each cross were raised, and hence the range of variations appar- ent was either extreme or scarcely perceptible, according to chance and cir- cumstances. This no doubt accounts in some measure for the many contradictory results obtained by different experimenters at different times. Mendel avoided these difficulties by raising large numbers of individuals in each generation, and in that way practically gauged the total range of variation in each case.e (6) Many Generations. Now we come to the sixth and last method of Mendel to be noted here, and that is that he was not content to stop at the first generation or even the second, as so many of his predecessors were, but he in all cases carried on the experiments to the third and fourth generations and in some cases to the fifth and sixth generations. Mendel saw clearly that this was absolutely neces- sary, though at the same time the work must have been very laborious, and it NOTES ON MENDELS METHODS. illustrates once more the thorough and painstaking methods by which Mendel overcame all obstacles in his pursuit of truth. To sum up the methods of Mendel : Those hybridists who desire to follow in the footsteps of Mendel and his disciples and help to elucidate the baffling problems of inheritance will find it essential to select parents for the original cross which possess characters which are at once Single and Constant and Differential and Dominant, and they must also take care to raise large numbers of individuals in many generations for observation and comparison. By these methods alone will definite results be obtained. In conclusion, as a practical illustration of Mendel's methods, a list is given of his own selection of characters in the fixed races of Garden Peas that he used for his experiments. PISUM SATIVUM. (Fixed Races of Garden Peas.} Characters. Dominant X Recessive. (1) Form of Ripe Seeds. Round X Wrinkled. (2) Color of Cotyledons Yellow X Green. (3) Color of Seed-Coat \ rnrrpHfprl * Brown X White. (3) Color of Flowers. . ; $ L related J Purple X White. (4) Form of Ripe Pods Inflated X Wrinkled. (5) Color of Unripe Pods Green X Yellow. (6) Position of Flowers Axial X Terminal. (7) Length of Stem 6 — 7 ft. X % — i^ ft H. F. Roberts: I am engaged in wheat breeding, and I should like to inquire whether (considering the fact that wheat hybridizes) one can assume in making the first hybrid that we have a succession of pure bred parents; or whether it will be necessary to make such a succession of pure bred parents, bringing them into existence by hand fertilization, in order to be certain that we have a pure bred parent. Is it safe to assume that one already has such pure bred parents? The Chair: Will Professor Bateson kindly answer the question of Professor Roberts? It is this: Whether, in making wheat hybridization, we are to assume that we have a parentage on either side that is pure, or must we produce this ourselves by hand fer- tilization for a number of generations before we can confidently proceed with our antici- pated results? W. Bateson: It is difficult to speak on a subject of which I have no practical knowledge. My knowledge of wheat breeding is derived from reading the work of others, and also from some experiments that I have seen which have been conducted by Mr. Biffen, of Cambridge. Mr. Biffen holds, I believe, that the wheat is likely to hybridize, and I should imagine it is rash to infer that what one finds to be true of one variety would be true of another. I imagine that one would have, in any case of this kind, to begin by selection from any selection of plants, and then satisfy one's self that they were breeding pure and producing one form. L. H. Bailey: Professor Spillman, who has had practical experience in that line, is here, and I should like to hear from him on this subject. W. J. Spillman: I can only say a few words on the subject. The difficulty to which our president called attention a moment ago exists in the case of seed wheat. You may Have a beardless variety of wheat, and there will be a small amount of bearded with it, which" will appear in that variety every year. That is because you have that typical heterozygote; you have a small amount of it in your seed wheat, and if it is necessary to be sure it is necessary for you to grow your wheat and select the type for three generations. You may then be practically certain that you have a pure type. H. F. Rob'erts: Not scientifically certain? W. J. Spillman: Well, as near as you can ever be. In fact, you can, if you use proper methods. We can eliminate the old method of fixing a type by selection. In fact, that does not fix a type, as has been brought out here. But you can fix your type 16 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. in the third generation of any hybrid that obeys Mendel's law. If by growing your wheat, your mother plants, for three generations, you find they do come true to type, then they are true to type. H. F. Roberts: How about mutation forms? W. J. Spillman: I can't see that mutation forms have any particular bearing on this subject, as concerns any variety which we are considering a fixed variety as far as its being a hybrid is concerned. Maybe they are mutation forms, and I imagine that when we have come to examine a larger number of plants with reference to the mutations which are called to our attention, we will find them probably more common than we have anticipated. Yet I cannot avoid throwing out this word of caution: I may be wrong myself in it. This matter of hybridization is separate from mutation. We may have mutations in our homozygotes and we may have mutations in a hybrid plant, so that we must not confuse them. When we are dealing with hybrids let us overlook the ' mutations that occur. Now, there is a general belief that hybridization stimulates varia- tion. That is a point which seriously needs investigation. I can see no reason why it should do so. For instance, Perrin, in Australia, speaks of the second generation of wheat as the variable generation. I object to the word variable in that generation, because it is not variability; it is simply splitting up in obedience to a definite, well known law, and a splitting up in a way that can be predicted. There has been an enormous amount of work done on hybridization in the past, and Sachs, in the edition of his book published, I think, in 1879, went so far as to state that the whole question was definitely settled, and that all that could be learned had been learned then. The enormous amount of effort that has been put upon hybridization before has been an effort to discover what that heterozygote would be, what characters would be dominant, and they have been trying to determine laws by which they can predict what will be a dominant and what will be a recessive character in hybrids. 1 think I am not misrepresenting the facts in the case. Now we have learned that there is apparently no settling that; so that question we let alone. We wait until we get our hybrid; after we have it we can tell just what we will get ultimately, and the test of the law is our ability to prophesy by it. Now I want to repeat a statement which I have made twice before in public, that in the case of those characters which do obey Mendel's law — and the number is increasing rapidly, as Professor Bateson has said — we can abso- lutely state in advance, before we make a hybrid, what the result will be. That seems like a very astounding statement, but I agree with a statement of Professor Bateson already published, and which I have along with me, in which he says that he regards Mendel's discovery as of equal importance with the formation of the atomic theory in chemistry. William Saunders: In regard to the length of time which it will take to fix a particular species, I will cite an example which we had at the experimental farm in Ottawa. We imported a wheat from near Spitzbergen, near the Lena River, which was said to be a fixed type and had been in cultivation there from time immemorial. This wheat we grew for two or three years, examining it very carefully without observing any sports of any kind in it. Of course, there might have been sports, and we might have overlooked them; but it was examined carefully for two or three years. Subse- quently to that, bearded sports made their appearance in this wheat. The wheat was so small in the kernel that there was no probability of our having confused that with any other variety of wheat. We bred from those sports bearded forms of that wheat, although the beardless was the form in which we received it. It was an exceedingly early wheat, too, so that the probabilities of any confusion arising from any intermixture were less than if they had all bred at the same time. W. J. Spillman: In that case it is possible that the bearded heads were pure snorts, irrespective of any hybridization that the wheat had experienced in the past. That is possible, and is something that we cannot avoid in any way. We may select a type for an indefinite number of years, and then occasionally get a sport from it, due to something that we do not understand. William Saunders: The selection of types for purposes of hybridization was under discussion, and this case shows the possibility of such types varying even after three years. A paper on "Artificial Atavism," by Hugo de Vries, Director of the Botanical Gardens, Amsterdam, was read by D. T. MacDougal, of the New York Botanical Gardens. ON ARTIFICIAL ATAVISM By Hugo de Vries. Crossing is a means of analyzing compound characters. It is also a means of combining the elements of such characters, and of building up the original type out of its components. In some cases the compound nature of a character may be evident, in others it is not, and in most cases it is as yet doubtful. So it is clear that a combination gained by crossing may assume the aspect of something quite new, and this will be nearly always the case where it is not possible to discern the exact relation of the "new" character to those of the parents used for the cross. If now this "new" character happens to have been present in some of the ancestors of the crossed types, it will resemble a reversion to this lost feature, and, provided no other explanation offers itself, it will easily be taken for an example of atavism. Looking at this inference from another point of view we are led to suppose that perhaps many cases registered now as atavism caused by crossing may probably originate in this way. In other words, we may expect in all cases, where a compound character has been lost in the course of evolution, but where its components still exist in separate species or varieties, that it will be possible to rebuild the old characters by combining the partial ones by means of crossing. Such a com- bination would evidently deserve the title of artificial atavism. Of course, I do not assert that all atavism is to be explained in this way, or that all crossing of the constituents of compound characters will have the expected result. I only think that in a number of instances the now existing difficulties may be overcome by this method. Taking a special instance, the colors of flowers present themselves in the first rank. A great many of our garden flowers show large numbers of varities and sub-varieties that exhibit different colors. In the case of peren- nial plants, which are sold as plants and not as seed, it is evident that each degree in the fluctuating variability of a color may give a distinct so-called variety, as even this degree is constant enough when propagated by buds. But in the case of annuals and biennials, and even with all such species as used to be sold as seeds, this possibility disappears, and only such features as are transmitted in the course of generations may be used as good differences be- tween the varieties of commerce. Each such variety has its own character, which remains constant and recurs in each succeeding generation, even if it is subject to much fluctuating and individual variability. 18 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. In the case of simple flower-colors which are not built up of different units the number of the color varieties is of course a limited one, and is even often reduced .to the existence of a white flowered form. But if the colors are compound, and consist of two or more units, we ordinarily find a greater array of differently colored types, in so much more as the degree of composition of the original colors is greater. Besides the white variety, many blue flowers have a red form; so have many dark-red species a white and" flesh- colored form (Varieties carnea~), etc. Some very beautiful flowers have a darker color at the base of their petals, and such species often exhibit a variety in which the so-called "heart" is wanting. Other flowers are mottled, and have also spotless forms, etc. In all such cases the compound nature of the original color-type seems to offer itself as the most plausible conception and as a basis for further experiments. If now we go through the lists of color varieties named in the commer- cial seed catalogues or in any descriptive horticultural work, we ordinarily find the type of the original wild species and a white variety as the two extremes of the series. Between these two we find a larger or smaller number of intermediate color forms, and we may assume that these, or some of them, are to be regarded as the elementary parts into which the original mixture may be split up. And if we apply this reasoning to these intermediate forms, we may come to two well-defined inferences, which it will be possible to test by experiment. The first of these is, that by crossing the original with the white variety the different intermediate types may be obtained. The second inference is the reverse of the first, and assumes that by crossing the inter- mediate types or at least by crossing the principal ones among them we could return to the original color of the wild species. To test this argument I have chosen the common snapdragon (Antir- rhinum majus~}. But before giving the detailed description of my experi- ments I must point out that Mendel, in his celebrated memoir on hybrids, has briefly discussed the possibility of the compound nature of the colors of most of our flowers, and has clearly formulated his conviction that by this supposition it would be possible to explain their most curious behavior in the few crossing experiments he had made with them. In fact, he says in the introduction to his paper, "Experience of artificial fertilization, such as is effected with ornamental plants in order to obtain new variations in color, has led to the experiments which will here be discussed."* The experiments which I am now going to describe will give an entire confirmation of Mendel's predictions.** The common snapdragon, Antirrhinum majus, is cultivated in our gardens under many beautifully colored varieties. The wild species or original form is of a dark red color, but there are also a white variety and many inter- mediate types. These varieties are constant from seed and remain pure as long as occasional crosses with other forms are excluded. The dark-red color * A translation of Mendel's paper was published by the Royal Horticultural Society in their Journal, vol. 26, 1901, and is to be found in Bateson's work on Mendel's princi- ples of heredity, 1902, pp. 40—95. ** For a fuller statement of my experiments with Antirrhinum and for the descrip- tion of similar investigations with other species, I must refer the reader to the second volume of my "Mutationstheorie" (Leipzig, Veit & Co.), and especially to the chapter on "Die Zerlegung der Bluthenfarbe," pp. 194—206. 1902. ON ARTIFICIAL ATAVISM. 19 of the wild plant is evidently of a compound character and consists of a series of single color forms, including two elements of yellow, one con- fined to the underlip, which remains when the yellow is elsewhere lost in the corolla. But these yellow characters I have not included in my experiments, though, of course, their behavior in my hybrids was often observed. To determine the number of these units would necessitate a much longer study of the cultures than I was able to give them. The red color consists essentially of two characters, a flesh-color with lively red lips, and a white "or nearly white tube. These two characters are separately represented by two distinct varieties called respectively "flesh- colored" and "Delila." Both of them I found fairly constant from seed. In the following account of my experiments I will confine myself to these two elements and leave aside further analysis. The statement here given that these two characters are the principal com- ponents of the original red color rests upon results gained by crossing this type with the white variety, and cultivating the second generation, viz., the children of the hybrids. I observed that Antirrhinum majus yielded a good crop of seeds when fertilized with its own pollen. It is an easy operation to castrate and fertilize them, and I always enclose the whole raceme in a bag of parchment paper to exclude the visits of insects. These bags are very effective for such experiments, and are impervious to the weather for two or three weeks or more.* I never used seed wliich had not been fertilized by myself. My crossing was made in the summer of 1896. Some specimens of the white variety were castrated and pollinated with the normal red type. Next year I had a great many dark red flowering hybrids, and fertilized none of them with their own pollen. For various reasons they did not give enough seed to cultivate the next or second generation in sufficient number of indi- viduals. Nevertheless, the splitting up of the red color in its various com- ponents was to be seen in the different lots, each obtained, from the seeds of one self-fertilized plant. I give the figures for a lot of forty-nine specimens, all children of one hybrid mother, in which the separation of the different units was sharp enough to count the principal types without any difficulty. These were four, viz., red and white, the colors of the grandparents, and besides the two types named above as the components of the original dark-red color. I counted — Dark-red 51 % Flesh-colored 16% Delila 31% White 2% A great many of these plants were self-fertilized in parchment bags, and of some of them the seeds were sown next year (1899). Of course, the seeds were gathered and sown separately for each plant. I chose the progeny of a dark-red colored hybrid of 1898, which split up next year in the same manner as did the former generation. I had in all * They were made by Mr. P. J. Schmitz in Dusseldorf (Germany), and are made of the same material as the bags commonly used for protecting grapes against the stings of wasps. 20 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 169 flowering children of this specimen, and found the following figures for the four principal types : Dark-red 58% Flesh-colored 17% Delila 20% White 4% These figures evidently indicate the same law of division as the first series, but are to be assumed as a more careful representation, inasmuch as they are gained from a greater number of individuals (169 instead of 49). The explanation of these figures is to be derived from Mendel's laws for hybrids* under the assumption of the compound character of the original color. On this assumption we have two pairs of antagonistic characters, viz. : Flesh-colored and white. Delila and white. The white is evidently to be taken as the absence of both of the two opposite colors. It is not very easy to realize this condition, but yet it is clear that the white may be nothing but the absence of any color. It is a negative character, and is, if I may be allowed the comparison, simply the negation of color. But now if the color is composed of two elements, only the negative of both can lead to the white. Continuing this reasoning, I find that if we take away from the original dark-red the flesh-color character, there will remain the Delila, and if we remove the Delila the flesh-color will remain. The white as the negative of the other component will be concealed in most cases by the remaining positive character. From this reasoning we are justified to regard the crossing of red x white as a di-hybrid crossing consisting of Flesh-colored x white and Delila x white or F x W and D x W and in this way we come to a proposition equal to that worked out by MENDEL for his crossings with two different pairs of antagonistic characters. My original crossing is therefore to be represented by White X Red or W+W' X F+D In the first generation the negative character is recessive, as is ordinarily the case, and all the hybrids are W-fW'+F+D. or F+D or Dark red. In the following generation these dark red hybrids split up according to the formula : (F+W)2 (D+W')2 or (F+2FW+W) (D+2DW+W) which gives : FD-fFW'+DW+WW'-f-2FDW'-f2FWW'-f2DWW'-f2FDW+4FWDW'. Now if W and W' are only the negatives of F and D, the positive result is : FD+F+D+W+2FD+2F+2D+2FD+4FD or, 9 FD— Dark-red — 56.25% 3 F = Flesh-colored = 18.75% 3 D = Delila = 18.75% ! w = White = 6.25% *Ber. d. deut. bot. Ges. 18:83. 1900. ON ARTIFICIAL ATAVISM. 1 In other terms, if the dark-red color is composed of flesh-colored and Delila, and the antagonistic character of both these elements is white, the crossing of dark-red and white must give dark-red hybrids, which in the fol- lowing generation must split up in four types according to the given distribu- tion. I found, as above said : 1st Gen. 2nd Gen. Dark-red 51% 58% 56.25% Flesh-colored 16% 17% 18.75% Delija 31% 20% i8.75% White 2% 4% 6.25% The accordance is such as might be expected in view of the small number of individuals counted. If we look closer at the given combination series, we at once see that the white individuals have no other character besides this, and therefore must not be counted in their offspring. But this is not the case with the three other groups which contain partly constant types, and partly such as for one or the other character or for both are still hybrids and as such may split up again in the following generation. The series above given leads to the following conclusion : Number. Constant. Hybrid. Dark-red 9 i 8 Flesh-colored 312 Delila 312 White i i o In other terms, if the dark-red, the flesh-colored, and the Delila children of the first hybrids are self-fertilized, and their progeny is studied when flower- ing, we may expect to find some of them constant and others dividing and showing a certain amount of variation in the colors of their flowers. Only this variation will be limited as the combination series indicates. The flesh- colored hybrids do not contain the Delila characters, and therefore can only split up flesh-colored and white, according to the mono-hybrid rules. Conse- quently the Delila hybrids will only produce Delilas and Whites. But the dark-red may be hybrids as to both characters, or only one of them, the other being constant. In their progeny this constant character will always unite with the split-up element, and it will in this way be possible to calculate the whole composition of the progeny. I will now return to my experiments. We have already seen that among the dark-red hybrids of the second generation some divide up in the same manner as those of the first. As I said, I fertilized a series of hybrids of this second generation with their own pollen and had the following results : A plant of the Delila type gave 361 flowering children, all without excep- tion of the same type as the mother, which therefore was to be regarded as constant. In the same way I had from the seed of a flesh-colored specimen 260 children, all with flesh-colored flowers only. Both of the possible constant new combinations were thus gained by crossing, and this undoubtedly is one of the chief points in Mendel's interpretations of the di-hybrids. The figures as given above show that hybrids of the types of Delila and the flesh-colored forms may also split up in the next generation into their own color and white. According to the law of mono-hybrids, there are to be ex- pected in these cases 34 of colored and */\ of white offspring. I had only two 22 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. sowings, both with the seed of a flesh-colored mother, which showed this division. One of them gave 489 individuals with 83% flesh-colored and 17% white ones. The other consisted of 156 specimens, and of them 80% were flesh-colored and 20% white. The most interesting results are evidently to be expected when one of the two pairs of antagonistic characters has become constant while the other has remained hybrid. From the table given above two of these combinations are possible in one case, viz. : Constant flesh-colored + Delila X white. Constant Delila -j- Flesh-colored X white. It is evident that in both of the combinations the hybrid must show the sum of the constant and the dominant characters, or flesh-colored -f- Delila, which gives the dark-red original type. Such hybrids cannot be distinguished either from those where both pairs are hybrid, nor from those where both the elements have become constant. All of these are dark-red, and it is therefore among the 56.25% dark-red specimens that chance must help us to work out the different types, if it is not possible to -cultivate the progeny of a large enough portion of them to secure the same result directly. When fertilizing a hybrid of the type Constant flesh-colored -j- Delila X white all the children will be flesh-colored. As to the other element they will split up into 75% Delila and 25% white. The result will be : 75% Delila + Flesh-color = Dark-red. 25% White -f Flesh-color — Flesh-color. I counted the progeny of a dark-red hybrid and found among 390 flowering children 74% dark-red and 26% flesh-colored. The mother was therefore a hybrid of the type in question. In the same way the Delila component may be constant and the flesh- color hybrid, and the calculation gives : 75% Delila + Flesh-color = Dark-red. 25% Delila -j- White = Delila. I also observed this case among my sowings, and counted among the children of the dark-red hybrid : 79% Dark-red. 21% Delila. From these experiments it is clear that the different combinations which may be calculated by Mendel's laws, on the assumption that the color of wild species is composed of two principal elements, viz., flesh-color and Delila, are, in fact, to be met with when the individual hybrids of the second generation are self-fertilized, and the progeny or third generation is cultivated separately for each of them. This method may be called a hybridological analysis. Once found, the result may be calculated by the method of hybridological synthesis, and in a more easy and direct way. With this object in view I cultivated in the summer of 1899 three specimens of the flesh-colored variety and fertilized them with the pollen of the Delila type. I cultivated their prog- eny in separate lots, and had 124, 142 and 187 individuals from the three mothers, or 453 in all. But all of them without exception produced red flowers, the same dark- red type as the original form. This was the proof that this original color may be built up from its constituents, and that the varieties ON ARTIFICIAL ATAVISM. 23 taken as such at the outset are really the true units, or at least the true principal units of the combination. The result of this last crossing experiment may be regarded as a case of atavism and as the type of a long series of instances of atavism caused by crossing. To show this more clearly we must suppose that the original dark- red type had died out and was therefore unknown, or perhaps it may suffice to assume that the relation of the garden varieties to the wild form was doubtful. Not having the component characters of the red color, we would only be justified in saying that the crossing of the two varieties in question produced a new character not seen in any of them, but belonging to the wild or supposed ancestor. Evidently many crossings of cultivated varieties must in this way lead to cases of reversion. Briefly stated, the results described here for Antirrhinum and controlled by experiments with the other species, we may say : 1. It is possible to split up the colors of some flowers by crossing the colored type with the white variety. 2. The constituents arrived at by this splitting often follow Mendel's laws. 3. By crossing the appropriate constituents the original compound color may be rebuilt. 4. Instances of atavism may in this way be artificially produced. H. F. Roberts: Before raising a point suggested indirectly by this paper I would like to ask whether in making one's first cross and obtaining one's first group of hybrids, it may not be necessary (in view of the fact that the plant is a composite and all it's organs and the sporophyls included are variable and differ from each other) to take all of one's pollen from a certain parent from one sporophyl? In other words, supposing you were using as a male parent a flower which is didynamous, the stamens of two lengths, is it not possible that the pollen from stamens of different lengths may differ from each other in potency; and if so, would it not be necessary to preserve one's pollen that is used in producing a certain group of hybrids from a single sporophyl in order to be within the limits of the greatest possible accuracy? W. J. Spillman: I am not going to answer the question, but I do say that there is only one place "to get the answer, and that is in his laboratory. W. Bateson: The interest of the subject of Professor De Vries is perfectly apparent to everybody. Two points present themselves to me. I am myself engaged in trying to determine the constituents which break up a compound character into its component parts, and I am endeavoring to work out the relation of those to each other. My first comment is this: Say it is imagined that you can analyze a character into its component characters; it is obviously easy to form the converse conception, namely, that you can synthesize characters so as to rebuild a compound. But the question arises, how can it be possible to rebuild a compound character which consists of more than two compo- nents? According to the rules, the two opposite characters are contradictory to each other, and no individual can carry more than two of them. Consequently, if you decom- pose a compound character into more than three components, I do not see how by any scheme that we could formulate you can rebuild even those organs which shall contain those three characters. The second point is that I don't think Professor De Vries is strictly accurate in describing such rebuilding as a synthesis at all. Your purple sweet pea as you will breed it up by crossing is not a synthesis of the original sweet pea, because it will not break up into the original components which the original sweet pea contained, but it will only break up into the two components which you put into it. The original, from which the original forms were produced, bred true, but the synthesis will not. It is an apparent synthesis, but not a real one, and in my opinion the problem of synthesis is one which remains wholly unexplained. O. F. Cook: The question of the synthesis of these characters has been raised, and that of the identity or the dissimilarity of hybrids and mutations. I simply want to 24 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. make a protest. I believe there is another way to interpret the whole class of phenomena that does not include the apparent contradictions. I don't believe that it is necessary to explain these phenomena by assuming any concrete things which are combined and separated and so on; that is, there is no reason why these are not mutations in the one case as much as in another. And I believe that it will make it reasonable to believe that the crossing of two mutations restores the parental type without the necessity of per- ceiving a concrete or supposedly concrete combination of characters or separation of them into aggregate units such as has been attempted by many theorists, from Darwin and Weissmann down. Of course, it is now put on the basis of characters instead of being put, as Darwin did it, on the basis of pangens, or whatever you choose to call them. H. H. Groff: I trust that none of the plant breeders who are here to-day will for one moment attempt to place any limitations upon their effort by endeavoring to find definite results — certain clearly denned lines — as the end of their work. There are two classes of workers in this field of hybridism: One for finding out the why and where- fore, the other for the producing of results. I think I may claim Mr. Burbank, of Santa Rosa, as probably the greatest hybridist in the world of a practical character. And in that field we should not place any limitations upon the possibilities of our work. It may simplify the situation very much if we look to those greatest manifestations of the hybrid form that are available at the present moment. For example, we might take the human race, showing that there is really no possibility of limitation. The worker should look upon his work as far as possible from the position, if it were possible, of the great Creator of the universe, and assist in the advancement and improvement of the human race at the present time. Rather than place any limitations we should work to an unlimited degree for the advancement of our specialty. I have had the satisfaction of producing some 250,000 hybrids of my specialty, and the more I work the more I am satisfied that the broadest and most liberal view should be taken of our work and its future. The Chair: I believe this statement of Mr. Groff, of Ontario, is entirely correct. We should not suppose there are any limitations; and not only not place them on ourselves, but not suppose there are any limitations upon the possibilities in this field. A paper entitled "Some Conclusions," by Max Leichtlin, of Baden-Baden, Austria, was read by Secretary Barron. SOME CONCLUSIONS By Max Leichtlin, Baden-Baden. First of all, a suitable time is necessary to have plants ready to take seed ; a comparatively warm day, after a rain, with no sunshine, is best for about six-tenths of all plants; some others want a very dry atmosphere, according to the climate of their native country. No fertilization should be attempted before the stigma is ripe, a condition which after some practice is easily recognized. The pollen lo use should be looked at with the magnifying glass, and must be chosen neither too fresh nor overripe. After fertilization it is in many cases well to put a hand glass over the flower to give it for a day or two a higher temperature than that of the surrounding air. Pollen if gathered in good condition can be kept in small glass vessels, corked well, for several days without losing its fertilizing power. Some genera are shy seed bearers ; for instance, Carygophyllaceae, because the pollen of the flower is ripe long before the stigma is developed. As a rule, in eight cases out of ten the female parent has the greatest influence on the form of the offspring; the male gives color. In the majority of cases the offsprings have larger flowers than either parent. Nature in its eternal providence has put, moreover, an end to endless encroachment of man by the production of hybrids which are and remain infertile. Hybrids often become infertile, and if recrossed the offspring mostly become so. Whether fertilization is possible or not can be ascertained at once by regarding the form of the pollen grains under the microscope. If their forms are nearly alike, it will do; if the form is very different, no fertilization is possible. The Chair: This brief paper of Max Leichtlin raises a question that has not before been referred to, and that is, how long will pollen retain its vitality? When I make any remarks I beg to say that I make no pretension to scientific exactness; but I would say that it would appear that this vitality can be preserved for several days by keeping it under a glass, which is quite contrary, 1 think, to ordinary experience. To illus- trate: In growing vegetables in a greenhouse for family use, we find it necessary sometimes to have artificial fertilization, and for that purpose it has been my practice for many years just at this time of the year, before the first frost comes, to have a quantity of pollen gathered from the plants out of doors, plants growing in the open. This, put in an ordinary box or vessel of any sort, retains its vitality for at least six months. That is to say, all through the winter and as late as March, I have fertilized 26 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. tomatoes with pollen that has been gathered outdoors in September. We are very par- ticular to have a crop of tomatoes early in the spring. Then again, there are some varieties of European grapes, as the Muscat, which we grow under glass in this country, and which are also grown under glass chiefly in England, that are very poor fertilizers. Now you can take the pollen from other grapes and keep it for a considerable time to use for the fertilization of the Muscat by putting the latter cluster in a glass and blowing the pollen upon it. There are perhaps some here who can state how long that pollen retains its vitality. S. Henshaw, called upon by the President, said: It is my experience, as that ol every grape grower, that the Muscats are very deficient in pollen; they make a very poor bunch if they are not artificially fertilized. I have often gathered the pollen of the Black Hamburgh and kept it for two months in a Mason jar. Fertilization of the Muscat was attained by inserting the cluster into the jar and raising a cloud of pollen by blowing into it with a blowpipe. That has always made a perfect bunch. Leave a Muscat to its own fertilization, and you get a very poor bunch, .tlow long the pollen would keep 1 am not able to say, but I have often kept it for two months. D. G. Fairchild: The pollen is regularly kept from one year to another — I can't say just how long — to fertilize the early varieties. William Saunders: How is that pollen kept? In glass tubes, or how? The Chair: Mr. Henshaw states that he kept the grape pollen in an ordinary glass jar or preserving jar. He used the term "Mason jar," which is perhaps the most common form of jar in use in this country. But the question is asked by Dr. Saunders, of Canada, how can this pollen be best kept? William Saunders: Should it be kept in closed or in open vessels, or in paper? My experience is that paper is of no value for keeping pollen. I keep it in a closed bottle, and at the same temperature. D. G. Fairchild: I have kept pollen for a year, put away in a closed vessel in paper, and it had no effect; it had lost its vitality. It had been kept over a year. The Chair: It is a practical question of considerable importance for both practical results and for scientific experiments. C. W. Ward: I have had a littlt experience in keeping carnation pollen. I have found that put away in paper it didn't keep; but where I put it in a little vial and closely corked it kept for a considerable time. H. F. Roberts: We also have come to the method which Mr. Ward mentioned, using little homeopathic vials with corks, being sure there are no parts of the anther mixed with the pollen grains unless they are pretty thoroughly dried. If they are greenish when they are put in, there is likely to be some moisture on the inside and some mould is apt to develop. D. G. Fairchild: There is a very interesting piece of work in which I have been interested for a number of years, and I would ask what is the best way of shipping pollen. I have often found it difficult to secure varieties of fruits or plants for hybridiz- ing. I am not interested in plant hybridizing myself, but have been collecting all over the world varieties for hybridizers to work with. If there is a possibility of shipping pollen, it makes it practically possible to travel through a country in the spring time and secure varieties which you could not otherwise get. It is a very important point in the work with which I am connected. Should this pollen be dried in sunlight, or is it impor- tant that it should be dried in the shade? I know that in the tropics many seeds that are dried in the sunlight are ruined. Is there any one who has had any particular experience in this matter of drying the pollen? The Chair: The paper which is under consideration states that that depends some- what upon the characteristics of the country in which the plant originates. That is, if it is in an arid country or semi-arid country, naturally the pollen would retain its vitality wnen dried in the sun; while if dried in a moist atmosphere in its natural habitat it would naturally best retain its vitality if dried in the shade. N. E. Hansen: I have found that in the greenhouse in full sunlight pollen could not be properly dried, but the moisture is discharged, and if the pollen is put into a vial early a mould is formed. Pollen must be dried perfectly, and in the shade, for safety in using later. H. C. Price: We had some experience in shipping pollen this last year, and have SOME CONCLUSIONS. used small pasteboard boxes. We find just the point that Professor Hansen makes: That there is danger of mould if the pollen be not perfectly dried. We use these paste- board boxes to take up the moisture if it is present, and they have been very satisfactory in our use. I am speaking of pollen of apple, plum and cherry, and we have been sending it out from the experiment station packed in small boxes for individual use. S. A. Beach: In my experience with the grape pollen I have found that a good method to secure a good quantity of pollen and at the same time to protect the blossoms from the visits of insects is to gather the flowers when they are about to open, transfer them to the laboratory, and have some sized paper spread over a vessel of water; punch a hole in the paper and stick the stem of the blossom into the water and cover it so as to make a moist chamber. In that way, so far as my experience goes, you can get the best development, have the best success in the opening of the anthers, and secure the largest percentage of pollen. Then after you have secured the pollen in that way, the method Professor Price mentioned is, I believe, the one to follow. W. B. Alwood: I would like to note an experience with the pollen of wheat. 1 found that by going into a field in the morning after a rain, say, at night, on a bright, sunny morning at nine o'clock, and plucking the heads which seemed to be mature and holding them in my hands in the sun, I could observe the blooms open and the fila- ments elongate, and the pollen would be poured out very rapidly, and my idea was that in that way I could collect pollen of wheat in a little watchglass very rapidly. And I found that pollen so collected was very effective in pollenizing the female plant later, but I never kept it over one day. H. F. Roberts: We have kept pollen for three days and found it very successful in use. Occasionally pollen of Amherstia nob'.lis, a very handsome ornamental tree grown in the Botanic Gardens in the West Indies, has been forwarded from Trinidad to Ja- maica in order to fertilize flowers in the latter island. The tree is a shy seed-bearer and the plan of obtaining pollen from other sources was adopted with good results. As far as I can remember the anthers were gathered early in the morning and placed between sheets of blotting paper and desoatched by post in cardboard boxes. I should say that a similar plan might be successfully adopted with other leguminous plants when seed is not freely produced. The following paper on "Suggestions for the Classification of Hybrids," fry R^tf?. Lynch, Curator of the Botanic Garden, Cambridge, England, was read by the Secteta^y: CLASSIFICATION OF HYBRIDS By R. I. Lynch, Cambridge, The most important suggestion I could make is that attention be drawn at this conference to the importance of classifying all experimental results. Investigators often want to know what plants have been found to behaye in this or that particular way. They may desire to reobserve from a new point of view or to carry further the results in which they may be interested. The classification I have in view would always be valuable for reference, and would assist, I think, very largely in the determination of laws yet unknown. What I mean is illustrated (as to hybrids) by work I have done myself in a paper on the Evolution of Plants in the journal of the Royal Horticultural Society of London, Vol. XXV. Some of my headings are very nearly as follows : Bigeneric hybrids, fertile and true from seed. Bigeneric hybrids, infertile. Hybrids which come true from seed, never reverting. Hybrids that are more fertile than either parent. Hybrids which return, in a generation or two, to parent species. Wild hybrids which take a position independently of either parent and are equal to "species," etc., etc. It would be of interest, for instance, to collect examples of hybrids which at first were found nearly barren and which afterward became fertile — instances, also, of hybrids that are less fertile with either parent than with self. In this way, I am sure, much could be done of value, in suggestiveness, for the hybridist who is concerned only in practical results. My plan, I think, would be to ask the members of the conference to suggest all the heads they can think of — thus perhaps securing fresh ideas otherwise unexpressed — and afterward to circulate these heads (after editing) with the request that as many instances as possible should be given below them. Writers most usually, I think, adopt a botanical classification of natural orders, as does Focke in his Pflanzen-Mischlinge, but from the trouble I have had myself in seeking out examples of this or that behavior I feel sure that much advantage would be derived by classifying in accordance with behavior itself, "infinite" though it may be in point of variety. 30 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. The Chair: Considering the great amount of work that has been done with hybrids, and also what will unquestionably yet be done, it is very important that there should be a system. This subject of classification becomes very important in this connection. Perhaps it would be well if the Secretary would read again the classification proposed by Mr. Lynch. That part of the paper was read again by the Secretary. The Chair: This classification appears to be based entirely upon behavior, and not upon scientific or botanical characteristics. L. H. Bailey: I think that the first important thing for us to do is to determine upon a definition of the term hybrid. There are two notions current regarding what is a hybrid and what is not, and, of course, both ideas are correct so far as the matter of definition- is concerned. There are those who think that the term hybrid should be restricted to crosses between pure species. Every one knows, of course, that this is merely arbitrary, as, in fact, true species are arbitrary. It has seemed to some (and 1 am one of those) that if it is important to recognize species, it is also important to recognize hybrids as crosses between species. I still believe in the righetousness of that cause, but I have come to the conclusion that we cannot hold to that distinction. The reason why we cannot hold to that distinction is a matter of usage, for all language comes to be governed finally by usage. Here is the work of Mendel coming into notice, and the work of Bateson, and of De Vries, and of others abroad, and also our own people who are making progress, as, for example, those in the Department of Agri- culture. In all these works actual things are being done and actual records are being made, and not mere talk being indulged in about them, and we find the use of the word hybrid in its large sense. I am willing now to use the word hybrid in the more general sense, and then distinguish the different classes of hybrids in as many divisions as you wish — species hybrids, variety hybrids, form hybrids, and so on. Now I don't understand from Mr. Lynch's paper what is his fundamental conception of a hybrid; and that is fundamental to a classification. W. M. Hays : It would be a good thing if we had some central place to which we could all send detailed facts as to the ease with which species and genera hybridize, that these facts might be available to those who in future want to use certain crosses to produce economic or scientific results. I feel that in many cases we go ahead and do a lot of experimenting where it is almost, or quite, an impossibility to produce hybrids. If we knew better the work of others we would not expend so much labor. We need not only to know what will hybridize and what will not, but also in many cases to know how easy or how difficult it is to hybridize certain things. H. H. Groff: All this leads back into my former statement: That there are two classes of workers— one engaged in finding out the how and why, the other looking for the practical results. The suggestion before us is very good for those who want to find out the true inwardness of things; but, as a practical worker for final results (ami in this I believe I am supported again by Mr. Burbank, who no longer keeps records of this character), I know the volume of work makes it absolutely impossible to make such records. W. J. Spillman: I agree fully with Professor Hays that it is a matter of very great importance to the practical producer of new and valuable varieties that he should have as much knowledge as possible as to where crosses may be made and the details of the methods that must be used to secure successful crosses. There ought to be some organization by which data of this kind could be collected. For instance, if we knew the crosses that Mr. Groff had effected, it would possibly save a great many of us a great deal of useless labor, because somebody else has done that certain work. It would save us a great many disappointments. If we knew, for instance, that he had found it possible to cross two certain varieties, or two species, or two genera, it would be of great value. I want to add one remark, too, to what Professor Bailey has very well said. I don't see how we can ever use the term hybrid in its general sense, because there are hybrids that are more widely separated even than general. H. H. Groff: Local experience and climatic conditions are to be taken into con- sideration. Mr. Leichtlin, of Baden-Baden, has told me that he had failed with some types both as male and female parents which, on the contrary, I had found fertile both ways. I attributed it to climatic conditions. CLASSIFICATION OF HYBRIDS. 31 W. M. Hays: If we had a central place, as the Department of Agriculture, for keeping these records and having them put into accessible form, the records could easily be gotten from such men as this gentleman, who has had so much experience; not per- haps by writing, but by verbal statements compiled by men in the department. Many of those things could be compiled and in the end would be useful. As things are the records are apt to die with these men. L. H. Bailey: Our Department of Agriculture, aside from its experimental work, is for the purpose of acting as a clearing house of experience. It might be well to take an expression of this conference before we close as to whether or no it would be useful for such records to be kept at that place. The Chair: It is entirely proper for this conference to give expression to a matter of this kind, and doubtless it would receive due consideration from the Department of Agriculture. I understand the proposition to be that a bureau of statistics of experi- mental work should be maintained. After all, this is a very old thing. The world from the beginning has been doing work over and. over and over again in every department of knowledge, and the general idea has been that in this experience of each investigator, and of each generation, following another, real good has come, although there has been a very great deal of waste in it. But it is hardly worth while for an investigator who is maKing scientific investigations, when a thing has been demonstrated conclusively, to throw his life away on that line of work. And, on the other hand, if it is found that certain things can be done in a given line, it may be important for that fact to be known to future workers. W. M. Hays: There are here from the Department of Agriculture two gentlemen who have worked particularly along this line, and I don't know that any expression is needed. They will get the point, I am sure, and will work it up in practice. The Chair: Perhaps the desire will be sufficiently attained by the suggestion that is made. Possibly those two members of the department who arc here will give some attention to it as to its practicability. J. B. Norton: We have been and are still carrying out in an index as full a record as we can get of published literature. As fast as it comes in, and as fast as we get the opportunity to do it, it is indexed, and in such a way that we can get at the subject and the author. In this way we are gradually accumulating a fair index of what has been published. But, of course, all that is done and not published has to remain outside of that index, except as we can get it from letters. The letters that come into the Plant Breeding Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture are* indexed when anything of importance is found in them. This work has to be done in spare moments, and the spare moments of a plant breeder's time are few; and the thing is growing, particularly in the summer time, when most of us are busy at work all the time; but in the winter we have usually two or three clerks devoted to this kind of work. In that way the index is growing. Of course, on this basis it would be fairly easy to compile anything that was furnished by the different plant breeders in the country, and with the addition of one person whose time was devoted more or less to the bibliography very much of value could be added. We have not that person now on the force, but with increased appro- priations that is one of the things that will come. O. F. Cook: Mr. President, did I understand Mr. Bailey to suggest that the sense of the meeting be taken on this matter? The Chair: The Chair understood that to be Professor Bailey's suggestion. L. H. Bailey: I merely threw out the suggestion as to whether that was' worth while. I don't know that it is necessary to put the matter in the form of a resolution. O. F. Cook: It seems to me, Mr. President, that some formulated resolution of the meeting which was sent to the Secretary of Agriculture might at least be of some assist- ance in bringing about proper provision for the work which Mr. Norton has just men- tioned. Some systematic index of these plant hybrids could in that way be easily kept. But if the resolution should include a recommendation to include all classes of miscel- laneous information about hybrids it would, I think, be such a colossal task— possibly not at the beginning, but in the course of a few years — that the scheme would break down. An index of hybrids produced, with notes as to their parentage, could, I think, be very easily kept in the Department, and a resolution to that effect should be good. The Chair: Would Mr. Bailey be willing tc take this matter under consideration HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. during the conference, and if he thinks advisable prepare suitable resolutions to be acted upon at a future sitting of the conference? L. H. Bailey: I would be willing to be one of others who should consider th* matter. It was moved my C. L. Watrous that the matter be referred to a committee of fivt to be appointed by the Chair, who should, if they should find it advisable, prepare reso- lutions to be submitted to the conference. J. B. Norton: I wish to make a general statement in this connection. The Library of Congress has a plan of printing and publishing index cards of many subjects. They are already taking up a number of scientific matters, and Mr. Putnam, with the com- mittee representing the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, is to print subject indices, not merely of books, but also of subjects within books, and furnish them at the mere cost of printing to any institution or library or individual desiring them. This is one of the matters that might come in under that order. The matter of the Department of Agriculture in the several bureaus and divisions taking up and doing the work of cataloguing or preparing the copy for these printed cards is being very favorably considered, and is indeed, as I understand, being started, but it looks to me as if some one ought to be especially set to the task of looking to this particular phase of literature and facts. Some of the most important points involved are not to be found by the ordinary indices to literature. The motion was carried. The following were appointed by the Chair as members of such committee: C, L. Watrous, L. H. Bailey, W. M. Hays, N. L. Britton and H. H. Groff. DEFINITION OF "SPORT/' The Chair: If there be any miscellaneous business to be introduced, it may be considered at this time. D. Morris: I should like to submit this question: I notice dining the discussion we are talking about hybrids and sports. In English gardening- sports are limited as arising from bud variation. I don't know whether that is the acceptance of the term here. We always accept the term sport as being applied to a plant arising from a bud variation and not from seminal variation. I notice that Dr. Saunders, speaking of the wheat that he obtained, said that bearded wheat appeared after a certain time. A gentleman present regarded that as a sport. I accepted that as arising from a bud variation, be- cause that is the only other way in which the thing could arise, since Dr. Saunders laid down the point that he had grown this wheat for some time and it was a pure stock, and bearded wheat appeared after a certain time ; and a gentleman present suggested that that was a sport. We have exactly the same thing in the sugar cane. Now I have always accepted the term sport as I believe it is always accepted in English gardening, viz., as a variation arising entirely from bud variation. It is very desirable that we should have a clear understanding in regard to the use of these terms. I was entirely misled by the remark made that the appearance of the bearded wheat was regarded as the result of a sport. W. J. Spillman: In this country, so far as I am aware, we do not understand that the term sport be confined to bud variation. Any individual that appears, either from a bud or from the seed, having a character that is apparently new, is decidedly unlike its parents in some characteristics— we call that a sport, be it from seed or from the bud. That is my understanding, at least. Isn't that true, Professor Bailey, in your usual use of the term? L. H. Bailey: That is the way I use it, and it has been used so. I think that what Professor Morris says is true, that the English gardeners limit it as a bud variation; but in this country we call any marked variation a sport. How marked should be the variation to be a sport is a question. DEFINITION OF A SPORT. D. Morris: I take it that a sport among American horticulturists is simply a form or variation, simply an indefinite form with no particular character attached to it. It is another term for variation. L. H. Bailey: A very marked departure, a very marked variation. D. Morris: To what degree? L. H. Bailey: Oh, that is a matter for individual interpretation. W. Saunders: I think that in the practice in Canada we have followed the rule mentioned by Mr. Spillman and Professor Bailey, regarding all sorts of variations as sports. Take, for instance, the Arbor Vitae. We find it separated into globose forms, and pyramidal forms, and oval forms. Some of these may be set down to one form of variation and some to the other. The difficulty we see in. restricting the use of the term sport to bud variation is that it might not always be easy to determine, unless you were on the spot, whether the form had arisen in one way or the other. I can see no objection to the use of the term sport in that general way. It is really synonymous with variation. S. Fraser: It seems to be accepted among many that any variation which you couldn't tell anything about is classed as a sport, and everybody understands it "at once. It is something unexplainable, and everybody at once knows all about it. D. Morris: In the case of Acer Negundo, you have a plant that is normal, with green leaves; a bud appears with variegated leaves. That bud is taken off and propa- gated, and that is called a sport. And certainly those who may use an English textbook should clearly understand that where sports are spoken of there they mean simply variations arising from the bud, and not from seed. W. J. Spillman: Has Professor Morris any term which is applied to what we call seed sports in this country? Suppose you should plant a seed of Acer Negundo, and a plant should come »from that seed with variegated leaves, have you any name for that class of variation? We call that a sport; we call both of them sports, and distinguish the one arising from the seed as a seedling sport. D. Morris: But the very variation that you refer to as arising from the seedling may be a bud variation. It is rather uncommon, I think, for a variation of that char- acter—that is, the variegated leaves appearing from green leaves— to arise from a seedling. I should say that where it does occur it is a sport arising from bud variation. W. Saunders: In connection with that Acer Negundo, we have two forms of the tree, one a southern form, which is not hardy even in the western part of Ontario; and we have a northern form, which is hardy nearly up to the Mackenzie River. There is great difficulty sometimes in distinguishing between those forms. One of them, I have observed, has the leaflets usually convex, the other usually concave, but it is very difficult to distinguish between the two forms by their appearance; yet there is this marked distinction in their hardiness. Now who is to determine whether that is a form of bud variation, or whether it is a sport? It has probably come through the growing of the tree in these extreme differences in clime for a long series of years. We call that usually a "form" of the tree. D. Morris: A geographical form. W. Saunders: A geographical form, yes. And still it is very hard to have well defined lines to indicate all these variations. W. M. Hays: I don't think there has been any year during the last twenty-five when I have not seen from five to fifty individuals of Acer Negundo which had leaves distinctly variegated with white and green. Now would leaves from the normal plant be called a sport in England, or would they be called a bud variation? W. J. Spillman: We had in this country, a good many years ago,, a sport, as we called it, of this character: A sheep was born with short legs like a hog. That occurred in the State of Massachusetts, a well investigated case. An attempt was made to produce a breed of sheep descended from that animal. The advantage was that they couldn't jump a fence like an ordinary sheep. The breed ran out, however, through inbreeding. Now we called that a sport, and I don't think it can be called a bud variation. L. H. Bailey: I am afraid that this restriction of the term sport to the bud varia- tion is a modern one. I think that this case of the sheep and analogous ones were discussed by Mr. Darwin as sports, and I think they have been discussed as sports by a large number of the evolutionary writers since that time. The following paper by Luther Burbank was read by the Secretary: SOME OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF PLANT BREEDING. Luthef Burbank, Santa Rosa, Cal. Only the most limited view of plant breeding can be given in an ordinary thesis. It would be necessary to extend the subject through many volumes to give even a general view of what has already been demonstrated, and that which the clear light of science has yet to bring forth from the depths is too extensive even for the imagination to grasp, except through a full knowledge of what practical field work has already accomplished. The fundamental principles of plant breeding are simple, and may be stated in few words ; the practical application of these principles demands the highest and most refined efforts of which the mind of man is capable, and no line of mental effort promises more for the elevation, advancement, prosperity and happiness of the whole human race. Every plant, animal and planet occupies its place in the order of Nature by the action of two forces — the inherent constitutional life force, with all its acquired habits, the sum of which is heredity; and the numerous complicated external forces, or environment. To guide the interaction of these two forces, both of which are only different expressions of the one eternal force, is and must be the sole object of the breeder, whether of plants or animals. When, we look about us on the plants inhabiting the earth with ourselves and watch any species day by day we are unable to see any change in some of them. During a lifetime, and in some cases perhaps including the full breadth of human history, no remarkable change seems to have occurred. And yet there is not to-day one plant species which has not undergone great and, to a certain extent, constant change. The life forces of the plant in endeavoring to harmonize and adapt the action of its acquired tendencies to its surroundings may, through many gener- ations, slowly adapt itself to the necessities of existence, yet these same accrued forces may also produce sudden and, to one not acquainted with its past his- tory, most surprising and unaccountable changes of character. The very existence of the higher orders of plants which now inhabit the earth has been secured to them only by their power of adaptation to crossings, for through the variations produced by the combination of numerous tendencies, individuals are produced which are better endowed to meet the prevailing conditions of life. Thus to Nature's persistence in crossing do we owe all that earth now producs in man, animals or plants, and this magnificently stupendous fact may 36 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. also be safely carried into the domains of chemistry as well, for what is com • mon air and water but Nature's earlier efforts in that line, and our nourishing foods but the result of myriad complex chemical affinities of later date? Natural and artificial crossing and hybridizing are among the principal remote causes of nearly all otherwise perplexing or unaccountable sports and strange modifications, and also of many of the now well established species. Variations without immediate antecedent crossing occur always and every- where from a combination of past crossings and environments, for potential adaptations often exist through generations without becoming actual, and when we fully grasp these facts there is nothing mysterious in the sudden appearance of sports ; but still further intelligent crossings produce more immediate results and of great value, not to the plant in its struggle with natural forces, but to man by conserving and guiding its life forces to supply him with food, cloth- ing and innumerable other luxuries and necessities. Plant life is so common that one rarely stops to think how utterly dependent we are upon the quiet but magnificently powerful work which they are constantly performing for us. It was once thought that plants varied within the so-called species but very little, and that true species never varied. We have more lately discovered that no two plants are ever exactly alike, each one having its own individuality, arid that new varieties having endowments of priceless value, and even distinct new species, can be produced by the plant breeder with the same precision that machinery for locomotion and other useful purposes are produced by the mechanic. The evolution and all the variations of plants are simply the means which they employ in adjusting themselves to external conditions : Each plant strives to adapt itself to environment with as little demand upon its forces as possible and still keep up in the race. The best endowed species and individuals win the prize, and by variation as well as persistence. The constantly varying external forces to which all life is everywhere subjected demand that the in- herent internal force shall always be ready to adapt itself or perish. The combination and interaction of these innumerable forces embraced in heredity and environment have given us all our bewildering species, none of which ever did or ever will remain constant, for the inherent life force must be pliable or outside forces will sooner or later extinguish it. Thus adaptability as well as perseverance is one of the prime virtues in plant as in human life. Plant breeding is the intelligent application of the forces of the human mind in guiding the inherent life forces into useful directions by crossing, to make perturbations or variations of these forces, and by radically changing environments, both of which produce somewhat similar results, thus giving a broader field for selection, which again is simply the persistent application of mental force to guide and fix the perturbed forces in the desired channels. Plant breeding is in its earliest infancy. Its possibilities and even its fundamental principles are understood by but few ; in the past it has been mostly dabbling with tremendous forces which have been only partially appre- ciated, and has yet to approach the precision which we expect in the handling of steam or electricity, and notwithstanding the occasional sneers of the ig- norant, these silent forces embodied in plant life have yet a part to play in the regeneration of the race which by comparison will dwarf into insignificance SOME FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 37 the services which steam and electricity have so far given. Even unconscious or half-conscious plant breeding has been one of the greatest forces in the elevation of the race. The chemist, the mechanic, have, so to speak, domesti- cated some of the forces of Nature, but the plant breeder is now learning to guide even the creative forces into new and useful channels. This knowledge is a most priceless legacy, making clear the way for some of the greatest bene- fits which man has ever received from any source by the study of Nature. A general knowledge of the relations and affinities of plants will not be a sufficient equipment for the successful plant breeder. He must be a skilful botanist and biologist, and, having a definite plan, must be able to correctly estimate the action of the two fundamental forces, inherent and external, which he would guide. The main object of crossing genera, species or varieties is to combine various individual tendencies, thus producing a state of perturbation or partial antagonism by which these tendencies are, in later generations, dissociated and recombined in new proportions, which gives the breeder a wider field for selection ; but this opens a much more difficult one, the selection and fixing of the desired new types from the mass of heterogeneous tendencies produced, for by crossing bad traits as well as good are always brought forth; the results now secured by the breeder will be in proportion to the accuracy and intensity of selection and the length of time they are applied. By these means the best of fruits, grains, nuts and flowers are capable of still further improve- ment in ways which to the thoughtless often seem unnecessary, irrelevant or impossible. When we capture and domesticate the various plants the life forces are relieved from many of the hardships of an unprotected wild condition, and have more leisure, so to speak, or, in other words, more surplus force, to be guided by the hand of man under the new environments into all the useful and beautiful new forms which are constantly appearing under cultivation, crossing and selection. Some plants are very much more pliable than others, as the breeder soon learns. Plants having numerous representatives in various parts of the earth generally possess this adaptability in a much higher degree than the monotypic species, for, having been subjected to great variations of soil, climate and other influences, their continued existence has been secured only by the inherited habits which adaptation demanded; while the monotypic species, not being able to fit themselves for their surroundings without a too radically expensive change, have only continued to exist under certain special conditions. Thus two important advantages are secured to the breeder who selects from the genera having numerous species — the advantage of naturally acquired plia- bility, and in the numerous species to work upon by combination for still fur- their variations. The plant breeder, before making combinations, should with great care select the individual plants which seem best adapted to his purpose, as by this course many years of experiment and much needless expense will be avoided. The difference in the individuals which the plant breeder has to work upon are sometimes extremely slight. The ordinary unpracticed person cannot by any possibility discover the exceedingly minute variations in form, size, color, fragrance, precocity and a thousand other characters which the practiced HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. breeder perceives by a lightning like glance. The work is not easy, requiring an exceedingly keen perception of minute differences, great practice and ex- treme care in treating the organisms operated upon; and even with all the naturally acquired variations added to those secured by crossing and numerous other means, the careful accumulation of slight individual differences through many generations is imperative, after which several generations are often but not always necessary to thoroughly "fix" the desired type for all practical purposes. The above applies to annuals, or those plants generally reproduced by seed. The breeder of plants which can be reproduced by division has great advantage, for any valuable individual variation can be multiplied to any ex- tent desired without the extreme care necessary in fixing by linear breeding the one which must be reproduced by seed; but even in breeding perennials, the first deviations from the original form are often almost unappreciable to the perception, but by accumulating the most minute differences through many generations the deviation from the original form is often astounding. Thus by careful and intelligent breeding any peculiarity may be made permanent, and valid new species are at times produced by the art of the breeder, and there is no known limit to the improvement of plants by education, breeding and selection. The plant breeder is an explorer into the infinite. He will have "no time to make money," and his castle, the brain, must be clear and alert in throwing aside fossil ideas and rapidly replacing them with living, throbbing thought followed by action. Then, and not till then, shall he create marvels of beauty and value in new expressions of materialized force, for everything of value must be produced by the intelligent application of the forces of Nature which are always awaiting our commands. The vast possibilities of plant breedinig can hardly be estimated. It would not be difficult for one man to breed a new rye, wheat, barley, oats or rice which would produce one grain more to each head, or a corn which would produce an extra kernel to each ear, another potato to each plant, or an apple, plum, orange or nut to each tree. What would be the result? In five staples only in the United States alone the inexhaustible forces of Nature would pro- duce annually without effort and without cost : 5,200,000 extra bushels of corn, 15,000,000 " " " wheat, 20,000,000 " " " oats, 1,500,000 " " " barley, 21,000,000 " " " potatoes. But these vast possibilities are not alone for one year, or for our own time or race, but are beneficent legacies for every man, woman and child who shall ever inhabit the earth. And who can estimate the elevating and refining influnces and moral value of flowers, with all their graceful forms and bewitch- ing shades and combinations of color and exquisitely varied perfumes ? These silent influences are unconsciously felt even by those who do not appreciate them consciously, and thus with better and still better fruits, nuts, grains and flowers will the earth be transformed, man's thoughts turned from the base, destructive forces into the nobler productive ones which will lift him to higher SOME FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 39 planes of action towards that happy day when man shall offer his brother man, not bullets and bayonets, but richer grains, better fruits and fairer flowers. Cultivation and care may help plants to do better work temporarily, but by breeding plants may be brought into existence which will do better work always in all places and for all time. Plants are to be produced which will perform their appointed work better, quicker and with the utmost precision. Science sees better grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables all in new forms, sizes, colors and flavors, with more nutrients and less waste, and with every injurious and poisonous quality eliminated, and with power to resist sun, wind, rain, frost and destructive fungus and insect pests ; fruits without stones, seeds or spines; better fiber, coffee, tea, spice, rubber, oil, paper and timber trees, and sugar, starch, color and perfume plants. Every one of these, and ten thousand more, are within the reach of the most ordinary skill in plant breeding. Fellow plant breeders, this is our work. On us now rests one of the next great world movements ; the guidance of the creative forces is in our hands. Man is slowly learning that he, too, may guide the same forces which have been through all the ages performing this beneficent work which he sees every- where, above, beneath and around him in the vast, teeming animal and plant life of the world. These lines were penned among the heights of the Sierras while resting on the original material from which this planet was made. Thousands of ages have passed, and it still remains unchanged. In it no fossils or any trace of past organic life are ever found, nor could any exist, for the world creative heat was too intense. Among these dizzy heights of rock, ice-cleft, glacier-plowed and water-worn, we stand face to face with the first and latest pages of world creation, for now we see also tender and beautiful flowers adding grace of form and color to the grisly walls, and far away down the slopes stand the giant trees, oldest of all living things, embracing all of human history, but even their lives are but as a watch tick since the stars first shone on these barren rocks before the evolutive forces had so gloriously transfigured the face of our planet home. The Chair: Anything that Luther Burbank says is entitled to most respectful consideration because of the fact that he is a man who has done so much in this fi<€ d of work, the most successful worker in the field of hybridization of any in this country, and who has produced wonderful economic values from his labor. The following paper was read by W. A. Orton: ON THE BREEDING OF DISEASE RESISTANT VARIETIES. . A. Orton, Assistant Pathologist, Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture. In speaking on this subject I desire to confine myself principally to the work now being carried on by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and will, therefore, not attempt to give any historical statements or references to other work now being done on this problem. The experiments which are to be described were conducted in the South- ern States during the past four years, mainly on the group of diseases known as "wilt diseases," or Fusarium diseases. The most important of these is the cotton wilt, and a brief description of it will apply very well to others of the same class affecting cowpeas, watermelons, cabbages, tomatoes and other plants, and will serve to make clear the conditions under which this plant breeding work is being done. The cotton wilt is caused by a fungus, Neocosmospora vasinfecta Erw. Sm., which gains entrance through the smaller roots from the soil and grows upward through the water vessels, which it fills with its mycelium, thereby shutting off the food supply and water supply of the plant. The symptoms are usually a sudden wilting of the plant, at almost any age from youth to maturity. When the progress of the disease is less rapid there is a slow dying of the leaves, which turn yellow between the veins and dry up at the margins before falling off. The woody portion of the stem is blackened; this latter character furnishing the best means of distinguishing the disease. A micro- scopic examination of the stem in cross section shows the fungus filling the water vessels. The parasitism of this fungus has been proved by inocula- tion experiments with pure cultures. It gains entrance to the plant from the soil, where it appears to be capable of maintaining itself for an indefinite number of years in the absence of its host plant, either as a saprophyte or by means of resting spores. In the field it appears in scattered spots, which gradually enlarge and spread and remain permanently infected. The amount of injury done varies from little to the total destruction of each successive cotton crop planted on the land. (PI. I.) The usual remedial measures have failed to give relief. Rotation of crops is not a remedy, and extensive experiments with 42 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. fertilizers designed to stimulate and strengthen the plant, and with fungicides applied to the soil to kill the fungus, were all without effect in checking the disease. Areas thus infected are found scattered through the Southern States, and the control of the disease is an important question, since many thousand acres are affected, and the aggregate loss amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The possibility of using plant breeding as a means of controlling the disease had been kept in mind from the beginning of the investigations, and' after other methods had failed experiments were undertaken, with the view of discovering or originating a variety resistant to the wilt. These have proved very successful in a number of instances, which will be mentioned briefly. 1. The Rivers Cotton. It was early observed that not all plants were equally attacked by the wilt disease. Frequently one of two plants in the same hill died and the other lived, while in a field where nearly everything was killed some few plants would survive and show no trace of disease. The first attempt to produce a resistant strain by selection of such plants was made on Sea Island cotton about 1895 by Mr. E. L. Rivers, of James Island, S. C. This resulted in a failure, owing to the fact that the single plant selected proved to be a hybrid without desirable commercial qualities. In 1899 Mr. Rivers, who was then co-operating with the Department of Agriculture in its work on the disease, saved seed from another resistant stalk, which he planted in 1900 in a single row through a field of his ordinary cotton. The land was badly in- fected with wilt, and nearly all the cotton in the field died, while not a plant in the select row was killed. This strain was planted on wilt infected land the next year, and preserved its resistance well. This season (1902) fifteen acres were planted on land which had formerly been abandoned for cotton because of its infection with the wilt fungus. With the exception of a few scattered plants, this variety resisted the disease completely (PI. II.), while adjoining cotton of another kind, on land not so badly infected, was very much injured by wilt. These three successful tests of this selection indicate that it is as nearly resistant to wilt as any variety can be expected to be, and that the use of this or other resistant varieties will be the solution of the cotton wilt problem in the Sea Islands. In its other features, such as length, fineness and uniformity of staple, it is above the average. It yields as much or more per acre than the ordinary non-resistant kinds, thus showing that in securing resistance to disease other desirable qualities have not been sacrificed. Its cultivation will be continued and seed will be distributed by the Department of Agriculture for the relief of the Sea Island cotton planters in Georgia and Florida. 2. Other Resistant Selections. In connection with the efforts of the Department of Agriculture to pro- duce wilt resistant varieties of cotton for distribution to the farmers in the affected districts, a number of other selections have been made, which have proved very resistant to wilt. They have now been grown for two years on wilt infected land, where they have remained healthy, while ordinary cotton BREEDING RESISTANT VARIETIES. 44 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. was greatly injured. Some of them planted beside the Rivers cotton during the present season have proved to be equally as resistant to wilt as that variety. These strains of Sea Island cotton were developed in practically the same way as the Rivers cotton — by selecting as parent stalks very vigorous and healthy plants found in the worst infected fields. The seed from each of these was picked separately and planted the next year on land known to be thoroughly infected with wilt. Under such conditions their resistance was put to a severe test. Those that failed to. withstand the disease were dis- carded at once, and others were thrown out because they were deficient in yield or in length or quality of staple. It was found that the progeny of most of the selected plants were all resistant in the second generation, and only such were preserved. Where many of the individuals grown from one parent plant were affected the whole selection was discarded as lacking the quality of prepotency, or transmitting power. In the third generation the quality of resistance was still retained, with only a few reverting individuals showing disease. They were destroyed, and it is believed that with proper care in selection these strains can be kept resistant indefinitely. The development of strains of Sea Island cotton resistant to wilt is so easy that it can readily be done by the planters themselves. In fact, several of the more progressive Sea Island planters are already doing this, with en- couraging results, and land once abandoned because of the wilt disease is now being taken under cultivation again. 3. The Sensation Cotton. An interesting instance of the origination of a wilt resistant variety is found in the history of the Sensation, a local strain of Sea Island cotton grown on Edisto Island, S. C, by Messrs. M. M. and E. M. Seabrook. The cotton planters of this section have been accustomed for many years to keep up the quality of their product by a rigid system of selection, the funda- mental principle being the annual selection of a single superior plant, which becomes the parent of the strain.* The above mentioned strain was originally selected for its length and fineness of staple, without reference to its wilt resistance, which was not ob- served until about the fifth generation, when it was planted in a field where some spots were known to be infected with wilt. This cotton made a healthy growth on these wilt infected areas, and thus attracted the notice of the growers. The writer made an examination of the field at this time and found evidence of the presence of the fungus in the soil in the occurrence of tufted roots on some of the resistant plants.** Later and more extended trials of the Sensation cotton have verified these observations and demonstrated the important fact that it is thoroughly resistant to wilt. The explanation of this is not difficult to find. It will be remembered that, as previously stated, there are in almost every field some plants that resist infection by the wilt fungus. The parent plant of this variety undoubtedly possessed this quality, though the field in which it grew was not infected by the wilt fungus, and all its descendants have inherited its wilt resistance. It is encouraging to note that *For a full account of this method of selection see Webber, Yearbook U S Dept of Agric., 1898, p. 358. **See Bui. No. 27, Div. Veg. Phys. & Path. U. S. Dept. of Agric., p. 8. BREEDING RESISTANT VARIETIES. 45 46 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. this year, in the seventh generation from the parent plant, the wilt resistance is as marked as when first observed. If the other strains now being de- veloped prove as lasting as this one their value will be very great. There seems to be no reason why we should not find them so. 4. Wilt Resistant Upland Selections. So far our experiments have dealt with Sea Island cotton. The wilt disease is, however, even more destructive to the Upland varieties, Gossypium herbaceum, and in 1900 an effort was made to find a resistant Upland cotton. The first step was to plant on wilt infected land all the different varieties obtainable, in order to compare their resistance, and provide a place where selections could be made. The result of this experiment was to show that Egyptian cotton, Gossypium Barbadense, was more resistant than our Upland cotton. There was, on the whole, little difference in resistance between the common Upland sorts, with the exception of Jackson's Limbless, which sur- passed all the others, though it was by no means entirely resistant. Ex- pressed numerically, on a scale of 1,000, the average coefficient of resistance was 534 for the Egyptian varieties, 453 for Jackson and 98 for the other Upland kinds. There were occasionally resistant plants in this field, and numerous se- lections of such resistant individuals were made from it, but, unfortunately, nearly all of them except the Jackson were destroyed the next year by pro- longed wet weather. It was not fully demonstrated that resistant Upland strains could be pro- duced by selection until this year (1902), when results were obtained that were nearly as striking as those previously had with Sea Island cotton. These experiments were carried on at Troy, Alabama, on land thoroughly infected with wilt. The seed planted had been selected the previous fall from re- sistant plants in badly diseased fields. Some non-resistant varieties were planted beside them for comparison, and the results thus made more striking. In a number of instances single rows planted with seed from selected plants were almost free from disease, while the adjoining rows were badly attacked or almost destroyed (PL III,). The Jackson selections of the third gen- eration were still resistant here, but a number of one-year selections were equally as good. These strains will be carried on and tested more thoroughly, after which the best of them will be distributed to the farmers for general cultivation. The Cowpea Wilt. This disease is caused by the fungus Neocosmospora vasinfecta var. tracheiphila Erw. Sm., and is similar to the cotton wilt in nature, but is not of such great economic importance. The cowpea (Vigna sinensis) is, however, the most valuable leguminous forage plant in the South, and any factor like this disease which hinders or restricts its use in crop rotations as a soil renovator must be considered serious. It is mentioned here merely to call attention to another striking instance of varietal resistance to disease. In this case the resistant form was not developed by selection, as were the wilt resistant cottons previously described, but was found already in cultivation, though its disease resistant qualities had not been specifically pointed out. This cowpea, known as the IRON, has been tested in the experiments of BREEDING RESISTANT VARIETIES. 47 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. the Department of Agriculture in comparison with over forty other varieties, and during the past two years has been the only kind to withstand the wilt fungus. In other varieties the loss on the infected land has been from two- thirds to the whole of the crop, while in the adjoining rows of Iron it was difficult to find a single affected plant. (PI. IV.). Other trials of the variety in a number of places where common cowpeas had failed to succeed resulted in a satisfactory crop. The experience of farmers who have grown this cowpea on a larger scale confirms our observations. In addition to its resistance to the wilt fungus it withstands drouth remarkably well, and holds its leaves late in the season, when other varieties have become defoliated, showing in these and other respects its unusual hardiness. The most noteworthy quality of the Iron cowpea, however, is its re- sistance to the root-knot worm, or nematode (Heterodera radicicola). This was brought out by the experiments of the Department of Agriculture a year ago,* and another year's work has given similar results on a somewhat larger scale. The Iron pea was planted beside a number of other varieties on land infested with nematodes, and careful comparisons made by examination of the roots of each lot. The Iron was uniformly free from nematode attacks and remained green and healthy till late in the season. All other kinds were much diseased and died before maturing much seed. Their roots were much knotted and deformed by the nematode galls, while the roots of Iron were uniformly smooth and clean. This attribute of the Iron cowpea, if maintained in other localities and through later years, will make it of very great value as a rotation crop throughout the wide areas in the Southern States where nematodes are prevalent. In these sections the use of the common cowpeas is often injuri- ous because, of their extreme susceptibility to root-knot, since a crop of them will so greatly increase the number of the parasites in the soil that succeeding cotton or other crops will be injured more severely. No other leguminous crop equals the cowpea as a soil renovator in the Southern States, and if this variety can be safely used on nematode infested land it will have a wicfe range of usefulness. Another point of interest to us as plant breeders in connection with the resistance of this variety to nematode attacks lies in the encouragement it gives us in our efforts to produce nematode resistant strains of other plants. If such forms of peaches, cotton, tomatoes and other vegetables can be pro- duced they will be extremely valuable, not only in America, but also in other countries where nematodes cause injury. The Watermelon Wilt. This disease, caused by the fungus Neocosmospora vasinfecta var. nivea Erw. Sin., is similar in nature to the two preceding, but is more widespread in our southern and. central States. Its action is also more rapid and the destruction it causes more complete. In sections where it is prevalent seven to ten years must elapse after land has been planted to watermelons before the same crop can with safety be put there again. We have had some dim- 'Webber, H. J., and Orton, W. A. — Some Diseases of the Cowpea, Bui. 17, pp. 23-38. Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agric., Washington, D. C., 1902. BREEDING RESISTANT VARIETIES. 50 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. culty in obtaining wilt resistant selections of the watermelon, because re- sistant individuals are less numerous; but several strains are now being grown which promise to retain this quality. Selections were made this year from resistant vines which remained healthy on land where all melons had been killed for four years previous. Our hopes are further stimulated by the fact that the citron and an African melon, both forms of Citrullus vul- garis, are resistant to wilt. Hybrids between these and our better watermelons have been made, and they promise to be wilt resistant, though it is not yet known whether an edible product can be obtained. This work is now being continued. Discussion of Methods and Results. The question of the reason for the marked resistance to infection by wilt fungi noted in individual plants of cotton, cowpeas and watermelons has not been satisfactorily answered. Our own observations lead us to believe that it is not due to any mechanical protection afforded by thicker cell walls or in similar ways, but that it probably is due to some physiological reaction within the plant, possibly connected with the presence or absence of certain enzymes. This interesting problem has not yet been fully worked out. It is certain that resistance to one disease does not necessarily imply any immunity against others. One of the, wilt resistant cottons, for instance, is very much affected by the angular leaf spot. The important points that concern the plant Breeder are that individual plants do occur which resist these wilt diseases, and that their descendants inherit this resistance. The determination of the proper methods to pursue in utilizing these variations and fixing them into stable varieties has been the object of some of our investigations. The final conclusions can hardly be drawn as yet. They will probably be found to confirm principles already known to plant breeders. Importance of the Individual. The most important point that has been brought out is that in seeking a disease resistant variety the attention must be directed to the selection of re- sistant individuals to use as the parents of a new strain, rather than to the discovery of the desired characters in a variety already existing. There is no question, of course, that varieties differ in their susceptibility to disease, and a thorough test of a large number of varieties in a location where they will be exposed to the disease against which resistance is desired would be the first step in a system of plant breeding. But if even the best variety is not entirely resistant, the selection from it of individual plants that have the de- sired character may lead to the production of a resistant strain. Furthermore, it is very desirable to save the seed from each plant sep- arately, that is, to take as the basis of each selection a single exceptional in- dividual, rather than to mix the seeds of a number of good plants. The rea- sons for this are, first, that it insures greater uniformity than can be had from seed of mixed parentage, which is especially desirable in breeding cot- ton; and second, that if any selection lacks prepotency or shows other un- desirable characters, it can be wholly discarded in the second generation, while in mixed lots this could not be done; third, opportunity may be had for exact studies on heredity. If the aim is to produce a select variety too BREEDING RESISTANT VARIETIES. 5i much emphasis cannot be laid on the desirability of concentrating one's energy on the careful comparison and selection of a few mother plants, which are to be kept separate, rather than on the "rogueing" of large fields. The Factor of Cross-Pollination. When the selection of wilt resistant strains of cotton was first undertaken considerable importance was attached to the close fertilization of the flowers on the selected plant, since it would seem that if they received pollen from adjoining non-resistant plants the seed produced would be less resistant. Our field experiments have not supported this view, however, and at present little importance is attached to the covering of selected plants to protect them from foreign pollen, though as a precautionary measure the plants are isolated as much as possible, in order to reduce the amount of cross-pollination. In our experiments a large number of flowers were covered with bags and al- lowed to fertilize themselves. The seed thus obtained was planted on wilt infected land besides some from open fertilized bolls. The results showed no advantage from self-pollination either in uniformity of type or resistance to disease. The plants produced from uncovered flowers were, if anything, more vigorous than the others. It should be sai-d in this connection that it is probable that a considerable percentage of cotton blossoms in the open field are normally close fertilized. Fixing the Type. It was thought at the beginning of the work that the selection for re- sistance would have to be continued for two or three generations in order to fix the type. Experience has shown, however, that with cotton our re- sistant types are fully fixed from the beginning. In our present work, if the offspring of any selected plant fail to show this uniform resistance, they are all discarded. Such cases are few, and may be due to an error in selecting as resistant a plant never exposed to infection, or the plants may have lacked prepotency. Effect of Fertilization. In our work on the wilt diseases it has been found important to have the land where the selections are to be made well fertilized, particularly with stable manure or other organic substances. The resistant plants attain a better development under such circumstances, and it is easier to distinguish between resistant and partially diseased plants. Selection vs. Hybridization. In breeding wilt resistant varieties of cotton it has been found possible to attain the end desired by selection alone, without having recourse to hybridization. Hybrids have been made in connection with the work, particu- larly with Egyptian cotton, and have proved very resistant (PI. III.), but the difficulty of securing a fixed type of commercial value is so great that we have not preserved them, since selections from well fixed varieties answered the purpose better. With watermelons the same objection to hybridization holds with greater force on account of the difficulty usually experienced in fixing hybrid cucurbits. In working with other crops and other diseases it may be desirable to use hybrids, but under our conditions 52 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. it seems to be possible to obtain by selection alone disease resistant strains of any quality desired, whether fine or coarse, late or early. Selection for Resistance to Other Diseases. This comparatively unworked field in plant breeding offers great rewards to coming investigators. There is every reason to think that strains of plants can be developed which will resist many of our common and destructive dis- eases. Many instances could _be cited where the results of such work appear promising. The production of disease resistant fruits, nuts and potatoes may be looked for ; but it should be remembered that results obtained with varie- ties propagated by seed, like cotton, may not be duplicated with equal ease in varieties propagated by grafting or buds. W. M. Hays: Is cotton generally open to cross fertilization? W. A. Orton: That is an uncertain point. Cotton fertilizes itself freely; that is, flowers covered with a bag before opening are almost certain to set seed, and yet they are freely visited by insects, and there is no question that abundant cross fertilization takes place. But our results have been contradictory. Where different varieties have been planted beside each other there has apparently been little crossing in some cases, but in others a great deal. I think that cotton as a rule is not extensively crossed by insects in the field. W. M. Hays: Have you used hybrids in large numbers; in anything like as large numbers as your standard stocks? W. A. Orton: Hardly; hybrid cottons are very difficult to handle on account ot extreme variation. The Chair: Have there been any experiments toward getting a variety of musk- melon or cantaloupe resistant to wilt disease? That is a subject that appeals to all of us. W. A. Orton: The wilt of the muskmelon is due in the North usually to a form of black rot. In the South there is a wilt of the cantaloupe which is due to a disease very like the watermelon wilt, and I am working on that. So far as I know, no experi- ments have been made on the Northern disease. W. M. Hays: I would like to ask the speaker if he knows of what this resistant quality consists. W. A. Orton: The Department has just found that there are no anatomical feat- ures that would explain the difference; and I believe the resistance is due to physiological or chemical differences in the plant. The fungus seems to be unable to enter the roots, or if it does obtain an entrance to the smaller roots it is unable to penetrate the water passages, and I believe, although I have no definite proof of it, that the reason for the difference is an enzyme of the plant. D. G. Fairchild: in 1899 I visited the experiment stations in Svalof, Sweeden, and Dr. Nilsson called my attention to a patch of vetch which had been selected from a single resistant plant which; has resisted the attacks of Peronospora. The whole field had been killed by this disease with the exception of this one plant. They had selected it and raised plants from it and produced as beautiful a patch of vetch as I have ever seen. My attention was recalled to this by Dr. Orton's remark that he believed there was no limit to the possibilities of selection in plants for resistance to disease. H. H. Groff : Not long ago articles went the rounds of the horticultural press which gave the impression that since all seed was produced free from disease, we might sow with the expectation of securing strong and vigorous plants from the seed of diseased parents. This, however, proves most conclusively, I think, that that must be an error. Cotton is produced from seeds, is it not, Professor Orton? W. A. Orton: Well, in the case of these diseases, seed saved from diseased plants is certain to become diseased if grown in infected soil. In a different kind of soil not affected by this fungus, it is likely to grow and remain healthy, although, perhaps, not as vigorous. S. Fraser: Is it necessary to grow the crop on diseased land in order to secure immunity? » BREEDING RESISTANT VARIETIES. 53 VV. A. Orton: It is necessary to grow crops on infected land in order to make selections. S. Fraser: To maintain the immunity? W. A. Orton: 1 don't think so. S. Fraser: If grown on other free land for a series of years will it then be resistant? W. A. Orton: Except in this way, that if planted on infected land the non-re- sistant plants can be weeded out, while if grown on non-infected land they would not be noticed. S. Fraser: Could you mention any variety of potatoes that is resistant? W. A. Orton: I could not just now. I have that information in my notes, but I don't recall any variety resistant to ground rot. The Chair: The subject treated by Professor Orton is one of very great economic importance, and we can only hope that the experiments will go on and very effective results be obtained. I am sure that there are opportunities in many fields for experi- mentation in this line of selection, and it is something that we can almost any of us do and do it with a hope, after hearing this paper, of satisfactory result. The following paper was read by W. M. Hays: BREEDING FOR INTRINSIC QUALITIES. . M. Hays, Agriculturist, State Experiment Station, St. Anthony Park, Minn. The aggregate of wealth annually produced in America by means oi domestic plants and animals is valued at several billion dollars. A liberal allowance for fields and flocks in the hands of men who will not seek or even receive blood of improved plants and animals will easily leave annual products worth two billion dollars, which may be brought under the breeder's influence. Burbank and other breeders of plants, and of animals, have abundantly proved that it is practicable by breeding alone to increase values ten per cent. Ten per cent of two billion dollars is two hundred million dol- lars. No doubt, breeding operations, as now developed, will increase this annual product two per cent in twenty years, or forty million dollars an- nually. It is fair to believe that an additional increase of eight per cent, or one hundred and sixty millions additional annual increase, may be produced by devising and extensively using much better scientific methods of breeding. One per cent of the total increase should be a sufficient annual expenditure to produce the magnificent increase which seems in reach, if the work is prop- erly carried out. The soil is a vast mine, and our plants and animals are parts of our mining machinery. If by spending one per cent of the value of the output on these machines we can increase the output ten per cent, we are "penny wise and pound foolish" not to do so. This problem is distributed from the gentle violet to King Corn, and from the brilliant goldfish to the queenly cow, and includes many micro- scopic organizations. On the side of wealth production this problem lies mainly in a score of staple crops, and in the four great species of domestic animals. But in addition there are vast financial interests in species of fruits and flowers and in the minor species of economic animals, including some fishes, oysters; also economic insects, bacteria, etc. The interest does not stop with the financial, but there are ethical and scientific interests of vast import. Improved plants and animals, and the interest which is con- nected with their breeding and production, make for a better civilization. Pedigrees, distinguishing marks, performance records and the attractive presence of the living product of the breeder's art have an inspiring interest which is uplifting. People who have highly bred plants and animals farm better, thrive better, enjoy life better and live better. Breeders and growers of improved plants and animals have a delightful source of zest, unfelt by ordi- nary mortals. Humanity relishes touch with improvement. The hybridizer is a 56 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. creator of values, and his every improved product, besides serving in its own generation, becomes a new foundation for an added story to the superstructure of economic or artistic production. Man's influence on plants and animals was Darwin's best clue to the science of heredity. Hereafter scientific breeding promises to be one of our best means for studying the nature of man, as well as of plants and animals. Man, aided by social organization, is making tremendous strides in self- development. The rapid strides found possible in improving species of plants and animals begin to give hope that race development may become feasible. The subject of breeding is apparently approaching a vastness, a profundity and a widespread interest comparable with its possibilities. As minds flock about a new thought in invention, literature or art, and perfect it, so scientists have long hovered, spellbound, about Darwin's theory of natural evolution. That man can turn this idea to immense account has heretofore received only a moiety of its due. Though the strenuous contest which his theories precipitated caused him to lay the stress on the historical rather than on the future economic phase of his brilliant work, as relates to animals and plants, Darwin saw both facts as few of his followers have appreciated. But there is developing a deeper appreciation of his work in relation to the possible evolution of domesticated species. Biologists, as well as practical breeders, are becoming interested in the possibilities of artificial evolution, carried out scientifically and on a scale commensurate with its necessities and importance. The most important business principle brought out during recent years by Biirbank and others is that by carefully growing and testing very large numbers of plants improvements may be made which will far more than pay the cost. Galton showed that there is only one remarkable man in sev- eral thousands. Animal breeders have come to realize that there is only one remarkably prepotent and effective sire in many; e. g., Messenger, the father of trotters, and Stoke Pogis, sire of a family of superior Jersey cows. Gideon, Patton and other apple breeders find only one superior apple among very many seedlings. Burbank throws away piles of berry vines as large as straw stacks in the effort to find a few superior individual mother plants. The old time proposition that like begets like, that there are variations in some individuals, with occasional cases of atavism, is neither distinct nor definite as a rule of business action. Breed from the best is a good rule, but its meaning is comparatively unimportant in variety and breed formation, un- less changed to read: Breed from the very best from among very large numbers. To utilize large numbers in an effort to secure the one or several best as progenitors of a new race, system must be used in growing, measur- ing and testing. Statistical methods, instruments of precision, and machinery, also business and public organization, must be devised and utilized extensively, especially with some of the most important wealth producing species. Selection requires nearly the whole labor and expense, in most cases hybridizing only requiring a fraction of one per cent of the work of the improver of plants and animals. Plants may be divided roughly as to methods of breeding into three classes, according to their manner of propagation. The BREEDING FOR INTRINSIC QUALITY. 57 apple will serve as an example of the first class, where we reproduce the mother plant asexually, as by buds or cuttings, there being only bud variation and no further adulteration through fertilization. Wheat, which is self-pol- lenated, but which we reproduce by sexually produced seeds, will serve to illustrate the second method of breeding. Corn, which is accustomed to the freest and widest cross-pollenation, will serve to illustrate the third, and by far the most difficult general method of breeding. I use the term "breeding" in its general or widest sense, so as to include all operations which assist in securing blood lines better adapted to the desired purpose. The first operation is securing the best foundation stocks, whether util- izing varieties at hand known to be superior, or by accession from the out- side, securing others and testing them beside known standard sorts. We should always place much effort on securing the best possible start. Of the possible final improvements more than half is ofttimes secured by a wise choice of foundation stocks. Not infrequently ultimate failure is met because of a hasty and ill advised start. Breeders are in competition, and no one should allow his competitors to start with superior foundation stock and he with a handicap. This selection of original varieties should be from among as large numbers as practicable, and with a broad knowledge of the correlated qualities required to make up the largest unit of economic and artistic values in the desired line. As the methods of selecting are here much the same as selecting among newly formed varieties, details will be passed over. In making hybrid varieties the mere manipulations of emasculating and cross-pollenating, though sometimes tedious, are usually exceedingly simple, and in many cases may best be left to natural agencies. The choice of varie- ties to mate, however, presents unusual difficulties. In some cases, e. g., Bur- bank's plums, experience has proven that the union of certain blood lines often results in an unusual proportion of superior progeny; and in animal breeding certain out-crosses have so often proved superior that they have gained popularity. But for the most part crosses must be made between those varieties which most nearly approach the desired ideal, and which will supplement each other; and then the chances must be taken of securing occa- sionally superior parent plants and effective blood lines. True, in some cases, we can gradually introduce a small proportion of the attenuated blood of some form strong in a needed characteristic, but undesirable in others. Thus the thirty-second part of the blood of a hardy native crab might be utilized to make a hardier form of apple for the far Northwest. Since hybrids may combine their innumerable characteristics in such a multitude of forms it is not strange that we find it necessary to seek from among tens and hundreds of thousands that one individual or small group of plants which shall possess the desired correlation of qualities. If all the words of a dictionary were on slips of paper and placed indiscriminately in a pile, we could be certain of securing a given word only by looking over the whole pile. The combina- tions possible in hybrid individuals between two species or varieties are vastly more numerous than the number of words it is possible to make by combining the twenty-six letters of our alphabet; and where the blood of three or more species is intermingled the complexity is made still greater. We must expect to select from among large numbers. 58 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. Varieties Multiplied Asexiially. In species like the apple the opportunities of improvement by selection within the variety, without seed reproduction, are relatively slight, because confined to bud selection; though even in buds the natural impulses of the mixed blood, aided by environment, cause useful and valuable variations, ap- parently differing in their values only in degree from variations arising di- rectly from seed reproduction. Seeds which are hybrids between known varieties should generally be used where practicable. Here the selection is carried out by simply growing immense numbers, digging out all unpromising trees, fruiting the promising ones, and by making root or top and bud grafts, thus extensively testing the very few best, and finally propagating only those which prove so superior as to warrant their commercial use. If better methods cannot be devised for securing to originators remuneration for their work, the breeding of this class of crops should be taken in hand extensively at public expense. In Minnesota something is being accomplished by the State Horticultural Society. It has offered a premium of $1,000.00 for a choice apple, with certain prescribed qualities. But that sum can pay for only one variety, and even that liberal premium will not give enough stimulus of apple breeding. The public cannot afford to longer refrain from investing much larger sums in apple breeding. Varieties Multiplied by Self-Pollenation. Any reasonable expense may properly be used in the breeding of our great staple crops, where hundreds of millions of dollars hang on the breed- ing values of a comparatively small number of superior plants. Theory dic- tates and practical experience has proven that the employment of a large number of plants is an economical necessity in breeding such crops as wheat, oats, barley, etc. The following brief statement of a plan for breeding wheat is essentially that in operation at the Minnesota Experiment Station, but is adapted to the conditions of starting anew in a State experiment station: A large number of chosen varieties, a hundred or more, are secured from regions with conditions most like that for which the varieties are de- sired. In a few years these are reduced to the ten, more or less, which are productive of the largest value per acre. The breeding may be begun before all these varieties have been given field trials, if one or more varieties are already at hand which are useful, that they may be made more useful to the State at the earliest moment. For convenience of statement, after testing three to five years, we will assume to choose five superior varieties for foundation breeding stocks. At every point where selection is practicable the best should be chosen. From field plots of each of the five varieties superior spikes are chosen. These are shelled and 10,000, more or less, superior kernels are selected from each variety. Each of these is planted by itself in a bed with its fellows in such manner that each plant may have the same opportunity as each other plant. Beds four by forty-two feet, with two-foot alleys between the sides and six-foot alleys between the blocks, at the ends of the plots, are made level and the seed bed made fine and of very even texture. To insure good mechanical conditions and an abundance of moisture in the spring, also free- BREEDING FOR INTRINSIC QUALITY. 59 dom from insects, the land for the field crop nursery is summer fallowed the previous year, where practicable to do so. An effective machine has been devised for this planting. It rests on planks lying in the alleys on either side of the bed. One man sits on the machine and drops into each of fourteen cups one or two seeds. He then throws the frame carrying the cups over and the seeds fall down fourteen tubes, each of which extends into the soil to a uniform depth of two to three inches. A second man with a lever throws the machine forward four inches, and as the seeding tubes are four inches apart the hills are in squares, each plant having sixteen square inches of soil room. Before the plants have begun to stool the beds are carefully gone over, and only one plant is left in a hill. When ripe the poorer plants are cut off with sheep shears, leaving about 500 of those of each variety, or 2,500 in all, which appear to be the heaviest yielders. The bunch of several spikes of each of these plants is put into a separate packet, properly numbered, and taken to the laboratory and weighed in the chaff. One hundred of each variety, 500 plants in all, which weigh heavy, are shelled and inspected as to quality. Two hundred or more of those yielding the highest value per plant are chosen, and the second year loo of the best seeds are planted from each of the 200 mother plants. Two border rows are planted about each plot, and these are removed before har- vest. At harvest time ten superior spikes are saved from as many superior plants in each plot, and the seeds from these are saved to plant a similar plot the third year from -each stock or variety from the 200 mother plants, respectively. There are usually a few blank hills, and it is necessary to count the plants as harvested. Shears with automatic counting attachment are here needed to facilitate the work and to make the counting more accu- rate. The grain is tied into a bundle, the heads of which are wrapped in muslin to prevent loss from sparrows, etc., and the bundles are tied to stakes to dry. The bundles are threshed in especially arranged machinery, which does not lose nor mix the grain. After adding the weights of the bulk grain and that shelled from the ten spikes chosen for seed the total is divided by the number of plants, thus giving the yield in grains per plant of the progeny of the 200 mother plants. By using the seeds from the ten spikes a similar test is made the third year, and in like manner a test is sometimes made the fourth year. The averages between the yields of the average plants for the two or three years give pretty good indexes to the power of the blood of each of the mother plants to produce heavy yielding progeny under condi- tions nearly like those met by the wheat plants in the fields. In other words, we thus secure a good measure of the "projected efficiency," or breeding power, of each of the 200 mother plants. The seeds of each of the fifty best of the 200 stocks may now be separately planted in field plots, making fifty varieties; or, five, more or less, of the plants very similar in appearance may be mixed together, thus greatly reducing the number of varieties. These are grown the fifth year in increase plots, so as to secure sufficient seeds for plots of one-tenth or one-twentieth of an acre in area. The sixth, seventh and eighth years the fifty varieties are grown beside their parent varieties and other standard kinds in field test plots. Sufficient superior stocks are hand- picked out of each plot to furnish seed for planting the plot the next year, HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. thus keeping the plot pure from mechanical mixture and gaining slightly on the selection toward larger yield. During these three years tests are made not only of yield and of quality, as determined by inspection, but milling tests are also made of the quality of the flour from each variety. At the end of this period averages are made of the trials for the three years, and each wheat is studied as to its relative value — producing power per acre. Possibly five out of the fifty are superior to the remainder. These are furnished to experiment stations in surrounding States, which are in a co-operative or- ganization, that they may give the new sorts further trial for the use of the originating station, and also for their own use. If, after one or two years' trials at several stations, or after further trial at the originating station, one of these wheats shows a value per acre greater than any other wheat grown, it is rapidly multiplied. Instead of distributing it free, the pedigree is placed behind this new variety, and it is sold at a price much above the current prices of ordinary seed wheat, but much below its real value. It is sold to seedsmen, seed growers and farmers, and so distributed throughout the State that all who will make a specialty of growing superior seeds for sale may soon have a chance to grow it. This has proven a very effective way of widely distributing a variety. Even sorts bred only for superior yield per acre, with no ordinary varietal distinguishing marks, are thus widely dis- tributed. Distinguishing marks are very useful, but, often to combine breeding for distinguishing marks with breeding for intrinsic qualities has defeated the whole economic purposes, e. g., breeding clover at the Minnesota Station for the first ten years of effort in that direction helped to lead to temporary failure. We tried to breed hardy clover with flowers of lighter color. This method of breeding wheat costs money. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating," however, and one variety thus originated and distributed, Minn. No. 163, has already paid the bill for breeding this and other species of field crops by the Minnesota Station. The farmers' reports show that this variety yields a dollar per acre more than the wheats it is supplanting. We estimate that in 1902 there was grown in Minnesota 60,000 acres of this variety; also 20,000 acres in North Dakota. That this has resulted from 200 bushels distributed in 1899, 100 in 1900 and 200 in 1901 seems at first remarkable. This emphasizes the fact that even a variety not differing in appearance from a kind commonly grown in the State may be widely dis- tributed by putting behind it a statistical pedigree and by careful work in breeding and distributing which will gain the confidence of the growers. O p en- p alienated plants, also animals, must be bred in many ways in a manner radically different than bacteria, or apples, or than wheat or oats, where adulteration by mixing is not continued. Open-pollenated species and animals are accustomed to more or less cross-breeding, and in many cases a mixture of blood is necessary to their reproductive vigor. Here we have the more complex problem of securing mixtures of blood lines which have a high "projected efficiency'1 It is harder here to fix types, to attain a settled char- acter of blood lines — which are constantly tending to reorganize into new combinations of characters — so as to have a strong and constant efficiency in the production of large values along given desired lines. Besides, we cannot BREEDING FOR INTRINSIC QUALITY. 61 breed a large number of open-pollenated varieties in one nursery, nor on one farm, unless it be a very large one. In corn, for example, the importance of great care in securing a superior foundation stock is even more important than in wheat, because the number which may be kept under trial is limited to so few. After having chosen the variety, the very choicest plants should be chosen from among very large numbers, as from large fields. These should be most carefully tested as to yield of grain and general character of plant, time required to mature, etc. In some cases the composition of the kernels may be determined. One hundred or more superior plants are chosen, and a centgener row planted from each. Twenty or more of the best yielding rows with good plants are chosen, and from among the plants in each of these rows ten or more of the best plants are chosen and tested. The best of these are used for planting thirty to a hundred centgener rows the third season. Care is taken to not reduce the number of original blood lines to below, say, five, or even ten. Soon the selecting should begin to respect cer- tain types, that the variety may be reduced to a .more popular appearance. But retaining the high yielding types is of first importance, and a check should constantly be kept on the work. There is some danger of making the variety uniform, or "thoroughbred," in appearance and mongrel in yield. Breeders of Shorthorn cattle sometimes find that they have "thoroughbred red" families which are "scrub milkers" and not very thoroughbred — uni- form— in beefing qualities. Once the value per acre of the variety of corn has been materially increased, the very choicest ears only being needed for the nursery breeding, seeds from the best remaining ears may be used in field planting, and seed grown from this selected stock for the market. The nursery must be large to give wide opportunity for securing superior indi- vidual plants and for testing the breeding power of many mother plants. Every year, or every few years, a commercial stock of seed may be drawn from the nursery, taken to the field and there multiplied. It may pay to grow corn in the nursery only every alternate year, growing in alternate years in large fields, for which purpose the seeds of the various blood lines are indiscriminately mixed. No one can settle this and many other similar questions until experiments are made. Just now there is an excitement about Mendel's Law. We hope that law will help to clear up many questions, both scientific and practical. But there are thousands of theoretical questions with practical bearing. Some of these may be as important, or even far more important, than Mendel's Law. Let me urge that we extend, broaden out and intensify our endeavors in investi- gation along these lines. Let us urge the large equipment of laboratories and experimental grounds for plant breeding at public expense. Let us find and introduce those laws of business which will enable the private individual to secure larger rewards for supplying the world with new creations. The scientific workers in plant and animal improvement should realize that the people will appreciate large economic results, and will gladly urge the ex- penditure of what appears now very large sums of money, if we show as large a dividend as we might. Creating values and scientific work go hand in hand. The production of new wealth will supply the wherewithal to sup- port scientific research in natural and scientific evolution. Scientific research, 62 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. on the other hand, will furnish the laws to make easy and popular the pro- duction of wealth by dealing with the living forms we depend upon to pro- duce such a large part of the commodities needed by the world. The most important law is that by hybridizing we can create new values. The next most important law is that by selecting from among very large numbers we can segregate the individual plants or animals carrying these new powers and multiply them for our use. The great business proposition is that values can be enormously increased at relatively slight expense. Are not the government, the States and private individuals ready for larger co- operation, not only to learn more about how to breed, but also to extensively improve our useful friends, the 'plants and animals, upon whose powers of inheritance we so fully depend? The Chair: I believe there is a great deal in what Professor Hays has told us; that the principle which breeders of animals have found to be necessary, to breed, as they call it, from performance, should be used in our plant work. The following paper was read by S. A. Beach: CORRELATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PLANT IN FORM, COLOR, SIZE AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS. S* A. Beacht Horticulturist/ New^ York State Experiment Station, Geneva, N*Y. Work in plant breeding, when considered from the standpoint of the worker, falls into two general classes. In one class the effort is to originate an improved strain or variety; 'in the other the object is to learn the phil- osophy of plant breeding, to discover the scientific principles involved and to illustrate the application of these principles. Immediate practical results are sought in one case; in the other a knowledge of the laws of plant breeding, by means of which continued progress may be made. The former, if success- ful, gives only something transient. The improved variety or strain which is produced will doubtless be superseded in time by something better, as the evolution of cultivated plants progresses. Such is the verdict of horticultural history. We look to the other kind of effort for the more permanent and eventually more rapid progress in breeding plants. It is the purpose of this essay to call attention to a question, the investigation of which may yield results of general importance and permanent value, namely, the extent to which correlation between different parts of the plant in form, color, size and other characteristics may be regarded as a significant factor in plant breeding. Nurserymen, seedsmen, fruit growers and gardeners know many instances of such correlation, and often take practical advantage of it when making selections for propagation, albeit perhaps unconsciously, and without for- mulating in words a definite expression of their judgment on this point. Scientific investigators have also occasionally recognized instances where cor- relation is of significance as a means of selection in breeding or propagating plants, but it appears that this subject has not been investigated as system- atically and thoroughly as it should be. In plant breeding the chances for originating an improved variety are in some degree proportionate to the number of seedlings produced. Other things being equal, the more numerous the seedlings subject to selection, the greater the probabilities of finding the improvement sought. But the more seedlings one undertakes to grow the greater the necessity of getting rid of the undesirable ones at as young a stage of growth as possible, and thus avoid the labor and expense of growing a great number of useless plants; therefore, a skillful breeder does not defer the process of selection till the seedlings appear, but exercises rigid choice, perhaps with the seed which is 64 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. to be planted, and surely with the parents, or stock plants, from which he expects to take the seed, cions, buds or cuttings for propagation. Correlation of parts or characteristics in plants may be of use not only in selecting seed- lings, but also in choosing the parents, and even in choosing the seeds which are to be used in breeding. Notice a few illustrations. Geschwind1 finds correlation between the structure and the sugar con- tent of the beet-root. He states that, as a rule, high sugar content is asso- ciated with a small amount of woody tissue, and recommends that beets be selected for breeding which have but small amount of woody tissue, as shown by cross-section of the top. Herislow2 states that McNab finds that in breeding rhododendrons the best dwarf varieties are obtained by using pollen taken from the smaller stamens. Swingle:! states that in Europe certain plant breeders who had long been engaged in breeding grain for the increase of the percentage of protein found recently that a high nitrogen content of the grain is correlated with blue stemmed plants, and since making this discovery have been enabled to make more progress in three years in increasing the nitrogen content of the grain by plant breeding than they had in many previous years' effort toward the same object. Henslow4 says that very dark crimson zonal geraniums are so nearly self sterile as to make seed raising difficult, the sterility being in proportion to the depth of color, which is correlated with proterandry. Paler varieties are more nearly homogamous and are very self-fertile. Tinker5 states that male vines of Vitis bicolor, MX. at all ages, have leaves more lobed or divided than pistillate vines of the same species, and that this distinction is discernible in seedlings when they have put forth the sixth leaf. In his work in breeding grapes he finds it practicable to dis- card male bicolor seedlings when the sixth leaf is formed. Debruyker6 has shown that correlation in length exists between the culm and the head and the upper internode and the head of the rye plant. He did not find, however, that heredity had any apparent influence on these features. Many instances exist of correlation between different parts of a plant in size, but not enough observations have been made to permit of general state- ments as to the full significance of this character in any particular class of plants. De Vries7 finds that there is a relation between the vigor of the plant in Oenothera Lamarckiana and the size, *. e., length and thickness, of the fruit. The larger and more vigorous the plant, the longer and thicker the fruit; the shorter the fruit, the weaker and more slender the plant. In the vineyard of E. C. Gillett, Penn Yan, N. Y., is a vine of the Con- 1Geschwind, L., Rev. Gen. Chim. Appl., 3 (1900). No. 12. Cited in Exp. Sta. Rec. XIII: 526. 2Garden LX (1901) ; 228. 3Swingle, W. T., Discussion on Plant Breeding at the New Haven meeting of A. A. A. C. E. S., Nov., 1900. 4Henslow, G., Jour. Roy. Hort. Soc. XXIV: 85. BTinker, Dr. G. L., in personal communication to the writer, 1902. "Debruyker, C., cited in Exp. Sta. Rec, XIII (1901): 241. 7De Vries, Hugo, Die Mutationstheorie. Erster Band (1901): 377. CORRELATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS. 65 cord grape, from one side of which has appeared a sport, bearing much larger fruit and much larger seed than is grown on the normal portion of the same vine. Seedlings which I have grown from seeds produced by the sport are larger and more vigorous in type than those produced from seed produced by the normal canes. None of these seedlings has yet fruited. The fruit of Hercules grape, a labrusca-vinifera hybrid, has very large fruit and correspondingly large leaves. The same is true of Columbian Imperial, Pierce and other varieties which might be named. Delaware has small fruit and correspondingly small leaves ; so also have Golden Gem, Golden Drop, Rebecca and others. In breeding grapes I have found among some very excellent varieties others that were exceedingly dwarfed in leaf and habit of growth. When such dwarf vines have been allowed to mature and bear fruit they have produced either small fruit, or small clusters, or both. Many hundreds of grape seedlings of known parentage which have been produced during the progress of my work in breeding grapes show that size and color of foliage, vine and fruit tend to be transmitted to the offspring with con- siderable uniformity — so much so, that the entire lot of seedlings of any particular parentage, whether pure bred or cross bred, when viewed as a whole, is usually of a characteristic type and distinct from the seedlings of other, albeit nearly related parentage. Similar results have followed the work with gooseberries. It should be remarked that in making observations on correlation of parts as to size it is important to give due consideration to the species or group features, if the individuals compared represent different groups. For example, some varietie^ of Vitis sestivalis MX. may have larger foliage, but smaller fruit, than certain varieties of Vitis labrusca, yet within the limits of the species the larger types of leaf may be found associated with the larger types of fruit, and the smaller types of foliage with the smaller types of fruit. With the peach it is easy to find many illustrations of a correspondence in size between the foliage and the fruit. Compare, for example, the type of foliage found on Elberta, Crawford and other large fruited varieties, with the smaller, narrower leaves found on smaller peaches, like Golden Prolific and Hill's Chili, and especially on the seedlings commonly called "natural fruit," which bear exceedingly small fruits. Finally, on the question of the correspondence in size of different parts of the plant the evidence at hand, although not sufficient to support a gen- eral statement that it does exist, gives enough indications that it may be found to make the subject worthy of investigation. The question of correspondence in color between different parts of the plant will now be taken up. In 1894, and again in 1897, a large number of varieties of apples in one of the orchards of the Geneva (N. Y.) Experiment Station were examined with reference to the color of the blossoms and blos- som buds. Space permits but a summary of results. Two hundred and ten varieties were under observation. There appeared to be no constant relation between the color of the bloom and the color of the fruit, except that a large majority of the very pale or very nearly white blossoms were either on crab apples or Russian apples. One crab apple, however, was recorded as HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. having pure white blossoms, while its fruit is well described by the name of the variety, which is "Blood Red." Raspberries, Rubus strigosus and R. Idaeus and R. occidentalis, which bear so-called white or yellow fruit, have correspondingly paler foliage and paler canes than the black or red fruited varieties. So, also, the purple rasp- berries (R. occidentalis-strigosus or occidentalis-Idseus hybrids) have a dis- tinct tinge on the foliage and canes corresponding to the purple color of the fruit. I have never known any exception to the above statements. Some roses with white blossoms have noticeably paler foliage than that of dark red varieties. Similar correspondence in color of blossoms and foliage has been observed among pelargoniums, cannas, asters and other flowers. Apparent exceptions are seen among some of the cross-bred perennial phloxes. Grapes with pale foliage, so far as I have observed, have so-called white fruit, or, at least, do not have dark colored fruit ; but the converse is not al- ways true, for some Concord seedlings which have the white fruit have foliage nearly or quite as dark as the parent. In observing this feature the fully matured leaves should be examined. Many instances are known of white fleshed peaches having correspondingly paler leaves and bark than have the yellow fleshed peaches. There is also often a noticeable difference between the foliage of varieties having pale yellow or lemon yellow flesh or skin and those having darker yellow flesh. Emerson1 writes me that there is a noticeable correlation between the color of flowers and the seeds of beans. Races, such as Jones, Davis, Navy, etc., which have white seeds, always have white flowers. Races that have black seeds, if memory serves me correctly, always have flowers that are strongly colored, e. g.. Challenger Black. Races that have spotted seeds or seeds tinted usually have flowers also tinted. One cannot always tell, how- •ever, by the tint of the flowers the exact degree of tinting or shading of the seeds. In the Blue Pod there is a correlation between the color of the flowers and foliage, as there is also with Scarlet Runner and White Dutch Runner. Seedlings of the last two are easily distinguished in one case by the reddish color of the stems, in the other by their light green color. Races with spotted pods, like Horticultural, usually have spotted seeds. Fraser2 states that when the young stems or sprouts of the potato are either green or white, it is an indication that the blossom will be white. If the stems are colored the blossoms will likewise be colored. The state- ment is based on observations of about 280 varieties. Mr. C. W. Ward, Queens, N. Y., has called my attention to a correlation of color between the root and flower of the carnation, the white, yellow or red flower being associated with corresponding differences in the color of the root. Dor- ner writes me that he3 has noticed that carnation plants bearing white flowers have white roots ; those with yellow flowers have yellowish roots ; those hav- ing the various shades of pink and red have pinkish roots, and those with crimson and purple flowers have dark roots of a dull purplish red. Plants having variegated red and white flowers show roots varying between pink and white. Crimson and purple varieties often show a purplish tinge at the nodes. 1Emerson, R. A. Horticulturist, University of Nebraska. 2Fraser, S. In personal communication to the writer. ?Dorner, H. B., Asst. Botanist, Purdue University. CORRELATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS. 67 The above observations are made only for varieties having solid colors, and exceptions may be found, but none have yet been noted. In tulips the color of the flower may find a correspondence in the color of the bulb. Lastly, let me quote from Mendel's observations on Pisum, as stated in his list of characters selected for his famous Experiments in Plant Hybridiza- tion.1 Among other characteristic differences in the varieties chosen for the experiments he mentions those which relate : "To the difference in the colour of the seed-coat. This is either white, with which character white flowers are constantly correlated; or it is grey, grey-brown, leather-brown, with or without violet spotting, in which case the colour of the standards is violet, that of the wings purple, and the stem in the axils of the leaves is of a reddish tint. The grey seed-coats become dark brown in boiling water. "To the difference in the colour of the unripe pods. They are either light to dark green, or vividly yellow, in which colouring the stalks, leaf-veins and blossoms participate." Finally, on the question of correspondence in color of different parts of the plant, as was the case concerning size, it may be said that the evidence at hand, although not sufficient to support a general statement that such cor- relation always exists, certainly gives strong enough indications that it may be found to make the subject worthy of investigation. L. H. Bailey: Does the speaker find any correlation between the size of the leaves and the quality of the fruit? which after all is what we are after. S. A. Beach: Not necessarily. I believe that we may find a correlation between the texture, and the texture of the fruit. W. Bateson: In connection with this list of correlations which Mr. Beach has cited, there is a curious paradoxical case in the pea, Pisum sativum; the purple axil is correlated with a purple flower, while a white axil is correlated with a white flower. Curiously enough, in the sweet pea that is not necessarily the case. There are deep purple varieties of sweet pea which do not necessarily have a purple axil at all; but the contrary is hot the case; there is no very white sweet pea which has a purple axil. I mention that as a paradoxical case which does not follow the same rule. N. E. Hansen: In the fall of 1898 I called on Mr. Gideon at his home in Ex- celsior, Minneosta. For the benefit of Eastern people I will say that he has raised more apple seedlings than any one else in the West. He said that it he had a seedling in /which the leaves were small he threw it away always, while any seedling with large leaves he kept; he had found that the tendency was toward larger fruit. H. H. Groff: I would like to reconcile the reasoning of Professor Beach that the experimental worker is likely to overtake his more strenuous brother for the reason that the latter's efforts will soon be overtaken by his later and greater activity. I under- stand that that is the reasoning which he advocated, thereby sweeping away the experi- ence of Mr. Burbank, Mr. Hays, and, I would like to add, myself. S. A. Beach: I had no idea of undervaluing the work of the practical plant breeders; I believe in it thoroughly, and my only point was that I wished their assistance in trying to secure all the information possible, so that we can get at all data possible, classify it and put the whole business of plant breeding upon as nearly scientific a basis as possible. When we have done that, I think we can make more rapid progress than without it. , Gregor. Reprint in Jour. Roy. Hort. Soc. XXVI. (1901) :Cr A paper was here read by O. F. Cook, Botanist in charge of Tropical Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture: EVOLUTION UNDER DOMESTICATION [This paper has not been submitted for publication, but the discussion thereon is given below.] W. Bateson: The author of this paper raises a number of questions ot very great theoretical importance. As I understand it, he proposes to distinguish variations accord- ing as they are debilitating, or, if I understand rightly, progressive. Such distinctions have, of cour.se, in the past been attempted, but I feel that we should be better able to appreciate his position if he would indicate the tests by which he proposes to draw those distinctions. For my own part, I know no such tests, and I should like to ask him how he would propose to apply a test that would distinguish the debilitating variation from the progressive variation. O. F. Cook: I am not trying to do what has been done in the past in that direction, but recognize the debilitation of a symptom of an evolutionary debility, if you will allow that expression (I don't know of one that will meet the case any better), and that those variations called mutations and also variations from many hybrids where the fertilization fails to grow, or is incomplete, are symptoms of organic or evolutionary debility. The test is not in the variation itself so much as in the history, as these things may be learned from our knowledge of the history of plants. On the other hand, there is, I think, prob- ably a difference in the variations as noted; that is, there are (i) these abrupt variations without the gradations, and (2) the multitude of intergradations that we find in large species in nature which are freely breeding. We get these pronounced variations, which, I believe, are abnormal, and although there is no distinction to be drawn perhaps between the kinds of variation, there is a difference, as we might say, in the temperature of the body. We find a man l^ing on the street or somewhere; we find wnether he is warm or not, and if he is cold we think he is dead. If he is warm we think he is alive; if he is extremelv warm we recognize that he is ill. And so I think with this variation. It is a quality that is normal to a certain degree and may be abnormal in a greater degree. W. Bateson: I want to know how we are able to recognize these differences. The speaker tells us that he will distinguish certain variations in a certain way, but I want to know how we can do it. What we want is a thermometer. O. F. Cook: This, of course, is a question of degree. I think it is a matter that needs to be used with some sympathy, perhaps, to be appreciated. But I cited the coffee as a typical instance of a plant which, without selection, was producing relatively sterile varif.ticns. I may say also that I found excellent opportunities in Guatemala recently to see the tests of the varieties that have been advertised in coffee, and also to see a great many of these mutations that are exceedingly interesting, but much less fertile than the parent. The infertility occurs with offspring that produce a small number of berries, or that produce an abnormal number of berries, with but a small number of seeds, and so on through, and all these in the aggregate are less fertile than the parent form. Now, 1 am associating that fact with the historical fact of inbreeding, unintentional in this case, and associating it also with the general well-known fact that close breeding tends to sterility. That is a fact that I do not pretend to explain in the sense of a molecular or other cause. I am simply suggesting that association, and that association applies not only in the cases where it has been applied, but to a much larger extent than has been supposed. In the case of the wheat there is a distinction to be drawn. We 70 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. have not only the case of the wheat, but also the cases of plants, such as tropical fruits, like the banana, that have been propagated for thousands of years from cuttings. Those plants, with a strange uniformity, have declined in power of fertility. We ascribe that to selection, with no explanation of how selection brought this about, apparently; but if we ascribe it to inbreeding that seems to me a much more satisfactory explanation. In the case of wheat, of course, we have many other instances of that kind where plants have adopted a habit of inbreeding. I think that in many cases this is misinterpreted. These cases where inbreeding is common and frequent have been interpreted as universal cases. I believe, there is a great distinction between a cross-breeding now and then In several generations, and a continuous and universal inbreeding. To what extent plants uniformly and continuously inbreed, I think is a question still open for discussion. However, supposing that that has become common and uniform, that fact, I believe, removes the wheat from the class of normal plants and those that are making good evolutionary progress, and places it alongside those that, like the banana, no longer produce seed, but vary, and their condition is no longer one of species, but of a mere fan-shaped divergence accompanied by very slight evolutionary progress. They are no longer bound together as species; they have abandoned that proposition. In other words, normal inbreeding, normal close-breeding, as in the case of wheat, would be a phenomenon to be associated with a sexual propagation, with parthenogenesis, and with other types of a sexual re- production. The Chair. I think the question of Professor Bateson is one in which we are all interested. It is this: Can Professor Cook give any definite test, specific test, that will cause a plant to be classed as a debilitated or a progressive variation? O. F. Cook: Just in that form I do not consider the question a fair one. That is, the proposition is this: I have made the statement that there is such a relation between the inbreeding and the relative sterility, and the question is whether evolutionists, wheat breeders and otherwise, find that this relation holds good. If they do, why my whole contention is justified. It is not a question of test; it is a question of observation, and if the phenomena bears that interpretation, why, then, I think it may be a means of progress to make that observation. D. T. MacDougal : I regret to say that I cannot find myself in accord with Mr. Cook in his statement concerning De Vries' mutation of species. I have been in rather close correspondence with Professor De Vries, and I am quite sure that Professor Cook is mistaken when he says that mutation species are sterile. On the other hand, there have been twelve species originated by mutation, and some of those are sterile and some are fertile, and this very mutation of species has produced more sterile and more fertile species. Now, as to general debility, whatever that may be taken to mean, I am quite sure that this debility does not show in the vegetative part of the plant. I have specimens grow- ing in the houses of the New York Botanical Garden, and these forms may be exhibited to you to-morrow if you like, five of De Vries' mutation species, together with some of the original stock, and so far as the vigor— also a general expression which may mean a lot of things — so far as the vigor and general appearance of the mutation species are concerned, they are quite as strong in every way as the parent. I am not sure how far this affects Professor Cook's paper, -and I find his entire paper rather significant and quite interesting. It is quite apropos that I should receive this morning a letter from Pro- fessor DC Vries, dated the 2oth of September, in which he speaks of his mutation experi- ments with CEnothera cruciata, a narrow-petaled form from the Adirondacks, which he has had under cultivation for some time. He writes to ask me if certain changes ever take place in this plant in America. I have just consulted with Dr. Britton, who, per- haps, has studied this plant as thoroughly and as long as any man in the country, and Dr. Britton tells me that he has never seen these changes, and so far as he knows they do not occur in this country. This, therefore, I think, justifies me in announcing at this time that Professor De Vries has succeeded also in obtaining a mutation species in CEncthera. W. Fawcett: I did not understand Professor Cook's statements about coffee and the effects that breeding might have upon the increase of the size of the berry. Nothing whatever has been done in the West Indies in that direction, and I think probably that is the reason why the coffee has been so full of vigor and less liable to disease than in some other parts, like Ceylon. But the plan of getting young coffee crops is this: During a great part of the year the crop does not pay to pick. There are always some ripe ber- EVOLUTION UNDER DOMESTICATION. 71 ries on the trees; these drop, germinate, and take root, and then the planters choose the best and strongest of those "suckers," as they call them, for replanting. Now that is a natural selection, which, I think, has had great influence on the vigor of the trees, and, probably, if the planters made nurseries and germinated all the seeds from a tree, whether they were constitutionally strong or weak, they would probably not get as good results. But \ think the paper of Professor Cook will certainly do a great deal to open the eyes of coffee planters in the West Indies to the question, and probably something will be done to test his theory in every way. I think the West Indies are much obliged to Pro- fessor Cook for taking up these tropical subjects. W. M. Hays: I am exceedingly interested in this paper. We need studies in the theory along this line. I have had charge of some experiments for a dozen years in wheat, which, as I have already said, is close-fertilized, close-pollinated; and I want to emphasize one of the general features he brought out in his paper by an illustration which the wheat makes possible. We have in Minnesota two varieties of wheat that are almost universally grown, the common Red Fife and Velvet Chaff or Blue Stem wheat. On the University farm, where I am located, Fife wheat has averaged, we will say, 22 bushels for ten years, and under exactly similar conditions Blue Stem wheat has averaged 24 bushels. We take large numbers of these and plant the seeds, take choice seeds from each, selecting the choicest plants, and selecting from those the choicest seeds, and plant large blocks, we will say 5,000 for convenience, one seed in a place, four inches apart each way. We have devised a machine for planting them, so a man puts one seed in each of fourteen cups and throws the fourteen seeds over at one time. Another man throws the machine forward four inches, so that the wheat is planted under very uniform conditions. At harvest the choicest plants one way and another are gotten at, those that yield best and have good quality. Those are tested in the nursery for three years, by growing 100 plants from each of these mother plants. We will say we start with 100 mother plants, chosen as the best plants out of 5,000. These are run for three years, and the best 100 plants are chosen each year. At the end of three years, then, we have the measure of each 100 mother plants, not in terms of its own yield, but in terms of the yield of its progeny, of the average of its progeny. These plants are taken and the number is counted and the whole is threshed, and the total weight, of the wheat is divided by the exact number of plants harvested. We will say, for example, that one mother- plant yields a progeny that average 7 giams, another one 6 1-2 grams, another one 6 grams, and so on, variations running down, we will say, from 7 grams down to 4 grams. Then we pick out the best from that and take varieties. These varieties are grown then for three or four years alongside the plants ol the two foundation varieties. The possibilities of getting a high yielding variety lie, as President Northrop quoted somebody in expressing the idea, in the projected effi- ciency of each of those 100 original mother plants we start with. We gradually throw away those with the least efficiency and finally take a comparatively few from the field that have the greatest projected efficiency, the greatest ability to project their peculiar heredity into varieties that will yield well in the field. We will assume for the purpose of the point I wish to make that we can raise the yield this way three bushels in each case; the Fife wheat we can raise from 22 to 25 bushels, and the Blue Stem from 24 to 27 bushels. Now, we can raise that by using large numbers and getting the plants that will make the largest yield, that have the highest projected efficiency, if you please, and then we can go a little further. If we use larger numbers we may add a little to that 25 and 27 bushels, and I may say that it has proven perfectly practicable to make varieties from single plants of wheat. Whether these will remain with their high ability for a long period of time, of course only time can tell, and it may be better perhaps to make the varieties from a number of foundation mother plants; but we have certainly run for ten years, and their ability to yield well has kept up. Assuming, then, that the yield is 25 bushels in one case and 27 in the other, we go back now to the matter of hybridizing these two varieties. The average between these two varieties would be 23 bushels. When we hybridize them we get in many cases plants that on the average are away down the scale, that perhaps would not have a yielding ability of over 10 or 15 bushels; in some cases we may get 20 bushels or even 23 bushels, possibly in some cases higher: but if we get a single piant with a higher yield, that is sufficient, because in the hybrids we take single plants again, and if we can get an occasional plant that has a projected efficiency that will give us a yield higher than 23 bushels, we can then get from that hybrid varieties that yield still more than from either of the simple stocks from which we started. Now, this experience 72 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. has led me to rather feel that this is a simple statement of the whole proposition that we are up against in our breeding. We want to use those means that create variation, and we want to use the best stocks we can get. We want to tip the land, as it were, and we even tip it at the lower end of the line far more than the other. We have hybrid varie- ties, irany of them, in which there are no very good plants, plants with a very poor yield, but we have occasionally a hybrid that has some plants that are exceedingly strong in the combination of qualities we desire. D. Morris: Here is one point in regard to what Professor Cook has laid before us this morning. He has cited coffee as an instance of a plant which has been for years under cultivation, and that there is little sign of variation amongst the coffee plants now cultivated in different parts of the world. As regards the New World, I should think that is owing to the fact that probably all the plants of the New World that are under cultivation now were originally obtained from one single plant which was brought to Jamaica, and from there coffee plants were distributed to various parts of the New World. Then there is another factor. When the coffee industry is being established, seed is taken from healthy trees, and once the estate is established the trees last for anything from thirty to forty or fifty years. So that the opportunity for variation from seed is comparatively small. There are some trees now growing in certain parts of Jamaica that are estimated to be anywhere from 60 to 80 or 100 years old ; consequently, the coffee plant is different from an annual, because there the planting and the opportunities for variation are very considerable; whereas in the coffee plant, first of all started from one individual plant brought into the New World, and also the fact that the opportu- nities for variation are so small when once the trees are established, the situation is different. And I will mention that there is no plant so variable as coffee when once brought into contact with other forms. We have in cultivation in different parts of the West Indies the common Arabian coffee; as a variety of that I know a plant generally called Mocha coffee, with small berries; then a species was introduced from West Africa called Liberian coffee; then lately we have had a small berry coffee from Sierra Leone. Those being grown together in many gardens at the present moment, we cannot get nny of those coffees perfectly pure from seed. The other day I saw a bed of coffee seed- lings, and it was almost impossible to say what those seedlings were. I do not state these facts as an argument against what has been advanced by Professor Cook, but I think it is valuable to place on record the circumstances connected with the coffee plant as it is now being cultivated in the West Indies. I know that in estates in Jamaica there arc variations between the coffee plants; there are some with rather large leaves and that yield good crops; there are others with small leaves that yield small crops, and so on through many variations. Then we have other trees that, instead of the hori- zontally spreading branches that the coffee tree usually has, have an erect habit, and those are often called by the planters male trees. In fact, I have been in Ceylon for many years, 1 have been in the West Indies for many years, and I have been very closely con- nected with 'coffee cultivation, and I should say that if you were critically to examine the coffee plants from different parts of the world I think you will find a good deal of varia- tion amongst the individual plants at the present time. But, generally speaking, Professor Cook is quite right, that, looking largely at the coffee as grown in Central America and the West Indies, the coffee is fairly uniform in character. But still I don't know whether that is a good illustration to support his arguments. We have the fact that the coffee has probably been derived from a single plant; we have the other fact that establishing plantations of coffee can only take place at very long intervals, and coffee planting has been extended of late years only in Mexico and Central America. So, if we look for variations in the coffee trade we must look in those countries where is has been more lately introduced. W. Fawcett: I would like to say there have been some considerable additions to the coffee area under cultivation in late years, the last ten years or so. D. G. Fairchild: I should like to have Professor Cook elaborate briefly a sentence which reads as follows: "As organisms increase in complexity, they are less able to per- sist in a simple series, but require the interweaving of different lines of descent." Has this any bearing upon the fact that has been so clearly brought out by Mr. Burbank, that his best results in breeding have been with sports of plants which were represented by a large number of different so-called species? His plums, many of them, he told me, would EVOLUTION UNDER DOMESTICATION. 73 represent six botanical species; the fruits embody the blood, so to speak, of six distinct types. W. H. Evans: Bearing out the remark of Dr. Morris, recently I got a report from the Hawaiian Islands, and one of their most prolific varieties, and what they consider their best coffee there, is what they call Horner's Guatemala, which is a variation from the Guatemala coffee. It is being grown by Mr. Lewison, and he considers it not only the most prolific, but it has the best flavor. O. F. Cook: Guatemala is an extremely favorable country for coffee culture. Their coffee is magnificent, and that it should have greater vigor, etc., than other coffees from some other regions that I have seen I can readily imagine. My contention in regard to coffee was that, while coffee was an extremely uniform and stable plant as compared with any wild species, yet when it did vary the variations were pronounced, and it was this pronounced variation, accompanied by relative sterility, that I noted as the facts that I wanted to bring into relation. In relation to the question of sterility, I thought I had made it plain in my paper that this is a relative question. That is, Professor De Vries, and I think Dr. MacDougal, will have to admit that the average fertility of nearly all mutations is far below that of the parent, I think that is the case, and it is so repre- sented by Professor De Vries himself. Then, furthermore, I have asked my evolutionary breeding friends to produce a mutation or a sport so-called which exceeded the parent in reproductive fertility. I am aware that the vegetative fertility or vigor is a matter that is often very slightly conneced with the reproductive strength. We hav? that in the case of the banana, for instance. That and other plants that have been in cultivation in the tropics for a much longer time than other plants have been under cultivation have tended very much to a lessening of the fertility from seeds. With reference to Mr. Fairchild's question, I would say that I have associated those two facts, that is, the wide distribu- tion of plants with recent evolutionary progress; and the subsequent segregation of species among those plants is itself an indication that when those plants are crossed you restore at once this greater species evolution, so to speak. At any rate, whatever would take place in such plants would depend upon the divergence that had already been attained. If the divergence is too great, then you would get even in those plants relatively sterile hybrids. Of course, they may produce an extraordinary and much greater abundance of fruit. The following paper was then read by Will W. Tracy, of Detroit, Michigan! VARIANT TENDENCY AND INDIVIDUAL PREPOTENCY IN GARDEN VEGETABLES W. W. Tracy. SYNOPSIS. The examination of a great number of plants will sometimes reveal what would not appear from a more careful study of a few. 1. Different plants of the same natural order tend to vary along parallel lines. 2. The natural orders are distinctly but differently influenced by con- ditions of soil and climate. 3. Cultural and climatic conditions are cumulative in their influence and affect the whole species. 4. The variant tendency in a race is common to different stocks and peculiar to each season. 5. Seed of the same stock and equally well grown, under precisely the same conditions, differ in adherence to type in different seasons. 6. Seed of individual plants of the same pedigree, grown under the same conditions and equally adherent to type, differ in prepotency or ability to reproduce themselves. I do not claim to be a scientist, or that any investigations I may have made have been conducted in a strictly scientific manner, particularly as to their records, and my only excuse for occupying your time is that I have had exceptional opportunities to observe a vast number of plants of different garden races, both as to their variant tendencies and the influence of condi- tions of heredity and environment. For the past twenty years I have annually examined, for the purpose of detecting variation and the influence of heredity and environment, some 400 acres of tomatoes, 1,000 acres of cucumbers, 5,000 acres of garden beans, 200 acres of cabbage, and corresponding quantities of other garden vegetables and flowers. These crops have been grown in widely separated fields, under different conditions of soil and climate, and most of them from seed with whose pedigree I have been familiar, in some cases, back for ten or more generations. It seems to me that such extensive obser- vation of an immense number of individuals, developed under varying con- ditions, might give hints of certain facts which would not be revealed in a 76 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. more critical study of the comparatively few specimens to which an intensive study is necessarily limited, and the purpose of this paper is the statement of some convictions in regard to racial variation which have resulted from such observations. 1. The different plants of the same natural order tend to vary along parallel lines. Fruits of the variety of tomatoes known as Early Conqueror, those of the pepper known as Squash or Tomato shaped, and of the Scarlet Fruited egg plant, could be selected, which would be as much alike in form as fruits from a single plant of any one of them; and I have seen a "potato ball" of the same form. I have found fruits of squash, muskmelon, water- melon and cucumber each having the peculiar forms and markings generally confined to one of the others. Thus, last year, I found a plant of watermelon whose fruit was distinctly warted, and in form would pass for a fairly typical one of Summer Crookneck Squash. I have seen muskmelons as flat and deeply scalloped as a fair sample of White Bush Scalloped Squash— squashes as well netted and distinctly ribbed as a Bay View Muskmelon. And it is taste and usefulness rather than limitation of variant tendency which deter- mines the common shapes of each of these vegetables. I believe that hybridi- zation is often credited with variation which is due to this common variant tendency. 2. The natural orders are distinctly, but differently, affected as to the character of their seed product, by conditions of soil and climate. For in- stance, if sweet corn, from the same ear, be planted where it will be subjected to different conditions of soil and climate, for but a single generation, the seed product will give plants differing materially in both stalk and ear. We think the same thing is true of wheat, oats and other gramineous plants. But we have never been able to detect the least difference in the character of seed grown from the same stock under different conditions in cucurbitaceous plants. We once planted a lo-acre field with Round Icing watermelon, five acres with seed which had been grown for four generations within 100 miles of the Gulf of Mexico, and the balance with seed, originally of the same stock, which had been grown for five generations in Michigan, and the most careful exami- nation could detect no difference in the crop produced, either in earliness or other characteristics. Quite distinct varieties of melon are common at the North and South, and sometimes northern and southern strains of the same variety are quite distinct, but we think that this comes from the selection of the sorts best suited to the climate and to difference of ideals, and conse- quently in selection of seed stock rather than from influence of climate. 3. Cultural and climatic conditions are cumulative in their influence, and affect the whole species. Thus, the Lima bean, originally a climbing plant, continued so for many years, during which time several distinct races were developed, but no dwarf form appeared; then, within three years, dwarf forms of all the different racial types appeared, and in several different places simultaneously. The sweet pea, cultivated for many years and closely watched by many enthusiasts, gave only climbing plants until 1892, when the "Cupids," or dwarf forms, ap- peared in at least three locations and different stocks and five individuals, and since then they have appeared in a great many different stocks and places, and VARIANT TENDENCY IN VEGETABLES. 77 often where there could not have been pollen influence to induce the sport. In most vegetables, if any new form, no matter how distinct from those com- monly cultivated, appears in one stock and place, there is almost a certainty that practically identical variations will appear elsewhere. For instance, the Navy Blue Sweet Pea was a very new and distinct shade, and appeared in the fields of two cultivators the same yea*, the only discernible difference in the two sports being that the seed of one had a greater tendency to skin-crack than that of the other. This tendency to sport into new forms developing in the species rather than in any particular stock is often the cause of much annoy- ance to seedsmen, two or more of them being accused of sending out a new form under different names, when each supposed that he had the only origina- tion of that type. 4. The variant tendency in a race is common to different stocks and peculiar to each season. For instance, in 1896, a distinct tendency to neckiness was noticed in Long Green cucumber; this increased in 1897, when I found several plants, all of the fruit of which more or less closely resembled that of the Summer Crooknecked Squash in shape. This tendency then gradually disappeared, giving place to one toward thicker fruit with white spines. 5. Seed of the same stock and equally well grown, by the same culti- vator, in the same location, differ in the variant tendency, and the degree to which their product will be of the desired type in different seasons. The crop of seed of Green Globe Savoy Cabbage produced by a certain grower in 1893 gave much more evenly typical plants and heads than any subsequent crop produced by him of the same strain, though he took the greatest care in selecting stock and growing the plants, even setting them in the same field that gave the superior crop. I have known a practical seedsman, one not likely to waste money on a mere theory, to pay treble the market price for a certain strain of peas produced by him four years before, though he had an abundance of seed of the same strain grown by himself in succeeding years — none of these later crops giving such good results as seed of that particular season. 6. Seeds from individual plants of precisely the same pedigree grown the same season in the same field and equally true to the desired type vary in the degree to which their product will adhere to that type. I have gone into a field of Beauty tomato, of which every plant was from seed of an ideal plant selected the year before from a field similarly grown, and spent hours in picking out five ideal plants, and succeeded in getting those so nearly equally of the desired type that I could not distinguish one from the other; sowed and planted the seed separately and found that the seed of one of these gave fruit quite distinctly inferior to that of the general crop of seed; another gave fruit much superior, while that of the others was intermediate in quality. This is but one of scores of similar experiences which have convinced me that the most certain, if not the only, way to secure a high degree of uniformity and excellence in a race of vegetables is, first, to form a definite and distinct idea of what the race should be; then by selection and testing, find not only an ideal plant, but one of the greatest possible prepotency or ability to repro- duce itself, and to multiply the descendants of this plant as rapidly as possible HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. until the entire stock is the lineal descendant of that individual plant — guard- ing against degeneracy by a never-ceasing search for other individual plants of equal or greater potential excellence, to be in turn increased. O. F. Cook: I want to say that I speak of coffee as an illustration, not as an argu- ment, and I tried to avoid, as you may say, the use of conflicting instances because of the variety of interpretations that could be put upon them. But I want to claim Mr. Tracy's as an instance of an application of my theories, and, furthermore, that they can be tested by such facts, and that I can accept Mr. Tracy's facts as normal and as actual, and I don't believe that the current theories can accept such facts without violation to the assumptions that are made on them. The Chair: I am sure we all feel very grateful, indeed, to Mr. Tracy for his paper. It has a special value because of the fact of his connection with seed interests in this country, and his very great oonortunities for observation. Probably there are few whose experience is so extended as that of Mr. Tracy, and I am quite sure that when his paper is published we will read it with very great interest, and possibly our scientific friends may, from the account which he gives, be able to reach some conclusions that they might not otherwise have formed. D. G. Fairchild: Mr. Tracy cites an example of a tomato in which five plants were chosen, and the progeny from those five plants varied greatly. Were those piants self- fertilized, or is it possible that the male parent may have influenced the progeny dif- ferently? W. W. Tracy: The plants were in a single field side by side, and they may have been cross-fertilized, but they were from the same blood line exactly. In this particular case of tomato I know of five generations from the same plants. W. M. Hays: It has appeared to me that a plant like beet is entirely self-fertilized. There is evidence in a general way, and I think some positive evidence, that wheat does occasionally cross-pollinate, and it may be due to these occasional crosses that wheat is invigorated, and that some one plant among the crosses produced in nature finally dominates, increases more rapidly and becomes the major part of a new variety. W. Bateson: I heard Mr. .Tracy's paper with the greatest possible interest. I have been experimenting with the Cupid sweet pea, and I think the possibility attaches itself at once that it is a pure form, which may possibly explain the reappearance of that form subsequently and simultaneously in different localities. If, for example, the Cupid may once appear in a seed grower's field where it could get crossed on to another sweet pea, then such crossing does occasionally happen. In our country the crossing of sweet peas is occasionally accomplished by the leaf-cutting bee. If the pollen of a Cupid sweet pea were to get on the flowers of a tall growing sweet pea, then the seed might be scat- tered all over the country by the seed grower, and it would not appear the second year. Then the third year the seed might be distributed, and then the Cupid might appeal. Of course, the simultaneous appearance of the Cupid in the third year of its sowing is a strong evidence that once a form has appeared its appearance in three years is explicable. The following paper was read by D. Morris: IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE BY SELECTION AND CROSS FERTILIZATION Sir Daniel Morris, K. C M. G,, M. A., D. Sc.t F, L. S., Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies. The consideration of the improvement of the tropical sugar cane is in some respects out of the line of the majority of the subjects presented at this Conference. It may be convenient, therefore, to afford some information in respect to the conditions under which the cultivation of the cane is carried on in the West Indies and elsewhere. The sugar cane is a tall-growing grass with a solid stem, containing a sweet juice., Its original home is unknown, but probably it was native of some parts of the East Indies and the islands of Polynesia. It is now believed to be found nowhere in a wild state. It was introduced from the East, by the way of the Mediterranean, to the Canary Islands, and thence to the New World. It was largely planted in Brazil, and about 1640 it was introduced to Barbados. The descendants of the original canes are probably still to be found in some parts of the West Indies. In the latter part of the eighteenth century a ship was commissioned by King George III. and sent to the Pacific (South Sea) Islands to collect and convey to the West Indies sugar cane and other economic plants. These were afterwards established at St. Vincent and Jamaica. By this means what are known as the Otaheite and Bourbon canes were successfully introduced to cultivation. These, and various forms that have arisen from them, have since been adopted as the standard canes in most of the sugar-cane countries in the New World. VARIETIES OF CANE. The chief varieties now under cultivation may be broadly grouped as fol- lows: (1) Otaheite, known also as Bourbon, Loucier, Lahaina, Bamboo, China; (2) White Transparent, known also as Caledonian Queen, Rappoe, Cheribon (Java), Crystallina (Cuba), Light Purple, Rose Bamboo; (3) Red Ribbon, known also as Mexican striped, Batavian striped, and striped Singa- pore. There are, besides dark purple canes, such as Queensland Creole, Black Java, Louisiana purple, Purple transparent. The mode of origin of most of these is now impossible to trace. They have probably arisen from bud variations or from chance seedlings that attracted the attention of planters and preserved on account of their greater vigor and adaptability to environment. 80 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. MODE OF CULTIVATION. Until about thirteen years ago the sugar cane was entirely propagated by cuttings or slips. There are buds, with sleeping roots, arranged alternately at each node. These render propagation by cuttings simple and effective. Generally the top joints only are selected, but sometimes the whole cane is laid in a trench and buried. The canes may be grown in isolated clumps or stools, about five to six feet apart each way, or continuously in furrows. The period of growth, depending on the climate, may be limited, as in Louisiana, to eight months ; or extended, as in the West Indies, to twelve or even six- teen months. IMPROVED VARIETIES. The problem to be solved in behalf of the sugar cane planter, briefly stated, is to raise strains or breeds of canes that will give more sugar per acre than is at present yielded by standard varieties, such as the White Transparent and other sorts. This may be accomplished (1) by an increase in the weight of cane produced per acre, either by obtaining larger individual canes, or by a larger number of canes in each stool; (2) by an increase in the amount of sucrose in the juice with a reduction in the percentage of glucose and other impurities ; (3) by freedom of the canes from the attacks of fungoid and insect pests. The search for improved varieties has been carried on as follows: (a) by the introduction and experimental cultivation of selected canes from other countries; (b) by the experimental cultivation of canes (sports) arising from bud variation ; (c) by the chemical selection of tops from individual canes or from stools exhibiting a high sucrose value; (d) by raising new varieties by cross-fertilization and selection. QUALITIES OF IMPROVED CANES. Before proceeding to describe what has been attempted under each of ihe heads above stated, it is desirable to mention that owing to the special cir- cumstances existing in tropical countries a new variety of cane in order to be completely satisfactory is required to possess, in a high degree, a large number of qualities. The following are the more important field and factory characters, a con- sideration of which goes to determine the ultimate industrial value of any variety of cane: Field Characters: (1) Sprouting power of bud, and ability of cane to establish itself soon after planting; (2) behavior and adaptability under ex- treme conditions of dryness and moisture; (3) habit of cane, whether upright or recumbent; (4) power of resisting the attacks of insect or fungoid pests; (5) early maturity; (6) productive power estimated by the number of tons of cane yielded per acre; (7) weight and character of tops for fodder pur- poses; (8) readiness to produce successive crops from the same stools, that is "rattooning" power. Factory Characters: (1) The milling qualities of the cane, whether tough or brittle, when presented for crushing; (2) fuel-producing properties depends on amount of fibre (sometimes the fibre is the only fuel available to boil the juice); (3) the relative percentage of expressible juice (determining the IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. "dryness" or juiciness of the canes) ; (4) the richness of the juice in sucrose; (5) the purity of the juice — that is, the absence of glucose, etc. SELECTION OF EXISTING VARIETIES. During the last forty years collections of selected sugar canes obtained from various countries have been maintained under experimental cultivation at Java, Queensland, Mauritius, and in the West Indies. This was the original form of research in the endeavor to obtain richer and more hardy canes. In Jamaica, from 1875 to 1886, there were about sixty varieties of named canes cultivated at the Botanical Gardens in that island. A list, with description, was published in the Report of the Director for the year 1884. Similar collec- tions were also under experimental cultivation at Trinidad, British Guiana and Barbados. Francis at British Guiana and Harrison at Barbados were the first to start chemical investigations with the object of carefully deter- mining the sugar contents of the cane and estimating the relative merits of those under cultivation in the West Indies. These investigations were started about 1883, and have been confirmed by Harrison and others until the present time. The results of the examination of existing varieties has not led to any very striking or definite results. In countries where the Otaheite and Bour- bon canes are still free from disease, and the conditions are favorable for their growth. No other canes have, as yet, entirely taken their place. At Bar- bados, Antigua and St. Kitts, where the cultivation of the Bourbon cane has become impossible on account of its liability to fungous disease, other intro- duced canes are largely grown. There are also some seedling canes, but of these I shall speak later. BUD VARIETIES. A summary of information relating to canes raised as the result of bud variation (illustrated by colored plates) is published in the West Indian Bul- letin, ii., pp. 216-223. Bud variation is not uncommonly met with in the sugar cane. Instances are recorded from Mauritius, Louisiana, Barbados, and Queensland. The differences between the sport and the mother plant are often as considerable as between the standard varieties of sugar cane. Bud varia- tion may give rise to: (a) differently colored sports on the one cane; (b) differently colored canes in one stool springing from the same mother cane ; (c) a single cane with some joints striped and others unstriped. It has been noticed that colored canes raised from sports tend to come true to color. Finally the canes that have hitherto given rise to sports are striped or ribbon canes. In the matter of the distinctive character exhibited by sports it is recorded by Home (Mauritius) that "most of the sports seem to be hardier than their parents and to yield more sugar;" Clark (Queensland) that "yellow sports have a tendency to grow sweeter than the colored canes of the kindred variety;" Stubbs (Louisiana) states, "the sugar contents of sports are fully equal to those of the ribbon and purple canes over which they have as yet no pronounced excellencies." The systematic cultivation and testing of canes derived from bud varieties are being carried on by d' Albuquerque and Bovell, under the auspices of the Imperial Department of Agriculture at Barbados. The results will be pub- lished in the official reports issued by the Department. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. CHEMICAL SELECTION OF PLANT CANES. The selection of tops for planting from canes of high sucrose contents is sometimes described as chemical selection. This selection of cuttings may be made (a) from different parts of the same cane; (b) from a selected single cane out of many in the same stool; or (c) from a selected stool with a high average sucrose content There are some advocates of this method of improving the sugar cane. On the other hand Harrison is of the opinion that it is useless "to expend time, labor and money in attempts to raise improved canes by any system of selection of tops for planting." It is advanced that the richest canes are simply those that are ripest and the best nourished; and that tops taken from such "richest canes" have a lower "germinating" power, and, possibly, are more liable, on account of their extra sweetness, to the attack of insect and fungoid pests. SEEDLING SUGAR CANES. Until within thirteen years ago it was generally understood that owing to the fact that the sugar cane for many ages had been propagated by cuttings or slips, it had lost the power of producing fertile seed. The flowering pani- cles (arrows) were often met with, but the seed was practically unknown. It is on record that canes, evidently grown from seed, were observed at Bar- bados in 1848 and 1850. At that time they were regarded merely as curiosities and no systematic attempts were made to grow them with the view of raising new varieties. The number of fertile seeds in each panicle is very small — possibly not more than 10 to 30 among several thousand spikelets — depending on the variety. Many canes produce neither flowers nor seed. What may be regarded as the effective discovery of seed in the sugar cane was made almost simultaneously by Soltwedel in Java and Bovell and Harrison at Barbados in 1888.* Fungoid disease at that time had attacked many of the standard sugar canes, and in both the East and West Indies energetic efforts were being made to raise new canes equal, if not superior to the existing canes, but less liable to disease. The discovery above referred to was greatly appreciated, and was immediately utilized. Seedling canes have in recent years been extensively raised. The difficulties to be overcome are considerable, but the experiments now generally carried on on scientific lines afford the hope that canes yielding a larger tonnage per acre .and possessing high saccharine contents -will event- ually be obtained. The accompanying illustration indicates the parts of the flower of the sugar cane, the character of the seed and the mode of germination ; the refer- ences to the. detail sketches are as follow: *Tournal Linnean Society, xxviii., 197, Sugar Cane: Parts of the flower, seed, and germination. (For references see next page.) 84 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. EXPLANATION OF PLATE. Fig. 1. — Portions of flowering panicle of sugar-cane, showing arrangement of spikelets. Fig. 2. — A single spikelet enlarged (after Hooker) ; a = upper glume, b = pale, c = lower glume, d = anther, e = lodicules, f = ovary, g = stigma. Fig. 3. — Ovary and stigma. Fig. 4. — Caryopsis removed from glumes, with longitudinal and cross sections. Fig. 5.— Caryopsis, showing first stage of germination. Fig. 6.— Later stage of germination. Figs. 7, 8 and 9.— Germination observed when the caryopsis is still enclosed in its glumes. Fig. 10.— A seedling sugar-cane, natural size, three months old. The experiments with seedling canes in the West Indies have hitherto depended, for the most part, on chance fertilization in the field, consequently only the seed-bearing parent is usually known. In further experiments it is proposed to secure cross-fertilization of selected canes as follows: (1) By planting in adjoining plots two varieties that arrow at the same time, while other canes are not arrowing in the same district; (2) by growing side by side, in rows, canes of different varieties that arrow about the same time, and afterwards bending over the arrow-stalks and bagging them before the flowers are open; (3) by bagging each arrow to be experimented upon some time before it expands and when the arrows in the bags are ripe to shake the con- tents of the bags o'f a staminate variety into the bags covering the arrows of the pistillate variety. The majority of the best canes hitherto raised are of the first generation only. Seedling sugar canes, varying in number from two to twenty thousand, and even more, are now regularly raised in connection with the Experiment Stations in the West Indies. The first selection is made entirely from the field characters, but all subsequent selections are on the results of chemical examination. The number of selected canes that survive the tests up to the third or fourth year is probably not more than one in ten thousand. It is impossible in this brief sketch to summarize the results of experi- ments carried on in all parts of the West Indies. Important features in these experiments are the hearty co-operation and the valuable assistance received from the planters. In all cases appreciable areas are established with new canes, and these are subjected to severe tests before they are recommended to be planted on a large scale. The following is a description of one of the most promising seedling canes so far raised at the Barbados Experiment Station.1 The results here given were obtained in the season 1890-1901 by d' Albuquerque and Bovell : BARBADOS CANE NO. 208. Germinates readily; from 10 to 15 canes to the clump; internodes from 3 to 5 inches long, somewhat cylindrical ; color greenish yellow ; habit upright ; medium number of arrows ; the dry leaves have a tendency to adhere ; drought resisting. Chief mean results per acre: Canes 26-24 tons, saccharose2 7,330 pounds (stands first in order of yield), juice very rich and pure, suitable for musco- vado manufacture. Number of rotten canes below the average. Red soils aSeedling and other canes at Barbados in 1901, pp. 23-25, 2Saccharose and sucrose are interchangeable terms for chemically pure sugar. IMPROVEMENT of THE SUGAR CANE. s results equally favorable to the black soil results. Ratoons. This variety stood third in yield and gives saccharose 5,559 pounds, the juice being remark- ably rich and pure. This is the more promising selected variety under experimental cultiva- tion this year, and deserves careful trial to the extent of a few acres on every estate. Black Soils (plants and ratoons). Highest yield, pounds saccharose per acre 11,298 Lowest yield, pounds saccharose per acre (mean of 2 plots) 5,492 Mean yield, pounds saccharose per acre (all plots) 7,766 Red Soils (plants and ratoons). Highest yield, pounds saccharose per acre (mean of two plots) 8,336 Lowest yield, pounds saccharose per acre (mean of two plots) 4,369 Mean yield, pounds saccharose per acre (all plots) 6,623 Ratoons (red and black soils). Highest yield, pounds saccharose per acre (mean of two plots) 6,728 Lowest yield, pounds saccharose per acre (mean of two plots) 4,369 Mean yield, pounds saccharose per acre (all plots) 5,559 Experimental samples of juice — results of 21 samples. Saccharose Ib. per gallon— Highest, 2.451 ; lowest, 2.028 ; mean, 2.254. Quotient of purity— Highest, 93.98 ; lowest, 83.08 ; mean, 90.30. Glucose ratio— Highest, 6.03; lowest, 1.35; mean, 3.11. This seedling cane has yielded equally promising results in 1901-1902 at Barbados as well as at Antigua and St. Kitts under Watts, Shepherd and Lunt, and on a limited scale under Hart at Trinidad. The important experi- ments carried on by Harrison and Jenman for many years at British Guinea, and now entirely under the control of Harrison, are expected to yield results of great value to that colony. It is impossible to omit a reference here to the experiments carried on with seedling canes at Java. The following is a summary of recent reports on the subject issued by Kobus at the East Java Sugar Experiment Station: IMPROVED SEEDLING CANES AT JAVA. In 1894 Dr. J. H. Walker, then Director of the East Java Sugar Experi- ment Station, found that the Cheribon cane bears infertile pollen while the ovary is normal. Consequently any fertile seeds formed by this cane are the result of cross fertilization by the pollen of another variety of cane, and the give rise to hybrid plants. About this time the new seedling canes raised were only those of well-known mother canes, e. g., of the Cheribon. The Cheribon in Java, like the Bourbon is the West Indies, is a cane with rich and abundant juice and is therefore valuable as a sugar producer. Unfor- tunately, like the Bourbon, it is also liable to disease. Soon after Wakker's discovery, Dr. Kobus, the present Director of the East Java Sugar Experiment Station, suggested the crossing of the Cheribon with certain of the East Indian canes, imported by the Java Government from British India, so as to raise seedlings from the former cane crossed by the latter, some of which would probably combine the good qualities of the Cheri- bon with the disease-resisting power of the East Indian canes. Experiments at this station were set on foot to cross the Cheribon with the Chunnee variety 6 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. from India, a very vigorous and disease-resisting cane. Dr. Kobus has pub- lished four reports on the results of the seedlings obtained from the Cheribon- Chunnee cross. In raising the seeds the parent plants were planted alternately in rows : Cher. Chun. Cher. Chun. X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X The reports are entitled De zaadplanten der kruising van Chcribonriet met de Englesch-Indische varieteit Chunnee, and were published as the Pro- ceedings of the East Java Station Nos. 1, 12, 21, 33, of the Third Series. The seedlings raised are carefully grown for four years at the station and compared with the Cheribon. The best are then distributed to the estates. The anticipations of Dr. Kobus have been realized, as canes combining both high sugar content and disease-resisting power have been obtained by this cross. The yield of sugar of some from the canes is said to vary from 6 to 8 tons per acre. In some cases the fecundating power of the pollen of the Chunnee is so strong that more than 95 per cent, of the hybrids resemble the male parent.* I D. G. Fairchild: Has that investigation of Dr. Stubbs taken this direction, as to whether there are occasional joints or buds which produce better yield, so that they can be taken as a unit, as Mr. Tracy mentions in his paper, and each one of those joints can be taken as a basis of a new variety? D. Morris: I am afraid that Dr. Stubbs has not been able to go so far as that. What he has done so far, I think, he has followed the canes up to two or three years only. He has not been able to take them on a sufficiently large scale for that purpose. S. A. Beach: Mr. President, I was somewhat interested in the account Mr. Morris has given of the methods of cross-pollination with Ihe sugar cane, and it has reminded me of some results that were secured in my laboratory by Mr. Gould, which are pre- sented in Paper No. 20, in which he found that it is possible to discover by microscopic examination of the pollen whether or not the pollen is fertile, whether or not the pollen is potent. That may be a point of some interest in selecting pollen-bearing canes, espe- cially along the line that Mr. Fairchild mentioned yesterday, where they may choose to select them,, and send them from one place to another. Possibly a similar condition may be found in the pollen of the cane. If so, it would be a point of practical value to de- termine by microscopic examination whether or not that variety would furnish pollen that is potent. The Chair: Dr. Morris has certainly given us an exceedingly interesting paper. The subject is of very great importance to the world, though not of importance to the cultural operations of the Northern Hemisphere. I am quite sure that we most oi us had the idea that sugar cane for some reason does not now produce seeds. But Mr. Morris has clearly shown us that, while it produces a very small quantity, it does produce seeds which are capable of germination and, from which results may be expected. D. G. Fairchild: I would like to ask Dr. Morris how large the plantations are at present in which these sugar canes of high sugar content are grown. I have met a num- ber of sugar planters in different parts of the world who have heard about these sugar canes in the West Indies and Java, and their objection seemed to be that the plants *Agricultural News, I., p. 146. IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 87 when grown on a large enough scale do not, as Dr. Morris has pointed out, furnish a sufficient quantity of cane, a large enough yield, and I would like to know how much, how many acres, for example, of this especial kind or breed of cane is now growing in the West Indies. I mean of 208 only. D. Morris: Of this one cane that is now being distributed we have not more of this, I suppose, than about 20 acres in Barbados. Of seedling canes, generally, that is this one, 147, 95 and 109, I suppose in Barbados there may be 400 or 500 acres; in British Guiana I am not quite sure; I think they have something like about 1,400 acres; that is of the seedlings generally. Naturally the planters, and we are very glad that they ate, arc cautious in starting these seedling canes. If a man were to plant 100 acres in new canes and the return was a very small one, it would be a very serious item to him. We do not wish to increase the difficulty of the planter, we wish to help him; and we always preach great caution in adopting new canes for general cultivation. The following paper was read by D. T. MacDougal: SOME CYTOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HYBRIDS W. A. Cannon, Columbia University, New York. Ijntil recently research upon hybrids has been almost entirely confined to the more practical problems, such as are connected with the formation of new or better sorts of plants, and students of pure science have given little attention to the subject. At the present moment, however, much interest i? manifested by scientists in this direction, and this awakened interest is largely due to the republication by Correns and De Vries of Gregor Mendel's ex- periments and results. The more recent studies have a two-fold nature. They are either experimental, as the well known work of De Vries, Correns, Web- ber and Tschernak, or they are cytological ; and each phase of the work has been undertaken entirely independent from the other. What are the relations of the cytological to the experimental researches of hybrids? This question can hardly be answered at this time, but the possible connection between the two may be pointed out, however. Although it is not the purpose of this paper to set forth the conclusions of the experimenters, for illustration and for reference, it will be convenient to briefly present those of Mendel. Mendel studied the behavior of hybrid plants, not only in the first gen- eration— that of the immediate cross — but in the following ones as well, and learned (i) that in the first generation the hybrid shows the characters of one parent only, but that (2) the characters which were latent in this gener- ation appeared in the later ones, and in such a manner that the plants having the "dormant" and the "recessive" characters bear a certain and definite ratio to one another. In this connection it need only be said that while the conclusions of Mendel have been verified by the later researches, they have been found to be limited in their application to a special type of hybrid, namely, the Pisum type, while the greater number of hybrids belong to other types. In the Pisum type the plants behave as if the bundles of inheritance which were derived from the parents of the original cross were kept separate, and were delivered as such to the succeeding generation, and, as if in fer- tilization, these were united in all possible proportions. This has been ex- pressed by the following formulae: A+A, A+a, a+A, a+a. The result is that a certain per cent of the hybrids revert to the characters of the parents of the original cross. Or, in other words, according to the laws of Mendel, we might expect that the chromatin derived from the primitive' parents main- HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK* tained its individuality, and was disposed in such a manner at the time of the maturation mitoses that the resulting sex cells were not hybrid, but pure. A portion of this hypothesis has already been demonstrated to be true, namely, in hybrid ascaris, the chromosomes derived from the variety bivalens keep, separate from the one which is evidently from the univalens parent. And it will appear presently that an analogous condition may obtain in other hybrids. That a hybrid sex cell has chromatin of pure descent — that is, has chro- matin from one parent only, as the second law of Mendel apparently de- mands— is yet to be proved, and may be doubted on a priori grounds, since the wall separating the daughter nuclei is laid down at right angles and not parallel to the spindle of the dividing nucleus. However, if it can be shown that the Pisum type of hybrid, for example, is associated with the general behavior of the chromatin, as just suggested, a very important and forward step in explanation of the nature of this and other types of hybrids shall have been made. On the other hand, it will be quite as important to demon- strate that variation in hybrids may take place, even if the sex cells are formed in a manner identical with those in pure races. Now that I have pointed out the possible relation between the experi- mental and the cytological study of hybrids, I hasten to say that, in reality, up to the present moment there has been no such connection, since the cyto- logical work was mainly completed before the experimental was published ; and, further, since the forms which have been turned to account cytologically have not been studied experimentally. With this I shall proceed to speak briefly of the cytological work. This has comprised studies by Guyer on the spermatogenesis of hybrid pigeons and cannas, by Juel on the spermatogenesis of hybrid Syringa, and by the writer on spermatogenesis of hybrid cotton. In addition, the study on Ascaris, already sufficiently alluded to, and also the structural study of sev- eral hybrid plants by Macfarlane may be included here. Concerning all of the plants upon which cytological studies have been made it may be said that they are first generation hybrids; that is, they are the offspring of the original cross. Guyer reports upon the spermatogenesis of hybrid pigeons, and also cannas, but since the results are analogous and the conclusions identical I need only outline the results of his study of the former. I understand that Guyer found in the pigeon normal and abnormal sper- matozoa and normal and abnormal maturation mitoses. In the normal male nuclei the first maturation division showed ring-formed chromosomes, of uni- form size, and of half the somatic number. He found, on the other hand, in the abnormal maturation mitoses that the ring-formed chromosomes might be of two sorts, large and small, or they might all be small ; and if the latter, they were the same number as those in the stomatic nuclei. In such abnormal nuclei there was a tendency of the chromosomes to form into two groups, and this localization was taken to indicate the maintenance by the chromo- somes of their individuality. The general conclusion of the author was, that the variation noted in the maturation mitoses was likely associated with the variation of the hybrids themselves. CYTOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HYBRIDS. Guyer had, I believe, like results from his study of hybrid cannas, except in the canna he found all gradations between direct and indirect divisions. The writer has studied the maturation divisions in the male nucleus of hybrid cotton, which was supplied him by Dr. Webber. The results of this study may be summarized as follows : Two sorts of maturation divisions were distinguished, one clearly normal, the other abnormal. Concerning the former it need only be said that the ring-formed chromosomes of the first division were of uniform size and of the reduced number. The spindle gave no indication of being double, and was entirely analogous with that in the pure race. The abnormal divisions were all direct, but varied in a manner, of which it is unnecessary here to speak further. Transitions between direct and indirect divisions were not observed. From my study I concluded that the normal divisions lead to fertility, the abnormal to sterility. The remaining purely cytological study is that by Juel on the sperma- togeneses of Syringa rothomagensis. Juel found abnormal mitoses only. These were all stages between direct nuclear divisions and indirect, save only that the chromosomes did not split, in the metaphase. What is the significance of Juel's results? It is of interest here to note that the plant may be wholly sterile, since Focke observes that he has seen no fruit on it — that is, the abnormalities in spermatogenesis seen by Juel in the hybrid Syringa lead to sterility. Thus Juel's results cause one to ask whether some, if not all, of the ab- normal sex nuclei observed by Guyer in pigeon and canna were not func- tionless, and whether the normal divisions alone do not lead to fertility? Such is apparently the case in the hybrid cotton. If only sex nuclei that undergo typical maturation mitoses form functional reproduction cells, it is clear that the variation, in some hybrids at any rate, must be occasioned by other causes than those of the irregularities in the splitting, distribution and union of the chromatin of the sex cells. Here it may be suggested that an experimental study of such a hybrid as shows a tendency toward maintaining the individuality of its chromosomes might be carried on with good results. Such a study should show the rela- tive sterility of the sex cells, and thus it would supplement the results derived solely from the cytological investigations. This has not yet been done, however. While the cytological data just given do not harmonize completely, fur- ther study may show that they are really not antagonistic, but that the differ- ent hybrids studied should either be placed in different hybrid classes, or that the "splitting" may not occur in the first, but later generations. Thus the leading results which have been obtained by the cytological study of hybrids may be summarized as follows : (1) The establishment of one cause of sterility among hybrids. (2) The variation of the hybrid may or may not be associated with abnormalities in spermatogeneses ; and (3) That in certain cases the chromosomes derived from the original parent tend to preserve their individuality. Before closing this brief account of the cytological studies in hybrids I 92 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. wish to speak of the work by Macfarlane on the structure of certain hybrids, a work published about ten years ago. After giving in detail the minute structure of several hybrids, this author arrives at this general conclusion concerning the nature of a hybrid, namely, that it is a blending of the char- acters of the parents, each parent contributing equally to the offspring. The hybrid is thus intermediate in structure between the parents. Although it may be at this time premature to suggest a relationship be- tween the results of studies in the structure and those from experiment, nevertheless it is interesting to note that practically all of the hybrids re- ported by Macfarlane are of the intermediate type of Correns, and perhaps, therefore, such results as Macfarlane obtained might thus have been ex- pected. From this the possibility is suggested that hybrids which are not of the intermediate type may have a minute structure which is likewise not intermediate. No work on this phase of the subject has yet been done, however. Finally, as has already been stated in the foregoing summary of the re- cent cytological work upon hybrids, this line of research and the experimental have gone on independently of each other, but it may be reiterated here that in order to better understand the causes of the variations in hybrids and that of the differences in capacity for variability it is highly desirable that the cytological and experimental work go hand in hand, that cytological work be done on forms that give marked experimental results. A summary of the following paper was read by L. C. Corbett: IMPROVEMENT OF ROSES BY BUD SELECTION, OR BLIND VS. FLOWERING WOOD FOR ROSE CUTTINGS L. C, Corbett, Horticulturist, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D, C. The results which are recorded in the article prepared tinder the above title are based on a series of tests with rose cuttings made from "blind" and "flowering" wood, and cover a period of five years. The work was undertaken to settle a point in dispute among commercial growers of roses as to the relative value of plants grown from blind and flowering wood for flower productions. VIEW POINT, OR QUESTIONS TO BE SETTLED. 1. Do cuttings tend to perpetuate the individual peculiarities of the parent branch from which they are taken? 2. Can accumulative results be obtained from a continuous use of cut- tings from wood with like habits? i. e., can the flowering habit of plants be increased by the continuous use of flowering wood selected through successive years from plants which have themselves been produced from flowering wood? For many years discussion has been rife among commercial growers of roses in regard to the flower or bloom-producing power of plants grown from what is known as "blind wood," and those grown from "flowering wood." These terms are familiar to all accustomed to the propagation and cultivation of the rose under glass; but in order that none may hold a misconception of the point in question, I present, (page 95), a figure representing the two types of wood spoken of. The branch at (a) in the engraving represents a char- acteristic shoot of the so-called "blind wood." This shoot, it will be noticed, is of slender growth, somewhat willowy in character, and is terminated by a leaf instead of a flower bud. Branch (b) is a flowering wood shoot, as is in- dicated by the terminal flower bud. As a rule, "flowering shoots" are larger and more vigorous, but are also softer and contain a larger percentage of pith in proportion to the woody tissue than "blind wood" shoots. In general, how- ever, the "flowering wood" shoots are longer than the "blind wood" branches, and if the flowers are cut with short stems, then there is a considerable length of wood suitable for purposes of propagation at the base of each flowering shoot. This wood is harder and more mature than the wood close to the base of the bud, and for that reason is better suited for making cuttings. With plants which are blooming profusely it not uncommonly happens that 94 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. the whole length of the flowering shoot is needed to satisfy the market de- mand for long-stemmed roses, and the supply of suitable wood from which to propagate the next season's stock of plants is greatly lessened, or it may be entirely cut off. But there is always a greater or less supply of "blind wood." Consequently, why not use it for purposes of propagation? If the plants grown from blind wood do not perpetuate the tendency of the parent shoots (which are non-flowering), then there can be no objection to its use for the purpose of propagating the next season's stock. But if it does per- petuate the tendency of the parent stem, then there is danger. In order that more definite statements may be made on this point, the writer has for five years carried on a test with rose plants from the two types of wood above mentioned. Before stating the results of this experiment, however, I wish to call to mind a few of the experiments which have been made which throw light upon the point in question. Do cuttings tend to perpetuate the peculiarities of the parent branch from which they are taken? To answer this, I need hardly do more than call attention to the fact that propagation by cuttings is employed almost exclu- sively for the perpetuation of cultural varieties of all fruit and ornamental plants which are capable of being grown from cuttings. Many annual plants, however, come true from seed and varietal differences, while not so constant as in plants grown from cuttings are, nevertheless, sufficiently close for all commercial purposes. If we were to go a step farther, we might be justified in considering the various processes of budding and grafting as identical in their results with that of propagation by cuttings. Budding and grafting are in reality processes of division, the same as is the growing of plants from cuttings. In all three of these modes of repro- duction the results are so constant that we never stop to question the fact ; yet we constantly commit the blunder of ignoring qualities quite as important as the varietal peculiarity itself. In fruit growing, nurserymen propagate from a Baldwin tree, whether it has ever borne fruit or not, simply because they know it to be a Baldwin. Yet in the face of this we are being taught by our advance agents that each tree has an individuality, and, in fact, that each branch and bud is in its peculiar way different from every other branch or bud, even upon the same tree. If we accept these statements as true, and we have no good reason to doubt them, then the peculiar tendencies of the plant, or of a branch of a plant, may be expected to play a more or less important part in determining the behavior of the plant or plants propagated from it. Orchardists have observed these differences, and are slowly coming to exer- cise, greater care in the selection of cions. This precaution not only influences fruit production, but it has been clearly pointed out by Smith, Fairchild and others the health of plants from which buds and cions are taken measures to a very marked degree the health and longevity of the resulting tree. If we find these differences among plants grown from buds and cions, quite as marked peculiarities may be anticipated in plants grown from cut- tings. Upon this point recorded observations are exceedingly meagre, but some light can be gathered from the work published by myself in the Ninth Annual Report of the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. From IMPROVEMENT OF ROSES BY BUD SELECTION. 3CrSCC*53ClE5^^ A— Blind Wood. B— Flowering Wood. 96 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. these studies it is evident that varieties are perpetuated true to type by cut- tings through many generations. A single exception in the case of the tomato entering to break the constancy of the results. Not only are general varietal differences retained, but acquired characters also, temporarily, at least, as is shown in the cuttings of grape, poplars, currants, etc., grown in Northern and Southern latitudes. For a specific example of this, nothing could be more conclusive than the results shown by New York grown potatoes, given one season's outing in Maine, for, when brought back to New York the next year, they retained their Maine tendency towards increased vigor and yield.* Trees propagated from fruitful trees are themselves more fruitful. Pota- toes grown a year in the North become more prolific. Plants grown from cuttings, taken from Northern and Southern grown parents of the same species, retain the characteristics of their parents. What, then, should be ex- pected from plants grown from blind and flowering wood? To anticipate the results of the test I will state that they accord with and justify the logical conclusion which would follow from the particular instances above set forth. In this test rose plants propagated from "flowering wood" gave on the aver- age 29 4/9 blooms per plant for the season, while the "blind wood" plants produced 11% flowers per plant. DETAILS OF THE EXPERIMENT. In the Spring of 1897, when the time for making rose cuttings had ar- rived, cuttings were made from both flowering and blind wood of each of the varieties of rose then in the house. The cuttings were all made on the same day, placed in the same cutting frame in contiguous rows. In all respects the conditions for the several cuttings were as nearly the same as it is possible to obtain in a greenhouse. On February 16 the cutting plants were examined and potted, with the following results: Total No. No. No. Variety. No. Rooted. Calloused. Dead. Bride, flower 15 9 G Bride, blind 20 9 9 2 Bridesmaid, flower 9 5 4 Bridesmaid, blind 23 15 8 Perle des Jardins, flower 15 2 11 2 Perle des Jardins, blind 17 7 7 3 Mme. Hoste, flower 13 5 8 Mme. Hoste, blind 9 1 8 Meteor, flower 18 11 3 4 Meteor, blind 5 4 1 From this it would appear that there is little difference in the tendency to form roots between the cuttings made from flowering and from blind wood. From this time until the plants were set in their permanent places upon the greenhouse benches (August 19, 1897), they were given like treatment. They were grown in pots in a sunny greenhouse, and all received the same number of shifts, and like attention in regard to soil, water and food supply. *See Ninth Annual Report of West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. IMPROVEMENT OF ROSES BY BUD SELECTION. 97 As the plants were planted upon the benches August 19, the following note was made : "At this time there is little difference in the size and general vigor of the plants from the blind and flowering wood cuttings." As soon as the plants became established in the soil on the bench growth on all was vigorous, and while there was a marked difference in the growth and general behavior of different varieties, there was no notable difference in vigor between the blind wood and flowering wood of the same variety. The bloom record of the several lots is quite different, however, as is shown in the accompanying table, which gives the total number of flowers produced between December 1, 1897, and July 1, 1898: No. No. Variety. Plants. Blossoms. Average. Bride, flower 13 242 18 8/13 Bride, blind 18 32 17/9 Bridesmaid, flower 8 192 24 Bridesmaid, blind 3 56 18 2/3 Perle des Jardins, flower 8 141 17% Perle des Jardins, blind 14 224 16 Mme. Hoste, flower 7 204 29 1/7 Mme. Hoste, blind 9 176 19 5/9 Total No. blind 44 488 •' 11 1/11 Total No. flower 35 779 22 9/35 As is seen from the table, the product of the flowering wood plants in this one year's test was more than double that of the blind wood plants, amounting in this particular instance to 156 per cent, gain in favor of the flowering wood plants. During the forcing season of 1898 and 1899, extending over the same period as in 1897 and 1898, i. e., from December 1 to May 31, inclusive, the two varieties retained in the experiment produced bloom as follows : No. No. 1898-99. Plants. Blossoms. Average. Bride, blind 13 113 8 9/13 Bride, flower 15 253 16 13/15 Bridesmaid, blind 8 119 147/8 Bridesmaid, flower 12 210 17% The results here recorded show the superiority of the flowering wood over the blind wood plants. But strange as it may appear, the difference between the flower-producing power of the plants grown from flowering wood and from blind wood is less than in the first generation, and this, despite the fact that the plants used in this test were grown from cuttings selected from plants used in the previous years' tests. HISTORY OF THE SECOND YEAR PLANTS. The flowering wood plants used in the tests of 1898 and 1899 were grown from cuttings selected from the base of flowering shoots produced by the plants previously grown from flowering wood. This course was followed in order to test the effect of constant selection in one direction, the idea being to secure plants with the maximum blooming capacity. The experiment was HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. to test a theory which may be stated as follows : If flowering wood from commercial plants is capable of producing plants able to throw more than double the number of blooms produced from similar plants grown from blind wood, is it not possible by selecting flowering wood from plants grown from flowering wood to increase the flower-producing tendency in a distinct strain of forcing plants? Beginning with blind and flowering wood from good com- mercial plants of Bride and Bridesmaid in the Spring of 1897, plants were grown and flowered in the Winter of 1897 and 1898 ; from these, as above stated, cuttings were taken and flowered during the Winter of 1898-1899 ; and from these, in turn, came the flowering plants for 1899 and 1900, and so on for five years ; the flowering plants being from flowering plants of the previous season in each and every case. The blind wood plants were treated in exactly the same way, blind wood cuttings from blind wood plants produced the blind wood plants for the succeeding season, and so on for the five years over which the experiment has now extended. The following records for each of the years 1899-1900, 1900-1901, and 1901-1902 serve to show how constantly the flowering wood plants retain their supremacy over those grown from blind wood : Record from December 1 to May 31, Inclusive. No. No. 1899-1900. Plants. Blossoms. Average. Bride, blind 15 190 12 2/3 Bride, flower 18 192 10 2/3 Bridesmaid, blind 18 137 7 11/18 Bridesmaid, flower 18 220 12 2/9 Record from December 1 to May 31, Inclusive. No. No. 1900-1901. Plants. Blossoms. Average. Bride, blind 17 59 3 8/17 Bride, flower 4 110 27% Bridesmaid, blind 16 67 4 3/16 Bridesmaid, flower 14 80 55/7 Record from December 1 to May 31, Inclusive. No. No. 1901-1902. Plants. Blossoms. Average. Bride, blind 14 80 55/7 Bride, flower 16 124 7% Bridesmaid, blind 16 98 6% Bridesmaid, flower 12 136 11 1/3 RECORD OF PLANTS SECOND YEAR ON BENCH. Record from December 1 to May 31, Inclusive. No. No. 1900-1901. Plants. Blossoms. Average. Bride, blind 14 193 13 1/14 Bride, flower 8 223 277s Bridesmaid, blind 10 138 13 4/5 Bridesmaid, flower 12 183 15% ^Cutting plants set on bench in July. IMPROVEMENT OF ROSES BY BUD SELECTION. 99 But, strange as it may seem, there is no apparent cumulative effect from the selection of cuttings from flowering wood plants. Neither is there any marked degradation from the continuous use of blind wood. True, there is a constant falling off in the average number of flowers produced per plant from the first season to the close of the experiment, but the result is not more marked in the case of the blind wood plants than with the flowering wood plants. The following table, which summarizes the results for the five years, is of interest in that it shows but a single departure from the rule that flowering wood produces plants which are more floriferous than those grown from blind wood: AVERAGE NUMBER FLOWERS PER PLANT FOR SEASON — DEC. 1 TO MAY 31, INC. Bride Bride Brides- Brides- Year. (Blind) (Flower) maid (B) maid (F) 1897-98 1.88 19.84 19 28.62 1898-99 8.66 16.86 14.87 17.5 1899-00 12.66 10.66 7.62 12.22 1900-01 12.21 27.87 13.8 15.25 1901-02 5.71 7.75 6.12 11.33 Average for 5 years 8.26 16.59 12.29 16.98 This is seen in the case of the blind wood plants of Bride grown during the forcing season of 1899 and 1900, in which year this particular lot of plants produced an average of two blooms per plant more than did the flowering plants of the same variety. The table is of interest also in showing the ratio of the flowering wood plants to the blind wood plants based on the average number of flowers produced per plant during the season. In the case of Bride the blind plants averaged 8.26 blooms per plant, while the flowering plants produced 16.59 blooms per plant, or a little more than twice as many. In the case of Bridesmaid, the difference is very decided, but not so great as with Bride. Bridesmaid blind produces an average of 12.29 blooms per plant, while the "flowering wood" plants of the same variety produced 16.98, or one and one-third times as many as the blind wood plants. COMPARISON OF FIRST AND SECOND YEAR PLANTS. In the course of these observations a cultural problem of some moment presented itself, and as it could be brought under observation without de- ranging the observations on the production of bloom from blind and flowering wood plants, the experiments were planned to admit of retaining a number of plants upon the benches a second season in order to compare their flower- producing power with plants grown from cuttings and placed on the benches in July for the succeeding Winter's flower supply. Accordingly 14 blind and 8 flowering wood Bride, with 10 blind and 12 flowering wood Bridesmaid plants were retained on the middle bench of the house used continuously in this test. These plants were severely pruned in August, after having been kept quite dry and inactive during July. After pruning at least one-half of the soil of the bench was replaced by fresh compost. The earth was removed from on top the roots and between the plants and replaced with fresh earth. After this treatment they were slowly started into growth and the record of 100 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. flower production began in October. The following table will serve to show the bloom record of these plants : Bride. Bridesmaid. Month. Blind. Flower. Blind. Flower. October 57 49 51 49 November 25 29 15 20 December 39 36 33 33 January 14 18 9 19 February 28 26 18 29 March 46 47 26 41 April 39 47 34 33 May 27 49 18 28 Totals 275 301 204 252 Average per plant 19.6 37.6 20.4 21 In the case of plants grown from cuttings struck March 11, and planted on the benches in July, the record was as follows: Bride. Bridesmaid. Month. Blind. Flower. Blind. Flower. October 4 10 7 5 November 6 5 1 10 December 252 January 4 837 February 7 12 7 7 March 8 11 12 16 April 19 40 22 29 May 21 37 18 19 Totals 69 125 75 95 Average No. per plant 4.05 31.25 4.68 6.7 From the comparison of the average number of flowers produced per plant from October 1 to May 31, inclusive, in each of the two sets, it is evident that there is little difference between the two, but upon comparing the monthly flower product of the two it at once becomes apparent that the two-year-old plants produced their crop in the Fall and early Winter, while the cutting plants produced the heaviest bloom later in the season. One must, therefore, be guided by the demands of market. If a heavy crop before the holidays is the end to be achieved, then year-old plants are desirable, but if the rose market is more profitable from the first of February to the first of June, the cutting plants will give best return. While these results are interesting in showing the value of strong year-old plants, we do not consider that the record of the one season, during which this comparison ^was made, sufficient to be taken as a basis for extensive commercial undertakings. With the tests of blind and flowering wood plants, however, the case is different, and the rer suits may be considered conclusive. DEDUCTIONS. It is clear from the results of these tests that the tendencies manifested in a branch are perpetuated from generation to generation in plants propagated by sexual processes, IMPROVEMENT OF ROSES BY BUD SELECTION. 101 It is equally demonstrated that cumulative results are not to be expected by selecting parts showing like tendencies through successive generations. The flowering habit of plants which themselves had been produced from flowering wood was not increased, even in the fifth generation, over what it was in the first. On the other hand, plants repeatedly propagated from blind wood through five successive generations were not markedly less floriferous in the fifth than in the first generation. In both plants propagated from blind and from flowering wood, there was a slight tendency towards lessened flower production. This may be accounted for in that the stock from which the plants were propagated each season had been grown and forced under artificial conditions, and no attention was given to selecting cuttings from the strongest plants. The commercial side of this experiment is, of course, the most important one from the standpoint of the practical grower. It is clearly more economical for the florist to produce his plants each season from blind wood, and since there is no cumulative effect from such a procedure, the plants so produced are not necessarily less flori- ferous than the parent stock. But where bloom rather than stock plants is the end sought the tests above recorded are emphatic in declaring the superiority in this respect of plants grown from flowering wood. A rose grower can well afford to send short-stemmed roses to market during the months of January and February, if by so doing he can secure sufficient flowering wood for pro- pagating purposes to insure a stand of flowering wood plants for the pro- duction of the succeeding crop. L. H. Bailey: I would like to ask Prof. Corbett about the correlation of the vigor of the plant with the length of flower stem, with the productivity, and also the date of maturity from cuttings, whether one is later than the other, as a rule. L. C. Corbett: There was practically no difference as far as the vegetative vigor of the two sets of plants was concerned; one was practically as vigorous as the other. Under the treatment which we gave them — they were planted in the same house and grown under substantially the same conditions — we could detect no difference in the vegetative vigor of the two sets. I think in nearly every case the flowering plants came into bloom a little earlier than the blind plants, but throughout the five years I could detect practically no difference in the vegetative vigor of the two. The following paper was read by J. B. Norton: IMPROVEMENT OF OATS BY BREEDING Jesse B, Norton, Plant Breeding Laboratory, U. S. Department of Agriculture, While cereal breeding has received a great impetus in the last few years, due to the results reached by some of our well-known plant breeders, as the Carton Bros., Vilmorin, Hays, Saunders, etc., little has been started in the line of oat improvement. For those who are interested in increasing the nitro- gen content of cereals the oat promises most, for it is richer in protein than wheat or corn, hulled oats averaging about 14 per cent., while other cereals average about n per cent. While there are a large number of named varieties in cultivation, it is very hard to trace the origin of most of them, many of the names being simply trade names applied to old varieties in order to meet the demand for novelties. Sometimes a good variety has been found growing in fields of other crops, and some one, noticing its good qualities, has introduced it under an appropriate name. The Potato oat is cited as an example, and also the Washington oat, introduced some years ago by Carman. Seed growers and seedsmen have done most of the selection work that has been done with oats, and reports on the greater part of this work have never been published. In fact, the literature on the subject is very meagre, and as far as practical permanent work goes, almost no literature can be found. The work of the Carton Bros., of England, has been written up by several scientific writers1 and is well known to most plant breeders, but this paper would not be complete without a short review of their work on oats. Beginning work in 1880, they secured their first successful oat crosses in 1885. About 1887 they commenced to use naked oats as the female parent to avoid the mechanical difficulties in the way of crossing encountered in the hulled varieties. The Cartons have crossed and recrossed the existing types of oats until they have compound crosses containing the blood of a large number of parent varieties. Speir2 gives the following parentage for some of the new varieties they have fixed and introduced : Tartar King. Black Tartarian, White Tartarian, and White Canadian. Pioneer. Black Tartarian, Scottish Potato, Waterloo, and White August. Waverley. Scottish Potato, Naked Oat of China, White Tartarian, and Flanders Yellow. iCarruthers, Wm. Cross-fertilization of Cereals. Journ. Roy. Ag. Soc., p. 684. Vol. IV (1893). *Speir, John. The Produce of Old and New Varieties of Oats. Trans. Highl. Agr. Soc., Ser. 5. Vol. XII. 104 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. The work of Carton Bros, is being continued, but of recent years few leports have been published in scientific journals. Dr. William Saunders, of the Central Experimental Farm of Canada, has originated a large number of oat varieties in connection with his extensive work in breeding cereals, etc., a report of which is given in his paper before this conference. More detailed accounts can be found in the annual reports of the work of the Experimental Farm. Rimpan1 gives four reliable cases of natural crosses between distinct types of oats. In one of these cases the progeny was grown for several years and a number of forms selected. The parent varieties were Hallett's Canadian, a common white oat, and Black Tartarian, a black side oat. In 1879 they were plnted in two plats side by side. In 1880 a brown hulled plant was noticed in the Canadian grown from seed of the last season. In 1881 the seed of this plant produced a number of intermediate types, some of which were fixed by selection during the following seasons. Rimpan gives an excellent plate show- ing the varying progeny of this cross. Thos. Jamieson2 records in a recent volume of the Proceedings of the Agricultural Research Association of Scotland some experiments in the natural crossing of oats, .but since he records his crosses as showing in the color of the hulls the same season that the cross was supposed to have been made, his results must be regarded as unreliable. But the fact that the progeny of sup- posed crosses varied widely the next year makes it possible that the cross might have been made the year before he started his work. Fairchild3 in a recent number of Experiment Station Record discusses the breeding work of the Station for Plant Breeding at Svalof, Sweden, under the direction of Dr. Nilsson, and mentions the work being carried on with oats, but does not go into details. The work at this Station is being done entirely by selection, Dr. Nilsson finding that the natural variation gives sufficient opportunity for selection. One of the interesting experiments being carried on at this Station is the selection of pure strains of the different varieties, the separation being made on botanical characters. The selected strains show great uniformity, but are said by some who have grown them not to be so satisfactory as the original variety composed of three or more mixed strains. The above mentioned papers include most of the scientific articles on oat breeding, but numerous popular articles can be found in agricultural journals, etc. Oat breeding and adaptation are being carried on by some of the State Experiment Stations in this country, but few published results of these experi- ments are to be had. The work in oat breeding was taken up by the Plant Breeding Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture in the Spring of 1902, and though it has been carried on only one season, some of the results in crossing and experience in selection are thought to be worth recording. The literature on the subject and the past experience of the writer all tended toward the conclusion that the artificial pollination of oat flowers is very difficult and attended with a very small percentage of successes as compared with wheat. 1Rimpan. Kreuzungproducte landwirtschaftliche Kulturpflanzen. Landw. Jahrb. Band 20. 1891. p. 364. 2 Jamieson, Thos. Natural Cross-fertilization and Change of Seed. Proc. Ag. Re- search Assoc. 1897. p 31-50. 8Fairchild, David G. Exp. Sta. Record. XIII. No. 9. 1902. p. 814. IMPROVEMENT OF OATS. 105 In 1898 the Kansas Station made a number of crosses of oats, but later the work was given up, owing to the work on corn and wheat crowding out that on all the minor cereals. This work, in which the writer was interested, yielded only about 5 per cent, of successful crosses owing to the method fol- lowed, being similar to that which had proved successful with wheat. In this work a nearly ripe but usually unruptured anther was taken from the male parent and placed inside the emasculated and immature flower of the female parent. The pendent position of the spikelet of oats allowed the anther to drop out when the flower matured and opened without coming in contact with the receptive stigma. Carton Bros, speak of the difficulty of obtaining successful crosses in oats, due to the difficulty of manipulation and of the removal of the anthers without injuring the delicate stigma. They claim to have obviated this diffi- culty by using naked or hull-less oats as the female parent. In my experi- ments this year the hull-less oats proved very much more difficult to manage than the ordinary type. At the beginning of the past season (1902), before commencing crossing work in the experiments carried on by the Plant Breeding Laboratory, a study was made of the oat flower, its time of blooming, structure, etc., and the methods used in crossing were based, on the knowledge acquired by this study. As a result excellent work was done, and the artificial crossing of oats can now be carried out with as great, or even greater, assurance of success as that of any other plant. With reasonable care and skill it is possible to obtain nearly 100 per cent, of successful crosses. The spikelet of the common oat is made up of from one to three flowers, each enclosed in two tough glumes that make the hull of the ripened grain. These flowers usually fit closely together and are enclosed in two thinner and larger glumes, called empty glumes to distinguish them from the flowering glumes. Each spikelet is hung on a slender pedicel instead of being sessile on a central stem, as in wheat, barley, etc. This fact adds to the difficulty in working with oats, for each separate spikelet worked must be grasped firmly between the thumb and fingers while it is being emasculated or pollinated, and it is probable that this handling reduces the vitality of the flower considerably. The flowers in a spikelet mature on different days and vary in size, the basal one being largest and blooming first, the second flower being weaker and often much smaller and blooming one or two days later. In cases where there is a third flower it is still smaller, often being rudimentary, and blooming a day or two later than the second one. The oat flower proper is similar to that of wheat, being composed of three stamens and a one-ovuled pistil with a two- parted feathery stigma. In the wild oat (Avena fatua} and in many cultivated varieties the flower opens out wide, allowing the double stigma to project on each side and the anthers to fall down as far as the lengthened filaments will let them. In oats of this type it is entirely possible that natural crossing takes place, but in many of the varieties of the present day the flowers do not open wide enough to allow the stigma to protrude at all, and many flowers even keep the anthers inside the glumes. In others the flower often opens before the spikelet has pushed out beyond the sheath of the upper leaf. Again, in many Varieties the anthers dehisce some hours before the flower opens. Most 106 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. persons who have worked on the problem have come to the conclusion that natural crossing in the oat is rare, but to test the point a large number of flowers were emasculated and left uncovered under favorable conditions for crossing, but no seed was obtained, while at the same time artificial crosses were averaging about 75 per cent of successes. The method of making artificial oat crosses during the season was in general as follows : From six to eight nearly mature spikelets were selected from the upper part of one of the heads of the desired female parent; the basal flower of each was opened, and the three anthers were removed with a fine pair of forceps, care being taken not to injure the young stigma. The remaining flowers of the spikelets were cut away and the emasculated flowers carefully closed. The neighboring spikelets on the head were removed and the emasculated flowers tied up together in strong tissue paper for protection from the omnipresent English sparrow. This paper was held on with fine copper wire, to which was attached a small marking tag bearing the date. This work was always done in the morning, at which time the anthers that would open in the afternoon could be grasped with the forceps without being ruptured. The work of pollination is best done at from i to 3.30 p. m., before which time it is hard to find ripe anthers, while later than this most of the pollen has already escaped. Only fresh pollen was used. Flowers emasculated during the morning of one day were pollinated the afternoon of the following day, when practically all of the stigmas were in the best receptive condition. On pollinating, the emasculated flowers were opened and a liberal quantity of pollen dusted on the stigma from a dehiscing anther freshly removed from a selected plant of the desired male parent, and the flowers were again closed and all re-enclosed in the tissue paper. A serial number was placed on the label and under this number in the field notebook was placed all the necessary data in regard to the cross. Dry, hot weather is fatal to good results with artificial oat pollination. Several hundred crosses made during a dry, hot spell in June yielded less than 5 per cent, of grain, while the work during a protracted cool period of weather that followed this yielded above 75 per cent, of successful crosses. Premature pollination does not kill the stigma of the oat flower, as in some plants, neither does it prevent fecundation, as flowers emasculated and pollinated two or three days before maturity set seed. In oat crossing the time of blooming is naturally important and must be taken into account. While with the great majority of grasses the flowers open in the morning hours, the oat flowers open only in the evening or after- noon. On an average the blooming period extends from 3.30 to 6 p. m., but under exceptional circumstances flowers will open as early as 10 a. m., while in some varieties by 2 p. m. almost all of the stamens that would ripen that day were ruptured within the flower. The flowers close again before dark, and as a rule do not open again, but some few unfertilized stigmas can be found protruding the next day. The unfertilized stigmas retain their fresh appearance for a long time, sometimes for ever a week or ten days, but rarely set seed when pollinated more than four days after maturity. The work in selection is being carried on along the same lines as the IMPROVEMENT OF OATS. 107 selection of corn and cotton, and the same general forms of blanks are used for making records. Numerous varieties were grown, and those that came nearest to the different ideals were saved for selection, while those that seemed to be inferior were discarded. As yet the work is confined to the Arlington Experimental Farm, near Washington, but later on will be carried to other oat regions. One important problem taken up is the selection of a good winter oat, the qualities to be selected for being increased resistance to cold winters, rust resistance, in- creased yield, strength of straw, size of grain, reduced percentage of hull and the percentage of empty hulls, and the absence of awns. This will be done by means of the score card system used with cotton and corn. The best yielding plants, with a small percentage of rust and showing a tendency not to lodge, were selected from the nursery and kept for further planting and further selection the next year. Acre plats of a number of winter varieties have been sown for selection next season, and as the Experimental Farm is just on the border of the winter oat region, the killing out of the weak plants by cold will aid materially in the selecting of hardy plants. The individual plant is taken as the basis of selection, and large plats of single grain hills are sown for this work. The plats of the past season were planted with a six-inch space each way, but this fall they are being planted six inches apart in rows with an interval of eighteen inches between rows, affording an opportunity for close observation and also for cultivation. The individual plant system is absolutely necessary for good work in selection on account of the difference in stooling, evenness of ripening, etc. In the Virginia Gray winter plats a differ- ence of three weeks was noticed in the ripening period of individuals planted singly, while in drilled plats it was impossible to judge earliness except by the ripening of single heads. One of the greatest annoyances is the difficulty of procuring pure seed. Among all the samples planted last Spring but one or two were what could be called pure. Most of the varieties are made up of two or more strains varying in character. Often there are what appear to be mixtures of almost all the types of oats in one lot, sometimes to such an extent that it is difficult to tell to what the name is to be applied. Under these conditions it has been necessary to go over the lots and carefully sort out the seed for next season. All of these selections will be planted next spring, and their progeny will be selected, and in this manner pure types will be maintained for comparison and to obtain known parents for crossing. On account of the complaint of many stablemen that most of the oats on the market contain a large percentage of empty hulls, a selection has been started for a type in which all of the flowers set seed even under adverse circumstances. The rust-proof varieties seem to offer the best type for this selection under the conditions that prevail on the Arlington Farm. Another selection started is that of reselecting some of the new varieties originated in Europe to better fit the new conditions in this country. These varieties, so far as tested, seem to sport, or break up into different types. Carton's Tartar King was planted last spring and studied in order to find out if possible whether it was thoroughly fixed in type. The plants were prac- tically uniform in leaf and stem characters, but varied in some cases, quite 108 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. widely in the inflorescence and grains, and seeming to revert to the parent types. In the work of oat breeding the idea is to get oat varieties that surpass in some certain combination of qualities any other variety at present in exist- ence, and all the methods known to breeders will be used to reach these results. The addition of new varieties without any superior merit over our present forms must be regarded as a mere waste of time. William Saunders: I decline to accept the parentage of the Big Four oats. They originated with John A. Salisbury, of Wisconsin, and any one who has read Mr. Salisbury's work would know that they might expect anything preposterous from such a source. We have only had those oats in cultivation two years, and during that time I am quite sure we have never sent a kernel of it to anybody. We should, however, have been glad to have sent to the department, if we had known any such work was in progress, some of the results of our work during the past ten or twelve years. We have been working on the oat, and the results have been re- ported every year in the annual reports of our farms, which are supplied liberally to the department, to the libraries, and to all the officers who care to have them. We have been going over many of the lines that Professor Norton has indicated as those that he proposed to follow in the next few years. We have originated probably forty or fifty crosses, which have been brought down by selection to about twenty or thirty. in our crosses we have crossed the white oat and the black oat, using the Black Tartarian as one sex and the white oat for the other sex, and we have produced oats white, dun colored and black, all from the same cross; and by selection and breeding, any particular feature in connection with those varieties can be perpetuated and the oat made a distinct and permanent variety. Our experiments began about the same time as Mr. Carton's, to which reference has been made, and have been widely published, and I am really surprised that Mr. Norton has never heard of the work that has been going on in Canada, seeing that we print our publications and distribute them so profusely anywhere throughout the world, and many copies are sent to the United States. Now we have crossed the branch- ing oat with the sided oat, and we have produced half-sided oats and sided oats and branching oats, all from the same parents. We have also crossed thin skinned oats with thick skinned oats, with the idea of trying to produce thinner skinned varieties. All these have been reported on from year to year I think for the past twelve years pretty fully, and at the same time we have carried on a large amount of work in the selection of oats. We have obtained varieties from all parts of the world, growing them side by side with these cross-fertilized forms, so that we might ascertain their actual value, and I should be very pleased to send Mr. Norton samples of any or all of these cross bred that he might like to include in his work; and I regret that I did not know that Mr. Norton was carrying on work in this line, or I should have been glad to volunteer material and information. D. G. Fairchild: It does not seem quite fair in reviewing the really remarkable work of the Swedish investigators to overlook the, to me, very interesting contribution of Dr. Nilsson, of Sweden, who has been carrying on experiments with oats for the past ten years, and he and his predecessors have really done some very remarkable work. Of course, their publications have been in Swedish, but no mention has been made of this work of Dr. Nilsson and his predecessors. I had the pleasure of looking over his very interesting station in Sweden several years ago, shortly after the Garton brothers had inaugurated their experiments, and several points were made clear to me regarding the work which have not been brought out here in these meetings. In connection with his work on barleys, he discovered a means of very easily determining the purity of the seed as regards variety. He divided the barley up into different strains which had characters that appeared on the seeds, so that he was able not only to determine the actual purity as it is generally done by means of seeds, but he could tell whether certain botanical strains of barley were mixed in a certain sample. This had to me a very material prac- tical value. The barley, as you know, is used almost exclusively for brewing purposes, and uniformity is as valuable a character in it as anything else. He found a, correlation of characters, that is to say, correlated with certain seed characters were certain qualities IMPROVEMENT OF OATS. 109 adapted specially for brewing purposes, so he was able to sift out from a sample of barley that was submitted to him not only the wheat seeds and all other classes of impurities, but to determine the percentage of mixed varieties of barley. In this way he was able, by a number of years of experimentation, to get barley remarkably constant in character both as regards its malting properties and this correlated character of the ligule which he called my attention to. And it does seem to me that any one who has an opportunity of visiting Sweden, and many of us make Sweden the place for resort in the summer time, will find Dr. Nilsson's breeding station a most remarkable and instructive example of what Swedes are doing in this line. W. M. Hays: Having originated a good many varieties of oats, I don't know how manyi and having found that basing the variety on one or just two other plants, we have no difficulty whatever with types such as have been shown us, it seems quite practicable to assume that the oat is almost entirely self-pollinated, and to breed the oats you could make hybrids and make new hybrids, basing them on one or on few other plants. The Chair: I have read with a great deal of interest the accounts of the work done in Canada at the experimental farms to which Dr. Saunders has referred as contained in the reports of their work, and, while there has been a great deal of interest, I have been specially interested in the reports on oats. It appears to me that there may be very great improvement on the lines indicated. The following paper by E. G. Hill was read by P. O'Mara: ON BREEDING FLORISTS' FLOWERS G* Hill, Richmond, Ind. I have seldom taken up a subject with more reluctance than the one assigned me for this paper — not that I am unwilling to contribute to the interest of this meeting and to further the purpose of this congress, which is a most praiseworthy one; but my data are so meagre, and the results obtained so different from those aimed at, that I shrink from detailing them. I have had a good deal of experience and have persevered in spite of many disappointments in cross-fertilizing roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, gera- niums and begonias, as well as other plants ; but it is no exaggeration to state that out of many thousands of carefully fertilized seedlings in the classes named the percentage showing advancement over the seed parents has been very small indeed. The hybridizer tries before effecting a cross to picture in his mind the result of a union between the varieties that he selects ; for the seed parent he chooses perhaps a variety with a flower of ideal form for florists' purposes; the color also is fine, but it has the defects, it may be, of a w7eak constitution or an ungainly habit, or other fault ; he is so desirous of perpetuating the fine form and lovely color while securing vigor of growth that he selects a strong, shapely grower with as many other good qualities as possible for the pollen parent, hoping to secure progeny as near perfection as possible; he has reason to expect an approximate realization of his pictured seedling. What are the results? Not one in a thousand, probably, shows traces of the ideal that he had in mind. Occasionally, however, a seedling plant approach- ing the ideal will appear among the multitude germinated, and if this fittest progeny be again selected and persistently crossed back upon the original varieties used, the chances are that the end aimed at will be realized in course of time. I would not discourage any one who is enthusiastically expecting early results : on the contrary, I would urge him to persevere ; it is not impossible that among his first efforts he may secure the ideal that he has in mind. I am inclined to think that it will be a rare stroke of good fortune, however, should this occur. Among the rose hybridizers — and they are legion — the results realized are far from what we might seem to have the right to expect. It is some twenty-eight years since the noted variety, Catherine Mermet, was raised, and, aside from .its two sports, there is certainly no tea rose to dispute its 112 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. reign so far as form, finish, growth and freedom are concerned, and yet unceasing effort has been made to procure a duplicate tea variety in either yellow or red. In the effort to breed such a variety we have been made the possessors of some fine roses, but we are still seeking for the red and yellow Mermets ; and one day, I feel sure, a scarlet tea rose with the good qualities of Bridesmaid is destined to appear, and that before many years, I verily believe. It has been my pleasure to see several thousand seedling roses peep through the soil from seed fertilized and ripened on our place, but out of this whole quantity the varieties selected as of permanent value number less than two dozen, and these are to have still further tests; a few have made their entry into commerce and have strong points of excellence. It is quite a simple operation to fertilize a rose, and many are inclined to think this the larger part of the work ; but in my own experience the thorough ripening of the seed is the difficult part of the task — maturing the seed so that the germination shall produce a perfectly healthy plant. I am inclined to the belief that imperfect germination of immature seed produces sickly or delicate plants, which shows in their liability to mildew, black-spot and kindred maladies — not that it is an hereditary trait, as many suppose and as is generally claimed; but I am led to believe that the unripeness of the seed entails vital defects upon the seedlings. The ease with which the H. T. varieties set their pods has led hybridizers of the rose to use them largely, being almost sure of quick results so far as setting seed pods is concerned. The most noted acquisitions to this class have been the magnificent varieties of La France, Kaiserine Augusta Victoria, President Carnot, Baldwin, Prince of Bulgaria, Liberty, Mme. Jules Grolez and Mme. C. Testout. Out of a large number of Liberty-bred seedlings the tendency is to duplicate the parent even when pollinated with so double a variety as Marquis Litta, the exception being, however, in two or thre'e of the progeny of this celebrated rose crossed with Grus an Teplitz. No one need feel discouraged, however, for through persistent effort on the part of many hybridizers some most excellent varieties are being given to commerce, none more marked, perhaps, than the variety Soleil d'Or, raised by M. Fernet, of Lyons ; W. C. Egan is a most beautiful new climber origi- nating with Mr. Jackson Dawson. I mention these two varieties to illustrate the point that results are being obtained here and there by persistent, enthusiastic workers. Carnations — In the effort to improve the winter-flowering carnation through cross-fertilization the results have been very gratifying; it is safe to say that fully a thousand florists of the United States have made an effort in this line, with the result that thousands of seedling carnations have been raised in the past few years; the writer knows of one gentleman who annually germinates from six to eight thousand seedlings. Besides the large operators in this line, nearly every grower of carnations is testing his own seedlings, trying to demonstrate the hidden excellences which he is sure are only waiting development; in consequence, a marked advance in the quality, color and size of the carnation is being secured. BREEDING FLORISTS' FLOWERS. I13 We owe a debt of gratitude to Frederick Dorner for having led the way into this most interesting path of floricultural advancement ; the efforts made by intelligent— and fortunate— workers in this particular field have given to the public strong, long-stemmed flowers with perfect calyces, while the size has been nearly doubled in the past ten years, not to speak of the widened range of color and the free-blooming qualities. Out of the thousands of crosses made last season it would not be surprising to find one or two real additions forthcoming. Chrysanthemums. Perhaps in no other flower has the same ratio of progress been made in the same length of time as with this particular subject. The results attained have been more than gratifying, due in great measure to the systematic and intelligent procedure of those devoting their time to its improvement. Experience has systematized the knowledge obtained in this interesting family, and we have more data from which to work than with either the rose or the carnation; the semi-double forms are no longer used as formerly, the hybridizer confining himself to the larger and perfectly double forms of flowers. The change in method secures a minimum of seed, but of the small number of seeds obtained, the greater part being large, full flowers. This law does not seem to hold in anything like the same degree with the rose and the carnation, for even when both parents are full-petalled a large proportion of singles and semi-doubles are produced. It may be that when different lines of procedure are used in these two classes we may be able to eliminate a good portion of the singles, but thus far we are unable to do this. Begonias. Here is an unlimited field for the hybridist ; the several strains and types of begonias are all — or nearly all — capable of being crossed ; there seems to be no reason why we should not have beautiful flowering varieties with the ornamental foliage of the Rex section. The writer's first attempt with begonias secured the variety Bertha McGregor, which was the result of crossing a Rex with the ornamental shrubby variety argcntca compacta. Later on the writer secured a most interesting lot of the whorled-leaved variety of Rex by crossing the ordinary Rex with the whorled variety Countess L. Erdody. We have always regretted the loss of this lot of seedlings, from an imported fungus growth, just when they were showing some very interesting characteristics, as many as twenty- five or thirty showing beautiful Rex markings and colorings-, with the distinct single or double whorl of the leaf. We are deeply indebted to Victor Lemoine, of Nancy, for giving us that finest of all winter decorative plants, Begonia Gloire de Lorraine ; to M. Lemoine more than to any other one man are we debtors for the multitude of magnificent new varieties of plants which have come to us through his patient, persevering efforts. We believe that he has earned the right to be recognized as the most skilful hybridist that the world has yet produced. The Chair: This is a very interesting field. We are all interested in the subject. Does any one wish to follow this paper with remarks? G. Nicholson: Our begonias have furnished a very interesting series of hybrids with the ordinary petaled and tuberous begonias; but I believe the whole lot was entirely sterile. You simply have to start with a new tuberous begonia every time. You can't 114 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. use the product of such a flower. But I saw flowers of begonias recently in a London nursery as large as a rose; magnificent things they are. Comparatively few of them have yet been distributed. They sre of very great value indeed from the horticultural stand- point. In Southern France recently I was noticing the gardens of some horticulturists. It is frequently stated that the rose La France produces hybrids, but I was assured that that was not the case; that La France is quite barren. The great rose raisers say that they have tried for years and years, and that La France is quite sterile, although it is stated in many catalogues that new varieties have resulted from La France. W. J. Spillman: There is one very interesting consideration connected with plants of some of the kinds mentioned in this paper. The most interesting example of what I wish to speak about is perhaps the apple, but on account of the long time required to get seed of the apple, it is almost impracticable to work out the suggestion with the apple. But I will use the apple because I am more familiar with it than I am with some other plants. It is generally conceded, I think, that with almost all apples that are grown under ordinary conditions, the seed may be called hybrid seed, many times hybridized possibly. Now, if Mendel's law applies to seedling apples; if we should segregate an apple tree iri order that it should be certainly close-fertilized and save the seed from that tree and plant it, it would split up into distinct types according to Mendel's law. It would be exceedingly interesting to see what types occur in the apple, and we might find something of a great deal more value in the way of new apples by that means, and per- haps fix a type even that would be propagated true to type if self-fertilized. In this paper there was nothing to indicate whether the gentleman who had performed this large num- ber of hybridizations was working with the first generation, which no man on earth can predict, or was working with the second and third generations, which we can all predict. I would like very much to know whether or not the plants were first generation plants or second or third generation plants from close-fertilized hybrids. I believe that there is a field of work there, particularly for florists, to take these plants that are multi-hybrids, whose parents were hybrids, whose grandparents were hybrids, segregate some of them, and see what comes of them, see what tynes they split up into. If Mendel's law is true, they certainly will split up into types that can be definitely predicted. The Chair: Does Mr. O'Mara know whether these roses or carnations were first or second or third generation plants that Mr. Hill describes? Presumably the first gen- eration. P. O'Mara: I am not quite certain that I quite catch the point. That is, were the crosses made from unnamed seedlings or from varieties already in commerce? W. J. Spillman: No; perhaps I might explain a little more fully. If you take two distinct varieties, two varieties that propagate true to seed, and cross them, nobody can predict what the result will be in the first generation; but if you will take the seed of that hybrid and grow it, it is possible to tell what it will produce: that is the point I wanted to make. Now, here is a breeder trying to produce a given plant. He crosses two plants, and the plant which comes from that disappoints him; it is not what he wants. But if he should take the seed of that plant and plant it and grow plants from the seed of that plant, the next generation will probably greatly surprise him and not disap- point him. P. O'Mara: I think I would be safe in saying that Mr. Hill experimented exclu- sively with named varieties of roses which have been so crossed and recrossed that it would take a very long tracing to find out where they started from. But it is a new line to me; I don't profess to know anything ^articular about the subject of hybridiza- tion; but it is a new idea to say that saving the seed of the variety so produced would be certain to produce an accurate result which could be gauged in advance. I am in- clined to think that the seed saved from that variety would be just as apt to disappoint the raiser as the cross obtained Dy this fertilization. That is as far as I know on the subject. The Chair: That was all definitely settled yesterday, Mr. O'Mara. P. O'Mara: Well, it is a good thing to have something settled, to settle an old question that way. The question that Mr. Nicholson brings up is a very interesting one to me, and that is the question v/hether or not La France is sterile. 1 know that we introduced several roses, two or three, I think, raised by Mr. Hill,. and he gives the parent as La France in two cases. I didn't question it. I assumed that he knew just exactly what he was saying, but it is a very interesting point, and the first time I see FLOWERS. 115 Mr. Hill I certainly shall speak to him, and I will write to him and ask him if he has found that to be true. It may be that variations of climate would produce a result dif- ferent from what has been the experience in another place. I am sorry that Mr. Hill is not here to answer interrogations. In reading the paper over I tried to read it and get the sense of it; I think I remember one statement in it to the effect that the carnation hybridizers had succeeded in producing flowers nearly twice the size of what they were some years ago, I think ten or fifteen or twenty years ago. I am almost inclined to chal- lenge that statement. I think that the size which we see in the carnation to-day is partly attributable to cross breeding, and also to cultivation. Now I have in my mind the recent Thomas W. Lawson; we saw flowers of it on exhibition, and we saw flowers of it in a store window grown in the same greenhouse by the same man. Some of the flowers were probably 3 1-2 inches in diameter — a great many of the prize flowers exhibited, I think, were 31-2 inches in diameter; a great many of the flowers sold in the store were probably 2 1-4 to 2 1-2 inches. If the character of size was fixed by the hybridizer, I fail to see why they would not all come to that size grown under the same conditions. So that 1 think the statement made that the hybridizer had succeeded in doing that is attaching too much importance to the work of the hybridizer and not enough to the man who culti- vates them. I doubt if you go into a flower store or into any of the stores in the city to-day where consignments are received from the various growers of the same varieties, but that you could pick out a dozen samples of Bride and Bridesmaid and American Beauty and all those and lay them side by side, and to the uninitiated they might appear to be different varieties, showing what culture will do for any particular subject. I had more to do with cut flowers twenty years ago than I have to-day. At that time I was in daily association with cut flowers, roses, carnations and others, and in looking back I think that I am safe in saying that the old Edwardsii carnation, which at tnat time was perhaps the biggest white on the market, would compare favorably with the largest whites now on the market in point of size, and I think that President De Graw at the time that it was at its best and well grown would compare favorably in size and productiveness with the "Lizzie McGowan, which for a time was the best carnation in the field. So that I should much prefer, if Mr. Hill was here, to interrogate him on these points. Some of the older florists who were in the field twenty years ago would perhaps be better able to speak on this point than I am. W. J. Spillman: I want to enforce the suggestion I made. I did not know whether the ordinary roses are what you might call multi-hybrids or not. Since I learn that they are, I want to just make this suggestion now, that somebody save the seed of a rose and see that this rose is close fertilized; that would be necessary to accomplish what I had in mind; then see what comes of it, and save each plant separately each year and keep a record and see what conies of it, and you will be surprised at the result. You can take my word for it if you want to. T. V. Munson: I have one fact that may be of value to those experimenting in roses in reference to the Catharine Mermet. The expectation has been that they can get something more from Catharine Mermet than what has already come about by sporting. In passing through my grounds one day, where are a number of the Catharine Mermet plants, I came upon one upon which there was one branch producing fine pure yellow roses, as fine as Marechal Niel almost, while all the other branches upon the plant were producing the ordinary flower. I intended to mark the branch and propagate from it; I was not permitted to mark the plant, I was in a hurry at the time, and before I reached it again the flower was gone and I lost the opportunity. But the fact may incite some one yet to observe this variety and possibly get the yellow rose, which would be, I think, the best thing that could be done with that flower. The Chair: A very interesting statement, Mr. Munson, as to bud variation from that variety. It has given us two very remarkable bud variations already. I saw Mr. Ward come in a few moments ago. Could he state whether the carnations grown, for 'iistance, these hybrids, the beautiful collection he has here, are from the first generation of seeds after the cross was made or the second or the third? C. W. Ward: Well, I don't think that my records are quite clear enough to enable me to state. I think some of them there would probably come under Mendel's law. Years ago I commenced hybridizing carnations, twelve years ago, and I went at it free and easy for about six years. I never knew that any such person as Mendel had been 116 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. in existence until I came on the floor yesterday. I found, though, that I had gradually evolved something similar to what I believe his theory to be. That is, I have been divid- ing the carnations into about twelve sections, or eight sections I think, taking the crim- sons and inbreeding those, and the whites, and so on, and I have got to the point where I get reproductions; that is, in crossing pinks I get pinks, and in crossing yellows 1 get yellows. I suppose that I have been doing something somewhat near what Mendel was doing, although I don't think that I have saved the seed from one particular plant and repeatedly planted that seed. I haven't done that yet; I am going to try it soon, though. The following paper was presented by L. H. Bailey: A MEDLEY OF PUMPKINS L. H, Bailey, Horticulturalist Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. Professor Bailey's manuscript was so long that he did not read it, but gave the general results of his work in extemporaneous remarks; and he then made a running comment on the significance of the work with pumpkin- like plants and the general meaning and tendencies of the new theories that are now occupying the attention of plant breeders. His work with cucurbitaceous plants was begun in 1887, and was con- tinued for ten consecutive years. Its original purpose was to determine whether there is an immediate influence of pollen on the fruit, a question then under general discussion; but the work soon grew into a general line of crossing and experimenting for the purpose of producing new types of fruits that might have value to the horticulturist. More than one thousand hand-crosses were made. Notes and photographs were made of the results. In one season eight acres of land were required on which to grow the progeny of the crosses. Altogether, some twenty-five or thirty acres were employed in the work. Many more than one thousand kinds of fruit, undescribed in any literature, were produced. Nearly all of these forms are yet shown in photographs. The very magnitude of the results has prevented their publi- cation. To show the work to advantage one hundred or more illustrations should be made. However, it is doubtful whether it is worth while to pub- lish the results in detail, because no underlying principles were discovered. The results were very remarkable, however, because of the great number of strange forms that were produced. Some of the results are published in the author's "Plant-Breeding." Most of the experiments were made with the races of Cucurbita Pepo. Crookneck, Bush Scallop, Bergen squashes, the Field pumpkin and various ornamental gourds were oftenest used as parents. There was the greatest possible diversity in the progeny, in most cases no two plants bearing the same kind of fruit. In the second and third generations part of the progeny was grown from plants again hand-crossed and part from plants that were left to themselves. In some cases the plants were inbred — that is, the flowers were fertilized with pollen from another flower on the same plant (Cucurbita is monoecious). There were no essential likenesses or unlikenesses between these various categories. Even the progeny of inbred fruits was as various as that from cross-bred fruits. In no case was there any immediate influence of pollen, or xenia. In very many cases the progeny showed marked HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. characters that were wholly lacking in either parent. These new characters were unusual colors, shapes, wartiness of the fruit and attributes of vine. Hybrids of two species. — In all the work with Cucurbits, numbers of attempts were made to combine the three species, C. Pepo, C. maxima and C. moschata. It is a common notion amongst gardeners that these three species intercross interminably. All efforts, however, to combine the three species have failed, and the speaker is convinced that under common garden conditions none of these species habitually hybridize. He became convinced, however, that it is possible to amalgamate C. moschata with C. Pepo, and a definite result was secured in this direction in 1892. The result of many pollinations was seven fruits of the following progeny : Common ornamental gourd (Cucurbita Pepo} by the Japanese Crook- neck (C. moschata). The Fordhook bush pineapple squash (C. Pepo) by Butman squash (C. maxima). The Connecticut field pumpkin (C. Pepo) by the Japanese Crookneck (C. moschata). Of these two fruits were secured. Japanese Crookneck (C. moschata) by Red Etampes pumpkin (C. maxima) . Boston Marrow squash (C. maxima) by Green Striped Bergen bush scallop (C. Pepo). Early Sugar pumpkin (C. Pepo) by Red Etampes pumpkin (C. maxima). In all these crosses there was no immediate effect of pollen. In four of these fruits, although the fruits themselves were well grown, there were no perfect seeds. In some cases the seeds were full grown and plump, but they were empty. Only three fruits gave seeds. These were the gourd crossed by the Japanese field pumpkin and two fruits of the Field Pumpkin crossed by the Japanese Crookneck. All these were crosses between C. Pepo and C. moschata. From the Field Pumpkin crossed by the Japanese crookneck fruits, eighty-eight plants were grown. These fell into about eight types, although there were only four or five well marked forms. Most of them were like a small orange pumpkin. Some were small green pumpkins. None of them showed any influence of the staminate parent, the Japanese, except that in a few the scar of the blossom end was very large, which is usually not the case in the varieties of the pure Cucurbita Pepo. One of the forms simulated a bush scallop squash of light lemon color. One was striped. All of these forms had the fruit stems of Cucurbita Pepo. The details of these progeny (of Field Pumpkin by Japanese Crookneck) are given in the following notes : Nos. i, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were much alike. They were flattish, deep orange pumpkins. No. 3 was marked somewhat green. Nos. 6 and 7 were small, hard, smooth, rather long-stemmed forms, yellow-orange. No. 8 was pyriform and green-striped. No. 9 was cream-color and approached the bush scallop type. Nearest white of any. Somewhat obconic. A MEDLEY OF PUMPKINS. 119 No. 10 was an oblong, light yellow, softish fruit. Nos. 4 and 5 had very large blossom scars. Nos. i, 2 and 3 had scars about half as large as above. Nos. 8, 9 and 10 had scars about a quarter as large. Nos. 6 and 7 nad very small blossom scars. Crosses were made in 1893 between some of these crosses themselves, care being taken to choose the pistils and pollen from plants that bore very 'similar fruits. Of all these crosses only one fruit matured. An interesting result of these experiments was the fact that squash and pumpkin flowers are nearly always infertile with pollen borne by the same vine. Over two hundred careful tests were made on this subject with more than fifty varieties of pumpkins and squashes. Out of the whole number, only seven fruits were obtained that had good seeds. In most cases the ovary failed to develop. In some cases the ovary remained alive for some days, and it enlarged to two or three times its size at anthesis; but in most cases it finally perished, beginning to die away from the blossom or pistil end. In some cases, however, the fruits matured, being to all appearances normal, but they were usually empty or produced hollow seeds. In one experiment with five varieties of Cucurbita Pepo, representing both summer squashes and gourds, one hundred and eighty-five flowers were hand-pollinated with pollen from the same plant. All but twenty-two of these flowers failed to develop their ovaries. These twenty-two fruits grew to full maturity and appeared to be normal squashes in every way. Some of them, however, were wholly seedless, the seeds being represented by very small, undeveloped seed-coats. In a few others the seeds appeared to be good, but when they were opened it was found that they had no embryos. Of the twenty-two fruits that came to maturity only seven bore good seeds, and even in some of these the seeds were very few. All the seeds of these seven fruits were sown for the purpose of determining what the effects of inbreeding would be. It was found, however, that the progeny was just as variable as that grown from crossed seeds. The record of the progeny of these seven fruits is as follows: Fruit No. i. Four vines were obtained from seeds of this fruit, with four different types, two of them being white, one yellow and one black. Fruit No. 2. Twenty-three vines. Fifteen types very unlike, twelve being white and three yellow. Fruit No. 3. Two vines. One type of fruit which was almost like one of the original parents. Fruit No. 4. Thirty-two vines. Six types, differing chiefly in size and shape. Fruit No. 5. Twenty vines. Nineteen types, of which ten were white, eight orange, one striped, and all very unlike. Fruit No. 6. Thirteen vines. Eleven types, eight yellow, two black, one white. Fruit No. 7. One vine. Very unusual crossings sometimes resulted in the production of apparently good fruit. For example, a bush scallop squash crossed with 120 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. the pollen of a cucumber produced a fruit to all appearances normal, but it was empty. In some of the hybridizations between the different species, as between Cucurbita Pepo, C. moschata and C. maxima, the same result was secured (as already noted). He was not positive whether these pericarps were made to grow to their normal size through the influence of the foreign pollen, or whether there may not have been other influences at work, as there is in the case of the hothouse cucumbers, fruits of which will develop to large size without any pollen whatever. However, many tests were made by withholding pollen from the flowers, but in no case did the ovary develop to any size. It is a common notion amongst gardeners that nearly all kinds of cucurbitaceous plants mix interminably. It is a common opinion, for example, that muskmelons are rendered insipid and worthless when cucumbers are growing in their vicinity. Close observation in the field will convince any person of the fallacy of this idea, but experiments were undertaken for the purpose of testing the matter. Muskmelon flowers were pollinated from cucumber flowers, both in the house and in the open. In one case ninety- seven muskmelon flowers of various kinds were pollinated from cucumber flowers of various kinds, but no fruits developed. Twenty-five cucumber flowers at one time were pollinated by muskmelon pollen, but only one fruit developed, and that was seedless. These experiments and others coincide with those made by other investigators, that cucumbers do not spoil melons. GENERAL REMARKS. After giving the general results of crossing the cucurbits at some length Professor Bailey spoke of the bearing of this work on the recent discus- sions concerning hybridization, and also of the trend of recent evolution literature. On the surface, all the experiments with pumpkins and squashes seem to run counter to the results secured by Mendel with peas and other plants. As a matter of fact, however, the work with the squashes is not comparable with that of Mendel, since different objects were in view and different methods were employed. Mendel's work was conducted with spe- cific differentiating characters, whereas this work with the pumpkins was concerned with the gross behavior of the plants and the gross characters of the fruits. It is possible that if the work were to be done over again, with Mendel's methods and results in view, the same laws would be found to hold with cucurbitaceous plants. However, it would be a very difficult matter to determine, because of the instability of the cucurbits, the fact that they are monoecious and that constant crossing therefore is necessary, and the fact that so many variants would need to be contrasted. The sub- ject is far too complicated for Mendelian methods until one has thoroughly mastered the simpler forms of hybridization experiments. The work of Mendel, so recently revived, has two very important gen- eral bearings. In the first place, it is bound to set going a new discussion in respect to hybridity; second, it will be likely to revolutionize our methods of performing hybridization experiments, and of casting up the results of them. Whether or no Mendel's rules will hold good for all plants and for all characters is not yet known. The probability is that it will not. The A MEDLEY OF PUMPKINS. 121 very fact that Mendel chose his stock plants with such great care, selecting species which are relatively invariable, that do not intercross, and that he eliminated the weak and abnormal plants, would tend to give uniformity in the results. We are in danger of becoming partisans. Professor Bailey re- marked that he neither believed nor disbelieved in Mendel's laws. He de- sired only to know what the truth is. He thought that future experiments should be carried on along the lines suggested by Mendel, and not for the purpose of proving or disproving his conclusions. It has recently been said that the time is rapidly coming when we can predict the results of hybridization with certainty, and can produce new varieties of plants with almost no element of chance. This hope is far too sanguine. Mendel's laws come from a contrast and comparison of specific differentiating characters. It is not so much a contrast of plants as a contrast of single characters of those plants. In ordinary crossing it will often be impossible to secure plants that have differentiating characters. What the plant breeder wants is a plant in its entirety rather than a plant with specific attributes alone; that is to say, it may be possible to secure some character that is wanted, but with this desired character undesirable ones of other kinds may be associated. Furthermore, Mendel's results show that the offspring of hybrids are not intermediates or new kinds, but that they are controlled by the characters of one or the other of the parents, so that new forms may not arise as a result of crossing. Every plant has unknown and unrecognizable characters, attributes that we refer in a loose way to the "constitution" of the plant. Moreover, one does not know in ad- vance what characters will become dominant and which will be recessive. In other words, Mendel's law must be applied and discovered for each kind of plant; and the probabilities are that the results will be considerably modi- fied by the conditions under which the plants grow. Again, the uniformity in Mendel's results was secured by the average totals of a great number of plants. The individual plants often varied widely in the very characters which in the average totals were relatively invariable in behavior. Now, the starting point of a new variety must be one individual plant, and not the average of a hundred or a thousand. The general results may be predicted with some degree of certainty, but how the individual plants will stand- with reference to that result will be unknown. The practical value of Mendel's work to the actual plant breeder is yet in doubt, but the value of these remarkable experiments in elucidating our notions of hybridity, and in systematizing experiments, may be beyond calculation. Professor Bailey also spoke of the recent philosophy of De Vries and his associates. Heretofore our thought has been dominated very largely by the Darwinian principle; that is, it is supposed that great differences may come about because small differences are enlarged by means of natural or artificial selection — a variety may become more of a variety. The new notion is that the important and permanent forms of plants come about as sudden sports or jumps, and that the small individual variations are incapable of growing into large and permanent varieties by means of natural selection. De Vries does not deny the power of natural selection, but he believes that its range is limited, that it cannot give rise to species, and that it does not 122 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. contribute to permanency; as soon as selection is discontinued the form again breaks up or reverts. De Vries' theory of mutations is, in a way, a rephrasing of the old idea of sports. It differs in some essential points, however. One is in the supposition that plants mutate or sport in periods, and that in the intermediate epochs they are only making ready for another mutation period; that is to say, there are non-mutation periods and muta- tion periods. In the pre-mutation periods, be they long or short, the plant produces incidental individual fluctuations or variations, but the great prog- ress in variation is made in the mutation periods. This body of belief is bound to challenge our accepted notions and our way of looking at the or- ganic creation. This, together with Mendel's suggestions in respect to heredity, promise to awaken the liveliest discussion during the next few years. The speaker thought it probable that when these discussions shall have passed their first stage of enthusiasm we shall return to the Darwinian hypothesis, although he doubted whether we should ever hold to it so com- pletely and so strenuously as we have in the past. We are bound to make distinctions between the kinds of varieties, classifying them either as indi- vidual fluctuations and mutations, or, from another point of view, as quan- titative and qualitative. In other words, it is probable that there are varieties and varieties, and that not all of them are destined to have the same influence on the phylogeny of the race. The general trend of the discussions at the meeting, he said, seemed to be too exclusively along the line of hybridization, as if there were no other means of breeding and improving plants. Mr. O'Mara's remarks * were heartily seconded — the fact that good care on the part of the grower is^ often more important than the variety merely. Often a good variety may become a poor one, or a poor one a good one, by the exercise of skill in the growing of it. Plant breeding alone cannot im- prove our cultivated plants. It must be combined with all good care. O. F. Cook: I wish to raise one question, because I think that we should give our predecessors credit for standing where they stood, in order that we may not accuse them later of holding things which they didn't hold. We had, I think, a very conspicuous instance in the case of Darwin. Darwin thought a gteat many things and was not nearly as sure of a great many of them as many of his successors have been and he is now frequently accused of having made mistakes which he never made, but which he is accused of having made because they were made by other persons who have taken the responsibility of representing him. I fear that this will be to a considerable extent the case with Mendel. He took the precaution, I find, for which he deserves all good credit, of saying when he announced his so-called laws, that these were things that hap- pened with the peas which he cultivated and in his garden. He did not say that they applied to all creation, or any other part of creation. He raised the question why in two or three hundred experiments they did not all work out the same way; he freely admits, and he leaves the matter entirely open. It seems to me that it is hardly fair even to talk about Mendel's law until we have reason to believe that it is a law and that it is at least of wide application. It may turn out to be very much like many discoveries in physiology and other new sciences, which are made to apply to the cases where the original investi- gation was made, but that may not have any very wide application. W. Bateson: It gives me great pleasure to listen to the paper of Prof. Bailey, which I am sure we all feel was most stimulating and enjoyable. I should like to say a few words about the application of Mendel's law to these more complicated cases such as those of the squashes and pumpkins which were made the subject of his paper. I am *See page 115. A MEDLEY OF PUMPKINS. 123 sorry if any one who had heard that paper were to go away with the impression — I am sure Professor Bailey would not wish to give that impression — that because of the great complexity of the results given by crossing the squashes and pumpkins and allowing their offspring to cross and the difficulty of classifying the offspring so produced, that therefore such a case was contradictory or in any way beyond the scope of Mendel's law. There is no reason so far as I can see to suppose that. If I had time, I could give you a number of cases that we do know are not included in the scope of Mendel's law, but such a case as this, on account of the great diversity of the offspring, is no evidence whatever that Mendel's law does not apply, for the following reason: Mendel's law in its original form is dealing with a statement of the results obtained with hybridization of simple characters. For instance, you cross together the green pea and the yellow pea; the germ cells of the hybrid will form themselves purely yellow or purely green. We are dealing with single characters that were put in with the parents. But Mendel's law deals with a more complicated, and, to the practical man, far more important group of cases than that, where the parental characters that are put in are not simple, and cases in which the hybrid when it comes to form its germ ceils does not form the parental characters simplv, but divides those parental characters into what, for the want of a better term, we call their components. For example, the color of these squashes and pumpkins. There is not the slightest doubt that these in other cases would not fol- low the simple rules of Mendel's creation. For example, these colors may consist not of one simple character, but six or eight or ten or more component characters. The shapes of the squashes again in. all probability consist of at least six or eight component char- acters. When you come to observe that each plant that you obtain can only take one of each of those components from one parent and one from another, you may have com- binations of an immense number of different entities taken two together, so that the complexity reaches a degree that is always beyond the reach of experiment. We cannot* infer from those facts that Mendel's law will not apoly. It is simply that the enormous areas which must be under cultivation when we are dealing with such an immense number of characters make it practically impossible to draw any conclusions. One word with regard to the point of the cytological investigations that were told of previously. I am afraid there is a little difficulty there for this very reason in regard to the complexity of character; there is a little difficulty in the way of ever hoping to analyze ultimately by the microscope the characters in the way that Mendel's law teaches us to believe they might be analyzed. Because it is very true that in Ascaris and in a number of other forms referred to we have reason to believe that the chromosomes of the father plant and mother plant side by side represent blocks of parental characters, that is not enough to help us to trace out ultimately the different parental forms of gametes. To do that you would have to have narticles representing each parental character, not merely the whole block of chromosomes representing the father plant and the mother plant; you would have to have fragments representing each of the constituents of the father and each of the constituents of the mother, and they would again combine in the various combinations that we must expect. Complexity itself is no bar at all to the application of Mendel's law. With regard to one point that the last speaker made; he said that Mendel's law is possibly a thing of small range of application, or, at all events, cannot be asserted to be of universal application, and consequently it may apply to comparatively a few things. It may be of interest to those who are not perfectly acquainted with those investigations if I just briefly run over the kind of characters that have been shown to follow Mendel's law. For instance, there were Mendel's seven original characters, shape of plants and characters of seeds and pods, carried into several details; then there are the animal cases; we know that it applies to the shape of the combs of fowls, to the extra toe in several races of fowls, we know that it applies to the colors of fowls; we know that in mice it applies to the curious waltzing habit of the Japanese mouse, that character in- volving, we may say, almost mental attributes. We know it applies to the whole series of colors into which the whole series of rats has been broken, and to, I may say, twelve or fifteen different colors in plants. I think it is not too much to say that it applies to almost every case where the test has oeen possible of application. N. L. Britton: The fruit of Cucurbita was the subject of experimentation. Even in the wild species of Cucurbita there is a very great diversity of form and size of fruits, as is well known, and I think it is possible that that might have lent difficulty. 124 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. The Chair: Professor Bailey was perhaps somewhat unfortunate in the subject of his experiments. L. H. Bailey: I believed, and I became convinced before I came through, that I had got hold of the wrong topic. It was too large for me, and I believe that one to take up the discussion of the Cucurbits and variation through hybridization has got first to be well grounded in many simple things. And from the point of view that I occupy now I believe it is one of the last things for a man to take up to work with. I quite agree with what Mr. Bateson has said, that if I could work the thing over I might be able to discover some kind of law governing these facts, but looking it over now, I can't do so. All I know now is that I got lots of things, I don't know how. T. V. Munson: I don't know whether I can say anything that would be of further value on this discussion, but it does occur to me that we are apt to spend a great deal of time in discussing theories without arriving at any solution. It has come to me in my own work that the matter of hybridization is entirely too extended for us to begin to establish a general law. There are some intimations of existing laws in the work, but we find that whenever we begin to discuss those so-called laws, as Mendel's, we end with a great deal of pro and con discussion without solution, without a satisfactory conclusion. It appears to me like this: that everything in the entire organic world— I might make it universal— with reference to form, is the result of environment, and in that I include the subject itself as a part, a §mall part, sometimes a very large part, of the environment, and what we are looking at is what has produced this result. It is a result that has partly come out of the individual under view and the effects of the sur- roundings upon that. Now, in working upon plants, I think we should not confine our views entirely to a biological standpoint, but that we are all the time tracing chemical influences. There is a chemical laboratory in every plant and chemical changes taking place. Each variety of fertilizer given the plant produces its effect in taking up and elaborating the substances, and in carrying on those chemical changes it evidently brings about its own result. So that we might say there is one general law. It seems to me that in every direction I have observed in my work the result has come out of a set of surroundings of the environment. And .when we study the environment, the soils we are using, the moisture in the atmosphere, the temperature, all those conditions have some influence. If we undertake to make a general application of such a law or so- called law as that of Mendel, which is, I think, a very small law— laws are of different capacities; some reach very far and others but a very little distance — Mendel's law ap- plies to pure seedlings through several generations. Suppose, instead of using pure seed- lings, we continue to hybridize each generation, and we have many other ways of pro- ducing varieties, applying other influences. This, then, has a very narrow limit to the hybridizer wishing to employ all the different influences that he may see fit to employ. So that, in spending time upon discussing this one small law, or a very short reaching law, we may overlook more general laws, and we shall be more likely to reach results if we collect facts, put them where the experimenter can use them, and show the extent to which we have absolutely proven. Then, Jjjce Kepler, after a time (and I don't think that time has yet arrived to establish any great number of laws in hybridization), we can probably draw some more general laws. Then I think our most practical direction in which to work is to collect facts, strive always after something that is useful, something that is practical, and make notes of every influence, everything obtained, and on these facts will grow laws that are exceedingly valuable. It is true we want laws; we want something by which we can guide ourselves in this work; but if you try to make a law out of a mere theory which is only set up for experimentation you are wasting time. Dr. N. L. Britton was here called to the chair. The following paper was read by William Saunders: RESULTS OF HYBRIDIZATION AND PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA William Saunders, Director of the Central Experiment Farm, Ottawa, Canada. Early in the history of fruit growing in Canada there were a few en- thusiastic men who devoted much time to the production of new varieties of fruits, some of whom have left behind them, in the useful sorts they have originated, valuable legacies for future generations. This work has been carried on along many different lines. The late Charles Arnold, of Paris, Ontario, was among the early labor- ers in this interesting field — indeed, I believe he was the pioneer in cross-fer- tilizing for the production of new fruits in Canada. He chose the grape for his first experiments, and from a cross of the Clinton with Black St. Peters he produced five new sorts, namely, Othello, Canada, Brant, Cornu- copia and Autochon, the first four being black and Autochon white. In 1868 a committee was appointed by the Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario, of which the writer was a member, to visit Mr. Arnold's grounds and report on these grapes, which had then been several years under trial. These new varieties were highly spoken of and recommended for more general cultiva- tion. In 1874 the Othello, a large black grape of good quality, was dis- tributed for trial among the members of the Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario, and was thus widely tested over the province. Except in the most favored districts, it was found to be rather late in ripening, and it is now seldom met with in Canadian vineries. The Canada and the Brant are more widely known, and are favorably spoken of by many. All these varieties are now grown in France, and the Othello is said to be extensively cultivated in some parts of that country for wine making. Mr. Arnold was awarded a medal and diploma for his new hybrid grapes at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and they were specially commended. At the same time Mr. Arnold was also doing some good work among apples. In 1873 he exhibited at the meeting of the American Pomolbgical Society, held in Boston, Mass., eighteen varieties of cross-bred apples, all seedlings of the Northern Spy crossed with Wagener. Only one of these seedlings has found its way into general cultivation, but this one is of superior excellence, and is known under the name of Ontario. It is an apple now grown largely by some Canadian orchardists, and is found to be very valuable 126 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. for export. For thrifty growth of tree, early bearing, productiveness, good quality and long keeping it stands among the best. In 1874 a special prize was awarded to this apple by the Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario, and subsequently trees of Ontario were sent for trial to the members of the Asso- ciation, and by this means the variety was very generally tested. Two others of these cross-bred apples — Arnold's Beauty and Ella — are still found in some orchards, but are not generally known. Strawberries also claimed some of the attention of this general worker. He crossed the Wilson with Dr. Nicaisse and produced Alpha, Arnold's Pride, Maggie and Bright Ida, which were well spoken of at the time, but have, I think, all excepting Maggie since dropped out of cultivation. He also devoted some attention to raspberries. He first crossed the old White Cap with Franconia, from which he obtained many seedlings, two of which were red. These were subsequently crossed with Marvel of Four Seasons, from which the Orange King was produced. By crossing this latter with Hornet several promising sorts were originated, including Diadem, Arnold's Red and several others. These were grown by many cultivators for some years, but are now seldom found in collections. In 1872 Mr. Arnold is referred to as having raised a new variety of winter wheat of rare excellence, having the hardiness of some of the dark skinned sorts, with the thin, white skin of the more tender kinds. That year he exhibited this wheat at the meeting of the Ontario Agricultural Associa- tion, for which he was awarded a gold medal. He subsequently sold a por- tion of his stock of this grain to the United States Department of Agriculture, and it has since been grown more or less in different parts of Canada and the United States under the name of Gold Medal wheat, or Arnold's Hybrid. He also made some crosses with corn. Using yellow as the female, he pollenized it successively with red and white, and exhibited specimens which showed thes.e three colors clearly in the kernels. One of Charles Arnold's most successful efforts was in connection with his work on peas. He crossed McLean's Little Gem with Champion of Eng- land and produced a very dwarf variety, an excellent bearer, producing peas of high qualijty. The writer had the opportunity of testing it at Mr. Arnold's home in July, 1875. He subsequently sold this pea for a satisfactory consid- eration to the well known seedsmen, Bliss & Sons, and it has since been in general cultivation under the name of American Wonder, and is still very highly esteemed. Mr. Arnold died in 1893, at the age of 65 years. The late Peter C. Dempsey, of Albury, Ontario, was another of the early and persistent Canadian workers in plant breeding. His first work reported was done on the grape. He made crosses with Clinton and Golden Chasselas, Creveling and Sweetwater, Allen's Hybrid and Delaware, and Hartford and Black Hamburg. One of these latter, out of a considerable number which fruited, proved to be of superior merit, and was named Burnet. It was first exhibited in 1873 at the autumn meeting of the Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario, branches with clusters being then shown, that was the second year of its fruiting. The bunch was large and slightly shouldered ; berry large, skin thin, flesh tender, almost melting; sweet, delicately flavored, and quite free from foxiness. In quality it much resembled Black Hamburg. It was sub- fLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. 12? sequently exhibited at many meetings of fruit growers, and was the subject of much favorable comment. When brought into general cultivation this grape was found to be rather late in ripening, and some seasons many of the berries were small and seedless. The Burnet grape is still found in many collections. Mr. Dempsey also showed a white grape the same year — No. 18 — which was regarded as very promising, and was awarded a special prize. At the time this was exhibited Mr. Dempsey stated that out of a number of seedlings of this cross of Hartford with Black Hamburg five out of every seven were white. This seems remarkable, seeing that both parents were black. He also experimented with pears, of which he produced seventeen crosses, and from these grew a large number of seedlings. One of the latter, a cross of Bartlett fertilized with pollen of Duchess, proved to be a pear of special merit, and was introduced to general cultivation under the name of Dempsey. The tree is a healthy and vigorous grower and quite productive. The fruit is large, about the same size as Duchess; pyriform; irregular in outline; smooth ; green, changing to yellow as it ripens, with a slight brown tinge when exposed to the sun. The flesh is white, fine grained, tender, with granu- lations about the centre like the Duchess; sweet, juicy, with a rich flavor. Season, October and November. Among other pears produced by him was a highly flavored winter variety, the result of crossing the Duchess de Bordeaux with Josephine de Malines, but this was never introduced to general cultivation. Mr. Dempsey did some work in apples also. He crossed the Golden Russet with the Spy, and raised, among other seedlings, the Walter and the Trenton, two highly esteemed sorts, which are found in many collections. The Walter is a handsome apple — large, round or oblong, of a yellow color over- laid with splashes and stripes of deep red. The flesh is white and the quality good. The Trenton has the appearance of an apple of the Fameuse family. In size and form it resembles the Russet. The color is more intense than Fameuse and the flavor rich. He ?lso did some work in gooseberries, having crossed the Houghton, Smith's Improved and Downing with English varieties, and also raised some good seedling black currants, but I am not aware that any of these have survived. Peter C. Dempsey died in the autumn of 1891, at the age of 63. His own words, spoken of other experimenters, may well be applied to himself : "What richer legacy can a man leave to the generations which are to follow him than a fine, delicious fruit which he has originated with his own hand?" The late W. H. Mills, of Hamilton, Ontario, also deserves a place among Canadian plant breeders. His work, as far as I can learn, was confined to the crossing of grapes. In 1874 a committee was appointed by the Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario to visit and report on Mr. Mills' seedling grapes. These were found to include some promising sorts, chiefly crosses of Rose Chasselas with Diana, Black Hamburg with Concord, and Muscat Hamburg with Creveling. Descriptions were given of a number of these new varieties, but the only one which has survived the test of years is one of the crosses between Muscat Hamburg and Concord. This grape was at first named 128 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. Sultana, but later was known as Mills. The vine is vigorous and productive; bunch large, compact and shouldered; berry black, with a thick bloom; flesh meaty, juicy, with a rich, sprightly flavor. The skin is thick and the berries adhere so firmly to the stem that a cluster can be lifted by a single berry. This grape ripens about with the Concord and is a long keeper. The Mills was introduced to general cultivation in 1888 by Elwanger & Barry, nursery- men, of Rochester, N. Y., and still holds a place among cultivated sorts. The late William Haskins, also of Hamilton, Ontario, was another worker among grapes, and effected crosses between Hartford Prolific and Black Hamburg, Creveling and Black Hamburg, Concord and Allen's Hybrid, Oporto and Black Hamburg, Chippewa and Black Hamburg, and Rogers 15 and Delaware. Several of the seedlings raised from these crosses were re- garded with favor at the time, but one only of superior merit is now in cul- tivation. This is known as the Abyssinia, from Creveling crossed with Black Hamburgh. The vine is hardy and a thrifty grower ; bunch medium to large, and compact; berry large, black and of good quality, much resembling Creve- ling. It is said to ripen earlier t'nan the Concord. The late James Dougall, of Windsor, Ontario, raised many seedling fruits. He, however, depended chiefly, if not wholly, on selection. The Windsor cherry was one of his productions. This fruit was first exhibited by him at the summer meeting of the Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario, held at Goderich, Ontario, in 1871. It was then described as a cherry of medium size, jet black, flesh tender and luscious, quality very good. This proved to be a valuable acquisition, and is now much grown. Mr. Dougall also did some work on gooseberries. In 1873 he exhibited a number of seedlings supposed to be crosses of English sorts with Houghton. Some of these were reported as very productive, but I do not know of any of them in cultivation now. RECENT WORK. Among the more valuable seedling fruits of recent origin in Canada the following are well deserving of mention: The Mclntosh Red apple, originated by John Mclntosh, of Dundela, On- tario ; an early winter sort, and in its season probably the finest apple in culti- vation for dessert purposes. Ripe, November to January. The Russell, which was produced in Russell County, Ontario, is an early apple of good quality. Ripe from middle of August to middle of September. Scarlet Pippin, originated at Lyn, Leeds County, Ontario, near Brockville. A very attractive apple, highly colored, and of good quality. Season, early winter. Canada Baldwin. Said to have originated at St. Hilaire, Quebec. A medium sized fruit of good quality. Season, midwinter. La Victoire, originated near Grenville, Quebec. A handsome apple; me- dium in size, of good quality. Season, midwinter. Swayzie Pomme Grise, originated near Niagara, Ontario. Size, under medium; yellow, with a thin russet coating; highly flavored; quality very good — one of the best dessert apples of the midwinter season. My own efforts in cross-breeding were begun in 1868, and have been continued at intervals ever since. The work done has included experiments PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. 129 with the gooseberry, red and white currant, black currant, raspberry, black- berry, grape, apple, pear, plum, cherry, Sand cherry, Japanese quince, rose and barberry. Also with different sorts of wheat, barley, oats, peas and rye, and with several species of flowers.- METHODS OF WORK. Before referring to these in further detail reference will be made to some of the methods employed in carrying on these different lines of work. In the breeding of plants the term cross-bred is used when referring to the crosses produced between different varieties of the same species, and the word hybrid when referring to new forms obtained by crossing such plants as are generally regarded as distinct species. The results obtained from efforts at crossing or hybridizing depend much on the care taken in conducting the operation. In a general way, however, it is believed by many experimenters that crosses in fruit inherit their constitu- tion largely from the female, while the quality and flavor are, it is thought, much influenced by the other sex. The tools required in cross-breeding are few; but a steady hand has an important bearing on the success of the work. The following includes all that are needed to supplement the human hand : A pair of finely pointed for- ceps ; some camel hair pencils ; paper and gauze bags large enough to enclose the branches on which the blossoms to be worked are situated; twine for tying these bags in place, and a few wired labels to attach to the branches, on which the number of the cross or other particulars may be written. In choosing flower buds to work on, all those which are partially open should be rejected, also those which are very immature, the aim being to work on those which are so far advanced as to be nearly ready to open. Having chosen the flowers to be operated on, remove carefullv with the finely pointed forceps the floral envelopes, calyx and corolla, without bruising or otherwise injuring the internal organs. The stamens with their anthers are then torn away, leaving the pistil or pistils exposed. When all the flowers selected have been thus prepared they are at once enclosed in a paper bag, which is tied to the branch, until pollen from the other variety to be used in the cross can be secured. In obtaining pollen of the apple, pear, plum, cherry, strawberry, black- berry, gooseberry, etc., it can generally be had in sufficient quantities, and often in abundance, if branches well furnished with blossom buds which are just about to open are cut and placed in a vessel of water in a sunny place in- doors. The anthers usually discharge their pollen in the morning, and by lightly pinching them between the finger and thumb, where the skin is usually moist enough to cause the pollen to adhere, the fertilizing powder can be seen in small patches on the surface, and, with care, can be transferred by the hand to the flowers awaiting fertilization. Where one depends on ob- taining pollen from flowers outside it will often be found that bees and other insects have preceded the hybridist, and in their efforts to gather nectar from the flowers the anthers have been so knocked about that much of the pollen has been scattered. If the variety from which it is desired to obtain the pollen is later in blooming than the individual to be crossed, the opening of the blossoms may be hastened by cutting small branches well 130 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. supplied with blossom buds a few days before the pollen is needed, placing them in water and exposing them to heat and sunlight in a greenhouse. In working with grape blossoms the pollen may be collected by holding closely under the flower clusters recently opened a piece of blue paper, when bv a sharp tap with the finger on that portion of the branch a cloud of pollen dust will be liberated, which will settle on the paper below. By repeating this operation several times the quantity of pollen on the paper may be materially increased. The caps of the grape flowers will also fall plentifully, but \\ carefully removing them the pollen may be seen spread on the surface of tht paper below. With a camel hair pencil, slightly moistened, this pollen can brt collected and easily applied to the pistils of the variety to be fertilized. In applying the pollen from the raspberry and the blackberry it has been found better to break off the expanded blossoms, and, having removed the petals and the central bunch of pistils, carry the mutilated flower on which the fringe of the stamens alone remains, and twirl these about among the In operating on such cereals as wheat, barley and oats the process is many pistils in the flowers previously prepared for crossing, much more difficult. In working with wheat the head should be selected soon after it has pushed out from the sheath. This head consists of a series of spikelets, which are arranged alternately on opposite sides of the stalk. Later each spikelet will contain from two to five kernels of wheat. In the early stages of its growth the kernels in the head are not formed, but the hollow centres which they are destined to fill are occupied by the more or less de- veloped flowers of the plant. In the accompanying figure, drawn from nature, we have a portion of a wheat ear from which all the spikelets but one have been removed, and on one side of this, one of the floral chambers has been opened. The outer covering of chaff has been torn off and the inner covering turned down so as to expose the flower of the wheat plant to view. This is seen to consist of three stamens, threadlike at base, with large anthers overhanging a double branched, succulent, feathery pistil. In nature fertilization takes place within the tightly closed chaffy case which encloses the flower, where, as the anthers mature, they open and the pollen is shed on the delicate, feathery pistil below. Portions of this pollen remain attached to the surface of the pistil, and from one or more of these minute, microscopic bodies a small, threadlike growth proceeds, which pierces the soft tissue of the pistil and, gradually lengthening, soon extends to its base, where it enters the ovary, and fertilization is accomplished, fol- lowed by the rapid growth of a kernel. * When operating on wheat, to effect a cross the outer layer of chaff is torn off with a pair of finely pointed forceps and the inner coating pulled back by seizing it near the top and bending it downward, which exposes the flower. The anthers are then carefully examined, and if their condition is sufficiently advanced to offer the possibility of any of the pollen having been shed, the spikelet to which it belongs is torn off and other flowers opened, until some are found in the desired condition, with the stamens green, but almost mature. These are removed with much care, as the slightest injury to the soft and delicate pistil will cause it to wither. The flower is then PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. 131 covered by replacing the inner coating of chaff in its natural position. After the removal of the stamens from a sufficient number of selected flowers all other portions of the head are torn off and rejected. Having previously collected heads of the variety or species which is to serve as the male, flowers are sought which contain anthers fully matured and covered with pollen, when the individual flowers prepared for fertilization are opened again in succession, and the soft, feathery pistil is gently touched with Spikelet of wheat with the glumes in front, turned down, exposing the three stamens and two-branched pistil. (Enlarged four diameters.) one or more of the pollen-bearing anthers from the other variety until a perceptible quantity of the fertilizing powder has been applied, when the flower case is again closed. After all the flowers in a prepared head have been operated on it is wrapped in thin paper, so secured by tying as to pre- vent the possibility of access of other pollen. As a further precaution, the covered head is then tied to a piece of stick or bamboo cane, where it remains 132 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. untouched until harvest time, when any kernels which have been formed will be mature and may be safely gathered. Each kernel, when sown the following season, will form the starting point of a new variety. In crossing different sorts of barley the head should be worked before it is fully out of the sheath, as natural fertilization takes place earlier with this grain than with wheat. In cereals, the single plant grown the first year will produce heads all alike, and these will usually resemble closely the variety on which the kernel has been produced. Occasionally, however, it will, to some extent, take after the plant from which the pollen has been gathered. If the cross has been successfully made, the grain obtained from the plant of the first year's growth, when sown the next season, will usually produce several different forms, some resembling one parent and some the other, while other plants will produce heads more or less intermediate in character. After selecting the most de- sirable type or types from a cross, all other forms are discarded, and only those retained from year to year which are true to the type or types selected. After several seasons of careful selection the type usually becomes fairly per- manent. Variations will, however, in some cases still occasionally occur, and such should be separated whenever they appear, if the new grain is to be preserved true to the chosen type. In efforts to cross cereals many failures may be looked for, and with all the skill which trained hands can bring to bear on the work the ripened kernels are always few, compared with the number of flowers operated on. A partial record of the crossing which has been done on wheat at the Canadian Experimental Farms shows that from 1,650 flowers carefully worked only 220 kernels were obtained — about one in eight. In all efforts at cross-fertilizing paper bags are recommended for cover- ing the flowers, on account of their closeness of texture. Pollen grains are frequently blown about by the wind, and are in many instances so very minute that they would pass readily through the meshes of the finest gauze. With grain, the paper bags have been allowed to remain on until the close of the season; but with fruit and flowers, after the fruit or seed is so far advanced as to be beyond the possibility of further influence from pollen, the practice has been to replace the paper bag with one of fine gauze, which will give free access of air and light, and thus promote healthy growth. GOOSEBERRY CROSSES. In my own work the first crosses were made in 1868, and were with the gooseberry. These were made with the object of improving the size and quality of what are known as the American gooseberries, by introducing strains of some of the best English sorts, and at the same time obtain varieties less liable to gooseberry mildew {Sphaerotheca mors-uvae}, which usually affects all the English gooseberries grown in this country so badly, in fruit and foliage, as to discourage their cultivation. Those which are known as Ameri- can sorts are generally said to have sprung from the wild species, with perhaps more or less mixture of European strains. They are noted for their hardiness, productiveness and freedom from mildew. They lack, however, the size and quality of the English sorts, PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. Experiments were conducted in crossing gooseberries in 1868, 1870 and 1871, and several hundred seedlings were produced some of which are still in cultivation. Two of them — one named Pearl, a cross between Downing and Ashton's Seedling, and another called Red Jacket, a cross between Houghton and Warrington — are popular sorts on account of their size, pro- ductiveness and freedom from mildew, and are extensively grown both in Canada and the United States. Other promising sorts not yet in general cultivation are Ruth, Saunders, Gibb and Rideau. The early experiments also included some attempts at crossing some of the wild sorts with cultivated forms. Trials were made with the smooth gooseberry (Ribes oxyacanthoides} and the prickly gooseberry (Ribes cynos- bati). The first efforts with the wild smooth gooseberry were not successful arid were not repeated ; by and by hybrids were produced between the wild prickly gooseberry and the Warrington, a cultivated hairy variety of the Ribes grossularia, and among these there were several interesting sorts,, one of which was quite smooth, another sparingly hairy and a third rather strongly hairy. This latter is still under cultivation at the Experimental Farm at Ot- tawa under the name of Agnes. It is an abundant bearer, of good size and fair quality. The bush has the strong upright habit of growth characteristic of the wild form from which it was derived. GRAPES. From 1868 to 1875 a large number of cross-bred grapes was produced by fertilizing flowers of the native and cultivated American grapes with pollen chiefly from those of European origin. During this period more than 3,000 grape flowers were pollenized, and about 400 seedlings obtained. Many of these died from exposure to cold weather and many others were discarded as they fruited for lack of quajity or productiveness, and only a few have survived." One of these is perhaps worthy of mention, viz., Kensington, a yellowish green grape. This was obtained by fertilizing the Clinton, an im- proved form of the native frost grape (Vitis cordifolia) with pollen of the Buckland's Sweetwater, a variety of Vitis vinifera, a large, greenish white grape, grown under glass. The Clinton vine is a robust grower, very hardy, and in fruiting produces a cluster v/hich is small to medium in size, long, narrow, very compact, and slightly shouldered. The berry is small, round and black, and quite acid. The Buckland's Sweetwater is a less vigorous grower, is tender; the berries are large, pale yellowish green, oval in form and sweet, while the bunch is large and loose. The cross resembles the Clinton in vigor of growth and hardiness of vine, also in the character of the foliage. The fruit resembles the Buckland's Sweetwater in color, form, size and looseness of cluster, and in quality it is intermediate between the parents. In the fruit of the Clinton the seeds are short, while those of the Buckland's Sweetwater are longer and less plump. In Kensington the seeds resemble in form those of the Buckland's Sweetwater. RASPBERRIES. The first crosses in raspberries were made in 1869, and work in this di- rection has been continued at intervals up to the present time. In 1870 a cul- tivated form of the Black Cap raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) known as the. 134 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. Doolittle Black Cap was fertilized with pollen of the Philadelphia, a red rasp- berry, a form of Rubus strigosus. The black raspberry propagates by rooting from the pendulous tips of the branches, while the red raspberry sends tin suckers from buds developed on the roots, and the roots extend under the surface to a considerable distance from the base. Twenty-four plants were raised from this cross, all of which fruited in 1873, and some of them were very prolific. In every instance the seedlings rooted from the tips, but not freely, and in two or three instances an occasional sucker was thrown up from the roots a few inches from the crown. Subsequently these plants were propagated more freely by layering in spring the canes of the previous sea- son's growth, when they rooted at almost every joint. The fruit of the best of these hybrids was larger than that of either of the parents. In color it was intermediate, being a dark purple, with a whitish bloom. The flavor was a striking combination of the characteristics of both parents. During the following four or five years many additional crosses were made. Among others, the raspberry (Rubus strigosus) was crossed with the blackberry (Rubus villosus). Most of these efforts failed, but seeds were several times produced. Usually these did not germinate; but once or twice, when one or two of the seeds did start, the plants were weakly and died before much growth was made. BLACK CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY. After this work of cross-fertilizing had been continued for a number of years the seedlings accumulated to such an extent that it was difficult to find Cross of Black Currant ? with Gooseberry $ (One-half natural size.) room for them, and further work was for a time suspended. After receiving the appointment of Director of Experimental Farms, in 1886. a larger field PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. 135 for such work was opened, and in 1887, when I removed from London, Ontario, to Ottawa, I took with me all the surviving seedlings of promise, about 800 in all, and since then a large proportion of these has been discarded and a number of new forms produced. Among the newer forms of a spe- cially interesting character are crosses between the black currant (Rib s nigrum) and a cultivated variety of the gooseberry (Ribcs grossularia} . In each instance the black currant was chosen as the female, and twenty-eight of these hybrids were produced, all very similar in character. The branches of the black currant are without thorns, while those of the gooseberry are thorny. The hybrids have the branches thornless. In the form and serra- tion of the leaves and in the hairiness of the stem at the base they are in- termediate in character. The leaves of the hybrids are odorless. The flowers of the black currant are in bunches of from seven to twelve. In the gooseberry they are usually in pairs, but sometimes they are three in a cluster. In the hybrids they are in clusters of from four to seven. The impress of intermediate character in the hybrids is also seen in the structure of the pistil. In the black currant this is single and smooth throughout and thickened toward the tip, which is flat and blunt. In the gooseberry the pistil is longer and divided to the base, each branch slender and very hairy at base for nearly half its length, the slender branches diverging toward the tip. In the hybrids the pistil is single for about half its length or more, less hairy toward the base and divided toward the tip, with divisions divergent. The hybrids are also intermediate between the gooseberry and black currant in the time of their blooming. These hybrids bloom freely every season, but scarcely ever set any fruit. One year three berries in all were formed, and two other vears one berry only These were borne singly, like the gooseberry ; were about the sfze of a large black currant and of 'a dull reddish color. The seeds of these berries were carefully saved and sown, but none of them germinated. Clusters of the flowers have been artificially fertilized with pollen from flowers on the same bush, also from flowers of the black currant and of the gooseberry, but without success. The Gooseberry Saw-fly (Nematus ribesii), which is not known to eat the foliage of the black currant, feeds freely on the leaves of the hybrids, which, although raised from seeds of the black currant, are recognized by this insect as partaking of the nature of the gooseberry. The Gooseberry Mil- dew (Sphaerotheca mors-m'ae) also, which is not known to affect the black currant, grows freely on the hybrids. EXPERIMENTS WITH CEREALS. As the summer season in many parts of Canada is comparatively short early ripening varieties of grain are desired. Hence, efforts have been made to obtain early ripening sorts from other countries, notably from the northern parts of Russia, and from India. Several early varieties of wheat have been introduced, but they have proved deficient in vigor and productiveness, and the grain has not been as good in quality as the best sorts in cultivation here. Crosses have been made of these early sorts with the Red Fife and White Fife, with the view of combining the vigor, productiveness and high quality 136 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. of the Fifes with the earliness of the other varieties. Many of these crosses ripen from three to four days earlier than the Fife wheats, and some of them have manifested great vigor and productiveness. They produce an excellent hard wheat, which makes almost, if not quite, as good flour as the much es- teemed Red Fife. In productiveness one of the crosses named Preston has taken the lead. This was produced by crossing the Red Fife with a Russian variety known as Ladoga. Ladoga is a week earlier in ripening than Red Fife. Preston is about four days earlier than Red Fife, and during a test covering six years it has given an average crop, taking the results of the tests at all the Ex- perimental Farms, of 33 bushels 58 pounds per acre; whereas the Red Fife, sown under like conditions, during the same period gave an average of 32 bushels 30 pounds, a difference in favor of the cross-bred sort of I bushel 28 pounds per acre. Many other of the cross-bred sorts have also made ex- cellent records. In the growing of wheats there seems to be a tendency toward bearded forms. Where a bearded wheat has been used as the female and a beardless type as male a large proportion of the progeny has been bearded. Variations, however, occur in both bearded and beardless sorts ; the beardless forms fre- quently producing bearded heads, while the bearded ones more rarely produce those which are beardless. In one cross, where both parents were beardless, several bearded sorts were produced in the second generation. The varieties will vary in the length and stiffness of the beards, and many of them vary in the color of the chaff, some in the same cross having white chaff, others red. The chaff also varies as to its smooth or downy character. Any of these variations may be made permanent by persistent selection. Spring wheats have been pollenized by winter sorts; these have all ripened when sown in the spring, but, although the plants have had vigorous foliage, they have been slow in heading and later in ripening than most other spring wheats; and as they have not been especially productive most of them have been discarded. In breeding for earliness, the best results have been had with a wheat known as the Gehun crossed with the Onega. The Gehun wheat was obtained from a high elevation in the Himalaya Mountains. The Onega was brought from the Onega River, near Archangel, one of the most northerly wheat dis- tricts in Russia. Two of these crosses, Early Riga and Harold, have been fully a week earlier in ripening than Red Fife, but the grain is small and the crop is not heavy. In our experience, any marked advantage gained in a variety of wheat in the way of early ripening usually involves a lessening of the weight of the crop. Some very interesting varieties have been recently originated at the Central Farm by fertilizing the Red Fife with pollen of the Polish wheat (Triticum polonicum'). This cross was effected by Dr. C. E. Saunders, after several previous ineffectual trials, in the spring of 1900. From the cross- fertilized kernel in the Red Fife head a plant was produced which, in 1001, contrary to the usual experience, grew heads and kernels quite unlike Red Fife. The seed from this sown in 1902 sported much and gave a number of different sorts of heads. Of the plants produced no two were alike. The PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. 137 object in crossing these two varieties of wheat was to try to produce a good cropping wheat having a kernel much larger than the ordinary sorts. Barley. Very distinct hybrids have been produced between the two- rowed barley (Hordeum distichon) and the six-rowed (Hordeum hexasti- chon.) These are ancient types, which have long been regarded as distinct species. In the two-rowed barley the additional rows on the six-rowed form are represented by chaffy scales, lying flat on the face of the head. In the hybrids produced by using the six-rowed form as the male these chaffy scales are in some instances all filled; in others only a portion of them are filled, and the kernels are often smaller and thinner than those found in the normal position in the two-rowed head. With subsequent cultivation the relative size of the kernels generally becomes more equalized, and in some instances they become very even in size throughout. Crosses have also been made be- tween the bearded and beardless six-rowed sorts. The two-rowed barleys stool much more freely than the six-rowed sorts ; the heads, also, are longer. The main purpose in view in attempting to produce these hybrids has been to originate varieties of six-rowed barley with longer heads and an increased tendency to stooling, hoping to increase the crop thereby. Both six-rowed and two-rowed types have several times been produced from the same cross in cases where the two-rowed has been used as female, also where the six- rowed has been chosen for that purpose. Some of these new sorts have made promising records. Oats. In oats crosses have been made between those with branching heads and those with sided heads; also between white and black oats, white and yellow, and between thin hulled and thick hulled sorts, and many inter- mediate forms have been produced, some of which have given excellent crops. Wheat with Rye. Many attempts have been made at the Experimental Farm to cross wheat and rye, but without success until 1892, when a cross was effected by Mr. W. T. Macoun, a variety of winter wheat being used as female and a winter rye as male. The resulting kernel was sown in Sep- tember, 1892, and while to all appearance it was a wheat kernel which was sown, the plant which grew from it had the purplish character of rye, and the heads at the time of spearing had stripes of purple on the spikelets, as in rye, and in other respects the heads closely resembled rye. Nineteen heads in all were produced on the plant, but not a kernel could be found in any of them. Pease. The most useful and productive sorts of field pease have been crossed and a large number of new sorts originated, about 175 in all; but by careful selection and the rejection of all those of less promise the num- ber has been greatly reduced. There are, however, 33 of these cross-bred sorts still under trial, some of which have yielded remarkably well. The number of new varieties of cereals which have been produced and tested is more than 700. A large number of these have been rejected, mainly because they were not sufficiently productive. VARIOUS. Barberries. Interesting crosses have also been made by Dr. C. E. Saun- ders between Berberis Thunbergii and the common purple barberry, Berberis 1 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. vulgaris purpurea, in which the influence of both sexes is seen in the progeny. A number of new forms have been obtained in the second generation. A series of new varieties of Pyrus have been produced by crossing Pyrus Maulei with a brilliant flowering, semi-double form of Pyrus japonica. These new crosses are intermediate in size of bush between the two parents, and those which have flowered have been found to vary much in the size and hue of the blossoms. Among these is one very handsome form, with the flowers large, semi-double, and of a brilliant scarlet color. (Plate Fig. 5.) Sand Cherry and Plum. The Sand Cherry, Prunus pumila, was chosen as the starting point for another line of experimental work. Attempts were made to cross this with different varieties of cherry, without success ; but a cross was effected in 1896 with a variety of the cultivated plum known as Col. Wilder, an improved form of Prunus americana. The fruit of this hybrid, which has been named Rupert, is nearly round, about 13-16 of an inch in diameter. In color it is a bluish black; flesh, melt- ing and almost sweet ; flavor, delicate and agreeable. The skin is quite astringent, and somewhat disagreeable when chewed. The stone is elongated and resembles that of the plum. Ripe, September 7th. (Plate Fig. 1.) PYRUS* BACCATA AND APPLE HYBRIDS. When the branch Experimental Farms were established in the Canadian Northwest experiments were at once begun, on a rather extensive scale, with both large and small fruits, special attention being paid to varieties of the apple. During the first eight or nine years about 200 of the hardiest sorts obtainable in Northern Europe and elsewhere of cultivated apples were thor- oughly tested, but with little or no success. In 1887 seed was obtained from the Royal Botanic Gardens at St. Petersburgh of a small wild Siberian crab known as the Berried Crab (Pyrus baccata}. Young trees raised from this seed were sent to the Western Experimental Farms at Brandon, Man., and Indian Head, N. W. T., and were found to be entirely hardy. During a test of thirteen years they have never been injured by winter, but the branches have grown from the terminal buds every season. They have fruited abun- dantly, but the fruit is very small — not much larger than a cherry — astringent, and sometimes bitter. The trees were dwarf in habit, of sturdy growth and thickly branched, with branches extending close to the ground. From their build they are well adapted to resist the winds to which trees are exposed on the Northwest plains. After four or five years of experience had thoroughly established the character of this tree for extreme hardiness efforts were made to improve the size and quality of the fruit by cross-fertilizing the Pyrus baccata with many of the hardiest sorts of apples grown at Ottawa. This work was begun in 1894, and has since been continued along many different lines. In 1899 36 of these seedlings fruited, and five of them were of such size and quality as to justify their being propagated for more general test. Since then about 50 of these cross-breds have fruited, and the number of varieties worthy of cultivation has been considerably increased. Most of the promising sorts have been tested for two or three years at each of the Northwest Farms, and have shown no indications of tenderness. The trees which are cross-bred seem to be quite as hardy as the wild forms of Pyrus baccata, and there is ;?s S S'g »;j 1 1* • h: o n ^ 3 2. g a 3 "s. u> ni |f Eg HOf W "S 3 i.8, o 145 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY Ofr NEW YORK. every reason to expect that they will prove generally hardy throughout the Northwest country. Prince — P. baccata with Tetofsky — is one of the varieties which has fruited for the first time this season. The tree is a strong grower and very productive. Fruit, il/2 to ify$ inches across and il/4 to i^ inches deep. Color, bright red (much deeper in color on the side exposed to the sun), with a few paler dots and streaks. Calyx dropped in most specimens ; stem, i to il/2 inches in length. Flesh, nearly white, juicy, sub-acid, somewhat astringent, which lessens as the fruit ripens. Of pleasant flavor; compares favorably in quality with some of the larger crab apples. Useful for apple sauce or jelly, and fairly good for eating. Pioneer — P. baccata with Tetofsky — has fruited for the past three years. The size is from i^ to il/2 inches across, and about iJ4 inches deep. Color, pale yellow, sometimes with a light pink shade on cheek. Stem about an inch in length. Calyx persistent. Flesh yellowish, firm, moderately crisp and juicy; sub-acid, with a pleasant flavor, astringency very slight. Ripe from 20th to 25th of September. Tony — P. baccata and McMahon White — fruited for the first time this year. Size, from il/2 to i$i inches across, and .about iJ4 to 15-16 inches deep. Color, greenish yellow, mostly covered with red in splashes and streaks, with many yellowish dots. Stem about 24 of an inch long. Calyx persistent. Flesh yellowish, juicy, sprightly, sub-acid, slightly astringent, with a pleasant flavor; quality good. Manitou — P. baccata and McMahon White. Size, iY2 inches across and \y§ inches deep. Rather distinctly ribbed. Color dull yellow, almost cov- ered with bright red, becoming deep red where exposed to the sun. Flesh yellowish, juicy, sprightly, sub-acid, with a pleasant flavor; somewhat astringent. Calyx persistent. Stem I to ij4 inches long. Alberta.. — Pyrus baccata, female; Haas, male. Tree a strong grower and an abundant bearer. Fruit: Size, 1 4-10 inches across, 1 2-10 inches deep; round, somewhat flattened; slightly ribbed; calyx persistent; stem about half an inch long; color, greenish yellow, with a bright red check. Flesh nearly white, juicy, slightly astringent (astringency scarcely perceptible when fruit is ripe). Quality, fair to good. Season, last week in September to middle of October. Charles. — Pyrus bacfata, female; Tetofsky, male. Tree a strong grower and a fair bearer. Fruit: Size, 1 9-10 inches across, 1 6-10 inches deep: nearly round; slightly ribbed; calyx persistent; stem rather long; color, a uniform yellow and very attractive. Flesh, solid, crisp, juicy, with a pleasant flavor, mildly acid and very slightly astringent. Ripe first week in September. Columbia. — Pyrus baccata, female; Broad Green, male. Tree a very strong grower and a fair bearer. Fruit : Size, 1 8-10 inches across and 1 6-10 inches deep; somewhat conical; distinctly ribbed, calyx protruding and per- sistent ; stem of medium length ; color, red, with stripes and dots of a deeper shade. Flesh, yellowish, lightly streaked with red; juicy, subacid, with a pleasant flavor, slightly astringent. Season, September and October. In one of these cross-bred apples, the Carleton, a cross of Wealthy and Pyrus baccata, the seeds are increased in size much beyond that of other tLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. i41 crosses. Similar modifications have been observed in other cross-bred seed- lings. What changes such enlargement of the seeds may initiate can only be ascertained by following the seedlings through successive generations. To carry out as rapidly as possible the objects in view in this line of work, which is to provide apples of useful size which will be hardy enough to thrive in all the settled parts of the Canadian Northwest, the following methods are being pursued : First. The best of the cross-bred sorts produced are being rapidly propagated for distribution by budding and grafting on Pyrus baccata stocks. Second. A large number of seedlings will be grown from the best of these fruits, when occasional instances will no doubt occur of variation toward the male, which is the large fruit in the cross ; and as far as this takes place further improvement in size and quality may be looked for. Third. By a series of second crosses the seedlings are receiving a fur- ther portion of the blood of the larger fruits. How far this can be carried without inducing tenderness of the trees can only be determined by experi- ment. The first crosses seem to be quite as hardy as the native forms of Pyrus baccata. By following the lines indicated there is little doubt that within a very few years a number of varieties of apples will be originated possessing that hardiness and quality which will commend them to the settlers in all those portions of the Northwest country where ordinary apples under average con- ditions cannot be grown. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. In carrying out the work of cross-breeding at the Canadian Experimental Farms during the past twelve years I have had able assistance from several helpers. From Mr. W. T. Macoun, whose work has been chiefly in cereals; from Dr. C. E. Saunders, who has given me much help along many different lines, especially in the crosses of Pyrus baccata. I have also received valuable assistance in the cross-breeding of grain from Dr. A. P. Saunders. Some crosses in apples were made by Professor John Craig (now of Cor- nell) during the years he held the position of Horticulturist at the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa. These have not yet fruited sufficiently to permit of an opinion being formed as to their merits. Mr. W. T. Macoun, who succeeded Mr. Craig in office, has done much work in the cross-breeding of apples and in growing trees from selected seeds of standard sorts, with the special object of producing late keeping varieties of good quality which will be hardy at Ottawa. To the work of Mr. H. H. Groff on the Gladioli I need only make brief reference, as lovers of flowers in all parts of the continent are loud in his praises, while enjoying the beauty manifest in his new productions. In this hasty outline of the work done in plant breeding in Canada dur- ing the past forty years I trust I have succeeded in showing that many useful products have already been originated by Canadian workers, and in presenting some evidence of a coming harvest which is full of promise. The Chair: This comprehensive review of the work done in the North is before the conference. 142 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. W. M. Hays: I wish to remark, Mr. President, my admiration of the work that Dr. Saunders has done. He has told us in this paper something of the work that has been done in plant breeding. There are a lot of other things that he has done in just as com- mendable a way, and I am glad to speak a word about them. WINE FERMENTS A paper, illustrated by lantern slides, was read by W. B. Alwood, of the Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Va. Dr. N. L. Britton took the chair. The following paper by W. Van Fleet, of Little Silver, N. J., was read by Secretary Barron, and supplemented by lantern slides of hybrid gladioli exhibited and explained by C. Van Brunt: HYBRIDIZING GLADIOLUS SPECIES By W. Van Fleet, New Jersey. In the following notes the term "species" is necessarily used in the horti- cultural rather than the strict botanical sense. For many years, through the kindness of Herr Max Leichtlin, Baden Baden, Germany, and others, we have been enabled to receive newly collected Gladioli from Africa and Madagascar, often in advance of their botanical determination, and at once used them for breeding purposes. For convenience it may be well to divide these newcomers into groups according to their garden affinities with well known species, and as a further preliminary it may be stated that only Summer blooming species and varieties having corms that keep well over Winter are desired by growers in this country. We have produced hybrids between the Gandavensis or psittacinus, as well as Lemoinei or purpureo-auratus sections, and such early flowering species as tristris, vinulus, trimaculatus, cuspidatus, ramosus and Byzantinus. Some of these crosses were very pretty, but rather difficult to winter over without glass protection. Purpureo-auratus X vinulus and Gan- davensis X trimaculatus bloom in August and have long-eekping conns. They increase rapidly, have attractive characteristic forms and markings, but the comparatively small size and neutral flesh tints of the blooms do not rank them among decorative Gladioli. The largest group of new species comprises types allied to G. draco- cephalus. They come under the names of Cooperi, platyphyllus and various numbered forms collected during the last six years in Swaziland, Durban and Madagascar. The most promising horticultural type came labeled from Mt. Kilima-Noscharo, in Eastern German Africa. It is a slender but healthy grower, and has a fine spike, large hooded flowers, scarlet penciled with orange outside, and clear deep yellow inside, deepening into bright orange in the throat. Seedlings of this distinct form are under way, but have not yet bloomed. Platyphyllus has immense deeply ribbed foliage, looking like a vigorous young palm, before the flower stem arises, and a large corm having a hard woody covering. The flowers are rather small, red and yellow, pen- ciled with purple, strongly hooded, with the perianth so short that the stigma and anthers protrude, a characteristic shared by other allied unnamed species recently flowered. Hybrids with large flowerec}. garden Gladioli have little 144 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. merit in the first generation, but improve later on. Already several hybrids of dracocephalus have been put in commerce by European breeders. They are not of a character to commend the type to beauty loving amateurs, being too narrow and hooded in form and blotchy in coloring-. The best draco- cephalus hybrids we have seen were sent out under the name of G. hybridus asperus by Herr Leichtlin. They are vigorous, well furnished plants, bearing 10 to 14 broad, well opened flowers on a strong spike. The colors vary from orange to cinnabar red, penciled all over in intricate patterns with deep or urownish red. They are harmonious and attractive in outline and coloring. Some of the newer species of this group evidently come from acid regions, as they bloom early and ripen up their corms with great promptness. Hybrids obtained from them often show the same tendency, and a useful class of early bloomers may yet be obtained from this progeny. A tall-growing form of G. platyphyllus from Swaziland has green blooms covered with pencilings of bluish purple. By crossing it with the best violet blues of the Lemoine section we have made a start toward a "blue" class of a very distinct aspect. This form of platyphyllus is destitute of the woody corm coatings, and is of excel- lent .constitution, having long and attractive foliage. The psittacinus group is of great interest as the foundation of the splendid Gandavensis strain, and through it of all the fine modern garden Gladioli. We have used psittacinus very extensively, and generally obtain brilliant red and yellow blooms, a dense long spike, and a rigid upright growth. G. igneus, decoratus, and the valuable new Quartinianus are of this type. The first and last are very late bloomers, needing the shelter of glass in late Fall to perfect the blooms. Hybridizing with selected earlier blooming garden varieties lessens this tendency and imparts much beauty of coloring to the stately habit and lusty growth of this useful group. G. sulphureus or Adlami is plainly an offshoot psittacinus. It blooms early in July and has a straight spike of medium sized clear sulphur yellow flowers, sometimes having a greenish tinge. Some growers say the sulphureus of the Dutch florists is different from Adlami, but corms procured under both names from various sources produce identical flowers. This yellow species or variety of psittacinus would appear a potential breeder for the much desired improved yellow garden sorts, yet persistent work, extending over seven years, has resulted in only two good golden yellow hybrids out of thousands of direct crosses bloomed. These are the product of Adlami X Canary bird, the latter a fine American yellow Gan- davenis of rich color but crooked growth. The other seedlings all came red, often very intense, with a few creamy whites, although varieties with yellow predominating were almost exclusively used in pollinating. The two good yellows are large and fine, but of provokingly slow increase. Quartini- anus hybrids, especially with the new G. cruentus section, are very promising, the tall leafy plants being furnished with large and striking blooms chiefly red and yellow. The oppositiflorus group naturally follows, as many growers have little doubt that the original Gandavensis, known to be the parent of all our superb garden strains, was produced by a union of psittacinus with something of the oppositiflorus type, instead of with G. cardinalis, as so often claimed. We have grown many direct hybrids of psittaqinus and its allies with oppositiflorus HYBRIDIZING GLADIOLUS SPECIES. and floribundus that appeared quite identical with Gandavensis, as we have been able to procure the type, while on the other hand repeated attempts, ex- tending over many seasons, to hybridize cardinalis with psittacinus and its allies have uniformly failed. This is the experience of more than one Euro- pean investigator, and may be taken to almost conclusively settle the matter. Oppositiflorus, with its. tall growth and many-flowered spikes, often opening 18 to 24 blooms almost simultaneously, together with its delicate peach-and- white tinting, seems a most promising parent for producing fine whites and light-tinted varieties of the exhibition type, but our own profuse trials, as well as the results of many contemporary breeders', show an appalling amount of chaff to very few grains of wheat. The results of the first two generations of hybridity are almost nil in a decorative sense, but the third consecutive pollenization with the best modern white and very light kinds has developed some very pretty and hopeful new varieties. The looked-for high-class pure white has not come by this means, though an almost stainless Oppositiflorus was used at the beginning and rigid selection since maintained. Really clear whites have appeared from psittacinus and drachocephalus, hybridized with Oppositiflorus, showing very strong pollen influence, but they have little vital- ity and low powers of perpetuation. Floribundus appears the more promising of the two as a parent, though inclined to transmit red coloring to its seed- lings. Its hybrids are more likely to bear flowers facing one way than oppositi- florus, which takes its name from the distichous or two-ranked manner in which the blooms are borne. The only other useful member of this group known to us is a new one which came labeled "narrow-leaved species from Swaziland." The corm had evidently been collected when immature, and lay dormant two years, at last producing a long spike — 32 flowers — of very short and small blooms, pale lilac with feathery markings of a deeper shade. The blooms face one way and open well together. It is a very late blooming sort, but a few hybrids were secured which are now well under way. All growers of Gladioli of the Gandavensis type know there is a constant preponderance of the red varieties. The white and light colors tend to degenerate with greater or less rapidity, while the reds increase in number and maintain their vigor. So rapid and complete is the reversion in some instances as to amount to wholesale atavism. Considerable numbers of a choice Gandavensis variety have, propagated for generations in the usual manner from cormels, changed in a season so as to closely resemble the typical red and yellow Gandavensis. This seems to confirm Mendel's theory of dominant and recessive factors in all hybridizations. Taking psittacinus as the dominant, Oppositiflorus acts in most instances as the recessive type, and tends rapidly to efface itself in favor of its virile partner during reproduction by seeds, and to a lesser degree during extension of a given hybrid plant by cormel or bud propagation. Gladiolus purpureo-auratus is well known to be the foundation of the popular Lemoine and Nanceianus strains of commercial varieties nnd G. Papilio of the "blue" Lemoinei kinds. These latter comprise a number of attractive heliotrope and purple-blue shades in the typical hooded form of the parent. Papilio albus is a handsome slender-growing variety, reproducing it- self perfectly from seed. It is very pure white in color, with a crimson purple blotch. Crossed with the best whites among the Gandavensis and Lemoinei 146 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. sections it produces a few attractive and distinct new light garden forms amid a great proportion of inferior ones. We regard it as promising and will con- tinue work among its dilute hybrids, of which we are now approaching the fourth generation. The species typified by G. Saundersi are of the first importance. Saundersi, in the hands of Herr Leichtlin, gave us the magnificent strain known in com- merce as Childsii, still of the very highest commercial value, and the large- flowered, brilliantly-colored Nanceianus sections, produced by the Messrs. Lemoin by crossing purpureo-auratus hybrids with the new species. Leichtlin used pollen from the finest procurable Gandavensis varieties on Saundersi, and the result is a class of gigantic, richly-colored kinds mostly of red tints, with widely expanded blooms having a nodding upper segment. When the reverse cross is made, and ovules of Gandavensis fertilized with Saundersi pollen, the result is far less striking. This has been verified by many thousand personal trials. G. Leichtlini is a dwarf early-blooming species, with pretty red flowers having a yellow mottled throat. It is closely allied to Saundersi and the fol- lowing species, and crosses readily with both. One would consider it a prom- ising breeder, from the dainty aspect of its wide-open blooms, but it has in our hands proved quite disappointing. Hybrids with Gandavensis, Lemoinei and Nanceianus types, with very few exceptions, lose individuality, whether the seed or pollen is taken from the species, and are a woefully commonplace lot. Crossed with Saundersi or cruentus, however, a beautiful and vigorous progeny results, quite intermediate in either case. They are early blooming, and being sterile are wonderfully profuse in bloom. Lemoine's Glaieuls pre- coces look much like some G. Leichtlini hybrids, but it is understood that sulphureus is a parent to some of them. Cruentus is a particularly showy species, very distinct, though allied to the preceding both from the botanist's and gardener's standpoint. While vigorous and profuse in bloom, if its requirements are satisfied, it must be considered a particularly "miffy" species for general cultivation. Though known for many years it no sooner appears in a dealer's catalogue than it is taken out for want of stock. Orders for corms of this species are filled with ' almost anything but the true article, and much disappointment has resulted among breeders and fanciers in consequence. If healthy corms are planted in nearly pure sand, with a stratum of peat for a root run, kept fairly moist, and the plants afforded plenty of sun, they make strong, leafy plants and bloom finely, but resent any suspicion of clay, and seldom thrive in rich garden soil. My European correspondents report indifferent results from crossing cruentus with other species and garden varieties, the seedlings falling off from the parents in substance or coloring. This is our own experience in the main, but the first batch of • hybridized seedlings yielded the truly magnificent variety since known as G. hybridus princeps. It came from seed of cruentus X Childsii, the childsii being, as above noted, Saundersi X Gandavensis. It is not necessary to describe Princeps further than to say it almost exactly repro- duces cruentus in its scarlet-crimson coloring, with white and cream feather- ings in the lower segments, but the flat circular flower is expanded to six inches in diameter both ways, the plant is doubled in size in all its parts, re- taining the dark green lustrous and profuse foliage, and is of a, vigor of HYBRIDIZING GLADIOLUS SPECIES. 147 growth and virility of increase hitherto unknown in the genus. It appears to succeed wherever tested, and can be doubtless grown anywhere and in any soil. A peculiarity of cruentus in developing its flower spikes after the first buds open is fully retained. When the spike first appears it is short and blunt, looking as if only a few blooms would develop, but growth proceeds until often 19 to 22 of these immense flowers are open, the last being about as large and perfect as the first. This progressive growth continues in water, if frequently changed, almost as perfectly as on the plant. From two to four blooms are fully expanded at the same time, thus giving a flowering period of nearly five weeks for a plot of Princeps, taking into consideration the suc- cessive side spikes and extra flowering growths sent up from strong corms. During this period, from the first of August to near the middle of September, a bed of this variety rivals in brilliancy an equal expanse of scarlet salvias. Attempts to reproduce Princeps by repeating the original cross have always failed, but many good flowers have since resulted, some of which seem worthy of perpetuation. Some odd fawn and ash colors result when crossed with species of the psittacinus and drachocephalus types. With oppositiflorus it gives a soft pink of remarkable profusion of bloom, possibly valuable for beddifig purposes. The potentialities of cruentus will not soon be exhausted, and it is likely to be frequently heard of in the future. A few unique species remain, among which Ecklonii seems most practical. It is a little plant, growing 15 to 18 inches high, with a short spike of star- shaped flowers, dull white, profusely peppered with dark purple brown. It is delicate and likes plenty of heat, but the corms are quite large and are ex- cellent keepers. The first hybrids with oppositiflorus and light Lemoineis yielded strong plants, with long, many-flowered spikes, running into shades of wine and light purple-brown, covered inside and out with characteristic spot- ting of darker tints. The best of these singular hybrids, pollenized with Princeps and large-flowered garden varieties, have developed very striking large kinds with finely-shaped blooms of various pink and wine shades, with the profuse spotting well brought out. They appear well worthy of introduc- tion as soon as sufficient stock is secured. G. Ludwigi is an odd species of tall and very upright growth. The leaves are strongly plicate, resembling young palm fronds, and are quite hirsute, the pubescence being most strongly marked on the flower spike. The many flow- ers are dull salmon-pink, small and poorly opened. They are quite ventricose in form, and very late in appearing. Crossing with cruentus, the only species we could manage to get in bloom at the same time, has improved the form, enlarged the size, brightened the color and advanced the season of the bloom, while removing most of the pubescence from the plant, which is still very upright and plicate in foliage. It is not a promising species to work from, but we hope to keep at it until real garden improvement is obtained or the successive dilute hybrids become sterile. A most distinct and beautiful little Gladiolus species was sent us three years ago by Herr Leichtlin, whose collector found it among high cliffs in a little-known part of Madagascar. It is not larger than a Freesia in growth, and produces good-sized and elegantly formed blooms of pure bright yellow. The yellow is as good as the best Jonquil or trumpet Narcissus, and not the 148 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OP NEW YORK. pallid greenish tinge usually found in the genus. It is a Winter bloomer, and our best efforts have been made to switch it around to get Summer flowers, so as to connect with yellow garden kinds. The only species we have had nn opportunity to cross it with its igneus, of the psittacinus group. One viable seed was secured, which has just produced a blooming plant. No yellow coloring appeared, the wide-open blooms being quite clear salmon. It is at- tractive in make-up, and may be of future service, though devoid of decorative value. If the yellow Madagascar species is ever obtained in quantity it will prove a treasure for Winter blooming. The little corms resemble those of Summer-blooming kinds, and are good keepers. It might be supposed that during 16 years of active hybridization among Gladiolus species, resulting in over 150,000 seedlings, many commercial varie- ties would be produced. Although we have found beautiful and promising novelties in this mass of hybrids and variety-crosses, only two so far have been thought worthy of naming and commercial introduction. One is the Cruentus-Saundersi-Gandavensis hybrid, above mentioned as Princeps. The other is a direct cross between purpureo-auratus and Saundersi, known in a limited way in the trade as Lord Fairfax. It produces a long, curving spike of Indian-red bloom, with a yellow and purple spotted throat. These are often five to seven inches across, and look like Hippeastrum blooms arranged in a Lily-of-the- Valley manner. The Chair: I am sure the thanks of the meeting are due Mr. Van Brunt for this very beautiful display. Is there any discussion of the subject? H. F. Roberts: Mr. Groff himself, to whom Mr. Van Brunt referred, is a member of this conference, and is present with us this evening. He had the kindness to com- municate some very interesting facts to a few of us, and especially facts of interest to plant breeders. Perhaps this evening he would communicate them also to this audience and permit them to ask him questions. Perhaps he might speak especially of the case of the hybrid of the Morning Star. . H. H. Groff: It was only a moment before the presentation of this paper that I had any intimation that I was supposed to make the lightest reference to my work here to- night, otherwise I would have had great pleasure in at least making some notes in order that I might give you something of the result of my experience rather than probabl} what you would consider a few disjointed remarks at the present moment. Before saying anything further, I wish to pay tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Van Brunt for the excellent artistic work that they have done in the reproduction of my hybrids. I wish to say further that it is a matter of regret to me that I notice very few of those among them that I consider even the first class types of my productions, and, further, that I would have had great pleasure, if it had been possible, to see that such types had been placed at their disposal for reproduction here to-night. I must make a rather egotistical statement; from my own experience in testing the very best productions of the world's greatest and oldest workers, many of these lead in a very marked degree anything obtbainahle commercially. Before making any further reference to my own work, I also desire to pay a tribute to the excellent scientific work of my friend, Dr. Van Fleet. Dr. Van Fleet is the most experienced worker on scientific lines in connection with the species of any worker or breeder of the Gladiolus in America, and I am sorry that he is not here to- night to speak for himself in regard to many very valuable points of interest which he might explain to you in regard to the first crosses. As you have heard me say in the course of our meetings, there are two kinds of workers in the field of hybridization: the one who works with the idea of finding out the why and the how and wherefore scien- tifically, and the other for the purpose of producing definite results of a certain character. I may class Dr. Van Fleet among the former, and I wish to take a place among the latter, with the ideal of producing high-class economic types for decoration and of ap- praised value for perpetuation and multiplication. That is one of the great characteristics &YSR1DI2ING GLADIOLUS SPECtES. 149 of my work, great vitality, rapid multiplication and reproduction. You may well under stand that it is very, very important for the worker with hybrid forms, having produced a variety, that it should possess sufficient vitality and stability, not only to maintain satis- factory conditions at home, but also to reproduce itself in any changed conditions of soil and climate in any parts of the world to which it may be sent. This is one of the most vexatious questions with which we have to deal with regard to hybrid values. Compara- tively few are capable of reproducing their excellent qualities under the many changed conditions, the result of the great revival of horticultural activity all over the whole world. Professor Roberts has made some reference with regard to one of the questions of varia- tion. These questions are of great scientific interest to him as well as to other workers, and further, I have stated in conversation with my friends that the Gladiolus, having been hybridized to at least as great an extent as, if not greater than, almost any other plant form in the floral world, gives many object lessons which would be of infinite value to those workers in all the branches of hvbridity. The case of sporting, so to speak, that I wish to refer to, was a named variety of Lemoine's. I had grown it for several years, and in- creased it by purchase year after year from the originator. It was a scarlet, with many beautiful markings. After growing it for a year or two, one day I happened to notice that the upper petal and the two lateral petals from the midrib on one plant ^ad changed to cerise. Knowing that this change was entirely different from such combinations as I had before, that is, one side red flowers and the other side white — in a case of that kind I would expect that when that bud came to divide we would have a bud producing a red stripe and one a wnite stripe, but in this you will see that the variation was a cross in the flower— I marked it out, kept it over to the next year, and the whole ground color of the flower took on the cerise color. I have multiplied that from the corms year after year, and it has still held true to its sporting condition. I have also bred it, so to speak, with light colors and have been able to produce lighter shades of the new color from this parent which may be very attractive. There has been in times past some reterence to the fact that I have not made public a great deal of the detail in connecuon with this work. I may say that the only reason for that is that I have never been asked, and further, that the longer I work the less 1 feel that I have to say. However, I may say that my friend, Mr. Barren, in commenting on my exhibit at the Pan-American, which many of you of course saw, characterized the exhibit as "Mr. Groff's much mixed hybrids." I acknowledged the title and accepted it, and I told him that I thought it was a fitting term for the greatest nation the earth had known, the American nation. The following paper was read by C. W. Ward, and accompanied by lantern slide illustrations. THE IMPROVEMENT OF CARNATIONS By C. W. Ward, Queens, N. Y. I feel somewhat delicate about describing my experiments in breeding carnations, inasmuch as what has been said upon this floor during the past two days has convinced me that the bulk of my work has been done purely in an experimental way, groping, as it were, in the dark, with but little knowledge of the subject. Until yesterday I knew nothing of Mendel's theory and laws ; in fact, did not know that such a man as Mendel existed, much less that he had discovered anything germane to the interesting subject of hybridization. However, after listening to the most interesting descriptions that have taken place here, it would seem to me that to some extent I have been dimly following Mendel's theory during the past six years. I commenced the breeding of carnations twelve years since. The first six years were spent in indiscriminate crossing, always avoiding interbreeding because of the conclusion formed that it tended to weaken the stock. I must confess that during these six years very little progressive advancement was made, although a number of good commercial carnations were produced. Six years ago I determined to work according to a definite system, and to breed from definite shades of color and upon defined habits, using plants that produced perfect calyxes. After securing desired habit and color, my plan was to afterward get as large blooms as possible. In this I am at present apparently succeeding, and for the past four years the results seem to be progressively improving. I have divided the subjects for my work into nine classes, or sections, as follows : The Crimson Section, comprising the varieties General Maceo, General Gomez, Harry Fenn, Governor and President Roosevelt, which s.ection now seems to some extent fixed, the greater percentage of the seedlings producing crimson blooms of fairly well defined characteristics. The Dark Pink Section is also fairly well established, as also are the Scarlet and White Sections; while the Light Pink Section is beginning to show signs of reproducing its kind. The Yellow and White Variegated Sections, as well as the Fancy Section, are not as well fixed, and I believe they will be very difficult to fix, as they are hybrids in the true sense of the word, being made up of characteristics common to several different types, and we must always expect in them a con- siderable variation. I52 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. The Blue Section has proven the most difficult of all, as the seedlings sport backward and forward between light lavenders and deep purples, the intermediate colors being largely a composition of pink and blue, some of them curiously and brilliantly colored. As yet I have not succeeded in secur- ing a true blue, the nearest thing being a lavender colored flower, in which, however, there was too much pink. In several crosses a number of curious seed sports have been produced, frequently a cross between two crimsons producing pure white blooms, and sometimes a delicate daybreak pink, the latter color invariably being slightly variegated with a crimson or purple streak, and frequently with picotee edges of the same color. This occurs where, as far as my records show, there has been no white or pink blood in either of the ancestors, and is probably due to the union of two like recessive characters existing in the ancestry, which have become dominant in the individual which we term the ''seed sport,'' My studies of these variations in color seem to show that while there may be several intervening hybrids that do not show the dominant character of the sport, the character must, however, have prevailed to some extent at some period in either one or both parents. In carrying on my work not less than 50,000 hybridized seedlings have been grown, and while I consider the first six years practically lost, I have been pleased to note that the advancement has been rapid during the latter six years. During this period thirty-six varieties of commercial carnations have been produced and profitably grown at The Cottage Gardens. Of these six- teen have been introduced to commerce, four being crimsons, two scarlets, two yellows, two variegated with white ground, three whites and three pinks. There are now in my collection twenty hybrids that are commercially valuable varieties, divided as follows: Four crimsons, two scarlets, two yellows, two white variegated, four pure whites, four dark pinks and two light pinks. My most successful work in the fixing of colors was accomplished with the Crimson Section. It is now fairly well established as a type, and is more constant than any of the other types, and I have noted that many other American hybridizers are using Maceo, Gomez and Governor Roosevelt in pro- ducing their crimson sorts. The progeny of the above varieties have broken into two different colors — crimson and scarlet. This may be explained by the fact that they were derived from Mr. Dorner's Meteor, a good crimson, and the English variety Winter Cheer, which is a true crimson scarlet. The modified habit of Maceo, which I consider the most profitable commercial habit in existence, is being generally bred into the other sections, and in the end I hope to produce most of the desirable colors in carnations upon this habit. I have found, as a rule, varieties do the best near the localities where they originated, or in similar environments. Those varieties produced in the East have, as a rule, done better with us than those produced in the West. Inasmuch as we are working with a purely hybrid plant, the result of several hundred years of hybridization, we must expect that the recessive charac- teristics described by Mendel will be constantly reappearing in the way of bud sports. This is well exemplified by the various sports which have occurred in ^he variety "Mrs. Lawson." I have known of several pure white sports, prob- THE IMPROVEMENT OF CARNATIONS. ably as many variegated, and one a dull scarlet. If we continue our present method of somewhat haphazard breeding we will, no doubt, not only have more of these sports in the future, but we will have varieties which will show great variability in many important characteristics, and possibly the cultivation of the hybrid carnation may become increasingly difficult in proportion to the carelessness with which we breed them. I am of the opinion that indiscriminate breeding on a large scale, while it may produce occasional good results, is largely a waste of effort, and I would heartily recommend breeding to secure a definite improvement. I have always kept fairly accurate records of the work done, and have proved to my own satisfaction that more uniformly better results were secured from the pedigree stock than from the ordinary indiscriminately bred carnations. As to the determining influences of the respective parent plants I have not been able to bring myself to believe that the pollen parent has a positive determining influence upon color, but where the desired color predominates "in several generations of both parents it is comparatively easy to reproduce that color. I have also not been able to decide that the pistilate parent has a definite determining influence upon habit, but believe that the same rule will hold good as that mentioned before as applying to color. As before mentioned, in working for a definite result several intervening hybrids bearing but little resemblance to the tyoe sought may occur. But, if the type sought predominates in the ancestry of both parents, the chances to secure it in an improved form will be increased. In my opinion the combi- nation of better culture with the improved hybrids has in a large measure secured our present improvement in carnations. I mention this particularly as I well remember the time when many of the older growers of carnations found fault with the modern hybridizer because he grew his carnations in rich soil or practised feeding the plants in order to secure better results. Much may be done to aid the improvement of the carnation by selection of propa- gating wood. After the hybrid has been secured it can be much improved by a skillful selection of the cuttings used to perpetuate the variety. This seems to be proved by the fact that we have been able to produce a fine commercial variety by selecting the strongest and best cuttings from an inferior hvbrid plant, and continuing this selection until we secured a fine improved habit. During the course of my experiments I have become convinced that the condition of the plant at the time fertilization takes place has an important influence on the progeny. This has led me to do my fertilizing, as far as possible, when the plants are in the strongest and most vigorous condition. I do not mean to say that the plant should be highly fed, as where very high feeding is practised or the soil is overly rich it is very often difficult to get seed. But I particularly desire my plants to be growing in the best possible atmospheric condition, and in a soil that produces a vigorous yet normal growth. I should not expect the best seedling carnations to be produced by plants growing under unfavorable conditions, but quite the contrary. The elimination of undesirable individual seedlings is practised to some extent before setting the plants in the field, this being determined by judging the plant for habit alone. Each year I find several good varieties in each class, and the question of 154 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. commercial sorts seems now to have resolved itself into selecting the most desirable variety in its class. At The Cottage Gardens we are working with a type of carnation dis- tinctively of American origin, the only recent infusion of foreign blood being Winter Cheer, which occurred about the year 1894. Some years since Mr. Dorner and myself used to exchange varieties, but about four years ago Mr. Dorner became of the opinion that little was to be gained by the exchange, and desired to keep the results of his work, fearing that I might become too much of a competitor if allowed to use his hybrids, and the exchanges were discon- tinued, but the results which I have obtained since these exchanges were stopped have been markedly better than before, and perhaps since that time I have been unknowingly following Mendel's theory much closer. As stated before, I have known nothing of Mendel's theory or law until the day before yesterday; but what I have heard here regarding Mendel has awakened an increasing interest in the work of hybridizing, and I shall secure his books and read them with the greatest interest, for if there is a fixed rule bv which I can produce six inch carnations on four foot stems I certainly wish to learn that rule. H. H.,Groff: I think the cause of Mr. V.ard's failure was that he did not know the composition of the hybrid from the seed of Mr. Dorner, so that when Mr. Dorner sent him a light one he had no idea, of course, as to what had produced it. In regard to the matter of producing light tynes from dark species, my experience reminds me of a point, probably the crucial point, of what might be called my system, for the improvement of like types by crossing them with the blood of other types. By way of example, let me say that I took 100 plants, giving a crop of 500 flowers of a certain kind, of European origin, which possessed satisfactory vitality; at the same time, the quality of the flower was not up to my standard, and the idea occurred to me of produc- ing better varieties of white— the demand being greater for that class of flowers than for any other. I proceeded to revitalize that with selected types, preferably of blue and yel- low. The result of those crosses is some of the finest light color that I have ever seen, satisfactory in every way, large, strong, vigorous and beautiful. Further, if I desire to produce a certain line of types from any existing either classified or unclassified species, my first work is to produce a satisfactory type from that snecies and to use that type as the foundation for a new strain or family, as well as a revitalizer for existing types. iNow, if that species happens to be a red one, and I am using a strong white bred from that, it is quite natural that among my white crosses I get a great many reds. I expect that, and many of these are reds of high color. x\t the same time, the ehect of crosses of that kind upon the light types is a great improvement in size, form, color, quality, disease resisting qualities and so on, until this year I had the satisfaction of seeing my light hybrids grow seven feet high from the ground. Of course, you have a great many discards, but at the same time it is worth while. C. W. Ward: In reply to Mr. Groff, I might state that in seeking for habit I have been following this system, my present system, for color only. The most valuable charac- teristic that a carnation can have is color. If it has a pleasant color it will sell; size, form, and everytuing else fades into insignificance beside color; color is the great thing. Now, I made up my mind that if I could secure the proper shades of color, the matter of size and habit would come afterwards, and I found that to be true. Now I have gone so far in the revitalizing of my strains as to go back and use single flowers, that is, tak- ing the single flower for the seed-bearer. Of course, in hybridizing carnations we are working for double flowers and large sized flowers. Mayor Grant, which was thrown upon the screen, was a seedling from a single scarlet flower, which was a descendant from an old variety named Portia, a small variety but a strong grower. We obtained the Maceo from the Mayor Grant, and that is the intermediate flower; that is, it is the flower from which we get the Governor Roosevelt and the other crimsons. Now, you will find in working carnations— at least I have found— I have done a little work in geraniums and a THE IMPROVEMENT OF CARNATIONS. 155 little work in melons, and in the melon work my experience was about the same as that of Professor Bailey— but I found in working carnations that where you inbreed, say you cross crimsons, take Maceo and fertilize Maceo, and you follow that up to the extent of making the foliage almost crimson, as soon as you got to that point there wasn't any- thing left in the constitution of the plant; it was run out, in other words. I didn't get any seed to speak of from it, and what seedlings I did get were runts. Now, I exercise a certain amount of selection in my seedlings. That is, after they show the fourth or fifth leaf, if the habit of the little seedling doesn't suit me I pull it up and throw it away. Seedlings of a certain habit are of no value; and after three or four years of work I found that out, so we don't waste any more work on them. But in carnations I found it nec- ecessary, where working within very close lines, to introduce influences from the outside; that is I take, say, a single crimson with a strong habit, and I will breed into that single flower in order to get strong habit, and then go on with that; and I do the same with whites and scarlets, and all the way through. H. H. Groff : Allow me to report an experience with a double or semi-double type of gladiolus, the flowers of which when separated and placed in a shallow vessel of water resemble the Nymphaea. Usually that blood in many of my crosses has resulted in the preparation of seeds producing twins, and in one case, in order to prove the question of these being identical, I kept the first ones separate and found that they produced identical flowers. Since then, my last season results show tne largest number of twins from single seeds that I have ever produced within my experience. C. W. Ward: I have heard that some hybridizers advocate keeping no records. I have religiously kept a record of every cross I made since 1894. Now I find those records valuable in this way: I don't study them very much when I make my crosses, but after I have accomplished a resu - I can go back and find out how I did it, and there is the most value. Now I can trace every single crimson flower there back to Maceo or Gomez; and when it comes to the whites or any particular stripe, in tracing the pedigree you wili find that from the pedigree in both parents the color that you have had exists some- where back there. Now, when you find that you make a cross, for instance, between two yellows and you have got ten scarlets and three yellows, and if you go back you will find that the scarlet has been the predominating color in the pedigree on both sides. So that in just studying my pedigrees I have come to the conclusion that the closer you breed to a color the surer you are of getting that color; and that also holds good for fragrance. H. H. Groff: I also kept notes until after the production of over 5,000 desirable types, and it became rather burdensome. C. W. Ward: I also produced a large number of desirable forms, but then I picked the best of the desirable forms. W. Bateson: I would like to know whether in breeding from the light sections you ever produced dark seed. Breeding from the dark sections you get to the light, but breeding from light sections, question, do the darks ever come? C. W. Ward: In pinks they uo; we get dark pinks. But I never got any crimsons except in dark pinks where the crimson existed in the pedigree. I presume that this Day- break pink that I get in the crimson comes in from Mr. Dorner's work; I can't trace it in mine. W. J. Spillman: Careful work of this kind is of immense value to the scientist, and I can't help saying either that when these practical men, who occasionally rather speak slightingly of theoretical men, learn the immense value in dollars and cents of knowing the why and the wherefore, and how to do it again, it will be worth a great deal to them. In other words, if Mendel's law is true, it is worth millions of dollars to the breeders of plants in this country. If it is not true, it is vastly important that we should know it soon. President James Wood took the chair. The following paper was read by N. E. Hansen. THE BREEDING OF NATIVE NORTHWESTERN FRUITS By N. E. Hansen, Horticulturist, Brookings, S. D. All who are familiar with the climate and soil of the prairie North- west, and with the history of the fruit culture of this vast region, know the practical importance of this line of work. We must create a new pomology. Almost all the varieties familiar to Eastern fruit growers are tender and worthless on the open prairies of a large part of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Northern Iowa and the Canadian Northwest. With a view to meet this de- mand for hardier fruits the writer has engaged extensively in the work of originating news sorts better adapted to the conditions. At present consid- erably over one hundred thousand fruit seedlings are on the grounds of the South Dakota Experiment Station as the result of this determination. The wild fruits of the prairie Northwest form the main material, although some work is being done with the apple. The methods pursued are simple, being mainly the carrying out of the principle laid down by Darwin, "Excess of food causes variation." This is the star to which the wagon is hitched. Crossing and hybridizing are used as means of hastening the process of evolution by introducing new elements of variation. The chief reliance is placed on selec- tion from large numbers. Some of the crossing is done under glass to guard against undue loss from unfavorable weather conditions at the time of blos- soming. One of the main lines of work is the improvement of the native sand cherry (Prunus Besseyi). Over five thousand seedlings formed the ma- terial for selection in the first generation, and over fifteen thousand in the second generation, most of . which bore the past season. Some of the seedlings bore fruit measuring fully three-fourths of an inch in diameter and of good quality, and this the third season from seed. My fall inventory will not be complete until digging time, but several thousand seedlings of the third gen- eration have been raised this year. Over seventy-five varieties have been selected as being worthy of propagation. These are being budded on native plum roots, and an effort will be made to breed them true to seed. Some extra large native seedling plums bore heavily this year. Also a few rasp- berry seedlings of half wild and half tame ancestry were selected. Some two hundred strawberries, also crosses between wild and tame, were selected from some eight thousand plants. The strawberries as brought from the Eastern States are not fully hardy in the northern part of South Dakota, and a hardier strawberry is much needed, Some interesting results appear; for 158 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. instance, the everbearing strawberries as imported from France winter-killed, but their hybrids with wild Dakota strawberries proved hardy. The field is a wide one and the demand for hardy fruits urgent. The practical importance is self-evident, since fruit culture is essential to true home-making upon the open prairies. RESOLUTION. Dr. N. L. Britton presented and moved the adoption of a resolution com- mending the movement inaugurated by the American Association of Agri- cultural Colleges and Experiment Stations toward a general co-operation in the study of heredity and the improvement of plants and animals. The mo- tion was seconded by Mr. Watrous, and carried. Upon the suggestion of Mr. W. H. Evans, the secretary was directed to transmit a notice of the action just taken to the secretary of the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, and also to send copies of this resolution to the horticultural press in advance of the publication of the proceedings of this conference. The following paper was read by T. V. Munson. ADVANTAGES OF CONJOINT SELECTION AND HY- BRIDIZATION, AND LIMITS OF USEFULNESS IN HYBRIDIZATION AMONG GRAPES By T, V. Munson, Denison, Tex. In this paper no attempt is made to prove its main propositions, which are put forth in dogmatic form rather than inductive, in order to be brief, re- ferring to Bulletin 56 of the Texas Experiment Station in part for proof and to the numerous seedling and hybrid grapes produced in the United States and France in recent years, in which the parentage is known and published in the various works upon grapes as further proof and illustration. I also respectfully invite your attention to the photographs of species and varieties of grapes I have placed in your exhibition hall. [This comprehen- sive collection of photographs was afterwards presented to the New York Botanical Garden. — ED.] Before we can well proceed to present the subject we should have in mind the object sought in improving grapes, which is, primarily, to get the best possible fruit in greatest abundance. This includes two classes of special considerations, namely : (a) To better the vine — fby better resisting disease. 1. In length of life -j by better enduring climatic extremes. [by better adaptation to soils. [by sure and abundant setting of crop. 2. In productiveness j by capability of fully and evenly ripening. Lby persistence of berry to pedicel, (fr) To better the fruit— T. Iii size of cluster and berry. 2. In color and prunose bloom. 3. In texture and quality of skin and pulp — (a) for table. (/;) for wine. 4. In number, size and freedom of seeds. 5. In handling, carrying and keeping qualities. How may this complex object be obtained in the fullest degree? By selection alone? No; for it would require an immense number of successive generations from an original parent to reach any great degree of excellence in even a few of the above mentioned requirements, and that the process of selection, alone, without crossing or hybridizing, becomes in and in breeding, which invariably weakens vitality and lessens productiveness, as seen in the Martha, Lady and many other pure seedling descendants of Con- HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. cord in the third, fourth, fifth and later generations. Besides no new distinct flavors or other characteristics, not already bound up in the original parent, can ever be obtained. All pure progeny of Concord are essentially Concord in character, the chief variation being in color, ranging from black to greenish, or yellowish, dull white; never red. This tendency to albinos indi- cates weakness in vitality. The best developed seedlings, by pure selection in any one particular point, would rarely ever be selected to continue the breeding, for, in general, such varieties are found to be ruinously deficient in having other good characteristics retained sufficiently to make them profitable. This single-line endeavor to get perfection out of imperfection is similar to trying to pour two gallons of wine out of a one gallon jug. But by pouring into a two gallon jug a gallon each from two one gallon jugs, each having a different kind of wine, two gallons of a different and possibly a better wine than either that entered into the blend can be poured out again. This, told in a figurative way, is what crossing and hybridizing may do. But will indiscriminate crossing and hybridizing, without selection, make any progress? No; except that it would produce forms that could never occur by selection alone. This often occurs in wild nature, and in many cases it is a step backward, so far as being beneficial to man is concerned, as seen in the crossing of popcorn and field or sweet corn, the mixing of pumpkins and squashes, etc. Then, will conjoint selection and hybridization serve a better purpose? Yes, most assuredly. How? Why? Just how, we cannot tell fully. If the process of intermingling varietal and specific characteristics were purely only a mixture we could better explain, perhaps, but there is something more than mechanical mixture. Subtile chemical changes take place, and new organic compounds are formed under the stimulus, and in the union, of specific bloods. New flavors, not found in either parent, come forth ; new colors arise, new forms are built up, so much so, that often botanists would pronounce them new species, if found in the woods. Yet the critical, trained, analytical eye discovers the characteristics of each parent in the hybrid. The tongue discovers the two specific flavors ; generally, the eye sees the blend- ing of specific colors. The mystery of two becoming "one flesh" the scientist may never unfold, but the wonderful fact remains for practical benefit. Further on, more of the "how" will be given. Why conjoint selection and hybridization serve a better purpose than selection alone, we may be better able to answer. The very fact that crossing, or hybridizing, enables us to embody in a variety flavors, colors, seasons, chemical properties, vine characteristics of resistance to disease, adaptation to soils and climates, that selection alone could never reach, is one of the best reasons for employing the conjoint methods of development. The immensely greater rapidity and extent of progress the conjoint method permits is another very important reason why it should be employed wherever available. It may be clearly seen by a keen-eyed student of nature, as it is quickly learned by a practical originator, that to progress much in all the points . apped in our scheme for the best development of grapes (and these prin- SELECTION AND HYBRIDIZATION AMONG GRAPES. 11 ciples, as illustrated among the species of Prunus, will apply quite as well in any genus of plants having several species, as with Vitis), it is very essen- tial to employ some rapidly accumulative methods which will bring together in harmony and stableness the information sought. The process might still further be speeded, probably, by uniting in it budding and grafting, which Professor Lucien Daniel of France claims will, in many cases alone, produce true hybrids — as between tomatoes and potatoes — among the plants grown from the seeds of the graft. Professor Daniel mentions many examples of such hybrids in his writings about his work along this line. I have never experimented any in this direction, and hence cannot say how it would affect in combination with cross-pollination. I would expect less stability in such hybrids, if we may properly term them such, than those produced in cross-pollination.* I have conjectured sometimes whether or not it is possible for double hybridization to take place in an ovule in a single operation by, at the same moment, having a spermatozoid from each of two or more species to enter the ovule egg-cell and fuse together with the protoplasm of the egg nucleus, thus combining the blood of three or more species all at once. As the blood of the several species can be eventually intermingled in one individual, by successive crossings, there would seem no physiological reason why not all at once, by applying mixed pollen to the stigma. But so far as the most painstaking microscopic scrutiny among the few species of plants examined reveals the process of fecundation by pollination, only one male nucleus has ever been found to reach and fuse with the female nucleus, although several spermatozoids have been observed lodged against the egg-cell wall of the ovule, and a number of pollen tubes containing spermatids have been seen at the same time bending into the archegonal chamber in the apex of the prothallus of the ovule.t It seems probable that the male and female nuclei are minute polarized protoplasmic masses. The germinal nuclei may be drawn to each other in a similar way that magnets attract each other.$ The first spermatozoid to bore through the egg-cell wall by aid of its spiral ciliary band is at once focused in the magnetic pole of the female nucleus, which is much larger than the male nucleus, and drawn into it and fused together. The female nucleus seems incapable of focalizing on or at- tracting more than one male nucleus. They (the male and female nuclei) appear to have passed the stage of spermatozoids instantly at moment of *See also Mr. A. June, in Revue des Hybrides Franco-Americains ou 1'Isabelle de Poligny Hybride de Greffe. tH. J. Webber, in Bulletin No. 2, Bureau of Plant Industry, Dep. Agr. Tbis treats of fecundation in Zamia, but by the laws of comparative physiology we infer that the process is similar in Vitis, in which the process has never been observed. The flowers are too small, probably, even for the microscopic eye to observe it. JThe Blepheroplasts, or specialized centrosomes, similarly to the rays of a magnet, curving back around and toward the central line of the central cell of the pollen tube, strongly suggest magnetic force, or a very near relative, controlling the life movements of "the spermatid in the central cell, causing it to divide. But the formation of the ciliary band and the swimming in the cytoplasm by means of the cilia, and the subse- quent boring of the spermatozoid into the egg-cell, by means if its gimlet-like cone, suggests more than mere blind magnetic force. It seems to be more akin to intelligent or conscious pairing. 162 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. contact, losing all affinity for other nuclei, and start at once a new life, the infant germ soon to become the mature seed. In some of my accidental hybrids, at times, when trying to analyze them by their specific markings, it would seem impossible to explain them as resulting from only two of any known species, some of them apparently embodying three and four distinct sets of specific markings, while their known mothers were apparently pure representatives of only one species, which stood surrounded by numerous other species, several flowering at the same time. Yet as nearly all our species of grapes show that they contain traces of mixture with other species at some distant past, reversion may explain these apparent complex hybrids by one generation. The theory of mutation, which appears to de- mand a causeless effect, I dare not appeal to until better proven. I throw out these thoughts for some of our younger, more scientific hybridizers to work upon. If it should be found that double or treble fecundation can occur with the female nucleus, and can be practiced by the hybridizer, he could accom- plish in one lifetime what would take generations to do by single pollination. The rate of development would be high geometrical, instead of arithmetical, or a low geometrical speed, as by present methods. THE LIMITS OF USEFULNESS IN HYBRIDIZATION AMONG GRAPES. In considering the first part of our subject, the objects to be sought were briefly pointed out. • In general, we may say, that when all those objects served by hybridization of pure species are reached, we should cease such direct intermingling of pure species and proceed to select and cross-pollenize among the varieties already produced, to constitute a separate family, until we could work it into more desirable new varieties, all of a sufficient homogeneity to give a fixedness of type, that will yield uniform results, as in types of stock breeding (although live stock breeding does not make a per- fect comparison, on account of lack of species involved, unless we should include in it several species, as the musk-ox, the bison, the Indian and African cattle, etc., in the genus Bos). By thus cross-pollinizing we eventually can build more wonderful families of grapes for every season and use than the Old World has ever known among its thousands of varieties. There are some fundamental facts with reference to pure and mixed blood that, to keep in mind, will greatly aid the hybridizer in the proper conduct of his work of development. The purer the specific blood, known by the greater uniformity of the individuals of the species, and especially season of flowering, character and ripening of fruit, the more persistent to its type will it be in cultivation and in showing forth in hybrid forms. The hybrids vary much less from the parent taken from the homogeneous species than they do from the parent from the variable species. This law, or method of action, is well illustrated in quite a number of hybrids of V. rotundi folia (one of the most homogeneous species), with less homogeneous species and their hybrids, produced by me. Several French hybridizers, among them A. Millardet* of the Faculty of Bor- *Deceased since this paper was read, in 1903. SELECTION AND HYBRIDIZATION AMONG GRAPES. cleaux University, who is one of the most scientific and noted living grape hybridizers, have noted this law in their writings. Persistency or non-variable- ness of character in varieties under differing conditions of soil, climate, etc., is very desirable, and it gets it undoubtedly from purity of specific blood, or long continued selection and combinations of those varieties that best resist the maladies contended against. Hence, on this account, it is better not to combine more species in one variety than is necessary 'to include the points sought. On the other hand, the greater the number of species, especially species of great variability within themselves, such as Vinifera, Labrusca, Lincecumn, /Estiz'cilis, Bicolor, embodied in a hybrid, the greater will be its unstableness of character, tried under different conditions, so that each season being some- what different from every other, one can never beforehand be certain of what the variety will do. Still more will it vary in character in being put into different soils and climates, and hence is certain to be very local in its successes. To illustrate: Suppose that I should reason, like the quack doctor, that if I combine a great many drugs into a "pill" or "bitters" that it (the pill) would cure every disease, according to the theory that where one medicine would miss, another in the pill would hit, and conclude that if I should unite in one very complex hybrid all native American grapes that the complex hybrid produced would be a universal success; entirely overlooking the fact that the blood of extreme southern kinds would reduce the hardiness of the northern species against cold, and vice versa ; that the species from the high, arid regions, where cryptogamic diseases cannot exist, intermingled with those in the lowland humid atmosphere would make hybrids that could neither resist much drouth nor the fungus diseases. So, the hybrid embodying all species, instead of being universally successful, would universally be a failure, just as is the quack's stomach bitters. The true principle is to produce special varieties for special soils, cli- mates and uses. But in every case we want those resistant, as far as possible, to insect and fungus diseases. We want larger clusters and persistent, larger berries for market and table. We want those for wine that will produce abundance of must of special desirable qualities. How can such results be best secured for each region? Clearly, only by combining two to four species, if so many can be found, of the very best selections of each in the region to be supplied. This gives room for each hybridizer to create a special list of varieties for the peculiar climatic region in which he works. Here it may be acceptable to introduce some suggestive propositions. Suppose I should desire to develop a set of varieties best adapted to the hot, dry climate of Southwestern Texas, to grow in the very limy upland soils there, where the Phylloxera is natively abundant. Would I not select the large clustered, fine quality, Phylloxera-leaf-folder-rot-resisting, deep- rooting, lime-loving Berlandieri, and intermingle it with the best disease-re- sisting, drouth-resisting, lime-loving, large-clustered, large-berried Viniferas? Most certainly 1 would, as I have already done in a small way, with most prom- ising results, for a widely extended region in the Southwest. To give still 164 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. greater root power, with nearly all of the good points of the Berlandieri, with larger berries, highly colored juice, easy growth from cuttings and desirable flavors and wine properties, not found in either Berlandieri or Vinifera, native of the same region with Berlandieri, I would also surely use V. Champini, V. rupestris, and perhaps V . candicans for special wine purposes. If, on account of the non-resistance of Vinifera to Phylloxera, the hybrids might not be sufficiently resistant thereto, I would graft them upon Berlandieri, Champini, Candicans and Rupestris of that region, and continue to introduce into them the finer hybrid strains of native blood. So I would do for other regions with their native species in combinations with the best selections of Vinifera for such regions. The Vinifera we cannot afford to omit, as it is the embodiment, in fine qualities, of thousands of years of improvement. We can fortify its weakness with native blood, and besides greatly enrich its qualities for every use. Yet we have produced hybrids without any Vinifera blood of very good qualities for market, table and wine, and could, so I confidently predict, erect a splendid viticulture, if Vinifera were all destroyed. It is quite clear, from all our experience, that little can be gained by combining more than three or four species for any particular region, and those species should be, as far as possible, the best selected natives of the region to be supplied. This applies only to those parts of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, for no other regions of the earth have any native species, except the Vinifera, suitable to yield any very good results in hybridization. For other parts of the world some combination of disease-resisting Amer- ican varieties with Vinifera promise the best results, as in France many direct producers, especially for wine, have been originated by combining V. rupestris chiefly, and V. Lincecumii with Vinifera, The French taste greatly dislikes the "foxy" and earthy flavors of the Librusca and its low percentage of sugar, hence eschews it for new-variety-making purposes. The primary specific selections should always be, as nearly as possible, from similar climatic and soil conditions to those to be served. If we should start with only one variety, or original selection, from each of two or three species of any particular region, and continue indefinitely to use these through a long course of selection and recrossing, eventually we would tend too much to in and in breeding to permanently maintain en- durance. Such seems to have been somewhat the character of development of many Vinifera varieties, while others appear to have come down purely of one species by a long course of pure selection ; and I believe this too close in and in breeding has had much to do with the feebleness of many varieties of that class of grapes. Hence, for each distinct set of climatic and soil conditions we should have recourse to several different varieties of each species used, collected from widely separated localities of that region, if possible. For example : If we were endeavoring to produce the most desirable of market and table grapec for New England, the Atlantic Slope and the Great Lakes region, where the flavor of Labrusca is relished, we would begin by se- lecting Concord, Ives, Perkins, Wyoming, Columbian and others of the best SELECTION AND HYBRIDIZATION AMONG GRAPES. 165 types of Labrusca yet found, along with Clinton (an accidental wild hybrid of Labrusca X Vulpina, found in New York) and the best of the Taylor family (accidentally originating in Kentucky as a hybrid of Labrusca X Vulpina}, and we would include some of the very best of the / '. bicolor of Ohio (such as Kohr and others found by Dr. G. L. Tinker of New Philadel- phia, Ohio, who is most intelligently working to produce a family of Bicolor hybrids), and some of the large-berried, large-clustered V. Lincccumii of Southwest Missouri, Arkansas, the Indian Territory and North Texas (such as Jaeger's 43 and my Lucky, which have proven perfectly hardy in Massa- chusetts, Ohio and New York, and very resistant to rot and mildew), and in- termingle them by twos and threes with each other and the hardiest, healthiest, large-clustered, large-berried Vinifcra varieties. Thus, several distinct families should be started, and from time to time various selections from these different families of hybrids should be chosen, according to their peculiar fitness for some special purpose or location, and combined to form secondary families, that would be decided improvements upon their progenitors. Such a large basis to use for development would serve for many generations, and the limits of evolution of colors, seasons, flavors, etc., could never be reached. Clusters requiring two men with a staff to carry them, as in old Canaan, might be produced, with berries on them as large as Kelsey plums! Who knows? If nature, by its haphazard selection, aided by the wild animals, produced the cocoanut, the banana, the bread fruit and the marvelous durion fruit of the tropics, what may not nature and man together produce, with scientific knowledge, keenly sharpened observa- tion and skilled technique on the part of man? As an example of cluster lengthening in two or three generations from varieties, none of which had half so long clusters, those of the Captain grape have come, and, withal, much better qualities. As an example of refining and compounding flavors by complex hybridization, I mention but one among a large number produced, of which this is an exact natural size cluster, repro- duced somewhat nearly in color. It is named Wapanuka, and contains in combination at least three species, and probably four, partly by accidental and partly by careful hand hybridization. This variety was produced by me by pollenizing my Rommel with Bril- liant pollen. Rommel was produced by me by pollenizing Elvira with Camp- bell's Triumph. Elvira was produced by Jacob Rommel of Missouri from seed of Taylor, probably accidentally crossed by some Labrusca, unknown, or may have been a pure seedling of Taylor. Taylor was an accidental hybrid of some unknown Labrusca with some unknown Vulpina. Its blood is proven by its characters being of these two species, without doubt. Triumph was pro- duced by the lamented George W. Campbell by pollenizing Concord with Muscat of Alexandria (Vinifera). Concord, as you all know, is a seedling of second generation by E. W. Bull from some wild Labrusca ("Fox Grape"), found in the woods by some boys near where Mr. Bull lived in Massachusetts, and given to him to taste. Brilliant was produced by me by pollenizing Roger's No. 9 (Lindley) with Delaware. Lindley was produced by E. S. Rogers, the pioneer hybridizer of grapes in America, by pollenizing some large Labrusca variety, found by him in the woods of Massachusetts, with 166 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. the Golden Chasselas. Delaware, found in a Mr. Provost's garden in New Jersey, clearly a hybrid between some Labrusca and either V . Bourquiniana, of the Herbemont type, or some Vinifera variety (Botanical markings are much more like Bourquiniana than Vinifera} ; or, speaking specifically, by pro- portion of parts, Wapanuka consists of the best strains of three or four species, namely: Labrusca, 8 or 9-16; Vulpina, i or 2-16; Vinifera, 4-16; Bourquiniana, 2-16; It is slightly subject to mildew — less than Delaware — which it inherits from the Delaware and the Vini- fera, through the Lindley and Triumph. It has the delicate skin of Vulpina and Vinifera, thus proving that weakness survives in a variety through many generations ; hence, the great importance of starting with varieties devoid of weakness, as well as with those possessing as many large merits as possible. While the Wapanuka has some weaknesses, it has the most delicate flavors and texture, making it exceedingly palatable, even surpassing the best Viniferas, although much more than one-half wild Ameri- can blood, and the vine endures the climate well, both in Texas and Ohio, without protection. I am quite sure that selection and hybridization conducted on the plans I have outlined will make the best stable progress in producing all manner of varieties desirable for the table, the market and for wine, for every region where any two or more species of grapes will grow, and that has proven to be more or less of the surface of every country of any considerable size, lying between north and south latitude of fifty degrees. The Chair: I am quite sure we all feel indebted to Mr. Munson for his paper. It conies from one who has followed the work in this line for a long time, and the results of his labors are well known. The following paper was read by C. E. Saunders, NOTES ON SOME VARIATIONS IN THE SECOND GEN- ERATION OF BERBERIS HYBRIDS Chas. E. Saunders, Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada* In May, 1894, at the suggestion of Dr. William Saunders, Director of the Experimental Farms of the Dominion of Canada, the writer of this paper crossed Berberis Thunbergii with B. vulgaris purpurea, the former being used as the female. Five flowers were operated upon and five seeds ob- tained. These were sown the following autumn, and from them four strong shrubs were raised, all of which are still living. They are practically identical in all respects, and need not, therefore, be discussed individually. The principal characteristics of these hybrids have already been de- scribed in a paper read by Dr. William Saunders before the British Asso- ciation for the Advancement of Science in 1897 ; and it is therefore unneces- sary, at this time, to refer to them at any length. It may be well, however, to present in tabular form some of the chief points of difference between the hybrids and their parents : c *, w *! si 1| 13 the cultivator so that sunshine is shut out from the crowns, and for renew- ing their beds it. is a universal custom to take the plants which form in the path or alley late in September and October, giving them no adequate time to perfect their buds, and thus the vegetative part of the plant was stimulated and the fruit-producing organism repressed so that heav> manuring and tillage resulted in producing excessive runners and foliage without a corresponding increase in fruit. For my fruiting fields I have for years grown all my plants from ideai or perfect specimens found here and there in the field, beginning the search for them in the growing season, and those most promising — showing large fruit crowns and healthy foliage — were staked and numbered and the following spring restricted by removing half the blossom buds to prevent pollen exhaustion. After fruit had set, only two berries on each fruit stem were allowed to ripen so that the form, texture, flavor and color of the berries might be determined. Each plant was scaled on the basis of one to ten, and the one showing the greatest number of points of excel- lence was given the "blue ribbon" and became the mother of all the futnrt plants of that variety on the farm. The runners were potted and transferred to special beds, where the> were given room for plenty of air and sunshine to further develop and stimulate their fruit-producing organism, and the following spring all new beds were stocked with these plants. To % determine if results justified this process of plant-growing, I set plants from a neighboring plantation grown after the general plan of fruit growers, taking "alley plants" from the edges of the matted row, setting them in alternate rows with those thoroughbred as above stated, giving all the most thorough tillage and confining them to hills and hedge-row. There was a wide difference in the quality and quantity of the berries picked from the two classes of plants. As in the case of the first experi- ments, the selected plants gave at the rate of from three to five hundred bushels per acre, while from the plants of the second grade scarcely a hundred bushels were secured. It has been estimated that the strawberry production in the United States has now reached the enormous sum of ninety million dollars in reasonably favorable years. The demand is governed by quality or the pleasure experienced in eating the fruit, and so if growers can be induced to adopt the better methods of breeding their plants and giving them the benefit of modern research in tillage and fertilizing, the question of mar- kets would be solved by greatly increased consumption creating a demand that could hardly be met at largely advanced prices. The berry grower is now just where the stock grower v/as fifty years ago. Then stockmen talked only of breeds. If the pedigree was right, any sway-backed, knock-kneed, badly developed animal would serve the full purpose for breeding, but it is worthy of note tha-t the splendid animals which now grace our barnyards did not come into existence until the individuality of an animal fixed its value. 172 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY Of NEW YORK. At all our horticultural fairs and meetings we talk incessantly of varieties without regard to plant individuality. We never put stress on the physical condition of plants under test but class them all on an equality. New varieties come and shine like a meteor in the horticultural heavens for a season, and then through a want of restriction and selection of better variations, they produce fewer berries of lower quality, and finally drop out of sight while the new seedlings follow in rapid succession. In the not distant future our agricultural colleges will give us experts who will detect these valuable variations, and our nurseries will furnish us plants and trees handed down through generations as the accumulations of better qualities through constant selection of bud variation just as they are now doing in breeding corn, cotton and wheat. We must no longer breed our plants at random, but do it with a definite object in view. Let us have hybridization to secure initial changes and then, with the mind centered on the ideal, seek the slower process of bud variation as a means of developing and fixing in the plant the desired changes, and then we shall see the dawn of a new era in horticulture. H. F. Roberts: Have you made any crosses on any of these improved bud varia- tions? R. M. Kellogg r No, sir; I have felt that this is an age of specialties. I used to dabble in almost everything, but trie last three years I have found all my time fully occupied in this one point. Take the popular varieties to-day handled by nurserymen, and you will find that they all center on less than twelve varieties that are leading popular sorts. This has arisen out of the fact that we cannot get a superior variety on an average of less than 20,000 seedlings, and it is true that these are required to be developed by a system of thorough tillage through many years, and that is the cause of the plants run- ning out. Strawberry growers never prune their plants. They never restrict them. They bear all the pollen they can, and seed bearing takes place, and it runs the plant out so it is physically unable to produce seed, and as the fruit flesh grows only as the suostance for the seeds to grow in, you soon run them out. Now, this has been my work : Simply building up in the plant the seed organism and consequent fruit development, and, there- fore, I have not paid any attention to new selections, but have taken those produced or found by other people and stimulated them by thorough tillage, plenty of air and under the most favorable conditions, using largely phosphates and potash — as you know, those stimulate the seed-bearing organism — and bring out the plants in that way. The state- ment has been made, I don't vouch for that, that ninety millions of dollars are spent every year in strawberries, and yet I believe that one-half of that crop is lost, simply because of plants that by devitalization have been simply rendered incapable of bearing fruit. You .prune vour orchards; you prune everything else; why shouldn't you prune your strawberries? The Chair: We will have one more paper at this session that will not take quite all of our time, and so I ask Mr. G. T. Powell to speak to us upon some of the results obtained by him in bud variation in apples. BUD VARIATION IN THE APPLE Geo. T. Powell, Ghent, N. Y. Ten years ago I began the propagation of two kinds of apples, the Tomp- kins County King and the Sutton Beauty, upon the principle of bud selection. While at Geneva I observed on the grounds of Mr. S. D. Willard a Sutton Beauty apple tree, one portion of which showed decided characteristics in quality of fruit better than other portions of the tree. I selected from this portion of the tree scions, and top-worked 100 Northern Spy trees with these grafts from this Sutton Beauty apple tree of Mr. Willard's. I have since selected from the trees thus propagated the strongest, finest buds from the most typical trees of the 100 so started originally. I have to-day the current generation, that is, the result of the third selec- tion of the Sutton Beauty, each time selecting the finest type of tree, then studying the character of the growth of this tree and choosing the buds from the strongest, the most vigorous branches upon these trees. Now, there were three points in my mind in starting this work. One was to get vigor in the growth of the tree. The second was to get uniformity in the character of the fruit, and the third was to obtain, if possible, the prolific tendency. So far I am very glad to report that all three points have been well secured, as this third result of the fruit which I have got. In relation to the Tompkins County King another very interesting result has been observed; that is, by top-working the Tompkins County King buds upon the Northern Spy tree, the constitutional weakness of the King seems to be strengthened; that is, it seems to be eliminated so far, because, after eleven years, there is not the first evidence of apple canker appearing upon these young Kings top-worked upon the Northern Spy stock, while ordinarily in New York State at the age of eleven years there are from 15 to 30 per cent, of the trees so affected with the apple canker that they become practically valueless. I believe that there is a wonderful field in this direction; that there is as much difference in the buds upon the tree as Mr. Mttnson stated that there is in animals in breeding. I am very glad to give just these few words in these very few moments. Tfie following paper was read by H. C. Price. HAND POLLINATION OF ORCHARD FRUITS H* C. Price, Horticultural State College, Ames, Iowa. To the plant breeder thoroughly endowed with a love of his work and appreciating the possibilities that lie before him, the Northwest offers an enchanting field for labor. The prairie conditions of the Mississippi Valley are peculiar to themselves in soil and climate. No place on the globe has an equal body of land abounding in such agricultural wealth. Tempered by no inland lakes, sheltered by no surrounding mountains, and protected by no native forests, our conditions are extremely severe. The first settlers brought with them the varieties of fruit they had grown in the East, and saw them "go out," unable to stand the trying conditions. The country was scoured for hardier varieties, but with little success. Im- portations were made from other countries, notably Eastern Europe and West- ern Asia, and at one time it was thought that a panacea had been found for all troubles in this foreign stock. They were heralded as cold resisting, disease resisting and insect resisting, but experience has taught that the real value of a large majority of them will be as a means to the end in the hands of the plant breeder rather than in any inherent value they may possess themselves. The plant breeder has the opportunity now to gather up the broken threads of these dismal failures, and by bringing together the good qualities and elimi- nating the bad to produce the longed for fruits. To do this we must awaken an interest in plant breeding among horti- culturists; we must have their co-operation. The task that to one man may seem hopeless, to a thousand is but recreation. For one man to hand- pollinate one hundred blossoms each spring is not much of a task, but if 1,000 men would do this we would have 100,000 blossoms bred each spring. The production of hardy varieties is the work for the masses, and not for the single experimenter. Success in plant breeding is best obtained by rais- ing large numbers of seedlings, and destroying with a free hand. Hand- pollination is too tedious work for one man to do a great deal of in the short time that he can work. The operation itself is not difficult, and can be done by any one with a little practice. In order to get horticulturists to co-operate in this work the Iowa Experi- ment Station has been sending pollen to any that would agree to do the work under their directions. Pollen is gathered in the southern part of the State, and is distributed from the Experiment Station. Certain crosses are recom- mended, and the pollen is supplied to make these crosses. In the fall the 176 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. seeds of the hand-pollinated fruit can either be sent to the Experiment Station to be grown on their grounds, or kept and grown by the man raising them, and the latter method is preferred. It keeps the man's interest alive in the work to have his own seedlings growing before him, and for him to watch for their first fruits. He not only watches them himself, but he shows them to his friends and awakens their interest, and thus it keeps spreading from one farm to another, and the interests of plant breeding are advanced. Horticulturists often hesitate to take up the work of hand-pollination because of the tediousness of the work. At best it is a slow and painstaking operation. It comes at a season when the horticulturist is crowded with work, and the short time that the blooming period lasts necessitates that all the work must be crowded into a very few days. Anything that will facilitate the details of the operation is of prime importance to the plant breeder. In order to determine some way of lessening the details of the work, the Iowa Experiment Station last spring made comparative tests of different methods of pollinating the apple. HIGH VERSUS LOW EMASCULATION. In high emasculation the corolla and anthers were removed with tweezers, and the calyx was not disturbed. In low emasculation the calyx, corolla and stamens were removed by cutting through the blossom just at the base of the sepals, being careful not to injure the pistils. This necessitates very careful work and cutting entirely around the blossom. Low emasculation has the advantage that it can be done much more expeditiously than high emascula- tion, and if the results of pollination were satisfactory would be a decided advantage. But in fifty-nine blossoms emasculated low in five different varie- ties of apples only seven fruits set, or less than 2 per cent. ; and in eighty- eight blossoms emasculated high twenty-three set fruit, or slightly over 26 per cent. The results were even more pronounced in the Wealthy apple. Fifty blossoms emasculated high and pollinated with Ben Davis pollen set eleven fruits, or 22 per cent. Twenty-five emasculated low set only one fruit, or 4 per cent. POLLINATION AT TIME OF EMASCULATION. It is a commonly accepted idea that better results are obtained from pollination if delayed for two or three days after emasculation, or until after the stigmas come into a receptive condition, as shown by the viscid fluid that shows on their surface. To follow this method necessitates the covering of the blossoms when emasculated and then going over them again to pollinate them, and resacking. A test was made of the effect of pollinating as soon as emasculated, and of delaying it two or three days till the stigmas should come into a receptive condition. The results were very decidedly in favor of the immediate pollination. Out of 134 blossoms, consisting of Wealthy, Wai- bridge and Grant Crab, mostly Wealthy, pollinated as soon as emasculated, 95 fruit set, or a fraction less than 71 per cent., while in 83 blossoms of the same varieties, pollinated three and four days later (the weather being cool), only 13 fruit set, or a trifle over 15 per cent. The blossoms were emasculated in the ordinary method, removing only corolla and anthers. These results would seem to indicate that better results can be obtained if the pollen is placed on the stigmas as soon as the blossom HAND POLLINATION OF ORCHARD FRUITS. 177 is emasculated. When put on in this manner it awaits until the stigma comes into the receptive stage and then germinates and grows down and fecundates the ovules. On the other hand, if delayed till the stigma shows to the eye that it is in a receptive condition the style is likely to break down before the pollen reaches the ovules. Or, in short, it is much safer to put the pollen on the stigma too soon than too late. APPLYING POLLEN TO THE STIGMA. The question of how the pollen shall be applied to the stigma is one of the important details of the work. The use of a camel's hair brush is usually recommended, while others say that as good results and more rapid work can be done by using the finger. In our experiments, out of 73 blossoms of Wealthy and Grant Crab apples pollinated with the operator's finger, 12 fruit set, or 16^2 per cent., and out of 53 blossoms of the same varieties pollinated with a camel's hair brush, 14 fruit set, or 26l/2 per cent. If the supply of pollen is abundant, it can probably be supplied as satisfactorily with the ringer as with the brush, but where the supply is limited and must be used sparingly it is likely that more satisfactory results can be obtained by the use of a brush. The most pronounced results obtained were those that favor pollination at the time of emasculation. Also, in collecting pollen, it was found that much better pollen was secured from anthers taken from blossoms before the corolla had opened. In general I believe that more satisfactory results can be obtained from hand-pollination by doing the work earlier than is generally practised. Hand-pollination is the highest developed art of the plant breeder. By it he is enabled to control his conditions and establish pedigrees with as much certainty as the animal breeder. Inter-planting, natural crossing and various methods of securing cross-pollination may be practised, but they can never establish positive records that will enable the scientist to establish the laws of plant breeding. The scientific plant breeder must continue to follow hand- pollination, and in orchard fruits in which the generations are so slow in reproducing themselves, it is doubly important: The conference then adjourned to the Museum of the New York Botanical Garden. The following paper was read by H. F. Roberts: METHODS OF CEREAL BREEDING IN KANSAS By H. F. Roberts, Botanist at the State College, Manhattan, Kansas, The botanical and chemical departments of the Kansas State Agricultural College, at Manhattan, Kansas, have in charge, conjointly, the work in plant breeding at the Kansas Experiment Station. Hitherto our efforts have been concentrated upon the improvement of wheat and corn. During the present season, however, the breeding experiments have been extended to cover rye, oats, barley, kafir corn, soy beans and cow peas. But since the investigations have thus far been confined exclusively to wheat and corn, it is to a discussion of our work with these cereals that this paper will chiefly confine itself. Whether the cereal wheat has arisen from a few or from many wild forms, it is certainly true that the wheat of to-day consists of a. very great number of sub-varieties. A visit to almost any average wheat field reveals the presence of several such varieties, which, despite the various manifest differ- ences in the character and quality of their seed, in the quantity of yield, in the vegetative characters of the plants, etc., are allowed to grow undisturbed together, in the end are harvested together, and the heterogeneous mixture of seeds is used again as a basis for the next year's sowing. Now and then one finds an occasional wheatgrower who endeavors by careful selection to breed his wheat up to a uniform type. Such instances, however, are not numerous, nor is it even the case that a large number of wheat raisers practice even the simplest form of seed selection. Indeed, I have found it to be the case in many instances, that farmers will systematically retain only the lightest and least serviceable seed for planting, under the impression that it will yield just as well as the larger, plumper and heavier seed which they dispose of in the market. Our experiments in the breeding of wheat began in the fall of 1898. Since that time we have originated in the neighborhood of 150 crossbred strains of winter wheat. Of these, 36 are now growing in our experimental plots at Man- hattan, the remainder having been gradually eliminated through a rigid process of selection, and through extinction in the face of trying climatic conditions. As the result of these crosses we have secured enough varying lines to enable us to begin the process of breeding by selection. That portion of the State of Kansas in which the experiment station is located lies in what is known as the red winter wheat region, and our problems in wheat breeding have largely been connected with the improvement of wheat locally grown and especially adapted to that district. The western 180 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. third of the State, however, lying in a region of greater elevation, with a smaller annual precipitation and more rapid evaporation, presents conditions, during at least part of the year, which are frequently very unfavorable for the growing of wheat of the mesophytic type. Since it has been found, however, that the climatic conditions there are almost a counterpart of those in South- eastern Europe, and notably. in Southern Russia, where the macaroni wheats are grown, a new possibility presents itself with regard to the breeding of xerophytic bread wheats for the elevated region of the great plains. Inasmuch as the macaroni wheats are not adapted to breadmaking, it will probably always be the tendency of the majority of our Western growers to raise bread wheat where they can and macaroni wheat where they must. We have, there- fore, proceeded to make a number of crosses between macaroni wheats and some of our hardier winter bread wheats. We are also endeavoring to increase the drought-resistant qualities of our local bread wheat by crossing with spelts and emmers. The recent acquisition by the State of Kansas from the Federal Government of 3,800 acres of land in the semi-arid portion of the State and its transfer to the Agricultural College gives, us a favorable field of operation for the working out of this particular problem. Since, as I have stated, hard red winter wheat is the favorite milling sort with us, it is to those strains passing under the general name of "Turkey" that we have naturally turned for a basis, both for our work in cross breeding and in selectio*h. For the red winter wheat district the Turkey wheat, passing under the name of red wintei and obtained a few years ago from the Iowa Ex- periment Station, has proved in the 'course of several trying seasons to be in every way the hardiest and most drought-resistant sort. Our attention is now turned, therefore, toward the improvement of this wheat by a rigid process of selection and by cross breeding with other desirable varieties. In dealing with this variety and its crosses, the two most important questions with which we are concerned are, first, earliness, and, second, increased yield. We have been endeavoring to shorten its growing period by crossing with our earliest local variety, a soft, bald wheat, passing under the name of Zimmerman. Naturally, the most pressing problem is that of increasing the yield of wheat, which is certainly far below what the fertility of the soil in Kansas would seem to justify. As was stated, there exists at present among our farmers, for the most part, no recognition of the advantages to be derived in the way of increased crop production from the selection of large, heavy seed. Quite recently, however, the seed-grading machines are beginning to find their way into our agricultural communities, and it is to be hoped that the use of these machines, by means of which the continued and persistent selection from year to year of large heavy grains of wheat for seeding is rendered possible on a commercial scale, will eventually result in increasing the product per acre considerably above the present standard. But it is well known to the plant breeder that the process of seed selection must be far more unremitting and far more rigid in method than the average wheat planter has the knowledge or patience to make it. It is fundamentally necessary that a strain of plants in order to be constant in their characters be botanically pure, that is to say, all of the plants must have descended from a common ancestor. Only in this way can a mixture of mutation forms in the sense of De Vries be avoided. No CEREAL BREEDING IN KANSAS. process of selection in the case of wheat is scientifically accurate, therefore, or will yield permanent results which does not take account of the possible exist- ence of these mutation forms and set about to discover and isolate them in pure cultures, which can then be compared with respect to all the desired char- acters sought for in wheat and only the most desirable and advantageous forms be retained. Where selection is practiced at all by growers it usually consists simply in the choice of large v/ell developed heads out of the mass of the ripened wheat plants. This method, of course, ignores the plant as an individual. It is necessary, therefore, after securing a pure strain, botanically speaking, to enter upon a very extensive process of selection of individual plants from among large numbers, grown in such a way as to enable each individual to attain to its maximum development. In this way what are known as the "tillering" qualities of the different individual plants, that is, their tendency to send up numbers of grain-bearing shoots from stolons, will be revealed. The collection at random of occasional large, well-developed heads ignores the pos- sibility that such heads may be borne on plants markedly inferior in tillering capacity. As a basis for selection, therefore, we have this year planted our choicest varieties in nursery plots, in which the plants stand four inches apart each way. All of the seed thus planted has been carefully selected by hand, all but the largest and heaviest seeds being rejected. An example of 'a search for an advantageous mutation form or sub-species, supposed to vary in the direction of increased flowering capacity, may be in- teresting. This year in the field of a supposed pure strain of Pedigree Early Genesee Giant (Kansas No. 147) close examination discovered seventy-two heads having a decided "club" tendency. It is a well-known fact that the extraordinary yields of wheat on the Pacific Coast are due in considerable measure to the fact that the wheats there grown are what are locally known as the "club" wheats, that is to say, wheats having the tendency to develop in the upper spikelets of the head five or more grains instead of the two or three usually found in our local winter wheats. This tendency results in a swollen or clubbed appearance of the head. The Pacific Coast club wheats, however, are not hardy varieties with us, and, therefore, are not available for intro- duction into our district. We must, therefore, look to the development of clubbed tendencies among our native winter wheats. In our two best hard and soft strains, Turkey and Zimmerman, this tendency does not appear at all. It does show itself in a number of our 'velvet chaff wheats and in the No. 147 just mentioned. Eleven of the heads of this number which showed the clubbed tendency most strikingly were selected, and a permanent record of their appear- ance preserved in photographs. From each one of these heads the spikelets were then carefully removed, from the base to the apex, in the order of their attachment to the axis. In each spikelet the number of flowers and the num- ber of grains produced were tabulated, and are graphically indicated as illus- trated in the accompanying diagrams. From these it will be seen that there is a marked tendency in certain heads toward the development of five and six flowers on the spikelet. In head No. 4, for example, spikelets 4, 5, 6. 7, 8, 9, 10, n, 12 and 13 — ten in all out of a total number of twenty-three spikelets growing on the head — produced six flowers. In seven cases five out of the six HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. flowers were found to have developed seed, making a percentage of fertility of eighty-three and one-third per cent, in one-third of the spikelets of the head. Moreover, out of the total of sixty-five grains borne on this particular head, it appears that thirty-five, or more than fifty per cent., were borne on these seven spikelets. The attempt will be made to ascertain whether the use as parents for crossing, of plants coming from grains in the more prolific spikelets will be found to result in the production of offspring whose tendency will be to in- crease flower and seed production. It may be urged that the club tendency in this case was simply the result of great vegetative vigor and is not the evi- dence of a mutation form. On account of the severity of the season a.nd the great lack of rainfall during the period when the heads were being formed on the shoots this seems unlikely. To ascertain, however, whether we are coming into possession of mutation forms having increased flower production as a distinguishing character we are proceeding in the following manner : The grains in each one of the eleven heads mentioned have been planted this fall in separate rows. In each row the grains from the individual spikelets are arranged in their order from the base to the apex of the spikelet, and the grains of each spikelet succeed each other in serial order in the row. Each grain that grows, therefore, will be definitely referable to its place on the diagram. Next spring all the heads from each plant that grows will be harvested separately, and it is hoped that a statistical analysis of the progeny of the grains from all the different spike- lets of these eleven heads will reveal at least something which may throw light on the facts we are seeking to discover. As a basis for selection of clubbed forms on a larger scale, in case this seems desirable, the remaining sixty-one of the clubbed heads of No. 147 have been planted in nursery plots, in which each head is planted by itself, but without any attempt to arrange serially the grains of the different spikelets. As an example of the part which natural selection plays in the work of wheat breeding it may be mentioned that out of some three hundred plots of our native cross and pure bred wheats planted last fall ninety-nine were dis- carded in the spring on account of winter killing, while out of one hundred and eight imported wheats from Southeastern Europe furnished by the United States Department of Agriculture fifty-five were discarded for the same rea- son. Some of these turned out to be spring wheats and "durums," whose sur- vival of the winter was not to be expected. Further experiments are being carried on in the experiment station to de- termine the relative value of large and small seeds in cereal growing. Experi- ments conducted at the United States Department of Agriculture and elsewhere indicate a marked difference in plants growing from large as compared with those growing from small seeds. Experiments are being conducted by us to demonstrate this fact in the case of the cereal grains and to use the informa- tion obtained as a basis for urging the general use of seed-grading machines among our farmers. As an economic cereal Indian corn ranks as an equal with wheat in Kan- sas in point of acreage. Thus far our experiments in corn breeding have been directed almost entirely toward the increasing of the nitrogen content. Since CEREAL BREEDING IN KANSAS. 1898 five hundred and eighty-one cross-bred varieties of corn have been pro- duced at our station. Each one of these, beginning with the year 1899, has been analyzed by the chemical department to determine the protein content, and each year all those numbers showing a nitrogen content below two per cent have been discarded. The results of the analyses for three years show seventy-nine varieties that exceed two per cent, in nitrogen, while twelve of these contain over two and four-tenths per cent, of nitrogen, which repre- sents over fifteen per cent, of protein content. Of course, it will be under- stood that all the numbers thus analyzed have been hand-pollinated each year and protected from the influence of foreign pollen. It remains for further analyses to demonstrate whether this increased nitrogen content is a char- acter which can be maintained under field conditions and over large areas. Our efforts are further being directed, beginning with the present year, toward the improvement of corn according to a series of commercial standards such as those which have been laid down by the Illinois Corn Breeding Asso- ciation and kindred organizations. W. Saunders : Can Professor Roberts give me information in regard to a matter I was seeking information on? I lately obtained some wheats from Oregon, one under the name of Club and the other under the name of Blue Stem, and these wheats are said in Oregon to produce a good crop, whether sown in the autumn or sown in the spring. They can practically either be treated as spring wheats or winter wheats. That is, it the winter grain does not come through in good condition, all the farmer has to do is to sow a little in the bare places some of the grain in the spring, and it will ripen with the seed sown the fall before. Is it true or not? H. F. Roberts: I don't know anything about that. That sounds like a California story. W. J. Spillman: Mr. Chairman, I am from Oregon and Washington, and I can answer the question. I have grown wheat out there for ten years, and I want to say there are three varieties of spring wheat which are almost universally grown in that great region out there, two being Club wheats, the Blue Stem being a peculiar local variety of long-headed wheat not closely related to the Blue Stem of Minnesota, being another variety altogether. Those are all spring wheats; that is, if sown in the spring they will ripen and bear a crop. But they are universally sown in the fall of the year, because any wheat in that section, when it does not freeze out, will yield from twenty to fifty per cent, more if sown in the fall than in the spring; for that reason they sow them in the fall. But they have been searching for a better wheat out there, and I undertook the job of finding a winter wheat in that section. I first sent several hundred letters to farmers asking about suggestions as to what the experiment station should work for, and every man who answered the letter made the same suggestion; that was, "Give us a winter wheat that is adapted to this country. We sow the spring wheats in the fall, and they freeze out in the wintertime." The winter before last they had to sow them all again in the spring. And we went to work and experimented with several hundred varieties of winter wheat and found that we were chasing a wild goose. We went to work and began breeding wheats and got immediately what we wanted, and discovered Mendel's law in operation. The Chair: I think it would be highly gratifying to Mendel if he could hear how his law is being demonstrated from both lines of approach, working forward and back- ward. We have an illustration of it here. The following paper was read by W. Fawcett: NOTES ON PLANT BREEDING IN JAMAICA By "William Fawcett, Director of Gardens and Plantations, Jamaica, B. W. I. PINE APPLE. The smooth Cayenne pine is the favorite in the markets, because it is an excellent fruit with a fine appearance. There is no doubt, however, that the Ripley has a much better flavor, and many people in Jamaica will not eat any other variety. We have begun, therefore, experimenting in crossing these two vari- eties, with the aim of getting a fruit with the flavor of the Ripley and the showy qualities of the Cayenne. Prof. Herbert J. Webber, at the Conference at Chiswick in 1899, expressed the opinion that the flowers were self-sterile, and this opinion is confirmed by all the facts known. In hot-houses no seed is produced, unless cross-fertilization is effected; but in the open fields in Jamaica, where humming birds can be seen prob- ing the flowers, seed is frequently found and sometimes in great abundance. The fact that the flowers are self-sterile simplifies the operation of cross-fertilization, as there is no need of emasculation. We have now 51 plants grown from seed produced last year. Forty- three of these were from the Ripley, green and red mixed, fertilized with pollen from the smooth Cayenne. Of these 43 plants, 33 have spiny leaves and 10 have smooth leaves. Some of the spiny plants have nevertheless green leaves much like the Cayenne, and some of the smooth-leaved plants have bright red leaves like the Red Ripley. All the intermediate variations exist, no two being alike. Eight plants were the result of crossing the Porto Rico pine with the pollen of the Ripley. Two are like Porto Rico, 3 like Red Ripley, 1 like Green Ripley, and there are 2 smooth-leaved plants. We have, also about 2,000 seedlings from this year's plants, but they are still too young to show characteristic leaves. BANANA. If the flowering stalk is examined in the embryo condition in the stem, it will be found that the flowers are arranged in clusters disposed spirally round the axis. The clusters at the base of the stalk become the "hands" of the fruiting bunch. It will also be found that the flowers in different regions of the stalk vary in the proportion of the length of the ovary to that of the rest of the flower. In those clusters which eventually become 186 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. "hands," the ovary is two-thirds the length of the whole flower; higher up on the stalk are clusters in which the ovary is about one-half the length of the flower; and still higher there is another series in which the ovary is about one-third of the flower. These three sets of flowers, clearly dis- tinguishable by the different proportionate length of the ovary, are physi- ologically very different; those with the long ovary -are female flowers and become the fruit ; those with the short ovary are male flowers, and those with the ovary about half the length of the flower are hermaphrodite and form short, useless fingers in the bunch. The pollen in both the hermaphrodite and male flowers appears to be perfect. We have tried to cross the red banana with the common Jamaican by applying pollen from male flowers of the red to the stigmas of the Jamaican. Several seeds were obtained but they failed to germinate. They were about 6 millimeters long, and it is possible they were not perfect. MANGO. The Mango was introduced into Jamaica about 120 years ago. The seed germinated so readily, even when thrown away along the road-sides, that it is now one of the commonest trees in Jamaica. The fruit of most of these trees is stringy with a strong turpentine taste. It would be an advantage if they could be budded from trees bearing fruit of good quality. It would also be advantageous if seedlings could be budded, as citrus plants are done. At present we propagate by grafting by approach. Experiments so far in budding have not been very successful, only two buds having taken on young branches of trees. The sap seems to be so gummy that actual contact of scion and host is very difficult. AVOCADO PEAR (PERSEA GRATISSIMA). The fruit known as Avocado Pear is extensively used in the West Indies, eaten with pepper and salt with fish and meat. The best varieties have an excellent nutty flavor, but very many are insipid. We have budded several plants at Hope Gardens, and demonstrated the practicability of improving the fruit generally in this way. FINAL SESSION AND RESOLUTIONS FINAL SESSION (Held in the Museum Building, of the Nczv Botanical Garden.) A session of the conference on October 2 was held in the museum of the New York Botanical Garden, by invitation of the board of managers. The members of the conference were entertained to lunch. President Wood called the conference to order at 2 p. m. THE CHAIR: I desire to take this opportunity to express, on behalf of the Horticultural Society of New York and on behalf of this conference, the appreciation we have of the attendance at this conference of those gentlemen who have come to it from abroad, those who have come from across the water, the other side of the Atlantic, and those who have come to us from the West Indies, and also our brethren irom Canada. We do not speak of the Canadians exactly as foreigners ; while we recognize their attachment to their country and their intense loyalty to their sovereign, we always look upon them as Americans and as brothers with whom we prasp hands most lovingly. But the attendance of these gentlemen from across the Atlantic and from the West Indies has emphasized the fact that there are no national lines in science, that we are working together for the same object, and there are none in the world more truly brethren than those who are united in the bonds of scientific investigation. These gentlemen, coming to us as they have, have added very greatly to both the pleasure and the importance of this conference. They have given us very valuable contributions, and I am sure we all feel that there could not possibly have been a more admirable opening of the sessions of the conference than that which Professor Bateson gave in his admirable address on Tuesday morning. I simply wish in this informal way to express our appreciation of the attendance of these gentlemen, and de- sire on behalf of all of us to give them our thanks for not only their attend- ance, but their very valuable contributions to the work of the conference. W. BATESON : I should like on behalf of those who have had the honor of taking part in this conference at the invitation of the Horticultural Society of New York to express in some imperfect way our thanks and our appreciation of the trouble they have taken in getting us together. I came with high hopes of what I was going to hear, of the enjoyment that I knew this conference must be to me, but I must say this very far surpasses the very high hopes that I had formed. To have been in contact for these few days with the number of persons we have met here who are so keenly inter- ested in this business of plant breeding and the detection of the fundamental truths in the life of plants, has been more stimulating and inciting to my mind than I can describe. I knew that very great work was going on in America, but what is going on is far greater than I had any knowledge of. I have met some of the gentlemen from Washington, and I hope in the course of the next week to see something of the work that they are doing there; but I can 190 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. see that though in England we had some idea of the work that was going on, we had no idea of its comprehensiveness and magnitude. We try to feel proud of our country, and we always succeed more or less. While we appreciate what others are doing, we must not too greatly belittle what is going on in the Old World. And it is with great pleasure that I say that I believe the first conference of this kind, though on a much smaller scale and in many ways less important than this conference, did take place in London, and I believe the germs which have grown and developed into such an important undertaking were laid possibly at that meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society in London. The rapidity with which these processes of fertilization go is most won- derful. We have hammered rather hard at the progress that has come about in science and horticulture through discoveries. I don't know that we have heard too much of that, but we have heard a good deal. A gentleman said yesterday that the Mendelian law was not a law, that it was not true; but it has this merit, that it is the only law that we have as yet on this subject, and, like a great many other things, it is growing very fast, and I believe it will do much more for us in the future. Yesterday was so full, owing to the national genius of the country, that a gentleman said it was worth a thousand dollars. I would not put it at such a high figure, but it is worth a great deal. If you fancy yourself in a new country, especially in a new city, trying to find your way about; there are some cities the names of whose streets are put up ; in other cities they are not put up, or not very conspicuously put up. In such a city as that, think of the traveler trying to find his way; he hunts about for the names of the streets and never finds them ; but when it dawns upon him that the streets are arranged in any particular order, that there is not a confusion, that through three-fourths of that city at least the streets are all in arithmetical order, all rectangular and all arranged so that he knows where to look for a certain number, there is an illumination, — that is what Mendel's law does always for the student. When it first dawns upon him that there is regularity, and the further he goes the more he will find this, the feeling in his mind is not less acute than is that of the traveler who dis- covers that there is order in the streets of New York. There remain, of course, in our country, just as in New York there re- main, those extraordinary complex streets, the growth of time, matted to- gether, tangled up, that we cannot see our way through; but, having found our way through a great piece of it, we are confident that in time we can find our way through the whole region. I should like to express in the warmest way our thanks to the officers of the society, to you, sir, and to Mr. Barron, and to Dr. Britton, for their kindness in bringing us together and giving us the opportunity of mind meeting mind, as we have done in the last few days, and I am quite sure that if such meetings are continued, as I i'sel confident they will be, in the future, that we shall see very great results c<. - from them. D. MORRIS : I have very great pleasure to second the remarks made by Mr. Bateson as representing one section of the visitors to this conference. It has been to me the greatest possible pleasure to come here and to take part in the conference. When it was first suggested that I come, I was afraid FINAL SESSION. that the distance was too great and that the subjects that would be brought forward to the conference were such as would not be of great assistance to workers in the West Indies. But since we have been here, Mr. Fawcett and myself have been thor- oughly delighted with the business that has come before the conference, the thorough earnestness with which the subjects have been dealt with, and with the large amount of valuable information that we have received. The information itself has been most valuable, but also we have had sug- gestions given to us with regard to our future work that I believe will be of the greatest possible benefit to the West Indies. To you, sir. and to mem- bers of the council, and to the officers of the Horticultural Society of New York, I have the very greatest pleasure in seconding the sentiments proposed by Mr. Bateson. W. SAUNEERS: I heartily concur with what has been said by the two previous speakers as to the importance of this great international gatheri'mr of those interested in plant breeding, and as to the great pleasure which it has afforded us all to be here. And, also, may I join them in the expectation that great good will come of the deliberations which we have been fortunate enough to be here to take part in as representing the country to the north of you? It is not a small country, either; a country we are rather proud of; as to its size we have a good deal to be proud of, and we hope some day to get it filled. In that country there are a great many problems relating to horticulture and agriculture, problems which can only be overcome in the long run by the plant breeder, and this international gathering, which we have had the pleasure of 'taking part in, is one which I consider of very great and particular value to us who live in the North. There are many districts of our great country, which is destined to be the home of many millions of people, where the products which we now have and which we can grow so successfully in the central parts of the continent cannot be cultivated at all ; they do not grow, they will not stand the various changes that occur in the climate and the extremes they have to meet. Now, these difficulties can only be overcome by plant breeding. Find some plant which will succeed there, — however low it may be down in the scale, — and then, by working in these different elements of which Mr. Munson and a number of other speakers have told us, we hope to be able to build up character in these products. We are trying to do that, and thus in time prepare for cultivation in these districts, which naturally seem so unfitted for the work, such products as will be useful and profitable to our people. I cannot very well express the pleasure and gratification I have had — it ^as been so great — in attending this meeting, and I am sure I only voice j-osentiments of my confreres, who are here from different parts of Canada, that we all feel we owe a debt of gratitude to the officers of the Horticultural Society of New York for inviting us to be here, and we are all delighted that we came. H. H. GROFF : Speaking from the ranks of the unscientific workers, I would like to record my great pleasure at the honor and privilege that I have felt it to be to be with you during this conference. I shall always look 192 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. back to it as one of the brightest experiences of my life, if I never have the pleasure of repeating it, as I hope on some future occasion to do. And I would like to say further that I think that it is very fitting indeed that the initiative has been taken by that nation of which it has been said it holds the highest hopes of humanity. G. NICHOLSON: May I trespass upon your time just for a moment? T should like to express my gratification and the pleasure I have taken here to-day. The establishment of which this forms the center is an establish- ment worthy of a great city and a great country. Such an establishment as that did not exist when I was in" America before, and I am surprised at the developments of a few years, in the developments of which any nation might well be proud. I was here in the States about nine years ago, and the number of people and the hustle of every one impressed me very much then. I believe it is still more pronounced now. An old friend of mine once paradoxically said that horticulture must be intimately related through the blood of plants and through botany, purifying and improving it, with good- ness, and a man could not help being better. Judging from my experience, the importance of the horticultural society cannot be overestimated. I shall always remember this conference with the greatest of pleasure. W. M. HAYS : I wish to say a few words representing in a way one class of the people at least who are working along this line of the improvement of our plants and our animals in a somewhat organized way, in our great system of agricultural colleges and experiment stations, including that great- est one at Washington. I am only one of two or three who were in the con- ference three years ago in London. There has been great progress since that time, and the substance and subject matter of this meeting is a substantial evidence, a most remarkable evidence, of the progress that is being made in a number of ways, and especially of progress in the interest taken in this sub- ject, both from the practical standpoint and from the theoretical. We have come to believe that the theory of plant and animal improvement along scientific lines can be worked out, not only for the past, nature's way of working it out, but for the future; and the people have come to believe as never before that this great question can be approached in a large way and much done for the good of humanity. Some of us after the meeting at Lon- don thought of organizing along these lines more carefully, and a great deal of that organization has already taken place. The Department of Agriculture at Washington has in hand, and already established, certain features of organi- zation bringing about co-operation between the experiment stations and also the government with groups of individual experimenters. Secretary Wilson has a thorough appreciation of this whole matter, and has done a great work in getting it in form where it is going to bring about great financial results for this country. No doubt there will be meetings of this kind of an international character again. When we were at the banquet in the Horticultural Club in London, a meeting similar to this, I remember, it was suggested that we might some time meet in Paris, and Mr. H. de Vil- morin, who is since dead, was in hopes that he might be instrumental in bring- ing about such a meeting. We were so delightfully entertained in London that FINAL SESSION" AND RESOLUTIONS. 19 some of us, at least, will be anxious to go to the other side of the water again some time. THE CHAIR : We have all of us had varied experiences, possibly, in the entertainment of guests, and varied experiences in being guests ourselves, and we know that the relation is never perfectly satisfactory unless there is evi- dently mutual enjoyment, when both host and guest thoroughly enjoy the association one with the other. It did not require the words that have been spoken on this occasion for us to know that this condition of things existed. Still, it is very fitting that the expression should have been made, and we of the Horticultural Society of New York accept with very great appreciation the expression that has been given by our guests who have been present with us for these days. RESOLUTIONS W. B. Alwood presented and moved the adoption of resolutions express- ing the thanks of the conference to the Horticultural Society of New York and to its officers and to the managers of the New York Botanieal Garden. The motion was seconded by C. L. Watrous, and carried. C. L. Watrous, as chairman of the committee appointed to consider the matter of co-operation between practical plant breeders and the United States Department of Agriculture, presented and moved the adoption of the follow- ing resolutions: Whereas, This conference recognizes the invaluable services which the United States Department of Agriculture is rendering to the breeders of plants and animals by collect- ing and publishing the results obtained by workers in these fields throughout the civilized world; and Whereas, We believe that plans for a still closer co-operation can be arranged to the mutual advantage of the department and individuals, associations and institutions inter- e'sted in plant and animal improvement; therefore, be it Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed by the Chair empowered and directed to confer with the Honorable Secretary of Agriculture with a view to the forma- tion of plans for the more intimate co-operation in future between individual workers and the department in question and publishing data relative to plant and animal im- provement. The motion was seconded and carried. The Chair appointed as members of the committee provided for in the resolutions the following: C. L. Watrous, W. M. Hays and L. H. Bailey. After an announcement by Dr. N. L. Britton regarding the inspection of the grounds of the Botanical Garden by the visitors, the conference adjourned. APPENDIX PAPERS PRESENTED TO THE CONFERENCE AND READ BY TITLE NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF BEANS AND PEAS By W. T4 Macoun, Horticulturist, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada The following notes of an experiment to determine whether the time of maturing of beans could be lessened by selection may be at least sug- gestive. The experiment proves that even in the first year there was a marked difference. Reference is also made in these notes to a pea cross and the selection which followed where the results proved how readily once a cross had been made, the size of the pea could be altered by selection. BEANS In the year 1899 the earliest ripe pods from the earliest ripe plant of the variety of bean known as Challenge Black Wax were selected. The beans from this pod, six in number, were planted in 1900. There was a difference of three days between the time of ripening of the earliest and latest plant of these six. The earliest pod was taken from the earliest plant, and the beans from this, five in number, were planted in 1901. There was two days' difference between the earliest and latest plants. All the pods from the earliest plant were saved and twenty beans sown in 1902. This year there was six days' difference between the earliest and latest plant. Only seven plants out of the twenty had beans ready for table use at the earliest date; one, two days after; nine, three days after, and three, six days after. In 1901 after selecting the earliest ripe pod from the earliest of the five plants growing, the rest of the beans were saved and sown in 1902, when the beans were three days earlier than seed freshly imported from Phila- delphia. In 1902 seed from these was saved and sown alongside freshly imported seed from Philadelphia. The crop from our seed, though the beans had gone one year without selection, was seven days earlier. On different soil there was a difference of six days. How much of this difference is due to climate and how much to selection has not yet been determined, but that much of it is due to selection is indicated by the fact that among the selected plants themselves there was a difference of six days between the earliest and latest. PEAS Many crosses have been made at the Dominion Experimental Farms between different varieties of peas. In the year 1892 L cross was made by Dr. A. P. Saunders with Black Eyed Marrowfat as the female and Mummy as the male parent, the former being a large, black-eyed pea and the latter a medium sized, white one. The peas from the crop of that year had black eyes and resembled the Marrowfat very much. These were sown in HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 1893 and the yield from each kept separate. In 1894 the crop from each was sown again, and each was harvested separately as before. That year both the vines and peas showed marked variations. There were vines with the flowers in clusters at the top like the Mummy, and other vines with the flowers scattered. There were large peas with black eyes, and small peas with black eyes, small, medium and large pure white peas, and peas with a yellow or dusky tint like the Black Eyed Marrowfat, but without the black eye. A single plant having 'flowers in clusters at the top, but havihg peas with black eyes, was selected and the crop saved. The largest peas and the smallest ones, which were smaller than any known named variety, were selected from this crop and sown separately in 1895. The difference in size of the peas produced from these was very marked. Most of the peas from the small seed were quite as small as the peas sown, and on the other hand the peas from the large seed were as large and larger, and in 1896 the results were the same. Selection has not been car- ried on regularly with these since, as sufficient evidence was obtained of what could be done in selecting for size in peas once new blood has been introduced by cross-breeding. As far as the writer is aware, experiments have shown that it requires a long time to make any marked difference in the size of an established variety of pea by ordinary selection. Experiments have been in progress at the Central Experimental Farm for the past three seasons in the selection of named varieties of peas with a view to increasing the number of peas per pod, and productiveness of the plant, and to lessen the number of days in maturing. 'No marked results have vet been obtained. IMPROVEMENT OF CORN BY BREEDING By C P. Hartley, U* S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C Perhaps in no other way can plant breeders be of so much benefit to the country as by creating reliable sources from which farmers can procure pure and superior seed corn of varieties adapted to the soil and climatic conditions of various sections. Because of the difficulty of preventing admixtures and also because so small a quantity of seed is required per acre, growers on small farms will probably always find it to their advantage to annually buy their seed corn, if they have reliable sources from which to obtain pedigree seed of sorts adapted to their respective localities. In a few sections of the United States strains of corn have been originated and acclimated, and from these small quan- tities of seed adapted to those sections can now be obtained; but the greater part of the corn-producing area of this country is without sources from which to obtain seed corn of good quality. Without other additional expense or work, the substitution of good pure seed corn for that now planted throughout the country would increase our corn production by millions of bushels. The time has not yet come when general advice can be given to growers regarding the purchase of their seed corn because the sources of supply are not yet numerous enough, nor is the quality of seed that can be purchased as good as it should be. Furthermore, there are too many unscrupulous dealers who, by misrepresentation and exaggerated statements, are ever ready to sell at high prices corn that has been bought at market price and that possesses none of the requirements of good seed corn. It is, however, in order to advise all those who are capably situated to begin at once, and by careful breeding, to fix a pure type of corn, suited to the soil and climatic conditions of their sections. This would by no means include all corn growers, for the farms of many are so small that they can- not give a corn the necessary isolation, and if their farms be of average size, proper crop rotation will bring their cornfields too close to those of a neigh- bor who grows poor corn. There are but few in each State who have ideal conditions under which to breed a pure corn, and it therefore behooves plant breeders to produce stock seed of pure strains from which the growers in any corn section of the country can buy first class seed adapted to their farms. The corn crop of the United States represents more money value than that of any two other crops, and this is the leading corn country of the world; yet no intelligent grower is willing to say that no improvements in corn are needed. Let us consider (i) what improvements are needed; (2) whether their attainment is possible, and (3) the best means of accomplish- ing them. 200 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. In respect to yield there is much room for improvement. The average yield per acre in the United States is scarcely one- fourth what it might and should be, and, strange as it may seem, it is not greatest in the sections where corn naturally thrives the best. For instance, an average of the pro- duction in each of the New England States for the past ten years is 36.49 bushels per acre, while the average production in Illinois during the same ame is 31.55 bushels, and in Iowa, 30.93 bushels per acre. This must be due to the fact that in the New England Sfates much more care is given to the few acres that are planted, than to the large cornfields of the States of Illinois and Iowa, for one can scarcely believe that with the same care in all respects as much corn can be grown on an acre in Vermont as on an acre in Illinois. Grouping some of the States according to their geographical situa- tion and averaging their corn production without considering the acreage of the various States, we find the average number of bushels per acre for the ten years from 1892 to 1901 to be as follows : New England States, 36.49; New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota, 27.6; N£w Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, 26.97; Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky, 27.38; South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, 13.59. It will be noticed that the group containing Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky, the most extensive corn producing States of the Union, give an average of but 27.38 bushels per acre, while the average of the New England States is 9 bushels greater. The general average for the entire United States for the ten years from 1892 to 1901, inclusive, is but 23.51 bushels per acre. While this low average is to some extent due to lack of attention in various respects, such as cultivation, etc., it is also in a very large measure due to the poor quality of seed corn that is planted throughout the country. Much credit is due to individual growers in certain sections or counties of various States for instituting methods of seed selection and culture which have proved so satisfactory that they have been adopted by many of their neighbors. This accounts in a great degree for the usual good crops in some counties, while other counties, equally as fertile, produce much lower aver- ages. In some sections, noted for their large acreages and many bushels, the corn is of very poor appearance and quality because the effort is to grow as many acres as possible rather than to grow the best corn and much of it to the acre. At one of the great corn shipping centers of the United States, a heavy corn buyer made this remark: "Our corn looks a great deal better after it is shelled than it does in the ear." The secret of improving yields lies in causing every stalk to produce abundantly, and this is accomplished by planting seed from stalks that pro- duce well, and which also have the power of transmitting their productive- ness to their offspring. Valuable strains of this kind can be obtained only by persistent effort. Exact records greatly facilitate this work. In working to increase production, much attention must be given to the quality of the crop produced. Eighty bushels per acre of ear corn that yields 80 per cent of shelled corn is not as desirable as seventy-five bushels per acre of a corn that furnishes 90 per cent.; nor is seventy bushels of shelled corn IMPROVEMENT OF CORN. 201 202 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, IMPROVEMENT OF CORN. 203 per acre of a corn low in oil and protein as desirable as sixty bushels of a corn high in oil and protein. While great productiveness of shelled corn, rich in feeding value, is the leading qualification for a corn to possess, it is folly to suppose that any one strain possessing this qualification to a superior degree would displace all other corns and thus eliminate all danger of injurious cross-breeding. We must, and will, always have various types of corn. We must have different corns for various geographic sections, and we must have different corns for various purposes, and in order that satisfactory returns may result from our labor, we must hold these various types to a high degree of perfection and prevent admixtures. We must have sweet corns early and late, rich in sugar, for the table ; we must have popcorns rich in volatile oils, for the children ; we must have corns with large flinty kernels for hominy and grits, rich golden corns for some markets, and pure white ones for others ; and we must have corns with rich, succulent stalks and foliage, for the silo. Besides these essentials, there are other points that need the corn breeder's attention. The cattle feeder .demands a prolific corn, but the ears must not be large and the kernels and cobs must be soft enough for the. animals to masticate. In southern sections it is usual for the stalks to grow too tall, with the ears too high to be reached conveniently, while in the North, the corn breeder must encourage the production of ears higher on the stalks so that there will be room for the harvester to cut the stalks below the ears. The length and size of ear stalks need the attention of the breeder. The peduncle, or stalk that bears the ear, should be long enough and slender enough to be bent by the weight of the mature ear, so that the latter will assume a pendent position, and thus remain dry during rainy weather. A very long ear stalk is a waste of growth. The husks should protect the ears well from insects and water, and yet not be so tight as to prevent the develop- ment of the kernels nor interfere with the ease of husking. The form and appearance of the ear is already receiving much consideration by those who are giving attention to corn breeding. A cob of a given size should support as many kernels of uniform size and shape as possible. This is accom- plished on cylindrical ears with straight rows and well filled ends. All who have had experience in breeding plants will admit that the needed points of improvement that have been briefly pointed out are possible of accomplishment. A few specific examples will now be given to illustrate how readily corn responds to selection of seed for the purpose of modifying either stalk, ear, or kernel. In 1901, in a field of tall growing, white dent corn, a few short and very leafy stalks were noticed (Fig. 1). The figure 2 shows the same plants with shoots and tassels enclosed in paper bags. These stalks were but four or five feet tall, and bore from eighteen to twenty 'broad leaves, while the other stalks of the same corn were 10 feet tall, but bore fewer leaves. A few adjacent tall stalks were removed and the short ones cross- pollinated by hand one with another. The seed resulting from these short plants was planted in one row in 1902, in a field planted with seed from the normal tall stalks of the same corn. How very much the stalks in this one row resemble the parent stalks is shown by figure 3. The difference in the 204 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. IMPROVEMENT OF CORN. 205 appearance of the stalks in this row from those seen in the adjacent rows is the result of one year's seed selection with reference to the characters of the parent stalks. The need of giving attention to the ear in selecting seed corn may be seen in the following record of seven individual seed ears of a pure corn. The ears were planted separately on uniform soil and tended similarly in all respects. Average length Length of ears of 30 good seed planted. ears harvested. 8 inches. 8 1-2 inches. 9 9 10 10 91-5 91-3 9 i-io 91-3 91-2 95-6 Average weight Average pounds of all progeny of ear corn ears. per stalk. .565 pounds. .550 pounds. •554 " •572 " .467 " .619 •514 " .582 " .584 " .598 " .583 " .699 " .587 " .688 " Thv?.t the separate kernels of a seed ear have different transmitting ten- dencies is illustrated by the following. In the spring of IQOI a very unusual Fig. 4. — Ear of red corn with a white portion found in a field of white dent. (One-half natural size.) ear of corn was obtained. It was a red ear with a white spot covering about one-fifth of its surface (Fig. 4). The ear was discovered in a field of white dent corn. This strain has been grown for many years as a reasonably pure 206 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. Fig. 5.— Grown from the red kernels seen in Fig. 4. (One-half natural size.) IMPROVEMENT OF CORN. 207 Fig. 6.— Grown from white Kernels seen in Fig. 4. (One-half natural size.) 208 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YO3& white dent, which occasionally produced a red ear, but was never before known to produce ears bearing spots. The red kernels of this ear were uniformly red with a small light spot at the cap of each kernel. The kernels composing the white spot, although appearing very white in contrast with the red ones, when examined closely proved to have very fine red lines or streaks, radiating from the caps down the sides of the kernels. These two types of kernels were planted separately. The red ones yielded a crop com- posed of eighty-four red ears and eighty pure white ears; while the white kernels with fine red stripes produced thirty-nine ears with kernels like those planted, and thirty-six pure white ears. In the illustration is shown the red ear with the spot at the base. The two ears labeled 70-1 represent the pure red ears and the pure white ears that were produced in about equal quantities by planting the red kernels of the spotted ear. The two ears labeled 70-1^ represent the pure white ears and the ears bearing striped kernels like those from the white portion of the spotted ear. It should be borne in mind that these special cases cited are illustrations of the selection of individual variations, and not variations purposely pro- duced by hybridization. They are given, not because they show progress in desirable lines of corn improvement, but because they illustrate how readily the corn plant yields to modifications of stalk, ear, or kernels, through seed selection, in accordance with individual variation. The conclusions that necessarily follow are these : If stalks with certain qualities are wanted, seed must be taken continuously from such stalks; if ears with certain qualities are wanted, seed must be taken continuously from such ears; if kernels with certain qualities are wanted, such kernels must be planted ; and furthermore, if stalks with certain qualities, bearing ears with certain quali- ties, containing kernels with certain qualities, is what is wanted, attention must be given to stalks, ears, and kernels when selecting seed. To fulfil these requirements seed ears cannot be selected from a corn crib, but must be se- lected from standing stalks. Every seed corn grower should have a seed patch and an increase patch. In the seed patch the very best ears should be planted, each row being planted with seed from a single ear. The crop from each row should be weighed so as to obtain the performance record of the seed ears. From the best rows a few of the choicest ears should be taken and used in planting the seed patch the next year, while the other good seed ears can be shelled together and planted in the increase patch, which should be of sufficient size to yield enough good seed for planting the general cron. The many needed improvements, the possibility and method of their accomplishment, have been briefly discussed without speaking of hybridiza- tion. The possibilities of corn improvement are so great and are so certain of accomplishment by isolation and rigid selection that little need be said concerning hybridization in this connection. For one with an abundance of time for keeping records, the corn plant offers one of the best fields for the study of the problems of heredity. While the plant breeder has learned much and will learn much more by corn hybridization, the corn grower has improved his corn much and will improve it much more by seed selection. Breeders make use of hybridization to cause increased variation of char- acters, but for the present this is not necessary in the case of corn. We now have many types each exhibiting variations to a high degree, so that for practical results the augmentation and fixation of desirable characters is far more important than is an increase in the number of characters- MY EXPERIENCE IN HYBRIDIZING CANNAS By Antoine Wintzer, West Grove, Pa. It is about nine years since the writer first commenced to experiment with cannas, with the object of improving the strain and creating some new and desirable varieties, suitable for our trying climate. At that time we de- pended almost entirely on the skill of the European growers for our novelties in cannas, and they sent us annually a great many new varieties. While some of these novelties were good, a great many were little, if any, im- provement, on existing varieties. After growing a few seedlings from the best strains, the writer com- menced to cross breed with the intention of producing a good solid yellow canna. There were plenty of spotted yellows, but we desired something purer. In 1893, from a batch of Crozy and Star-of-1891 seedlings, I was fortunate in getting one almost yellow. It was named Golden Star. The next year I succeeded in growing from another lot of seedlings another al- most pure yellow; it was named Coronet. By crossing these two varieties I succeeded in producing Buttercup. This variety seems to have the desirable qualities long looked for in a yellow canna. It is rather dwarf, an early and free bloomer, erect head held well above the foliage, endures the sun without bleaching, drops its faded flowers, which always gives it a bright and clean appearance. It will also bloom under a lower temperature than most varieties, and last, but not least, its tubers are small and solid, making it especially valuable for pot culture. Besides the yellow, I was also desirious to grow some good pink varieties. To enable me to get these I had a good start with Pink Ehmani, which I raised in 1894 from seed hybridized by Dr. Van Fleet. Having a start in color, I hybridized it with other varieties, and produced Maiden's Blush, Rosemawr, Martha Washington, Betsy Ross. The main difficulty found in the varieties of this color was the poor keeping quality of the tubers. In the earlier varieties they were soft and spongv and liable to rot in a dor- mant condition, Igng before the weather was warm enough to plant them in spring. The last two named varieties are free from this bad habit. They usually produce small hard tubers of good keeping quality. After breeding cannas for a few years, I noticed that it was desirable to produce small and solid tubers. A great deal of this work is still in its infancy, but we are slowly advancing along that line. In the early 'gos there were several good red cannas in commerce, and any one at that time looking over the leading catalogs and reading the description of such va- rieties as Alphonse Bouvier, would wonder how a more brilliant color could be produced, and I often longed for the shade of red we had in such roses HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. as Prince Camille de Rohan and Baron de Bonstettin. In the production of Philadelphia and Pillar of Fire, I became hopeful, and more so when later, Duke of Marlborough, Black Prince and Cherokee came into existence through my efforts along that line. The Duke had the most interesting history, as being the production of a very inferior seedling, which had nothing to recommend it except its dark color. Its pollen used on Philadelphia pro- duced the Duke of Marlborough. In working for solid color, I managed :o produce a great many shades and combinations of colors found in such va- rieties as Lorraine, Niagara, Conqueror, Schley, Duke of York, Striped Beauty and a host of others, most of which were thrown into the mixture after they were tested for a couple of seasons. Alsace, the nearest to a white canna, although small, was useful in massing, and is now extensively dis- seminated. It was produced in 1894. From its pollen I produced Montano, Starlight and quite a number of seedlings of little value, and only useful for breeding. At last I produced one which proved superior, and it was named Alt. Blanc. It was almost pure white, with full-sized flowers produced on strong, vigorous, erect stalks, carried well above its rich, massive foliage. The habit of nlant is vigorous and of good constitution. In the Canna indica section we had very little variety in colors. After crossing these for several years, I oroduced Mt. Etna, Queen of Holland, Shenandoah, Evolution. These are giving us a wider range of colors. The last named is proving very hardy and vigorous. Its odd color, a blending of orange, salmon and yellow, making a fine contrast with its rich bronze foliage. To produce the different colors and types mentioned, it was neces- sary for me to do a considerable amount of hand hybridizing. This work was done at odd times when condition? were favorable, generally in early morn- ing. We usually plant from four hundred to five hundred of these seedlings in the field annually in June. The seed is started under glass in April, and germinates quickly. When they show two leaves they are potted into 2l/2 or 3-inch pots. The majority of them bloom in August. At that time I always look over them daily and number or mark the most promising ones. In reviewing the work of the past I find tnat the mistake made is in num- bering too many. I find that it is well not to do much of this work on cloudy days, as under such conditions cannas of average quality show up well. For several years I have selected hot, dry days, from I to 5 o'clock p. m., with the thermometer anywhere from 90 degrees, up, in the shade. Under such con- ditions it is necessary for a canna flower to have substance to make a show. The work of selecting seedlings is becoming more difficult, as there are several expert canna hybridizers in Europe and in this country who are work- ing and developing fine novelties, and we are all striving for the ideal canna, with the hope of producing it in the near future. Any one looking back a decade will admit that the work of the canna hybridizer has developed the flower to a remarkable degree, and the canna of the present time is worthy of a place in the finest conservatory, and in the near future will be used as a decorative plant. The canna has not received the attention it justly deserves. Nearly all our public parks are planted with inferior varieties. If these were thrown into the dump pile, and their places filled with the improved varieties, the public would have a better opinion of the canna as a blooming plant. In conclusion, the writer would say that the labor of the hybridizer is not so arduous as some would have us believe. Why should he care if the dew is wet, or the sun hot; is he not laboring for love? Is it worth nothing to watch a plant grow and thrive under your care and produce its beautiful flowers for your eye to behold? HYBRID PLUMS By F. A, Waugh, Dept. of Horticulture, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. A large number of hybrid plums has appeared on the scene in America during the last few years. They have aroused considerable interest, and many of them have been rather extensively planted. There is, therefore, a good deal of information extant regarding their behavior and a healthy demand for further information. Such matters as have come within the scope of my own observation and experiment have been presented in various articles — principally in the publications of the Vermont experiment station. In the papers referred to I have described a considerable number of varieties, old and new, and have given the historical data regarding their origin. In many cases the question of parentage and affiliation has been discussed. It has been shown, also, that various species participate much more frequently in garden hybridization than do others; and various sug- gestions have been made in connection with these observations for the further breeding of plums. One observation which has been repeatedly made, and which I wish to make the principal point of this discussion, relates to one of the fundamental laws of hybridity. It has usually been laid down as true that offspring of the first generation from two specific parents will greatly resemble one another. There is likely to be a wide range of variation in the second gen- eration, but the first crosses are said to be usually very uniform. In plants propagated by buds this uniformity will, of course, be preserved by grafting or similar means, and it becomes more interesting on that account. The general law quoted above seems to be verified among the hybrids already produced in the genus Prunus. While the uniformity is not always so striking as would justify the law aside from experience in other genera, still it is sufficiently obvious to be worthy of note. The offspring from any given pair of specific parents seem to be quite as uniform as any of the other common grouos among the plums. It is a well known fact, of course, among pomologists, and even among botanists, that all or nearly all our species of Prunus are very variable. Anything like a reasonable degree of uniformity, therefore, in a group of hybrid offspring should be accepted as worthy of remark. The three species which have been most frequently used in hybridization experiments in this country, and which have also bred most readily with each other in the field, are Prunus hortulana, P. triflora and P. simonii. The most common cross is the one between the two first named. These hybrids have appeared naturally and artificially literally by thousands ; and a large number of them have been named, described, propagated and distributed. 212 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. The best known varieties of this group, which may serve to recall its char- acters to mind, are Alabama, America, Excelsior, Golden, Gonzales, Govalle, Juicy, Lannix, Louisiana, Minnie, Monolith, Nona, Preserver, Scribner, Watson, Waugh and Yates. These varieties are as much alike as those in the hortulana group, for instance. A new variety of this parentage can be recognized quite as easily and as certainly as a pure Chickasaw, a pure Americana or a pure Domestica. For this reason it seemed to me just and proper to describe the group sepa- rately and to give it a name. This description appeared in the fourteenth annual report of the Ver- mont experiment station, p. 276. Horticulturally the group was called by the name of the variety Gonzales. Botanically it was named Prunus hortu- lana robusta. The next most important group of hybrid plums seems to be that which counts for its parentage Prunus hortulana on the one side and P. simonii on the other. In this series Wickson is much the best known variety. Bartlett, Chalco, Climax, Maynard, President and a few others are supposed to have the same parentage, and so far as I have been able to study them in the orchard they show the same general characters. In the forthcoming report of the Vermont experiment station, therefore, I expect to present a name and description for this group. The present article may be considered a prelimi- nary notice of the final publication here referred to. The group just mentioned will be called horticulturally the Wickson group. The botanical name and description will also be added, the name proposed being Prunus triflora recta. The next most important group from the horticultural standpoint appears to me to be the one originating from the combination of Prunus triflora and P. americana. Unfortunately there is very little material which can be really presented to the public. Not a single variety, so far as I know, which illus- trates the typical characters of this group is now held for sale by any nursery- man. The variety Ames sent out a few years ago by the Iowa Agricultural College is said to have this parentage. While the record of its pedigree is doubtless correct, the variety does not present the characters of Prunus tri- flora very obviously, but seems to be almost purely P. americana. The variety Omaha, described by the writer in Vermont experiment station report 14, p. 272, is, however, typical, and a study of this variety, along with several others which I have seen, leads me also to give a group name and description to the varieties of this pedigree. The horticultural name proposed is the Omaha group, and the botanical name suggested is Prunus triflora rustica. This group is a very interesting one, and, in the opinion of the writer, has an important future before it on the pomological side. These matters are brought up here largely because they illustrate the writer's views regarding the treatment of horticultural groups. Wherever such plants have important characters in common, which may be perpetuated indefinitely, it is desirable that they should be classed together. And where these characters take rank along with those which are commonly used to make specific distinctions in the same genus it is wise to treat these hybrid groups just as the natural groups in the same genus are treated. There is HYBRID PLUMS. 213 some difference of opinion, I am aware, as to the wisdom of making botan- ical names for such cases as these, but the writer is one of those persons who believe that it is nothing against a variety or a species that we should know its origin. The fallacy of requiring a man to be ignorant about any par- ticular points regarding his material in order that- he may call it a species has often been pointed out. Much interest has been aroused recently by the experimental work of De Vries. His work is somewhat in the same line as that which is here reviewed; and those who justify him in calling his groups species will doubt- less be content to speak of Prunus hortulana robusta, P. triflora rustica, etc. Those who stick to the strictly old-fashioned and conservative notion of species naming may justly take exception to the practice here illustrated. THE MUSKMELON F. William Rane, Dept. of Horticulture and Forestry, New Hampshire College, Durham, N. H. Of the various plants grown in the garden few have been appreciated more than the muskmelon. The muskmelon is not only a delightful and highly valued fruit when well grown, but under favorable conditions is easily raised and brings good financial returns to the grower. The writer has grown muskmelons for many years, and is impressed with their constantly increasing popularity and the extended area devoted to their culture. Much of the fruit found in the markets, however, is even yet of little value as regards quality, and were it possible to educate growers to grow only the better varieties, those more delicately flavored, our present area would be very inadequate. Poor, flavorless varieties are just as hard to grow, other things being considered, as good ones. Sunshine, however, is believed to be quite importantly associated v\ith flavor. When sending in this subject to the Conference the purpose was to make an exhausted study of the development of the cultivated American muskmelons and in so far as possible trace out the origin and history of all of our standard, well known and promising sorts. While the varie- ties themselves have been carefully studied and an attempt at classifica- tion made, it was thought by a close investigation into the origin of each variety perhaps sufficient data might be obtainable to indicate more or less the phyla or line of development. Early in the year I wrote to all of our leading seedsmen throughout the country personal letters asking them for all possible information in regard to their various introductions of muskmelons, viz., date of introduction, de- scription and photograph of the original fruit, where originated, by whom, whether a known cross, and if so its parentage, etc. I also wrote many large growers throughout the country for similar assistance in tracing the origin and history of this fruit. Some of our leading agricultural and horticultural papers assisted me likewise by publishing a notice free of charge asking for similar assistance. Each of -the Agricultural College and Experiment Station horticulturists was likewise consulted and asked to co-operate in the work. From these various sources a very liberal response was received. Many seed firms were frank to say that they had not introduced anything of their own origin, and even most of those offered to the public were not of any definite known crossing, but largely variations or strains which through selection had been brought out. Some were supposed to be crosses from the fact that other varieties which the chance seedling or strain seemed to resemble had been growing near by. Seedsmen, growers and horticulturists jLinited in not only giving me the advantage of their own experience and data, HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. but in giving addresses of many persons whom they believed might assist me. These addresses were again written, referring me in turn to still others. It has been interesting in accumulating this data to get the ideas of growers as regards the development of this fruit. Some seem to think there is nothing grown to-day that begins to compare with the olden time varieties, while others see vast improvements. All authorities seem to agree that the muskmelon doubtless originated in the Orient, and even to-day it forms a staple article among the peoples of Persia, Italy and Egypt. The muskmelon is very easily susceptible of mixing where varieties are adjacent, and through this means many strains and types have been brought out. The evolution of the cultivated American muskmelon is interesting. One writer claims that Columbus brought the first seed to this country. There are very few instances on record of direct introduction of varieties in earlier times. In recent years the U. S. Department of Agriculture has introduced many which may have a marked influence in the future. The famous Cassaba or Persian variety is said to have been introduced directly from Smyrna to the light soils of lower New Jersey, where it has flourished and become noted for its sweetness and fine flavor. It is believed that most of our thin skinned, finely netted and highly flavored varieties are of Persian origin. The rougher or hard skinned varieties, like those so commonly grown in France, Italy and other European countries and known in this country as cantaloupes or rock melons, may have had a similar origin, but have been developed differently. The muskmelon most commonly known to Americans is, I believe, of the Persian type. While some cantaloupes are grown, and there are now and then varieties showing the cantaloupe characteristics, they nevertheless do not meet with as great success. There has been more attention given to breeding the muskmelon during the past ten years than ever before. While many of the earlier varieties are still standard, new ones are rapidly taking their places. As with other European fruits, conditions have so changed under the new environment in this country that our present cultivated muskmelons are what may be termed strictly an American product. After much correspondence the data at hand seem very inadequate. It was thought that a large number of our varieties would be found to be of known origin, but they are not. Very few varieties are of known parentage. The varieties are largely chance seedlings or strains of well known varieties. Much general information was obtained through the two large wholesale seed firms of Chauncey P. Coy & Son, proprietors of the Elkhorn Valley Seed Gardens, and Frank T. Emerson, general manager of the Western Seed and Irrigation Company, both of Waterloo, Nebraska. These firms are large wholesale growers of muskmelon seeds, and largely supply these seeds for our large seed houses. When any of the seed firms have obtained or originated a new variety, they turn the same over to these firms for future supplies. The writer is unable to tabulate the data as completely as possible, but offers the following as a beginning toward that end ; THE MUSKMELON. 217 VARIETY. ORIGIN. INTRODUCER. YEAR. Extra Early Hack- ensack Selected TTackcnsack Peter Henderson & Co. Rocky Ford Netted Gem Rocky Ford Growers. Osage Miller's Cream Vaughan's Seed Store. Surprise White Japan X Orange Christiana. Price & Knickerbocker. 1876 Bay View Cassaba X Large California. . . W. Atlee Burpee & Co. 1877 Chicago Market . .Selected Montreal Vaughan. Anne Arundel.... " Baltimore Market.... J. Balgiano & Son. Miller's Cream . . . Sill's Hybrid X Cassaba J. J. H. Gregory & 80118.1885 Missouri Accidental Sport D. Landreth & Sons . . . 1892 Extra Early Roof. " ...: ...1878 Cosmopolitan . . . .American X European (?)... . D. M. Ferry & Co. Green Fleshed Osage Selection of Grand View Johnson & Stokes. McCotter's Pride. Sport of Peerless Ferry. Long Island Beauty Selected Jenny Lind J. M. Thorburn & Co. . 1893 Osage Gem Osage X Netted Gem Vaughan. Defender Sport of Paul Rose Ferry. Newport Selected Jenny Lind Henderson. Jersey Belle " Johnson & Stokes. Paul Rose Osage Vaughan. Grand View Emerald Gem Carmes Imported from Syria Henderson. Oklahoma Rocky Ford X Hackensack (?). J. W. Tetrick & Son. . .1902 Khiva Winter .... Foreign F. Barteldes & Co. Large California Nutmeg Selected Runyon Cox Seed Co. Other varieties are largely chance seedlings or crosses. Doubtless much more definite information will be available later. The following abstracts that I have received through correspondence may also prove of interest in showing muskmelon development : BANQUET, GREEN-FLESHED OSAGE, DELMONICO AND A MIXED FLESH UNNAMED VARIETY. We Jiave sold three varieties of mtiskmelons to the houses that first catalogued them. The Banquet muskmelon was found by us in the hands of a gardener, who could give us no information about it save that he had grown it for a good many years and had first secured his seed from some other farmer or gardener. We could riot trace the matter back, and cannot say where or when the variety first appeared. The Green-fleshed Osage came from a variety called the Grand View (which was nothing more or less than an impure strain of Emerald Gem). While inspecting a crop of the Grand View we found a single vine bearing six well-developed melons of an entirely different type ; we picked the melons and next season planted the seed, and neither the first season nor at any time since have we found so much as one single impurity in this variety. It came absolutely pure and true from the start, and it is worthy of note that this green-meated variety came from a yel- low-meated sort. We had only to continue planting until we had sufficient seed to sell, and then we sold it to Johnson & Stokes, who named it Green-fleshed Osage because of its similarity in size and shape to the Red-meated Osage. The perfected Delmonico was sold by us to Peter Henderson & Co. after some five or six years of selection continued from a 'sport' or impurity found in a field of their Delmonico. This sort kept reverting to the parent type and was very hard to get pure and true to the new form. We have at one time and another saved and continued cultivation for several years on distinct HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. types of melons (usually sports found in fields of other sorts) to the number of twenty or thirty, only to find at last that the type we were working for could not be perpetuated. We have been working for eight years on a type of muskmelon in which each melon contains both yellow and green meat intermingled, but we have not yet succeeded in getting the variety sufficiently established to sell for introduction. This was produced from a patch in which alternate hills were planted to different varieties, and, curiously enough, is the result of crossing in this manner two yellow-meated varieties. We also note that the impurities that we throw out of our yearly trials of this cross are green-meated, and we have not yet found any melons in the cross with wholly yellow meat. We cannot offer any explanation of this fact, nor of what we have said about the Green-fleshed Osage. CHAUNCEY P. COY & SON. LONG ISLAND BEAUTY MUSKMELON. A variety of the Hackensack type, originated on Long Island. • It is of very superior quality, with green flesh, and densely netted. In shape it re- sembles the Hackensack, but is slightly more ribbed, and is decidedly the most attractive looking melon we have ever seen. Besides being the most beautiful, it is also the earliest of all. Out of a collection including every standard variety, it produced the first ripe melon of the season. This gives it especial value for market gardeners. J. M. THORBURN & Co. MILLER CREAM MELON. This melon was originated by John D. Miller, of Elmira, N. Y., in tin- year 1878, it being doubtless the result of cross- between Sill Hybrid and Cassaba. It has a very thick flesh, the seed cavity being very small, is of a salmon color, and melting in quality. The rind is thin and of a green color. The vine itself is a strong grower and is very productive, the ground being covered with fruit. This was first catalogued by us in the year 1885. JAS. J. H. GREGORY & SON. OSAGE AND OSAGE GEM. The Osage we believe to be an improved selection from Miller's Cream which was introduced by J. J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead, Mass., who can tell you more about its origin. The Osage Gem is a cross between the Osage and Netted Gem, and was very carefully made by one of our Michigan growers. The Paul Rose was bred by Mr. Rose, being a carefully selected type of small, solid, round, thick meated Osage, and has a little more netting than the type of Osage which we use. VAUGHAN'S SEED STORE. FLAVOR. I have never given any attention to muskmelons except in attempting to cross melons by cucumbers, or more particularly to influence the flavor by the application of cucumber pollen. In this I was never successful. (Prof.) FRED W. CARD. VINE PEACH AND GARDEN LEMON. We are the introducers of the Vine Peach and Garden Lemon. We do not think, however, that they would really belong to the muskmelon family, as they are not usually eaten in the natural condition, but are preserved or pickled. We have never been able to get them perfectly pure. There are always some fruits which are large in size and appear to be midway between cucumber and muskmelon, and we are inclined to think that this vegetable is from a hybrid or cross between the muskmelon and cucumber, but we do not THE MUSKMELON. 219 know where they originated. The Vine Peach we found mentioned in the Chicago Inter Ocean about fifteen years ago, and we wrote to the lady who mentioned this new vegetable and obtained all of her stock of seed. They have since then been renamed Vegetable Orange or Mango Melon by some of the Eastern seedsmen. The Garden Lemon was sent us by one of our Southern customers, who had no name for it, but simply thought that we would be interested in it. It is not really as desirable as the Vine Peach. IOWA SEED Co. EDEN. I introduced the winter melon named Eden, and also have brought into prominence the famous Russian winter muskmelon, named Khiva (Agri. Dept., No. 114), and the N. E. Hansen muskmelon (Dept, No. 116). My business is strictly with winter melons, and I am the only one that has made a commercial successjn that line. Have done quite a business with the U. S. Department of Agriculture in testing, and have sold them hundreds of dollars' worth of seeds. J. F. BROWN, Utah. CALIFORNIA SEED FROM COLORADO. We get all our canteloupe seed from Rocky Ford, Col. A. SARBOUGH, Secretary Coachella Valley Producers' Association, California. IDEAL. We have introduced only one muskmelon — our Ideal. It was originated by Prof. Price, of the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College, College Station, Tex., and he sold us the entire interest in it. It is interesting that we had already named it the Ideal, when we received a letter from Prof. Price suggesting the same name. It is very productive, very sweet, and of better flavor than any melon with which we are acquainted. The flesh is a rich yellow, but occasionally we still find one with green flesh, as one of its parents was green-fleshed. GEO. TAIT & SONS. NEW ORLEANS. Regarding the New Orleans Market Muskmelon, would say that it has been 'the only muskmelon' that gave satisfaction in the immediate vicinity of New Orleans. Northern varieties do not succeed so well ; they have no taste the first year, and must be acclimated to be of any market value. Even the New Orleans Market Muskmelon does not produce the same sweet melon if the seed was grown North. Our truckers are, therefore, very anxious to pro- cure this seed genuine and of Southern production. The melon grows to a large size, larger than the large Hackensack; is deeply scalloped, and very roughly netted. Flesh, pale green to yellow, very deep, juicy, exceedingly sweet, and of a delicious flavor. C. W. ElCHLING. LARGE CALIFORNIA NUTMEG. The variety of melon called "Large California Nutmeg" is a variety that was grown for mary years by a melon grower on the Sacramento River, and was formerly known as the 'Runyon Melon.' We never heard its history or origin. It is the best large shipping cantaloupe that we know of, and we cannot find anything in the East to' correspond with it. It is a very large oblong melon, solid, of a nutmeg character, and of a very fine flavor. It is considered the best late shipping melon in California, and commands the highest price. We have taken hold of this melon for the last two years, as it was par- tially run out, and have selected the seed so as to bring up the duality. Cox SEED Co., California. ON GRAPE HYBRIDS By N. B. White, West Norwood, Mass. The chief end of every living thing is to perpetuate itself, to reproduce itself, and from the standpoint of a naturalist the most perfect specimens of animals and plants are found in their natural wild state, as they have come down to us under the law of the survival of the fittest, and that the "razor- backed hog" and the wild, seedy and skinny fruits are the most perfect speci- mens of their kind. But from the standpoint of the epicure, the greater amount of meat the animal has, and the greater amount of pulp the fruit has, the nearer perfection they are in his estimation, and to produce more meat and more pulp the agriculturist and the horticulturist are devoting their utmost energy, and the future results of this energy, as regards fruits, and more especially the grape, it is my purpose here to consider. The changed environments and the high culture tend to defeat the natural tendency and aim of the vine when in its natural state and condition. Fewer and smaller seeds and better quality are the chief aim of the experimenter, and he rejoices over this distortion of the vine, as the insect rejoices over the excrescence produced by itself having punctured the leaf. This distortion, produced by changed environments, high culture, hybridizing and crossing, tends to produce sterility and to destroy that life principle stored in the seed, as is the case with the potato that produces no seed in Massachusetts. But a cross of the Wild Rocky Mountain upon the Early Rose in Minnesota and the seeds planted in Massachusetts produced seed balls, and fine, large tubers the second year. The tomato, when introduced some fifty years ago, had many seeds and but little pulp, with a large empty space in the seed cavity, but now the tomato is solid and has but few seeds, and I predict that fifty years hence the best tomatoes will be propagated by cuttings or slips. This same tendency to sterility is observable among grapes. We have a number of seedless grapes, and the writer recently produced another. Most blossoms of hybrids have recurved stamens and fail to properly pollenate the stigma. When using staminate vines as the male parent we get a large majority of staminate vines. The writer once pollenated Black Hamburg with staminate hybrid of vulpina and labrusca and eight vines, and all but one were staminate. As such results are liable to occur, it may be a question as to the expediency of using a staminate vine as a pollenater. Another case, where pollen from a her- maphrodite blossom was used : Seven plants were obtained. Six were fertile, one was staminate, and five of them worthy of cultivation. Just what the differ- ence may be as regards vigor, health fulness and quality between using pollen from a staminate blossom or a hermaphrodite blossom is yet to be deter- HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. mined, but the general impression is in favor of the staminate blossom as a pollenizer. The tendency to sterility from the changed conditions is mentioned here to induce experimenters to secure, before it is too late, specimens of all of our wild native species of grapes, that they may be preserved and be used in the future to rejuvenate the declining vigor of the cultivated vines. In my experiments in hybridizing and crossing, I find that prepotency and reversion play a very important part, and the prepotency of Vitis vulpina seems to exceed that of all others. It shows itself strongly where there is but a fraction of its blood combined, but shows less strength where Vitis Lince- cumii is a part of the combination. Reversion is a subtle element in the production of crosses and hybrids, but is less likely to show itself in the first generation than later on. It is freaky and unstable. There is sometimes a reversion to one parent and sometimes to the other, and the best grape that I have produced is where Vitis vulpina, Vitis labrusca and Vitis vinifera were combined. Vitis vulpina and Vitis labrusca controlled the vine and Vitis vinifera the fruit. The Vitis vinifera used was the Black Hamburg, and the hybrid is of the same color and size as the Black Hamburg and has a decided vinifera quality, ripens early and is hardy. I am fully convinced that our best table grapes will always be produced from the three above mentioned species. As some grapes do much better on roots of other vines, the writer is now growing graft stocks for the purpose of testing all new hybrids on. These stocks are from a very vigorous, hardy vine that will take the graft readily. If the perfect blossom and fertility of the vinifera grapes are brought forward to disprove the tendency to sterility of crosses and hybrids, I would say that there is no evidence that the vinifera grapes have been brought up to the present state of perfection by crossing or hybridizing. On the contrary, it is probable that they have been improved by long years of selection. I am now devoting my attention to the establishing of a basis for future viticulture by combining such species as are most likely to furnish desired qualities when the seeds of these combinations are planted. The accompany- ing diagram will show a combination having in it V. labrusca, V. vulpina and V. vinifera for table grapes ; another has in its combination V. labrusca, V. vulpina, V. Lincecumii, V. rupestris and V. vinifera. The former combina- tion should furnish large bunches and berries, and the latter should furnish large clusters and small barries. Such has been my experience with these combinations thus far. -> L.Vitis Labrusca 3* V.Vitts Vinifera R.Vitis Riparia PRACTICAL POINTS FROM THE BREEDING OF STRAWBERRIES AND BUSH-FRUITS By Fred W. Card, Horticulturist, State Experiment Station, Kingston, R. L The work of the plant breeder never lacks interest. He is led on by many deep-thought theories and more delightful possibilities. Limitless im- provement seems to be within his reach, but in practice he meets with many difficulties. Nature does not lightly grant her favors. She may coyly keep them just beyond the grasp of the would-be possessor while steadily luring him onward. In the breeding of strawberries and bush-fruits some difficulties have been met. To call attention to them is the purpose of this paper, rather than to record the results accomplished. In 1899 strawberry plants of a number of different varieties were fruited in hills. Careful records were kept of the yield of each plant. The berries from each picking were counted and weighed, observations being made upon the color, firmness and other qualities of the plant and fruit. Selecting from these records two varieties, Bismarck shows an average yield of 106.4 grams per plant ; Glen Mary shows an average yield of 460.1 grams per plant. Practical selection often stops at this point. The Bismarck would be discarded, the Glen Mary planted ; or perhaps the selection may go one step farther, a step indicated by the following record. Parker Earle produced berries weighing on the average 2.81 grams each. Hunn produced berries weighing 5.86 grams on the average. Here, then, is another factor which may influence the grower in his selection of variety ; but let us look further. Plant No. 19 of the Bismarck variety produced only 15.3 grams of fruit, weighing on the average 2.18 grams each. Plant No. 14 of the same variety produced 233.6 grams, the average weight being 5.99 grams each. Plant No. 7 of the Glen Mary variety produced 286.6 grams of fruit, weighing 4.62 grams each on the average. Glen Mary No. 12 produced 756.3 grams, the average weight being 6.10 grams. Parker Earle produced the smallest fruit of any of the varieties grown, the average weight being 2.88 grams, but the average weight of fruit from plant No. 18 was 1.29, while the average weight from plant No. 6 was 4.04. Hunn produced the largest fruit, the average weight being 5.86, but the average weight from plant No. 9 was 4.17, while that from plant No. 13 was 7.5 grams. In 1900 five plants were chosen in a field of Kansas raspberries as the fruit approached ripening. The plants chosen were those which appeared to be among the best plants so far as the eye could determine, yield, size and general character of plant being considered. Of these five, plant No. 3 pro- duced 648 grams of fruit, the average weight being 1.13 grams each. Plant 226 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. No. 5 produced 1,130 grams, the average weight being 1.33 grams. In other words, plant No. 5 showed an increase of 75% in yield over plant No. 3 and an increase of 18% in size. In 1900 these same plants produced as follows : Plant No. 3, 1,104.4 grams of fruit, averaging 0.96 grams each; plant No. 5, 2,393.5 grams, averaging 1.05 grams each. Plant No. 5 showed, therefore, in this year an increase of 117% in yield and 9% in size over plant No. 3. It should be remembered that these are comparisons between five of what ap- peared to be the best plants at the time of selection. The second year as fruiting approached five poor plants were also selected, choosing not the smallest plants which could be found, but those of apparently the poorest type and generally small. The average yield of these five plants, not to take the poorest one, was 154.3 grams, the average weight of berry being .74 grams. Comparing plant No. 5 with the average of these five poor plants shows that its increase in yield over their average yield was 1457%, the increase in size of fruit being 42%. These figures are introduced to emphasize the fact of individuality in plants. There is a radical difference in behavior of different plants of the same variety in the same field. What contributes to this individuality? Probably many things. The environment, though apparentlv the same, may in fact differ greatly. Perhaps in distributing the fertilizer a larger amount may have fallen near one plant. Soil moisture is variable ; perhaps the conditions in one place may be more favorable. Perhaps one plant may have suffered from an insect attack or from some mechanical accident which no longer shows. Per- haps the vigor of the plants may have differed when set, owing to one plant having been grown under better conditions than another. Even under the best of conditions of field culture such possibilities always exist. Yet when ample allowance has been made for them all, there still remains the fact that the inherent vigor of the individuals must differ. How great this difference is, is a point needing further investigation. Probably it is often underesti- mated; perhaps in our zeal for plant breeding we overestimate it. To learn something of its importance in connection with these strawberries has been one of the points under investigation, and it is in connection with this trial that some of the difficulties have been met. The most productive plant from eight of the most promising varieties was chosen from which to continue the selection, the aim being to constantly select young plants from the parent giving the largest yield. The first obstacle met was found to be the loss of vigor entailed in the production of a heavy crop. In one or two cases the plant producing the largest yield was so thoroughly exhausted thereby that young plants could not be obtained with which to carry on the selection. In others, they were evidently lacking in vigor. The first move, then, was to provide against this difficulty by selecting from all the plants of a variety under trial, before fruiting, a suffi- cient number of young plants with which to carry on the selection, then all are discarded except those from the plant which at fruiting time proves most productive. This adds greatly to the number which must be cared for at any given time and complicates the work. A second question has since arisen. It is always somewhat troublesome to keep plants in hills, and particularly so when, as in this case, a few runners BREEDING STRAWBERRIES, ETC. 227 must first be permitted to grow a sufficient number of plants with which to continue the selection. Does the yield from a single hill represent the actual value of a variety, as commonly grown, or would a better representation be obtained by giving the plant when first set plenty of room and allowing it to make plants at will, forming an individual colony made up of the mother plant and its offspring, then using the yield from this colony as a basis of estimate? This comes nearer what the plant must do in actual practice, since nearly all strawberries are grown commercially in matted rows. In future this is to be our plan of selection. The difficulty of securing uniformity of conditions, as already suggested, is an ever present one, and demands the utmost care at every turn. Not only do conditions of soil and surroundings differ, but conditions of care. Probably no two men would set a plant in the same way, and perhaps no two would hoe it in the same manner. We are still a long way from absolute accuracy in such matters. Some work has been under way in crossing. Among bush-fruits my first experience was at Cornell University, where a number of crosses were made between different varieties and species of raspberries and blackberries. The general results showed nothing of value as a result of violent crosses ; in fact, nothing worth perpetuating resulted from any of the work, but the most promising offspring came from crosses between parents most closely related. Perhaps a few brief notes from these taken from "Bush-Fruits" may have a bearing upon recent discussions. Of five plants of Gregg X Shaffer in fruit, four resembled Gregg in character of plant and one resembled Shaffer. In character of cluster three approached Shaffer and two resembled Gregg. The fruit in one case closely approached Shaffer, while in others it was inter- mediate or nearer the Gregg. Of five plants of Fontenay X Cuthbert, three resembled the female parent in character of growth, one the male, and one was intermediate. Thirty-one plants of Shaffer X Cuthbert were grown. The majority resembled the male plant in character of plant and the method of propagation. Some produced typical red raspberry fruits, while the fruit of others was dark, resembling Shaffer. Three plants of Ada X Cuthbert all resembled the male parent in character of cane. In Rhode Island not enough plants have as yet fruited from which to draw conclusions. A number of strawberry seedlings have been fruiting during 1901 and 1902. In general it has been noticed that there is a great similarity between the seedlings of the same cross, though there are marked exceptions to this rule. In some cases seedlings are so similar that they would readily be con- sidered a single variety. A few observations were made upon the sex of offspring from perfect and imperfect parents. Although not observed fully, the following results will show something of the tendencies: Bubach (I) X Wilson (P). Seedlings, perfect 5, imperfect 8. Bubach (I) X Wm. Belt (P). Seedlings, perfect 8, imperfect 6. Crescent (I) X Glen Mary (P). Seedlings, perfect 22, imperfect 28, weakly perfect 4. In this case the perfect plants did not as a rule bear very many stamens. Glen Mary (P) X Wm. Belt (P), perfect 47, imperfect I. Some were weak pollen bearers, being nearly imperfect. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK; Hunn (I) X Ideal (P), perfect 21, imperfect 9. McKinley (P) X Ridge way (P), perfect 15, imperfect norie1; These observations seem to show a fairly equal division in influence of the two parents in the matter of sex. A few general notes upon seedlings of different crosses may be of interest. Wm. Belt X Wild strawberry. Plants of this cross all possess the char- acteristics of the wild plant, making an abundance of runners, with compara- tively small foliage. The characteristics of the wild fruit also persist, though with an increase in size and some variation in shape. The deeply set seeds and sharp corrugations, with bright color and a pronounced wild flavor, exist in all. One plant in particular showed a promising increase in size of fruit with a very desirable form. Hunn X Ideal. Behind this label we always expect a sturdy, low-growing plant with dark green foliage, bearing a short, roundish, dark red berry, with dark red flesh, rather sprightly in flavor, and ripening late. An occasional variation both in color of fruit and foliage occurs, but in the main the type is well marked. Crescent X Glen Mary follows Crescent closely in general characteristics, the fruits usually being even smaller. Glen Mary X Ridgeway has produced a strong, vigorous plant, rather light in color, fruit rather long and sometimes flattened, light colored and sweet. McKinley X Ridgeway produces light colored fruit, long and flattened at the apex; sweet, but rather lacking in sprightliness. In marked contrast to this general type, one plant produced very short, round fruit, almost as round as an apple, but possessing other general characeristics of the cross. The plants show considerable difference in their ability to resist rust. The Wm. Belt X Wild seedlings are oarticularly susceptible. Among other varie- ties, here and there a plant would stand out in marked contrast with the rest of its family. No second generation plants have yet been fruited, so that it is impossible to speak of variations in the second generation. The chief difficulty to be overcome in obtaining desirable varieties by crossing lies in the large number of characters desired. These embrace vigor of plant and leaf, plant-making ability, resistance to rust, hardiness, pro- ductiveness, size of fruit, color, shape, including the way in which the hull is set, firmness, flavor, season of ripening, etc. Whether Mendel's law is a fact or a fad, it is difficult to combine all these characters which are desirable in one berry. There is abundant room for advance. Our best berries are still deficient in some points. HYBRIDS AND DISEASES By L. H. Pammel, Botanist, State College, Ames, Iowa. In studying the diseases of plants the writer has been interested in ob- serving the comparative immunity of certain plants and the abundance of fungus diseases on others. Not only are there striking differences in plants that apparently belong to the same species, but these differences are noticeable in certain hybrid forms. In the "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin'" is an account of experiments made in England to breed a variety of potatoes that would be comparatively free from the potato rot fungus. It has been shown by Dr. Erwin F. Smith and others who have paid particular attention to the plant diseases that it is possible to breed certain varieties of plants that will be more resistant to the attacks of certain fungi. It seems to me that the attention of plant breeders should especially be called to the importance of this subject from an economic standpoint. In order to overcome the difficulties careful studies must first be made of the characteristics of the plants that are used for cross breeding purposes. I will cite a few illustrations of how the diseases have manifested themselves in the progeny by not paying sufficient attention to the question of eliminating bad qualities that exist in the parents. Where the hybrid or cross comes by chance this question cannot be eliminated, but where hybrids are produced as a result of careful hand pollination these undesirable points should be eliminated as far as possible. RASPBERRY HYBRIDS AND DISEASES. A few years ago I obtained what was said to be a chance seedling of the red raspberry. I was told that it was a highly desirable plant, much hardier than the red raspberry, and free from diseases. A considerable number were planted in my garden. After a study of the plants I became convinced that this chance seedling was a hybrid between Rubus strigosus and Rubus occidentalis. In fruit it had partially the characteristics of both. The leaf was nearly inter- mediate between the two species, except it partook more of the character of the R. strigosus than the R. occidentalis. The stem was intermediate in color be- tween the two species, and its method of propagation was that of the black cap raspberry. For some years the anthracnose (Gloeosporium venctum) has been common in the vicinity of Ames upon several varieties of the black cap raspberry. Not far from this patch of black cap raspberries the new seedling raspberry was grown. For several years the plants were seemingly very thrifty, bore abundantly, and there was no evidence of disease. But during the last three years this parasite has been nearly as destructive to this hybrid seedling as to the black cap raspberry. I made a careful search for this fungus upon the red raspberries growing in the same vicinity in my garden, but without, however, finding any trace of this fungus, nor have I ever col- 230 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. lected it upon this host in this State. The fact that this fungus has occurred so abundantly upon this chance seedling, coupled with the other characters, leaves no doubt in my mind as to thehybrid origin of the seeding. (Since writing the above the writer has found the fungus in the red raspberry.) PLUM HYBRIDS AND DISEASES. For some years plum scab • (Clado- sporium carpophilum) has been abundant upon different varieties of the Prunus Americana. It is true that some years it is much more abundant than others, some years being so common as to seriously affect the market value of plums. The writer has never seen this fungus upon the European Prunus domestics or the Japan plum. Some varieties of the American plum are much more seriously affected than others. I was, therefore, very much interested in finding that certain hybrid varieties of the P. Americana crossed with the Japan plum had some of the plum scab. Of the seedlings obtained from the same experiments there are some varieties of the hybrids that arc exempt, but in one variety the disease occurred successively for several years. THE WILD CRAB. In our State the wild crab is seriously affected with several fungus diseases, notably the cedar apple fungus (Rocstclia pyrata} and the apple scab (Fusicladium dcndriticum) . Some varieties of Pyrus mains are also commonly affected with the apple scab, but never, so far as I know, with the cedar apple fungus. The Soulard crab, which is generally now regarded as a hybrid between the Pyrus mains and the Pyrus lowensis, is usually free from the Roestelia, though occasionally I have seen a few dis- eased leaves when in proximity to the red cedar. It is also slightly affected with the apple scab fungus. The Mercer County crab, which by some writers has been regarded as a good form of Pyrus loztensis, and by others has been regarded as a hybrid, and I am inclined ' to this latter view. It is very different with respect to its diseases from the Soulard crab. I have had a tree of this variety under observation for eleven years, and he has watched from year to year in a general way the amount of fungus diseases affecting the fruit and leaves. In most seasons it is nothing unusual to find that a large number of the leaves are affected with the Rocstclia pyrata. During all this time the writer has never seen this fungus upon the fruit or branches, and yet it has been very common upon both fruit and branches upon our wild crab. Apple scab is rather rare on the fruit, only occurring upon the leaves.* GOOSEBERRIES. The native wild goosberries in this State, both the Ribcs gracile and R. Cynosbati, are seriously affected with the gooseberry rust (Accidium grossulariea) . Taking the Champion as a type of the cultivated species of the European Ribcs grossularifc is not .affected, at least not seri- ously, with this fungus. A hybrid of this species and the R. gracile had a few diseased leaves and fruit the past spring, but generally speaking it is quite free from this fungus. In regard to the Scptoria Ribis occurring upon both the wild species and the cultivated, I may say that the past season has been extremely detrimental to the gooseberries, the leaves falling off prema- turely. The hybrid has retained its leaves much longer than the cultivated gooseberry, indicating that the hybrid is superior in the quality of resistance to plant diseases as compared with the cultivated forms. In order that we may look up this matter a little more, I hope that anyone interested will give to me such information as he may have on this subject, and shall be greatly obliged if I could receive specimens. *Hume and Craig. Native Crab Apples and Their Cultivated Varieties. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 7: 123. HYBRIDISM VS. SELECTION By F. W, Burbidge, Curator, Trinity College Botanical Gardens, Dublin, Ireland Hybrids are of two descriptions, those produced naturally or spontan- eously in the wilds, nnd those raised artificially in the garden, but there is no real distinction between them. We are told that a hybrid is the off- spring of two species, one or both of which at times may be either pollen or seed parent. But the dav of a rigid belief in "pure species" of plants is past, and to say any plant is a species, simply means the expression of one's own, or somebody else's, judgment or opinion. A species is merely some botanist's decision, and not nature's decision, for how can nature be decided, seeing that evolution is continually going on? A species often includes an enormous number of individual plants varying more or less among them- selves, and which come more or less true from seed. A species is, in fact, often a very variable quantity, and its capacity for variation is absolutely unknown, except as it is experimented upon in the garden or elsewhere. Our ignorance of the natural history of plants is profound. Two so-called species grow in the same soil and situation, and belong to the same natural group or order, and yet while one is a useful food plant, the other is a virulent poison to men or other animals. Again, two plants called species, may grow on the Andes or Himalayas side by side, and yet, when brought to American or European gardens, the one may be quite hardy, while the other dies unless sheltered in an artificial temperature. Why plants thus vary in their secretions or products, and in hardihood, no one knows; that they do so is a fact patent to the most ordinary observer, and these problems await solution from the biologists of the future. Again, two related species will, when hybridized together, sometimes produce fertile offspring, and in other cases barren ones. Sometimes species A will fertilize species B, but species B will not fertilize species A, but why, no one knows. In other cases, two or more species will be recip- rocally fertile, but why this is so, neither physicist nor physiologist can say. any more than they can tell us why one plant secretes or makes sugar and another starch, and others wine and oil — nutritious food — healing medicines or deadly poisons. These so far are the secrets of nature's great laboratory. But let us come to the hybrid. The whole history of hybrids is obscure, and in many cases the so-called records are most unreliable. In the case of so-called spontaneous or wild hybrids what has happened is this: The arm- chair botanist, knowing nothing of the circumstances of their origin or native environment, has simply named and described them as pure species! Now and then, as in the case of some orchids, a guess as to their parentage HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. has been made by collectors abroad and even rarely by botanists at home, and we have instances where orchids and other wild hybrids have been made over again by fertilizing the parent species in our hothouses here at home. Nevertheless there are thousands of wild hybrids lying obscured under Latin specific names in our books and herbaria throughout Europe and America to-day. As to garden hybrids, in the beginning of the past century it was thought impious to molest nature, and the early botanists and students of plant hybridism were pretty much in the position of the surgical vivisection- ists who, rightly or wrongly, experiment on living animals to-day. In a word, they worked in secret and scarcely wished or dared to tell the truth ! It is curious to observe that while physical unions such as inarching or inocu- lation, budding and grafting, were looked upon as quite respectable and clever, the physiological unions by cross pollination were universally tabooed, and in Northern Europe more especially. I say in Northern Europe, because in South Europe, North Africa and the East, the necessity for fertilizing the fig tree and the dioecious date palm artificially had been carried out from very early times. In English gardens hybrids have been reared designedly for a period of well night two hundred years. The first of garden hybrids recorded, in England was Fairchild's Mule Pink, said to have been raised at Hoxton, near London, before 1719, between Dianthus caryophyllus, and D. barbatus; that is to say, between the Carnation and the Sweet William. This and many other early hybrids were called "mules" from an erroneous belief that, like the horse and ass hybrid so called, all vegetable hybrids were likewise sterile. The early history of garden hybrids has been obscured by the secre- tive character of the early experimenters and the jealousy they felt of each other.* Also by a more or less superstitious fear of revealing or recording what at the time was regarded as an irreligious or sacrilegious interference with nature. There were also later on trade jealousies, and hybrids were either said to have come from abroad, whence their parents had come before them, or their origin was disguised and concealed under specific Latin names. One remarkable instance of these latter tactics being adopted on a large scale occurred when Messrs. Rollison, of Tooting, and other growers of Cape heaths, at a time when they were nearly as popular as orchids and begonias are to-day, reared numerous hybrids and seedlings all of which were credited to the Cape of Good Hope and duly christened with Latin names. Another potent source of error as to garden hybrids is due to the fact that, fertilization having been effected by wind or insects, the seedlings that varied were assumed to have been hybrids. In a word, the seeming inter- mediates were assigned the most probable or obvious parentage without any real proof. This brings me to the point of this paper, viz. : That the parentage of an enormous quantity of hybrids depends on mere "guesses at truth" and not on any accurate records whatever. It is difficult to estimate the dire results of this practice as a source of error, because intermediates are often *See Gardeners' Chronicle, 1890, July 26, page 103. HYBRIDISM vs. SELECTION. 23 produdecl in gardens by ordinary seminal variation, and without any hybrid- izing operation whatever. We are apt to attribute too much to hybridism as a motive power in pro- ducing variations, and even in the blending of characters among cultivated plants. Before we can be sure of what hybridism effects, we must know exactly how far the parent species themselves can vary as self-pollinated. It is self-evident that some species which so far as we know have never been hybridized can and do vary infinitely as cultivated. In a word, cultivation and the inter-crossing of varieties yield results at times almost, even if not quite, as great as does hybridism. The Chinese Primula, Cyclamen latifolium, the Gloxinia or Sinningia, many root crops and cultivated vegetables, which so far as we know have never been hybridized, yet vary as much as those plants which have been so originated. We have only to look at the immense variations in apples, pears and other domestic fruits in order to recognize the great central fact that cultivation — the crossing of seminal varieties — and human selection are quite as potent as, or even more so than, hybridism alone. Of course, hybridism as confined to so-called species and the cross breeding of varieties differ only in degree, both being sexual and physiological processes. Many of our type species even as wild plants are extremely variable from seed, just as many seminal garden varieties come practically true from seed! As a matter of fact the distinction between species and varieties is an arbi- trary one, but it is for the present a convenience to keep up the nominal distinction. Some day it will be recognized universally that garden species artificially reared are quite as distinct botanically and often a great deal more useful than the native or wild ones. Hybridism often, it is true, gives us a splendid starting place — a spring board, or a new field of variation as it were, but that field must be further improved by cross breeding and selection or the highest and best of practical results are lost, or in any case not actually realized. We must clearly grasp the fact that the three great factors in the making of plant products more useful or suitable to our daily wants are cultivation, the cross breeding of varieties, and a careful selection of the most suitable or desirable seedling kinds. Even cultivation and selection alone from wild plants, as in the carrot and parsnip of Vilmorin's and Buckland's experi- ments, will work wonderful transformations in only a few generations. The fourth factor, viz., hybridism, is potent in the origination of new races, as illustrated in the Tuberous rooted Begonias, the large flowered Cannas, the Gladiolus, Marliac's colored Water Lilies, and many other things ; but the initial gain still depends on the other three factors for its full development. I doubt very much whether the newly discovered "Mendel's law" will be of much practical service to the ordinary hybridist, or whether it will lead to a more precise and exact system of working among hybridists or breeders in the future. In conclusion, I may put forth the following suggestions to those who live in this country, fertile as it is in experimental stations and gardens of all kinds. As a rule, I know the best practical results in hybrid- izing and cross breeding have been obtained by going direct to the point, 234 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. but the losses have also been very great under this plan. The scientific way is to do one thing at a time, and work from the simple to the complex. In this way I would suggest that ten or a dozen suitable species should be selected for experimentation. One plot of individuals should be well cultivated and self-fertilized, their seeds being again sown so as to get at the simple results of good cultivation and selection alone. The plants in plot 2., under the same con- ditions, should be carefully hybridized, reciprocally if possible, and the seeds of these should be again sown and well grown. Selection might be made in both cases, the object in view being to decide whether the simple selection of self-fertilized seedlings does not play a larger and hybridization alone a smaller part in the evolution of garden plants than is at present believed to be the case. The experiments could then be continued with the same material, so as to determine the importance of the part played by the cross breeding of the selected varieties in both cases. As it is, we are in "going direct" working with unknown factors. We must first of all find out how our parent species behave under, I, culture; 2., selection; 3, cross breeding, and 4, hybrid- ism, instead of hybridizing first and trusting to chance for our results. When we see the wonderful results attained among live stock, • cattle and poultry, as well as among fruits, vegetables and flowers, by cross fertilization and selection, we may realize that after all hybridism is not everything in the evolution of the most useful animals and plants of both the farm and the garden. NOTES ON CALIFORNIA PLANT BREEDING By E. J. Wick son, University of Calif crnia, Berkeley, Cal. Plant breeding has been pursued in California ever since the establish- ment of the. missions by the Spanish padres. The first of these establish- ments was made at San Diego in 1769, and here the first cultivated fruit was grown. Gardens surrounded also the missions established later as the padres proceeded northward through the coast region of the State. Many kinds of fruit were grown, and quite marked differences in the varieties of the same fruit were noted by visitors to these missions before the date of American occupation, and many of the fruits survived after that date. While the "mission grape" and the "mission fig" were the same at all the missions and indicate continuous propagation by cuttings, the mission olive has local varia- tions which have never been accounted for. The deciduous fruits varied greatly and seem to indicate selection from seedlings. There is no evidence that the padres practiced budding or grafting, and there are some reasons for thinking that they relied upon growth from seed and secured better varieties here and there by selection, although they developed nothing by the process equal to the varieties known to Europeans and Americans at the middle of the last century. Very soon after the American occupation and the announcement of gold discovery, a sharp interest arose in new varieties of fruits upon the widely prevalent idea that such varieties would be better adapted to local soils and climates than the popular sorts of the humid regions of America and Europe. There wrere thousands of seedlings to select from, because seeds and pits were easily brought along the various routes followed by the pioneers, while the shipment of nursery stock was very difficult and expensive. The first fruits grown in the State by Americans were counted worth as much for seed as for pulp, so sharp was the demand for the multiplication of trees. Many very satisfactory seedlings were fruited, some of which have ever since main- tained their places in the fruit lists of the State. When the introduction of grafted trees from all parts of the world began by enthusiastic horticulturists who came from all civilized countries to the new El Dorado, there became available many new elements of parentage. It may be doubted whether in any part of the world so many varieties came to fruiting at the same time as were to be found in Central California. The growth of seedlings continues still, in the belief that the wonderfully favorable conditions for growth would produce horticultural wonders in size, beauty and quality. Of course, not all such anticipations were realized. Selection of seedlings began to be pursued upon a rather more rational ground, namely, to secure particular adaptations to local needs in season of ripening, in suitability for preservation and transporta- 236 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. tion, and in many other characters, which were seen to be locally desirable. How widely and how definitely also this selection of seedlings was pursued and what satisfactory results were secured are shown in considerable detail in a paper which the writer contributed to the Proceedings of the American Pomo- logical Society, Session of 1895. This watching for wonders in chance seed- lings is still a passion of the California fruit grower, and desirable acquisitions are still being disclosed, although each year brings new casualties to the fruit lists. There are probably not one-tenth as many varieties of all kinds of fruits, both citrus and deciduous, now growing in California as there were twenty years ago. Although many new varieties have been secured both by selection of seedlings and by the higher arts of plant breeding, ten times as many have been dropped from the lists, not because they were failures as fruits, but be- cause they did not meet the very sharp requirements of commercial fruit growing as now pursued in California. During the last decade plant breeding in California has rapidly widened in scope and advanced in aim and method. Though our most distinguished plant breeder, Mr. Luther Burbank, began his California life and effort as early as 1875, it was not until some years later that results began to appear and the people to understand his lofty purposes and wonderful achievements. This disclosure of a horticultural prophet of the highest type has naturally stimulated plant breeding and led to higher arts and greater ambitions, and the results secured by others than Mr. Burbank are becoming notable. It has seemed to me that even a rough sketch of what other Californians than Mr. Burbank had achieved, with some mention of their beliefs and methods, would be acceptable, and would indicate that under the favoring conditions in Cali- fornia excellent work was being done by many enthusiastic and devoted plant breeders. This elimination of Mr. Burbank is necessary because his work alone, even cursorily discussed, would occupy more space than this writing should claim; besides, information about him and his work was given by the writer in four issues of the Sunset Magazine, San Francisco (December, 1901, and February, April and June, 1902,), to which the reader is referred. For the purpose of securing up to date and authentic data from Cali- fornia plant breeders I addressed letters of enquiry to those whom I knew to be engaged in this work. All did not comply with my request for informa- tion, and if omissions are noticed they may be due to this fact. The replies to these enquiries follow: The Loganberry and the Mammoth blackberry are the only plants of any value that I have originated. In August, 1881, I planted the seed of the common wild blackberry, or dewberry, of California, botanically known as the Rubus ursinus, gathered from plants on one side of which was growing a kind of evergreen black- berry known as the Texas Early, and on the other side of which was growing an old variety of red raspberry. The Texas Early has a growth of cane and leaves similar to the Lawton, although much less vigorous, and in our mild climate is growing winter and summer. It has a small round berry of more acidity than the Lawton and probably of poorer flavor. The rasp- berry referred to has been growing in this place for the last forty years, and I am unable to ascertain what variety it is, although it is of a type similar to the Red Antwerp. It is not, however, the Red Antwerp as we have been growing it here. From this seed there grew about one hundred plants. CALIFORNIA PLANT BREEDING. In the summer of 1883 these fruited and there appeared one plant which was undoubtedly a cross between the raspberry and the R. ursinus. The fruit was larger and earlier than the raspberry or any blackberry, except the ursinus, ripening about the middle of May; the appearance of the berry on the surface was something like the raspberry, being less indented and of more even surface than a blackberry; the color a bright glowing red, becom- ing very dark and finally, when dead ripe, of a dull purplish-red color. The berry has a core like the blackberry and parts from the calyx the same as a blackberry. The leaves of the vine are almost identical with the wild Rubus, being somewhat larger. The canes are also like the wild Rubus, but larger and more vigorous ; it has the same small, sharp spines, and, like it, is with- out adventitious root buds, but multiplies from the stolons or tips and from seed. The fruit, when cooked, has the same rich acidity as the wild Rubus, there being only a suggestion of the taste of the raspberry in the cooked fruit, but in the jelly there is a more decided raspberry flavor. This red berry is universally known here as the Loganberry. It is an enormous grower and bearer, there having been gathered in this city full twenty-five pounds of fruit from one plant in one season. In Southern California it is fast displacing all other blackberries. The other plants produced at this time, being crosses between the ursinus and the Texas, also developed into an entirely new type of black- berry, most of them of good quality ; equally good for canning and jams as the Loganberry or the wild Rubus, and almost as early in ripening. Since 1881 I have planted a good many seeds of this Rubus ursinus fertilized with the Texas Early. About twelve years ago there appeared among these seedlings — and it is uncertain from what year's planting it came— a remarkable blackberry. The canes are enormous. I have a plant now growing in my grounds which grew one cane or stalk last year, for this year's fruiting, of one hundred and forty-nine feet of fruit wood. This single plant will cover with foliage a wall forty feet long and from six to eight feet wide. The fruit is equally colossal ; berries are frequently found two and one-half inches long. The fruit is similar to that of the wild Rubus, being less sharply acid, and when perfectly ripe is sweet and delicious. This berry I have named the "Mammoth." Its fruit is similar to the Logan- berry, but less acid. The Mammoth fruits perhaps a couple of weeks later than the Loganberry, and is jet black in color. The raspberry parent of the Loganberry is, like most raspberries, prone to spread from adventitious rootbuds ; the Texas Early is also a perfect nuisance in that respect. The Rubus ursinus has no adventitious rootbuds, but propagates entirely from the tip. And it is a singular fact that, in the thousansd of seedlings of the Loganberry and of the crosses between the Texas and the ursinus and crosses between plants thus crossed, not a single plant has been found that had adventitious rootbuds, but, like the female ursinus parent, all reproduce from the tips or seed. As is well known, the raspberry has a perfect bi-sexual flower. The Rubus ursinus, sexually, is divided into the male and the female. Such a thing as a bi- sexual flower in the Rubus ursinus is unknown, and it is a characteristic of that plant, growing wild in the woods, while the cane of the male plant is very much smaller and apparently less vigorous than the female, the male ultimately speads in rich soil and completely chokes out the female plants so that in a few years the berry patches become entirely barren, being con- stituted entirely of male plants. It is very noticeable in cases where the woods have been burned over : for the first few years, the burned district will produce many blackberries; in a few years, however, the productive berries entirely disappear and the male berry takes entire possession. The flowers of the seedlings which I have grown have been mostly bi- sexual and very large. I never yet have seen a flower of the Loganberry or of any of its seedlings that was not bi-sexual and perfect. Very many, how- 238 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. ever, of the crosses between the ursinus and the Texas are uni-sexual female, but I never yet have seen a flower of any of my seedling plants that was uni- sexual male, like the ursinus produces. My experience with the hybridizing of the Loganberry and the Mam- moth blackberry with each other and other fruits, has resulted in some very interesting, and, in many cases, peculiar horticultural productions. The seedlings of the Loganberry, having been propagated in this State by the thousand, very many of them by myself, have as far as I know, resulted in the reproduction of the Loganberry type only ; I never yet have heard of one of these seedlings returning to either a raspberry or a blackberry. The fruit of these seedlings is always the same red color, the same general flavor, and the vines have the same general appearance; but, as in the case of all seedling plants, the fruit of ninety-nine out of a hundred plants is not equal in any respect to the original, in fact they are mostly worthless. I have made many crosses of the Loganberry with my seedlings of the Texas and the ursinus. No. 1 is a cross of the Logan with a pistillate product of the Texas and ursinus; No. 2 is a cross of the Logan with the wild ursinus; No. 3 is a cross of the Logan with the Mammoth; No. 4 is a cross of a pistillate product of the Texas and the ursinus with the ursinus. The result of all these crosses has been a most peculiar failure. Not a single one has been prolific, although in most instances the blossoms have both pistils and stamens perfectly developed in the same flower. A few have been pistillate (uni-sexual female). Not a single one has been uni- sexual male. It would be supposed that such flowers would produce fruit, but they are utterly barren. Out of hundreds of plants I have not found a single perfect berry and very few imperfect ones. These hybrids, while perfect and valuable as producers of fruit, and constant in reproducing them- selves, seemingly refuse to be a party to any more crosses. J. H. LOGAN. Santa Cruz, Cal. While not entirely so, yet most of our work is done by hybridizing. Some of our results are: Snapdragon Sweet Peas ("Pure White," "Light Pink," "Deep Purple"). — The standard never expands, but closely overlaps the wings, giving the flower a bud-like form. (Introduced, 1901.) Sweet Pea (Giant-Flowered "Chamberlain"). — While all . cupid sweet peas have larger sized flowers than the same varieties of the original tall type, this one is truly entitled to the name Giant-Flowered. The extraordinary size of the flower is emphasized by being produced in wonderful abundance upon such dwarf compact plants. Striped rosy pink on white ground. (In- troduced, 1900.). Fall Nasturtium "Croesus." — This is a distinct new climbing Nasturtium. Foliage rich and dark. Flowers are of immense size, rich sulphur yellow. Each petal is splashed or tiped with red. The two upper petals are marked with large peacock-feather markings of deep red. The lower petals are also marked with the peacock eye, large and distinct, but of a soft rose color. This variety has the peculiarity of commencing to flower with the yellow and red markings, and as the growth of the vine continues there will be flowers of rose red, with yellow lines upon them and often four or five dis- tinct flowers will be upon the same vine. (Introduced, 1903.) Ivy Leaf Nasturtiums. — The original was propagated in Europe — came very untrue to type and of one color. We have succeeded in not only get- ting a true type but, by crossing, some twenty different colors. Unique Sweet Pea. "Salvation Lassie." — This is new departure in sweet peas. The standard is unusually wide and well expanded, yet curving so curiously over the wings as to suggest a bonnet. Color a soft shade of deep rose throughout. (Introduced, 1902.) L. C. ROUTZAHN, Manager, McClure Seed Company, Arraya Grande, Cal. CALIFORNIA PLANT BREEDING. 239 I have fruited many seedlings, but have not produced anything superior to what we already had. From 1869 to 1878, when there was no sale for pears and no codling moths, we could pick up free of charge all the pears we wanted in orchards where they had dropped. Many men raised their own pear seedlings. One year I selected 400 out of 60,000 seedlings grown from grafted fruit, worked them high on small limbs of old trees, these nearly all fruited in four and five years, but none proved superior to those varieties we had in cultivation. I have the same experience with plums of which there are two good varieties not yet introduced. Three years ago we selected out of 120,000 apricot seedlings 500 and budded them high on peach trees, some show very well for bearing, size and ripening. We have also a lot of almonds on trial, worked the same way, high on old trees. JOHN ROCK, California Nursery Company, Niles, Alameda Co., Cal. There are at Home Orchard, two apples, one apricot and two peaches that I think have some claims for excellence, all chance seedlings. One of the apples is a seedling of the Grindstone, somewhat larger — a yellow ground with light and darker red stripes — shape flatish round — both stem and eye cavities deep — stem slender, core very small; seeds plump and dark. Fruit fine grained, moderately juicy, rich, with a slight acid flavor — a good eating apple at Christmas and will keep till May or June. Tree an upright, strong, healthy grower. The original tree grew just within the Fresno grove of "Big Trees" (Sequoia gigantea) and is twenty-five or thirty years old. A few trees have been propagated and sent out as Sequoia. The other apple originated here — a cross of White Winter Pearmain with G. N. Pippin. It retains the peculiar flavor of the Pearmain with the rich sharp acid of the Pippin. Color a greenish yellow, size medium, shape flat- ish oblate, with prominent ribs, will keep to ay or later. Not handsome in either color or shape, but many who have tested it think it the finest flav- ored they have ever tasted. Tree a good worwer, healthy — spreading. None have been propagated — no name. The apricot is a seedling of Blenheim, and blooms several days later — fruit large, flatish oval, color not quite so dark as the parent; flavor about the same, ripens evenly. Tree a very healthy, rapid grower and free from gum, very prolific — not propagated — no name — originated here. A lemon colored cling peach is highly thought of in many orchards of this vicinity — large when properly thined, sometimes a little blush in the sun — no red at the seed, which is small — considered our best canning cling. The tree is upright and the most rapid and healthy grower I know, and comes true from the seed. The original tree was among a few others planted in "early days" at a mining camp near Mariposa, and lived and bore fruit without fence or care for many years — it was a noted tree — a grand nursery stock. The other peach is a lemon yellow freestone, medium to large in size, nearly round with a little bright red in the sun — flesh a bright yellow to the seed — very similar to Muir, but more juicy and not quite so sweet— firm, and we like it for canning— carries well— ripens about the first of September- holds well on the* tree, which is a tsrong, upright grower. I think it is a cross of the above cling with some freestone. It is known at the hotels along the stage line to "the valley" as "Yosemite," and is the best peach they get. No trees outside of Home Orchard — originated here. FRANK FEMMONS, Ahwahnee, Madera Co., Cal. We have not done much cross-fertilizing of plants excepting in Sweet Peas, and on these lines have done a great deal of work since about 1890. The first Cupid discovered by us was in 1894— a pure white. In 1895 we 240 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF VNE\V YORK. discovered another Cupid — Pink, or Blanche Ferry. We crossed both, as well as crossing numerous tall varieties, which seemed to break up the strains, and while frequently we would not find any Cupids from such crosses for some years, they were all apt to throw Cupids even though we planted the seed of tall ones. We now have Cupids of every variety that exists in the tall sorts, or more than one hundred. We saved the first Bush in 1895, although we had seen them before and had not tried to do anything with them. We began crossing, and now have no less than fifty different colors in the Bush. We have ourselves sent out twenty-five tall Sweet Pea novelties, introducing most of them through W. Atlee Burpee & Co., of Philadelphia. Sweet Peas must be crossed when the bud is quite young before any pollen has caught on the pistil. We have done most of our work by simply taking all the stamens off the plant to be crossed and bringing new pollen to it, although some claim that we should mix the pollen of the plant itself with the new one. The first year after the seed of the cross is planted it is very apt to show a very inferior reversion to old pink or white, or an inferior red, white or purple. The plants, however, planted again the second year begin to show new strains. This is not always so, since sometimes we get a handsome flower the first year, but it is never a fixed type, and the year following i? sure to break. The majority of novelties, however, are not developed by cross-fertiliza- tion, but by selection. There is always something a little different from its fellows in any field of plants, and a selection can be developed to create a considerable change. The Morse Lettuce is a selection of white seeding plants out of Black Seeded Simpson and then developed for a hardier variety. Pink Prizetaker Onion is a selection out of the common Yellow Prizetaker, and so on. In developing stocks this way we always keep each plant separate, as some plants will produce their kind and others will not do so, and if they are mixed we might never be able to get a fixed stock. In one strain of Sweet Pea, for instance, this year we have 270 individual selections, and we have had as high as 305. On all of the standard Onions, Lettuces and Carrots we make an extra selection of one hundred plants, roots or bulbs, and from this hundred we save ten individuals and mix the other ninety. Out of the ten individuals we choose one for a breeder, and then carry the work on again from that with our hundreds and tens. This is to breed up a pure stock. In breeding novelties it is very important that one has a large trial ground so as to try stocks from other sources. We have seen a good many people enthusiastic over something that was new to them, though it was not a novelty. We believe that nearly all vegetables or flowers can be developed along certain natural lines purely by process of selection — we mean that they can be made early or late, large or small by this method. Crossing and hybridizing is very slow and discouraging work. We have never done very much of it in vegetables except to try it in Salsify. We have tried it somewhat in Sunflowers, Hollyhocks and • Centaureas, but without success so far. C. C. MORSE & Co., Per Lester L. Morse, Pres. and Mgr. The most noteworthy hybrid I have raised is the Canna Mrs. Kate Gray, This canna was raised at Alhambra in the summer of 1896. Italia was the seed-bearing parent crossed with the pollen from Madam Crozy, the pollen from the leaf stamen being used. One seed was obtained, and since that time neither Italia nor Mrs. Kate Gray can be induced with me to perfect seed. CALIFORNIA PLANT BREEDING. 241 t have a very good hybrid Asparagus which is the result of a oross between Asparagus decumbens, seed-bearing, and pollen from Asparagus tenuissimus. Some seedling Roses which have flowered giving great promise of good varieties are American Beauty crossed with Kaiserin Augusta Victoria and Papa Gontier crossed with American Beauty. Pollen grains vary in size and vitality, though they may have been grown in the same stamen. In fact, I am selecting my pollen grains. Method used: A piece of unglazed paper is used, shaking the ripe pollen onto it and curving the paper, and at the same time elevating one end so that the pollen runs down onto a plate. On looking at the. pollen with a lens we find that a certain amount of inferior grains are left on the paper, and by repeating the operation only the heaviest grains reach the plate. From experience I have found that these selected grains carry with them the general make-up of the plant bearing them, unless the energy of the stigma overpowers the pollen life. If such is the case the progeny is intermediate between the two in all points. But if the vigor of the pollen predominates it carries with it all the characteristic traits of its parent except color, which invariably leans to the seed-bearing parent. Mixed pollens from differently colored flowers produced all flaked flowers in Gladiolus. But one grain of pollen from a red-flowered Gladiolus on a light salmon-colored one produced a most beautiful pink. The few remaining seed gave results inferior to both parents. Moisture is fatal to pollen and weakens the vigor of the stigma. It is owing to the dry air of California that California seeds have such sound germinating powers. All plant life deteriorates, and it is only by crossing variety on variety that we stay this law of nature. In fact, such is the tendency of some varie- ties to hold to their original that when crossed with pollen from another variety it only adds vigor to the tree or plant. I have a noticeable instance of this in a hybrid Orange tree. The tree is the result of a cross between the Navel Orange and the Mediterranean Sweet, the former being the seed-bearer. As far as I can see the fruits are perfect Navels in every way. W. H. MORSE. I have originated five varieties of loquat, which I consider of sufficient value to offer to the public. They are : Advance, which is very large, sometimes three inches in length; pear shaped ; yellow skin ; white flesh, and grows often in immense clusters. Ripe rather late in April and May. Blush, much like the Advance, but somewhat earlier ; does not grow in such large clusters; is the least affected of any by the blight, being virtually immune. Premier; very large ; oval ; salmon skin and flesh ; very early, ripening in March and April, or even before. Pineapple; a quiet, large, round, white-skinned, white-fleshed loquat of wonderfully rich flavor ; grows in very large clusters ; ripens with the Advance. Commercial; exceedingly large; pear shaped; skin, yellow; flesh, white; fruited for the first time in 1900. A very fine loquat, indeed. The Advance has been recognized as of especial value for about fourteen years. Most of the others are seedlings from it and are of comparatively recent introduction. Up to a quite recent date, my method has been simply to fruit selected seedlings, but now I have some young trees one and two years old, from pits which were hand fertilized, and whose origin is certain. I have fruited over twelve hundred seedlings and have about as many more which will bear in the next two years. Owing mainly to the introduction of the Advance, the loquat has become very popular in Los Angeles. One man, the past season, sold in that market 242 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. one thousand dollars worth of fruit from less than one hundred and fifty trees. There is no reason why the loquat should not become equally popular in the other large cities. C. P. TAFT, Orange, Cal. I have kept no memoranda, and am unable, in a number of instances, to give the parentage or pedigree of novelties which I have introduced. I have done a great deal of work with Cosmos, but only through selection. Nastur- tiums have taken much of my time the last few years. One not yet given to the public, a cross of Phoebe by Sunlight, is very beautiful and most valuable for hybridizing ; through it, I expect to develop a tall fringed Nasturtium. The work to which I am most devoted and where I hope to do my best is with Begonias. Considerable time has also been given to Geraniums and Chrysanthemums. THEODOSIA B. SHEPARD, Ventura, Cal. A STUDY OF GRAPE POLLEN AND WHAT THE RESULTS INDICATE By N. O. Booth, State Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y. The following investigations were carried on in th'e summer of 1902. Their object was to determine, if possible, the reasons why certain varieties of grapes are self-sterile. It was long supposed that self-fertility in a grape merely meant that the pollen of that variety could not fertilize its own pistil and the earlier students of the botany of the grape taught that such varieties would be told by the recurved stamens which were always supposed to go with self-sterility.1 Later investigations, which showed that certain of the self-sterile varieties have long stamens," indicated that the recurving of the stamens was not the cause nor even a character which always accompanied self-sterility. Leaving out of consideration the recurving of the stamens as a mechanical cause preventing pollen of a grape blossom from falling on its own pistil and we have four other possible causes remaining: (1) What is known to botanists as dichogamy or the pistil and pollen from the same blossoms, and usually same plant, maturing at different periods; (2) lack of affinity between pollen and pistil of the same plant; (3) the pollen on the self-sterile sorts might be so scanty as to render fertilization improb- able; (4) lack of viability in the pollen itself, making it impotent not only on its own pistil, but also on all others. For reasons which will be discussed in the latter part of this paper it was considered that the first and second of these possible causes were not probable ones and our efforts were con- fined wholly to investigating the third and fourth causes. This year observa- tions were made on a great many different varieties as to the amount of fallen present. All of these estimates were, of course, approximate, since pollen is a material which it is impossible to measure exactly. These observa- tions were made both with naked eye and simple lens. There were a great many variations, but the variations did not appear to be particularly signifi- cant. There were greater variations on different clusters of the same vine than normally appeared on different vines of different varieties. The last clusters of flowers to bloom, and sometimes the first, are usually not so well supplied with pollen as those which appear at the height of the blossoming season. Vines just coming into bearing and having only one or two clusters on the vine were usually scantily supplied with pollen. With some of the varieties even where there was no apparent cause in the condition of the vine, the amount of pollen present was apparently insufficient to make pollina- Itjon at all certain. However, with most of the self-sterile varieties the pollen was quite plentiful and apparently quite sufficient for pollinating pur- 'Englemann, Bushberg Catalogue, page 7, ed. 18U5. "Beach. Bui. 157, N. Y. E. S. 244 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. poses. At the same time that these observations were being made the pollen itself was being studied to determine, if possible, the exact status of the pollen itself as a factor bearing on fertilization. This part of the work was wholly of a laboratory and microscopic nature, the only portion which took place in the field being the gathering of the blossoms. For this purpose the following list of varieties was selected for examination and comparison : PERCENTAGE SELF-FERTILE VARIETIES. PERCENTAGE SELF-STERILE VARIETIES. No. No. Riparia. . . X 1 Clevener *4 Rip 1 Clinton Rip X 3 Marion 3 Rip X 2 Janesville 1 Rip X 3 Elvibach Labrusca.X 4 Aminia Rip X 5 Grein Golden Lab X 6 Barry Lab 7 Wyoming Lab.. Lab.. Lab.. Lin.. .. .X 8 Black Eagle ...X 9 Massasoit .. .X 10 Roscoe ...X 11 Hexamer Rip X 3 Berckmans 1 Lab X 4 Agawam 2 Rip X 5 Mo. Reisling 2 Lab X 6 Rogers' No. 32 2 Lab X 7 Lucille 1 Lab X 8 Triumph Lab X 9 Brilliant 2 Lab X 10 Lindmar 2 Lin X 11 Bailey * *i or the significance of these numbers following the names see Bui. 157, N. Y. E. S. Here we have a comparison in each instance of two varieties blooming at the same time or nearly the same time with similar parentage, but one variety being self-sterile and the other self-fertile, the object being to elim- inate so far as possible all differences which might be due to species or strain. This investigation naturally divided itself into two lines ; first, trial of the pollen in sugar solution to see if it would germinate; second, examination of the pollen under a microscope to see if there were any constant morphological differences between that of the self-sterile and self-fertile varieties. In the beginning of this work we were handicapped by a lack of experience in growing grape pollen and a consequent lack of knowledge as to the best solutions in which to grow it, the literature of this subject being not readily accessible. On this account the results from the first four kinds of pollen tested were uncertain. This was due to using a sugar solution which was too weak for this kind of pollen to make a good growth (1 per cent.). The only differences shown in this pollen was in the budding1 as none germinated. The Clinton and Janesville both showed buds on from 5 to 10 per cent, of the grains, but the Clevener and Marion showed at the end of four days no change from their condition at time when placed in solution. On June 18, 1902, pollen of Elvibach, Berckmans, Aminia and Agawam were placed in hanging drops of 2% per cent, sugar solution. They were examined for three successive days thereafter, and the number of germinations noted. The Elvibach and Aminia pollen did not germinate or even bud. About 4 per cent. \of the Berckmans germinated and about 10 per cent of the Agawam. On the twenty-first pollen was prepared as before except for using a 5. per cent, solution of dextrose in place of the previous medium. The varieties from which pollen was taken in this instance were Grein Golden, Mo. Reisling, Barry, Rogers' No. 32, Wyoming and Lucile. Notes were taken on these cultures on the 23d, at which time they were in the height of their growth, none germinating after that date. At this time the pollen of the Grein Golden, JThe first stage in pollen germination. STUDY OF GRAPE POLLEN. 245 Barry and Wyoming had not changed in any way from their condition when they were first placed in the solution. About 12 per cent, of the Mo. Reisling germinated 20 per cent, of Rogers' No. 32 and 10 per cent, of the Lucile. Pollen of these same varieties was placed at this later date in 10 per cent, dextrose solution with the following results : Grein Golden out of an estimated 200 grains one made a very weak growth. Barry and Wyo- ming not changed in any way. Mo. Reisling, about 15 per cent, germinated. Rogers' No. 32, about 50 per cent, and especially strong. Lucile was acci- dentally destroyed. The same varieties were tried in 10 per cent, sugar solution with the following details : Grein Golden, out of an estimated 150 grains one germinated, growth short and weak. Mo. Reisling, 20 per cent, grew. Barry, none. Rogers' No. 32, about 75 per cent, good and strong. Lucile is a mass of growth at least 80 per cent. In 20 per cent, sugar, Grein Golden shows 2 in approximately 250. Mo. Reisling, 25 per cent. Barry, none. Rogers' No. 32, 90 per cent Wyoming, about 5 per cent., growth weak. Lucile, 95 per cent. On July 2 cultures were made in 20 per cent, sugar solution with pollen of Black Eagle, Triumph, Massasoit, Brilliant, Roscoe, Lindmar, Hexamer and Bailey. Notes taken the following day show : Black Eagle, none budded or grown. Triumph, practically all budded but only about 10 per cent, grown to any length. Massasoit, little budding and no growth. Brilliant, all budded, 60 per cent, grown. Roscoe, none budded and none grown. Lindmar, about 60 per cent, budded and 10 per cent, grown. Hexamer, no buds and no growth. Bailey, about 60 per cent, budded and 5 per cent grown. The foregoing results are tabulated below : ft to 0 4 O m "O 3 °C £ 'C *"' •*. "^ Sterile Fertile Sterile Sterile Fertile Fertile Sterile Fertile Sterile Fertile Sterile Fertile Sterile Fertile Sterile Fertile Sterile Fertile *See l.sc. 1 a If S P "S.'s June 18 June 21 July ^ 3 Bui. 157, c . OS June 19 21 June 23 2 July 5 N. Y. Ex. St 0 !•§! S-g S C/3 S « /^,% sugar 0% sugar r. 1 Aminia . . . 4 . . . 4i Agawam . . . 2 Mo Reisling . . . 2 . . 4 Rogers, No. 32 . . . . . . 2 . 4 Lucile . . . 2 Black Eagle .. . 4 Triumph ........ Massasoit .. . 2 4 Brilliant 2 Roscoe 4 2 Hexamer . . . 4 Bailey 0 None 4% None 10% 1% weak 25% None 90% 5% 95%, very strong None 10% None 60% None 10% None 5% Besides these there were some other differences between the self-strile1 and the self-fertile pollen which seemed to be constant. The self-fertile grains seem to be surrounded by a mucilaginous substance which makes *! retain the use of these terms self-sterile and self- fertile all through this bul- letin, although the results show they (Jo not express the whole truth. 246 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. them stick to one another more or less so that the pollen, whether it lies dry on the slide or is placed in liquid media, arranges itself in a succession of clumps. This mucilaginous substance does not appear to be soluble in water as the pollen grains retain their position even after several days in the solu- tions. The self-sterile pollen, on the other hand, shows no such arrangement, but the grains distribute themselves either on the slide or in the liquid like so much dry powder, quite by chance. The next phase of the work was the microscopical examination of the pollen grains to see if there were any characteristic differences in the size or shape of the different classes of pollen. All pollen, whatever its shape may be when it comes from the anther, swells on contact with water and most other liquids, assuming a spherical shape. The results of this part of the work can be better illustrated than told. On the following pages are cuts which are reproduced from photo-micrographs of the pollen mounted in bal- sam. The characteristic differences are very apparent. The self-fertile forms are oblong, blunt at the ends and quite symmetrical. The self-sterile sorts as may be seen are quite different in shape, being more irregular and showing little of the symmetry of the other class. Pollen from all other varieties in the list previously given showed these same shapes according to the class to which the variety in question belonged, but the blooming season of the first eight varieties was past before I thought of illustrating this phase of the work, and later the balsam mounts of Roscoe and Lindmar were acci- dentally destroyed. Examination of pollen, from varieties of grapes which had given conflict- ing results in Prof. Beach's work to determine if they were self-sterile, showed that these forms may be mixed. Eaton was the first one of these which was examined on June 26. The pollen of this variety is quite irregular in shape and size, and only about 10 per cent, show the regular self-fertile shape, although there are numerous others which approach it very closely. They are considerably larger than average pollen. In 20 per cent, sugar solution about 15 per cent, of this pollen germinated. None of the growths appeared healthy, however, or at least were not like those of completely self- fertile pollen. In normal self-fertile pollen the tubes formed on germination are approximately the same size throughout, but the tubes of Eaton varied in size at different points of their course, being restricted at one place and swollen and distorted at another. The tubes were fully as long as those of normal self-fertile pollen. Other pollen of the same class which Prof. Beach brought for testing were Dracut, Amber, Maxatawney, Faith, Geneva, Montefiore, Caronicus, Oneida, Gold Dust and White Jewel. These were tested, as were also pollen of Red Trattmener, Red Veltliner and Chables sent by Dr. Tinker, of New Philadelphia, Ohio. In each instance the per- centage of pollen which germinated did not vary widely from the percentage of self-fertile forms which the microscope showed that particular variety to contain. And it appears very certain that the capacity of the pollen for growth is in direct proportion to the percentage of self-fertile forms present and their conformity to the self-fertile type. Pollen of various varieties of STUDY OF GRAPE POLLEN. grapes varies considerably in size, but there is no apparent connection between the size and germinating capacity. From these results it appears that one of the reasons why certain varieties of grapes are self-sterile is a lack of viability or potency in the pollen itself.1 There may be other minor factors (quantity of pollen produced, etc.), but this is sufficient to account for all of the phenomena observed in the field. There are no distinct classes of self-fertile and self-sterile forms, but all gradations exist from one extreme (pseudostaminate) to the other (pseudo- pistillate). It further appears tHat pollen from the same variety may vary in different years and in the same year in different localities.' This gradua- tion of pollen is quite readily noticed on examining pollen from a dozen or two of varieties selected by chance. In selecting the varieties which are given in the list in this bulletin extreme types were purposely sought so that any differences which might exist would be most apparent. The grape is evidently, so far as its phonological characters are con- cerned, now in a state of evolution from an assumed older hermaphrodite'1 form to forms that are essentially staminate and pistillate. All of the stam- inale forms which I have observed have small abortive pistils which con- form with the observations of Engelmann. Others report staminate flowers with no trace of pistil remaining. On the other hand, the most advanced pistillate forms still retain their stamens and pollen although so far as their true function is concerned they are abortive. There is considerable cor- roborative evidence as to this being an incomplete evolution in the fact that the forms are not fixed and separate, but blend together and are quite un- stable even on the same plant.4 These facts seem to show that our grape is in a state of very unstable equilibrium coming from an ancestry of diverse sexual types.5 It might be interesting to consider the probable cause of this evolution. It seems reasonable to suppose that there must be some advantage which the staminate and pistillate vines have over the older hermaphrodite forms or they would not have developed and persisted. This advantage probably lies in the fact that cross fertilization is thus assured." The seedlings resulting from cross fertilization being usually the stronger7 would have the better chance in the struggle for existence with those from vines which were self- fertilized. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that there are also some advantages to the hermaphrodite forms, and the chief one of these lies in the greater certainty of fertilization and consequent seed production. Where vines are widely scattered, the hermaphrodites would have the ad- !Such plants are well known to botanists, and are called pseudo-hermaphrodite. Kerner & Oliver: National History of Plants, 291. 2Beach. Bui. 157. •''Bailey. Survival of Unlike, 347, and Geddes & Thompson Evolution of Sex. *There is a vine at this Station which beajrs both -staminate. and hermaphrodite flowers. Mr. N. B. White, Norwood, Mass., reports a male rip. X lab. vine on his ground which has fruited but twice in the last 30 years. See also Bushberg Catalogue, 8. ^Kerner & Oliver, Natural History of Plants, 300. «Kerner & Oliver; /. c. 7Darwin. Cross Fertilization of Plants. 248 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. vantage since the chances of cross-fertilization of staminate and pistillate forms under such circumstances would be remote. Where the conditions are such that vines are numerous and closely adjacent, the opposite would be the case, as fertilization of the pistillate flowers would be comparatively certain ^nd the seedlings resulting would have the advantage over those resulting from self-fertilized hermaphrodites. It must be remembered that the ad- jacency referred to is not merely a matter of distance but would be modified more or less by other factors, such as number and kind of insects normally present, direction of wind, surrounding vegetation, etc. It mlist also be remembered that although pistillate flowers are necessarily cross-fertilized it does not follow that hermaphrodite flowers are self-fertilized. These may be cross-fertilized also either by other hermaphrodites or by staminates, and the pistallate forms may be pollinated by either the staminates or hermaphrodites. In any of these cases the resulting seedling, while it would possess the indi- vidual vigor due to crossing might be itself in any class so far as its phreno- logical characters are concerned. This mixing and the fact that the advan- tages of each class tend to a certain extent to balance each other probably account for it that neither form has supplanted the other but both are still present. In reference to the question referred to in the first part of this note as to whether dichogomy or the maturing of stamens and pistils on the same plant at different periods might exist in the grape, observations seem to show that this is not the case. The anthers usually burst and the pollen is liberated before the pistils become receptive, but a good portion of the pollen remains on the anther and is released gradually even some time after the pistils are in a condition to be fertilized. Grape pollen is notably resistant to the ordinary influences of decay1 and it can be readily seen how in an inconspicuously flowered plant like the grape, where insect visits might not be so numerous as would be desired for pollinating purposes, keeping qualities on the part of the pollen grains would be so valuable that they could not be sacrificed even for so important a consideration as cross-fer- tilization. The question as to whether there might not be a lack of affinity between the pollen of a self-fertile grape and its own pistil will be difficult to settle conclusively. What evidence we have seems to show that this does not exist.2 Trial of the pollen of self-sterile varieties on their own pistils and on the pistils of self-fertile varieties while subject to such accidents as are liable to occur in such delicate work as this3 seem to show that the fault lies in the condition of the pollen and not in any relation which exists between the pollen and pistil. Furthermore, the fact that the phonological evolution referred to ever took place is strong negative proof that lack of affinity does not exist. If any of the original hermaphrodite forms has possessed that quality by which pollen of a certain plant was impotent on the pistils of the same plant then there would have been no cause to produce the 1Bul. 157, N. Y. Ex. Sta., 438. Pollen was germinated by the writer three weekg after it had been gathered. 2Beach, S. A. Self-Fertility of the Grape. Investigations of 1900 and 1902. Bui. N. Y^ Exp. Sta. (in preparation). 3Bul. 157, N. Y. Exp. Sta. STUDY OF GRAPE POLLEN. 249 staminate and pistillate forms of to-day, since cross-fertilization would have already been assured. The economic bearing of these results is quite apparent. In choosing fertilizers for self-sterile grapes it will give us a means of selecting the best varieties for this purpose without the long vinyard trials by sacking, etc., which have heretofore been necessary. To the hybridist it may be of service and it provides a means of determining the sexual status of varieties within a 'single blossoming season. SUMMARY. I. — The self-sterility which is known to exist among many varieties of cultivated grapes is frequently, if not always, due to a lack of potency in the pollen. II. — This lack of potency is indicated in the pollen grains by a shape which is quite different from that of potent pollen. III. — It is also shown in the arrangement of the pollen either dry or in liquid media. IV. — Certain varieties of grapes bear pollen in which both the potent and impotent forms are mixed. Trial of this mixed pollen shows that the amount which germinates is approximately in proportion to the potent forms present. SOME HYBRID NICOTIANAS By Ph. de Vilmorin, Paris, France Although the culture of tobacco is strictly limited in France on account of the State monopoly, some species of Nicotiana and even the N. tabacum are grown for ornamental purposes. Amongst the more popular are Nicotiana sylvestris, N. affinis, and a deep red variety of N. tabacum, of the Maryland type, known under different names, none of which is good. We tried at Verrieres some crosses between these kinds with the object of improving their value as garden flowers, and the following is a brief account of the results : FIRST CASE: Nicotiana sylvestris and icd N. tabacum. The cross was made in 1899, and gave two types in 1900 : A. Apparently pure sylvestris (dropped). B. Very distinct hybrid, having the general appearance and the foliage of Nicotiana tabacum, but branched stems, flowers pale red, distinctly longer than those of N. tabacum, very handsome plant giv- ing flowers in abundance during the whole summer. No seeds, except on a few late flowers. These seeds produced in 1901 : (a) '19 out of 20 plants of pure sylvestris (although from seeds of a red flowered hybrid), the seeds of which gave again pure sylvestris in 1902. (b) Only one plant different from the type by its foliage smaller and longer, dull green, its flowers 6 centimeters long (10 cm. in N. sylvestris) and horizontal (drooping in N. sylvestris) That plant gave seeds and (bb) in 1901 was the origin of a very striking variation, namely: All the plants differ more or less from one another although they are all closely related to N. sylvestris. Some are taller than N. sylvestris ; 4 of them are dwarfer (00 centi- meters to 1 m.) ; some having a bright green foliage, some a dull green ; and great differences in the shape and size of the foliage. These 3d generation hybrids have nothing left of the N. tabacum as far as regards the color of flowers. The only proof of their hybrid origin is in the variation in the size of the plants, size, form and color of leaves, and more or less drooping disposition of the flowers. SECOND CASE: -The same cross (N. sylvestris and N. tabacum) was made again in 1901 with the same result in the first generation, but there were no pure sylvestris amongst the seedlings, and the flowers were somewhat paler, 252 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. the N. tabacum (taller) being paler than that used in 1899. Will probably give seeds. In both cases (1 and 2) the first generation hybrid of N. sylvestris and N. tabacum was a very beautiful and decorative plant. The length of flower stalk and abundance of flowers was increased by the fact that the flowers were sterile or nearly so. THIRD CASE: I wish to report a third case of the same hybridization, made in 1900 by a very careful observer, Mr. Bellair, head gardener of the public gardens of Versailles, which is exceedingly interesting, not only in itself, but also because it differs from what happened at Verrieres in case 1, and is a proof of the extraordinary diversity in the results of hybridization. The N. sylvestris and N. tabacum gave in 1901 a number of seedlings, much like one another and also very like one we have at Verrieres. Mr. Bellair used them for decoration in the Pare de Versailles, and wrote an article about them in the Revue Horticole, of December 1st, 1901. At that time he stated that the plants were sterile except a few of them which were very like N. sylvestris (same thing occurred at Verrieres). Nevertheless he could find a few good seeds on the distinct hybrids and got a number of new forms, none of them being like either parent, but all intermediate and gen- erally smaller than either. Mr. Bellair sends me the descriptions of four forms. A. Dwarf plant, 90 cm. to 1 m. high, flowers horizontal, 10 cm. long, 42-45 mm. broad, foliage dull green, somewhat like that of Nicotiana virginica. B. Plant 1 m. 25 high, very stiff, leaves small, flowers looking upwards, about 6 m. long and 3 m. broad. C. Plant interesting from the lengths of the flowers (14 cm. instead of 10 cm. in N. sylvestris) which are. however, not very broad. Some of the leaves are long, narrow and drooping, whilst the others have normal proportions. D. Plant 1 m. 40 high, very like N. tabacum, but flowers broader, and of pale rose that by and by becomes almost white. These four types, says Mr. Bellair, were selected from the bed when still mere seedlings, because they already showed characters distinct from the lot, and they were planted in the garden. It was, however, among the plants left in pots that Mr. Bellair was fortu- nate enough to find a few rose N. sylvestris, that is plants almost like N. sylvestris, with flowers only a little shorter and of rose color. It is interesting to notice that the plants here described are second gen- eration hybrids, when it is quite expected to find the phenomenon of "vari- ation desordonne," as it was called by Naudin. The forms A, B, and C are exceedingly like the ones we got at Verrieres from the same cross but only in the third generation. Besides, Mr. Bellair was fortunate enough to get plants with colored flowers, which was not our luck. (See case 1.) FOURTH CASE: N. tabacum and N. sylvestris. This cross had been tried in 1900 by Mr. Daveau, head gardener in the botanical garden at Montpeliet. The hybrid is described in the Revue Horticole, December 1st, 1901, it is a beautiful plant forming thick bouquets of flowers and absolutely sterile. The HYBRID NICOTIANAS. 25$ same cross was made at Verrieres, in 1901, and I can report only the results of the first generation, which are very different from Mr. Daveau's hybrid: Plants very strong and high (2 m. 50), general appearance of some of the varieties of N. tabacum used for tobacco making, flowers with a long tube (6 cm.) small and pointed petals, pale rose, forming a loose panicle; the flowers and are thus intermediate between those of the N. sylvestris and N. tabacum. Seems to give seeds. FIFTH CASE: N. tabacum (very deep red variety) and N. affinis. Cross made in 1899, gave a plant very like N. affinis in general bearing and shape of flowers, but dwarfer and not so strong. The flowers are smaller and a little shorter, sometimes (on the same plant) pure white, sometimes rose on the outside and white inside, sometimes rose or varigated in the inside. This very interesting hybrid is unfortunately absolutely sterile ; all attempts at self-fertilizing or crossing with other varieties or species were complete fail- ures. Since 1900 it has been propagated by root cuttings. SIXTH CASE: Nicotiana glauca and N. tabacum. Cross made in 1901. Tn 1902 gave two forms : A. 11 plants (out of 12), quite like one another, tall (2 m.), branched, leaves oval ; flowers small, greenish yellow when young and afterwards rose ; these plants are evident hybrids. More closely related to N. tabacum than to N. glauca. B. The twelfth plant quite distinct, 80 cm. high, flowers very short, petals rounded, yellowish green, seeds abundant. That plant is different from the eleven others resulting from the same cross and also from both parents, which fact it is very difficult to account for, especially in the first generation. This last hybridization was made solely as an experiment, there being no chance of improving N. tabacum by a cross with N. glauca. CONCLUSIONS. (1) In all cases first generations have been very infertile, giving only a few seeds from late flowers, except in case 5 where the hybrid is completely sterile and in the form B of case G where the hybrid is very fertile. (2) In some cases the plants of the first generation are intermediate be- tween the parents and entirely like one another except in case 1 wherein was noticed a slight retrogression towards the mother and again in case G wherein the form B is very distinct from both parents. (3) The first generation hybrids were more closely related to the mother than to the father in case 4 and the reverse in cases 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, but in cases 1 and 2, where the second and third generations were observed there is a distinct retrogression towards the mother. (4) Generally the hybrids are neither so tall nor so strong as their parents, but, because of their sterility, have a splendid and long enduring inflorescence. I acknowledge that these conclusions are vague and unsatisfactory, but I must be content with them for the present. I hope that further experiments may help to a true knowledge of the transmission of characters in hybrids. EVER-BEARING STRAWBERRIES By P. de Vilmorin, Paris, France I have very little to add to the history of everbearing strawberries as it was published by my father in 1898 (Journal of Royal Horticultural So- ciety) beyond what has since been done at Verrieres in the way of improving the varieties described. Within the last few years the St. Joseph and especially the St. Antoine de Padoue strawberries have proved to be very good and prolific plants. Wherever the water supply is sufficient to keep them growing they gave all through the summer and as late as October a great crop of large, well- flavored fruits, fetching high prices when sent to the market. Nevertheless the size of the late fruits cannot be compared with that of some of the big June strawberries, and our object has been to increase that size. Crosses were made in 1897 by my father between St. Joseph and different varieties of the large-fruited strawberry. Almost all of them resulted in the production of more or less everbearing plants. One with Edouard Leport proved to be specially good; it had large fruits and was propagated for dis- tribution. In 1898 more crosses were tried with St. Joseph and the result was the same. One seedling (St. Joseph X Noble) much better than the others, with very large and well-shaped fruits, will very likely become a good garden variety. Among the curious remarks afforded by the study of the hybrid straw- berries one is especially striking and shows well how difficult it is to foresee the result of a hybridization. A cross made in 1898 between St. Joseph and Louis Gauthier — two everbearing varieties — gave birth to a plant that was not everbearing. In 1899, 1900 and 1901 we worked on the same lines as before, only using St. Antoine de Padoue instead of St. Joseph. Many seedlings are under observation now and give good hopes for the future. It is perhaps not useless to remark that all these large-fruited ever- bearing strawberries give bigger and nicer fruits on the preceding year's runner than on the older plants, the latter being generally exhausted by their abnormal production. In order to increase the strength of the large-fruited varieties and their resistance to fungi my father had the happy thought of crossing them with the Fragaria sandwicensis, a very healthy and vigorous species. A cross made two years ago between St. Joseph X F. sandwicensis gave a plant as strong as its father, with dark green leaves; the mother contributed the everbearing character and the flavor to the plant. I am in hopes that this may mark the beginning of a new era in strawberry breeding. SOME POSSIBILITIES By C L. Allen, Floral Park, Long Island, N. Y. Plant breeding is usually regarded as the act of reproduction, the per- petuation of a given species, or type, that each plant acts as a machine acts without volition, producing, because it was made to produce, wherever placed in the order of creation, and that variation, in form or character, was the result of external circumstances being more or less favorable to the develop- ment of the machine as regards strength arid recuperative energy, which, is in a great measure, true, but not the whole truth, as we shall endeavor to show. To us, plant breeding has a much broader significance; it is education — the giving of character to — the bringing of the plant up to the highest possi- bilities of its creation, which are, to a great extent, bounded by the opportuni- ties afforded it. To fully understand the plant's capabilities for development it will be necessary to first study them in their native habitat; to do that it will be necessary to first take a glance at their geographical distribution, then note the variation in form, substance and habit incident upon a changed condition of climate, as well as in the character of soil when removed to distant localities. Buffon, in speaking of the geographical distribution of plants, says : ''The vegetation which covers the earth, and which is still more attached to it than the animals which browse it, are even more interested than they in the nature of climate." Each country, each changing degree of temperature, has its par- ticular plants. We find at the foot of the Alps the plants of France and Italy ;. at their summit we find the plants of the frozen North, and the same Northern plants we ,find again at the summit of the mountains of Africa. Upon the range of the hills wh'ch separates the Mogul Empire from the Kingdom of Cashmere, we find on the southern slope many of the plants of the Indies, and it is not without surprise that we find on the north flanks many of those of Europe. It is also from the extremes of climate that we draw our drugs, perfumes and poisons, and all the plants whose properties are in excess. Temperate climates, on the contrary, only produce temperate things; the mildest of herbs, the most wholesome of legumes, the most refreshing of fruits, the quietest of animals, the most polished of men, are the heritage of the mildest climates. In the natural distribution of plants, temperature was the principle that governed selection; it might be more proper to say that each was created for the place it was to occupy, but with the power of adaptation to changed condi- tions of soil and climate, to a considerable extent. 258 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. As a principle, plant breeding is plant education, or plant development, in the order of evolution. While we can readily understand the plant's changes in form or substance, through climatic influences, they are frequently so marked in their essential character, that no one can understand these variations unless they are the results of the plant's own volition. Upon general principles, it is safe to assert that plant breeding is simply giving a plant an opportunity to develop its latent forces, in obedience to the command to grow. A plant in its native habitat, is an undeveloped, uneducated object in the realm of nature, and has its analogy in the wild man of the wood, from which it differs only in degree. In its native state, the plant's only mission is reproduction, its whole energy is along those lines. The develop- ment of its functions, or active principle that gives it a place in the economy of nature, whether it be for food, raiment, or medicine, or for its uses in the mechanic arts, is left until such times as these productions become indispensable to other creations. As a fitting illustration of this principle, we will take the banana, Musa paradisica, the fruit of which is highly nutritious and is credited with sustain- ing a larger number of the human race than any one of the cereals. Though less nutritious than wheat or potatoes, yet the space occupied by their culture, and the care required are so very much less that Humboldt has calculated the produce of bananas compared with that of wheat as 133 to 1, and to that of potatoes as 44 to 1. In its native habitat, the fruit is filled with small, black, shining seeds, which, like all other seeds,- exhaust the plant's vital energies, far more than the fruit we eat. Under cultivation, the banana rarely ever produces seeds, and reproduction is effected by suckers, or more properly, off-sets, and the energy required to produce seed is applied to the production of fruit, in remuneration for services rendered in the reproduction of the plant. An individual plant of the banana produces but one crop of fruit. As soon as this is gathered, the stem im- mediately begins to decay, and is removed, and the numerous off-sets from the base of the plant are separated and planted out in new fields, and, in a few months will produce a crop of fruit, which keeps up a continuous harvest. The orange is another striking illustration of the plant's adaptation to man's use. In the direct line of evolution, it ceased, but a few years ago, in one of the districts of Brazil, where this fruit is found growing to the greatest perfection, to produce seed, instead of which, the whole energy of the tree was employed in producing fruit, nature, seemingly, confident that the perpetuation of the species was safe in the hands of those who were to profit by the fruit produced. The result was that a much larger crop was obtained from each tree, and of superior quality, as well as increased size. The seedless orange, as now grown in California, is not only the largest, but the most delicious fruit of its kind that comes to our market. No horticut turist can claim the honor of originating the seedless orange, no one had the least idea of such a possibility. The potato, where grown to the greatest perfection, rarely produces seed, SOME POSSIBILITIES. 259 other than through the agency of artificial fertilization. Nature, working along the lines of that rigid economy that marks her every action, has thrown the energy required for the production of seed, into the development of the tubers, which are furnished with buds for the perpetuation of a given typ£ which the seed could not do. So far as we know, nature never did produce a vegetable fit for developed man to eat, but in every class there were the possibilities of the greatest use- fulness, when, or where, their uses were required. To reproduce is nature's work; to develop or educate was a duty imposed on man. In the climate of Sweden, where there are but nine weeks of spring, sum- mer and autumn, the active principle of growth is so intense during that short period that their meadows yield two crops of the most nutritious grass, and their gardens two crops of the most delicate and delicious vegetables. Do not understand me to say that they can take seeds grown in a more southerly clime and get such results, at first ; they cannot, but by slow stages the plants have become adapted to localities where rapid growth is required, until the results are as stated. On the contrary, seeds grown in Denmark will, if planted in a more southern locality, make for a season a much more rapid growth, but a second or third generation will take the full time allowance for reproduction. Many plants which are annual and herbaceous in temperate climates, become perennial and ligneous in the tropics, and the reverse, a fact that is the cause of some strange freaks in plant variation. Take as an example, the common castor oil plant, which is here grown as an annual, and now produces its seed freely ; when first introduced, it was a tall growing plant, and rarely ripened but the fruit of its first flowers. By saving the seed for a few gener- ations, it adapted itself to the climate, became more dwarf in habit, its seeds grew smaller, and the plant is now extensively grown for commercial purposes. The same species in Africa grows to an immense size, and is perennial in habit, while its trunk is as woody as most of the forest trees. A better illustration, from the fact of its being one in which we are more interested, may be found in the lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus). In South America, where it is indigenous, it is a tender herbaceous perennial, a most rampant grower, and, having fully nine months to perfect its fruit, it can ramble at leisure without fear of frost. When spring time comes, as it does everywhere, from the crown of its immense fleshy tubers, not unlike the Chinese yam, som eof which weigh fully fifty pounds each, there shoot forth numerous tender stems, not unlike the perennial Ipomoeas, which make a rapid growth, and, twining over other vegetable forms, becomes an impene- trable mass. Like most other twining plants, it follows the sun in its course, which is there from right to left, directly opposite from the natural direction of twining plants north of the equator, which accounts for the difficulty experienced here in getting them to climb the poles. Habit says, go to the left, the sun says, follow me and go to the right, the result is it will not willingly do either. The farther removed from its southern home, the more rapid its growth and the more dwarf its habit, until it reaches the limit of growth or time it has 260 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. for growth sufficient for reproduction. By slow stages, in its adaptation to changed conditions, it has assumed a dwarf, bushy habit, instead of a climbing plant, as we find it where indigenous. The question — What is the cause of this change in habit, where and how did the bush limas originate, is readily understood to be in the direct line of evolution. There is not, neither has there been, a greater change in the habits of growth of the lima bean than in the quality of the seed produced as an article of food. The large, flat lima grown at the South is far more delicious and ten- der than that grown at the farthest point North where the same can be pro- duuced. The beans brought from Lima would not reproduce themselves if planted in the Northern and Eastern States, and our valued productions are the results of gradual removals from South to North by slow stages. THE SCARLET RUNNER. What is true in regard to the lima bean is equally true with the scarlet runner, and allied species, also a native of South America and perennial in habit. Here it is grown as an annual, but few, relatively, know it to be other- wise. We are well acquainted with a plant which has been growing in a border from a seed planted ten years ago. This plant is close to a. wall on the south side of the house, which is kept so warm by the furnace in the cellar that no frost ever enters the border. It throws up a large number of shoots annually and produces its flowers and seeds in great profusion. We examined its under- ground stem, or tuber, last spring and found it as large as a mangel wurzel. It is but correct to say that each one of the stems is not as prolific as a single stem when grown as an annual. CORN. There are but few of our useful plants so greatly changed by a change of locality as the different varieties of field corn. Not only is this the case as to the period of time the crop takes to mature, but to the essential character of the grain when grown under changed conditions of soil and climate. Corn has been, and is being, grown to a profit, where there is rarely a month in the year without a frost. I have seen it growing in the province of Quebec, where such climatic conditions existed. The stalks did not exceed more than four feet in height and of proportionate diameter, yet nearly all of them produced each two small ears of sound yellow corn, of most excellent quality. Some of this corn was taken to Central New York and given every attention necessary for the production of a crop, and never did plants respond more freely to good treatment. The growth was no larger than- the same made in Quebec, and the harvest was made in about the same number of days after planting the crop, being harvested before the middle of August. The seed product was all used for planting the following season, but, hav- ing found that in the climate of its adopted home, it had twice as long a time to mature, it took it all and grew as high and strong as the yellow flint corn there generally grown, and produced as large ears. Its identity as an early type or variety was. lost, but the lesson taught was instructive and valuable, showing how readily the plant adapted itself to the conditions as found and how readily all plants accept the situation given them. \ SOME POSSIBILITIES. SWEET PEAS. In its native habitat, the sweet pea is the tallest grower of the numerous genus of Lathyrus, and, where growth is slow, and climate moist, its period of flowering is much longer than where the seasons are short and the atmo- sphere rare with high temperature. But the law of reproduction is always understood and respected, and in obedience to command, it adapts itself to whatever situation in which it may be placed. In the short seasons of Northern New York, and in the heavy clay soil, with seasons of heat and drought, in order to produce the required number of seeds, growth had to be curtailed, and the season of flowering made shorter.; the result was that all its flowers were produced nearly at the same time, which makes the plant far more effective and useful as a florist's flower. This is shown in the Blanche Ferry and the dwarf varieties, now becoming common, to be the result of the plant's adaptation to its environments. CABBAGE. The cabbage in cold climates adds an additional number of leaves to its heart, and the colder the climate the greater the number, and the more compact their arrangement. While nature is protecting her own, she at the same time provides for other creations, worthy objects of her care. Seed grown here, if taken to a warmer climate, in one generation produces soft heads, simply because greater protection is unnecessary for purposes of reproduction. RUTA BAGA. The same is true of the ruta baga. In climates where the roots can be left in the field, they invariably produce large, long necks, which are thickly set with buds that will in due time develop the stalks and branches that yield the seed. On Long Island, N. Y., the tendency of the root is to grow globular in shape, and with a little care in selection will become nearly a perfect globe. There is a type that does not show a particle of neck, and when taken up upon the approach of winter, nearly every leaf drops off, so there is no necessity for cutting the tops before trenching. This feature is more noticeable when they are grown in light, sandy soil. These changes, constantly goine on, have made in almost every genus of plants, many types so entirely different in form and habit, from the parent, as to constitute them distinct species. Certainly, the bush lima bean, of the potato type, and the large, flat variety of twining habi, if found indigenous in the same locality, would, by any one with authority to define species, been given distinctive specific names. There are as many types of vegetables as latitudes in which they are grown, and these will be more or less modified by the character of tho soil in which they are grown. And it is not as arbitrary as we have been taught to suppose. Having shown that many, if not most, of the changes in vegetable forms have been made necessary for self-preservation, when growing under changed climatic conditions, and also that these changes were along the lines of evolu- tion, to enable them to live in harmony with other creations, we will now briefly consider, what is generally supposed the most important element in plant breeding or plant development, viz. : 262 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. HYBRIDIZATION. Much stress is laid on the importance of hybridization, as an order in the development of species and the parent of new varieties. While we are willing to credit any agency that gives us an improved vegetable form, no matter what it may be, it is possible to give to this more than is justly its due. When hybridization resulted in a mule, incapable of reproduction, we could only regard it the parent of monstrosities, which would render all such results, from the seedman's standpoint, utterly useless, as any seedless plant would be to those whose business it is to sell seeds, but to-day we accept it as an important agency in the development of vegetable forms. But how are types developed through this agency? may be asked. We reply by simply uniting the good qualities of two or more vareities into one. As, for instance, a tree, shrub or plant may be vigorous in growth, and strong in reproductive energy, but its fruits may be low in those qualities that give it a commercial value. An allied species or variety may have but little strength physically, but produce fruits, in limited quantity, that reach the highest degree of perfection. A union of the good qualities of the two is a most valuable acquisition. This is our work — our duty — as agents in plant breeding or plant education. When these imprisoned energies are set free by cross-fertilization, they are liable to impart to their progeny some very strange combinations, many erratic freaks, present themselves. These strange variations are apt to show themselves for several generations. This makes the work of selection a neces- sary one, which must be long continued, before a desired type becomes permanent. That we have secured a variety that will prove constant and reproduce these pronounced characteristics we so highly prize, when first they present themselves, is by no means certain. The most desirable varieties have been the result of a long series of careful selection freom stocks which showed a tendency to improve under favorable circumstances. Improvement along any line of reproduction is slow, and uncertain. Many of the varieties produced through the agency of cross-fertilization, while of great value in the locality where they originated, are, or may be without value elsewhere, as they do not always reproduce themselves when grown under changed conditions of soil and climate. They may come true to the type the first year, but will not reproduce it, from the fact of its not being congenial to its changed conditions. This is true with all leading varieties, and, while the seed of a given type will come true under nearly all conditions where the plant can be grown at all, yet it may not do to grow it for seed purposes. The seed growers all over the world fully understand these conditions, and get their stocks from localities where development, rather than deterioration, is the natural tendency. REPRODUCTION. It matters not when, how or where a given variety was produced ; the question for the plant breeder is, where can it be reproduced to the best possi- ble advantage? In other words, where can he procure seeds that will give the greatest,.satisf action in the locality he has to supply? SOME POSSIBILITIES. As all plants owe their existence, in the first place, to the seed, reproduc- tion depends wholly upon the seed's power of germination. But germination in its relation to the value of the plant produced, is relative; all depends upon what the plant is grown for. A high power of germination is absolutely neces- sary in one case, while in another, a low percentage of germination is just as important. Weakness of vital power is highly important in many kinds of plants that are grown for the beauty of their flowers. Take, for instance, the Balsam and Zinnia; the weaker the vitality, the more care nature takes to pro- tect the germ that is to perpetuate the species. The flower is increased in size by an additional number of petals to protect the vital spark that is to per- petuate the species. It is an open secret that some of the truckers that grow cabbage largely for the New York market never use seed until its germinating power becomes greatly weakened. These men have the reputation of being the most success- ful growers in the country, and sell seed to their neighbors at an exorbitant price. To their shrewdness must be credited the fact of their giving to their neighbors new seed, which will not always give the desired results. The seed these growers use, would be discarded by any dealer, and by those who seem to have authority to place the value of all seeds upon the test of germination. The egg plant grown in hot climates produces an enormous quantity of seed of high germinating power, and what would be called a handsome sample. The egg plant grown on Long Island grows to a much larger size, has but few seeds, and these of low germinating power, and have a shrunken, shriveled look, but the growers have no trouble in getting $5 per ounce for the seed, because of the better fruit it produces. An ounce of this seed, that many dealers would reject as worthless, will yield three times the number of barrels of fruit as would the same amount of seed grown at the extreme South. Seed which has not reached maturity, may, it is true, possess the power of germination, but it w7ill always retain a disposition to disease and weakness. It is true, that disposition may be so far conquered by a coincidence of favor- able auspices, and by a soil and temperature peculiarly adapted to the require- ments of the plant, that imperfect seeds may produce vigorous and healthy plants; but there is always great danger of the crop failure, and of the pro- geny's inheriting disease instead of strength. So far as we have been able to learn, our most practical and intelligent agriculturists who have paid any attention to the subject, are fully convinced that great advantages arise from sowing the largest and most perfect grains of all cereals. That by systematic care in the selection of the largest and most perfect grains, for seed purposes, the development of the types are perfected. The secret of plant breeding, so far as it relates to the cereals, consists in ever breeding from the highest developed and most prolific types. In choosing the seed, a preference should always be given to that which has been grown where the conditions of soil and climate are calculated to bring it to perfection, and that all inferior plants should be eliminated from the field before the harvest. It is highly important to have all the grains selected for seed purposes, uniform and perfectly matured. More important still is it to have the seed saved from a field where the plants are uniformly good, rather 264 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. than to select from a field where there are to be found many inferior, or below the type we wish to secure. By these means seed can be secured uni- form in character and in period of maturity. SELECTION. There is not a field of grain, or of any kind of vegetable, but in which may be found some individual of superior merit. To give this an opportunity to grow is not only the work, but the duty of the plant breeder. It is the only road that will lead him to success; it is direct and certain. Encourage any superior growth; take it from its humble position and give it a higher one; minister to the necessities that growth, or development entails, and the results that follow will be proportionate to the efforts employed. Time will not permit of our taking up this order of development in detail, but we cannot rest without calling your attention to an important field in which the seedsman or specialist has a golden opportunity. This field is the sugar beet, grown for seed purposes. As before stated, the place to obtain seed is where a given type will, under good cultivation, reach the limit of possibilities. No vegetable should be grown for seed purposes anywhere else. While this rule is an important one in every line, it is doubly so with the sugar beet. IS A CHANGE OF SEED NECESSARY? Many persons consider a frequent change or removal of seed as an indis- pensible condition to the production of a profitable crop. The necessity of this change is insisted on by both theoretical and practical horticulturists, for rea- sons which they consider conclusive. There is a very general impression that a change of "seed" is absolutely necessary for a good crop of potatoes, that if a given variety is grown for a succession of years on the same farm, deterioration, both in quality and quan- Vty, will be the result. This opinion being held by neighbors, it is common practice for them to exchange stocks for planting. Than this, there can be no greater mistake, either in principle or practice. We knpw of farmers who usually get four hundred bushels per acre, or double an ordinary crop, who have not changed, and have used "seed" of their own saving for the past twenty years. Under certain circumstances it is always best to get potatoes for seed pur- poses far from where they are to be planted for the production of a crop. This is particularly true when we have in view earliness of maturity, which, under many circumstances, is a matter of vital importance, as, for instance, where a second crop is to follow, as is the case on Long Island, where a second crop is the rule, rather than the exception, with our intensive system of farming. Seed grown at the extreme Northern point, where the variety will perfect its growth and perfectly mature its seed, will reproduce itself, in our latitude, several days earlier than that of our own production, which makes a second crop possible, where, if seed of our own production were used the result might not follow. Our observation has proven most conclusively that it is not profitable to save "seed" from a crop grown from Northern "seed," as they are no earlier the second year, and not so productive. It is, therefore, much better to get seed from the North annually if a second crop is desirable. ON ARTIFICIAL POLLINATION OF WHEAT By William B. Alwood, Blacksburg, Va. The writer began the study of varieties of wheat in 1882 upon taking charge of the field experiments of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, and continued the work until the summer of 1886. Primarily the lines of in- vestigation undertaken were purely practical, yet I trust enough of scientific importance was noted to warrant the presentation of these notes. My attention was largely directed to grouping the cultivated varieties which could be obtained from home and foreign sources into several more or less clearly defined groups which have been published elsewhere (4th Rep. Ohio Agr'l Exp. Station, 1885). The published accounts of work in artificial pollination of wheat which I had been able to obtain up to the time of beginning this work consisted merely of fragmentary notices in current publications devoted to agricultural matters, and up to the present time most that has appeared has been fragmentary and incomplete. The writer worked two seasons — 1882 and 1883 — before learning how to manipulate the flowers so as to produce a cross with certainty. At first I worked with such implements as a poor dissecting case furnished, but soon confined myself to a couple pair of forceps and at last settled onto what proved the most successful instrument for this work that has come to my notice. This was an ordinary pair of No. 00 steel jeweler's forceps, with the ends dressed down to the size of a large pin for one and one-half inches back from the point, the point being left flat and one-sixteenth of an inch broad. This I found to be about the only instrument necessary, though others may be found convenient. My plan of operation was to select a head which suited the pur- pose in view, remove the spikelets from one side and those not desired on the other (usually leaving a couple more than I desired to operate upon). It was generally found convenient to operate upon about five spikelets and of these the central flowering glumes were removed, leaving but the two outer ones. From these the anthers were then removed by taking the flowering glume between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand and carefully insert- ing the closed blades of the forceps between the glumes and palae, slowly re- leasing them until the parts are sufficiently opened to expose the enclosed anthers and stigma of the flower. By careful pressure of the thumb and finger of the left hand the flower is kept open and a dextrous operation with the forceps removes all three of the anthers at one operation. This completes the first part of the work. (The couple of spikelets left unworked are for observation as to maturity of the flowers. It is unsafe to allow them to 266 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. remain on the spike until they bloom, and after some experience one will get on quite well without them. The treated flowers were generally de- prived of their anthers just as the spike made its appearance above the last leaf. The second part of the operation is to fertilize the pistils of the treated flowers when ready to receive the pollen. The length of time between these two operations will vary according to maturity of flowers when the anthers were removed and also with conditions of weather. Successful crosses were made when both operations were performed on the same day and also when four days elapsed between the two operations. Much of the success or failure of the experimenter depends upon the cer- tainty with which he is able to furnish the ripening pistil with good healthy pollen. On this point the writer made an observation while at work in the field during the season of 1884, which ever afterward solved the question of securing proper pollen. This observation was the actual blossoming of one of the flowers on a head under treatment. The glumes were seen to part with a slow but plainly visible motion, the palae also parting with them and ex- posing the enclosed anthers and pistil to view. The width of the opening was not measured but was judged to be between one- and two-sixteenths of an inch. The filaments which support the anthers rapidly elongated, thrusting the latter through the opening when they immediately turned downward and shed their pollen. (Noting that the pollen was shed suddenly just as the anthers were thrust out of the parts enclosing the flower, it occurred to me that that was the time to take the pollen for the work. This was afterwards followed except that I learned how to hasten the process of ripening by plucking heads on which flowers were nearly mature, drawing back the outer glumes and palets on one side and exposing the anthers to hot sunshine. The pollen was gathered in a small dish and applied with a camel's hair pencil to pistils of the flowers pre- viously prepared, opening the glumes as already described, by means of the small forceps. The glumes and pales of worked flowers open when the pistil is ripe just as though the anthers had not been removed, hence pollen may reach a castrated flower by natural agencies.) I do not wish to pass the operation of blooming as observed in numerous instances during my later work without noticing it more particularly. The time occupied by the flower in opening is from one to two minutes, the anthers can be seen to immediately rise out from the opened flower and shed their pollen, and strictly speaking I consider the period of bloom lasts about five minutes, certainly does not exceed ten. As soon as I saw the copious amount of pollen poured out among the spikelets on the head the fact was at once impressed upon me that the wheat flower was not of necessity strictly self-fertilizing. Any other flower on the same or adjacent head which might be open at this time is very liable to receive pollen and thus at least its own pollen be assisted in the act of fertilization. With the question of natural cross-fertilization in view I was led to examine more carefully the flowers and found that in a great many instances the filaments of the two-branched plumose stigma extend out laterally, far enough to reach quite through the enclosing parts, and in my estimation making it possible for them to receive pollen from the outside if by ARTIFICIAL POLLINATION OF WHEAT. 267 by any chance it should not come to them through the opening of the flower. I attempted to follow up this matter and will refer to it again at the close of these notes. As to the actual results of the work in artificial pollination I cannot say as much as I should like. The crosses made in 1884 were all destroyed by- the severe winter of 1884-5, as was also nearly the whole experimental work with wheat, including some two hundred so-called varieties. With several varieties, a few stalks of which survived, the work was again taken up in '85 and the progeny of some of these crosses harvested in '86 are shown on the cards here- with exhibited. In all the crosses here shown, Velvet Chaff, which is truly a characteristic variety, was used as the male parent. This variety proved to be one of the most hardy with us and was the standard variety used in all the general experimental work. The specimens here exhibited show what a re- markable influence it had upon the three clean chaffed, beardless varieties with which it was crossed. These latter were Russian May, Siberian and Big Frame. Referring again to the matter of whether ovaries are strictly fertilized with their own pollen in nature, I will say that a portion of the blossoms on a large number of heads were deprived of the anthers and left to note develop- ment of the kernel. In a great many of these kernels were formed and these afterward planted brought plants true to the type of the variety. If it is asked why were they not crosses, the answer would be that the heads of their own variety being so plentiful about them and the others being some distance re-- moved, there was no opportunity for crossing. Some of the heads produced in this experiment were eleven inches long by actual measurement and were well rilled, but in the subsequent operations of the Ohio Station, after I severed my connection with it, these crosses were entirely lost. INDEX TO PLANT NAMES Acer Negundo 33 Amherstia nobilis 27 Antirrhinum , 18 APP^ 57> 58, 65, 67, 114, 125, 127, 128, 129, 141, 157, 173, 176, 233, 239 Apricot 239 Arbor Vitae 33 Asparagus 241 Avocado Pear 186 Balsam 263 Banana 70, 73, 185, 258 Barberry 129, 137, 167 Barley 58, 108, 132, 137, 179 Beans 66, 76, 179, 197, 259, 260, 261 Beet 64, 78 Begonia 113, 233, 242 Berberis 167 Blackberry 129, 134, 227, 228, 236 Blackcurrant 1 34 Cabbage 77, 261 Canna 90, 91, 209, 233, 240 Carnation . 7, u, 26, 66, 112, 115, 151 Carrot . 233, 240 Caryophyllacese 25 Centaurea 240 Cereals 38, 58, 64, 76, 103, 129, 130, 135, 141, 179, 263 Cherry 1 28, 1 29 Chrysanthemum 113, 242 Coffee 69, 70, 72, 73, 78 Corn 38, 56, 57, 76, 103, 126, 182, 198, 260 Cosmos ' 242 Cotton 43, 52, 90, 91 270 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. Cowpea 46, 51, 179 Crab 230 Cucumber 77, 117 Cucurbita 1 17, 123 Currant , 129 Cyclamen 233 Cypripedium 12 Dianthus : 1 1 , 232 Egg Plant 76, 263 Erica (Heath) 232 Fig 232, 235 Geranium 64, 242 Gladiolus 141, 142, 155, 233, 241 Gloxinia 233 Gooseberry 65, 127, 128, 129, 132, 134, 230 Grape . .26, 27, 65, 124, 126, 127, 129, 130, 132. 159, 221, 235, 243 Hollyhock 240 Kaffir Corn 179 Lettuce 240 Loganberry 236 Loquat 241 Mango 186 Muskmelon 52, 120, 215 Nasturtium 238, 242 Nicotiana 251 Oat 58, 103, 137, 179 Oenothera 64, 70 Olive 235 Onion 240 Orange 241 , 258 Orchids 13, 231 Papaver 12 Parsnip 233 Pea 2, 3, n, 12, 13, 15, 67, 77, 89, 122, 137, 197 Peach 65, 66, 239 Pear 127, 129, 233, 239 INDEX TO PLANT NAMES. 271 Pepper 76 Pine Apple 185 Plum 57> 72> I29> J57> 2ll> 23° Potato 38, 53, 66, 258, 264 Primula 6, 12, 233 Primus 161 Pyrus 138, 230 Quince 129 Raspberry 66, 126, 132, 157, 225,237 Rhododendron 64 Ricinus 259 Rose 66, 93, 1 1 1, 1 14, 129, 241 Rnbus 237 Ruta baga 261 Rye 137, 179 Salsify 240 Sand Cherry 138, 157 Squash 77, 123 Strawberry 126, 129, 157, 169, 225, 251 Sunflower 240 Sugar Cane 32, 79 Sugar beet 264 Sweet Pea 5, 23, 67, 76, 78, 126, 238, 239, 261 Syringa 90, -91 Tomato 26, 76, 77, 78 Tulip 67 Vetch 52 Violet 55 Vitis (see also Grape) 64, 65, 159, 161 Watermelons 48, 51 Water lily 233 Wheat 3, 9, 15, 32, 38, 57, 58, 69, 71, 103, 126, 130, 136, 137, 179, 183, 265 Yam 259 Zamia 161 Zinnia 263 RETURN BIOSCIENCE & NATURAL RESOURCES LIBRARY TO —*• 2101 VALLEY LIFE SCIENCES BLDG. 642-2531 LOAN PERIOD 1 2 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED ARER 7 DAYS DUE AS STAMPED BELOW DEC 1 •» 1906 IMMEDIATELY REC'D BlOb" UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DDO. 50m, 1 1 /94 BERKELEY, CA 94720 U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES