SHOWING MENDELIAN RESULTS. 297 
near it. This seedling turned out to be subevergreen, and made astonishingly 
rapid growth ; and on this account Lucombe propagated a large number of 
trees by grafts from it. In its characters, this first cross resembles (). Cerris 
in the form of the leaves and in the persistent stipules round the buds ; but 
has the mucronate points to the serrations which are characteristie of Q. Suber. 
One of its parents is deciduous, the other is evergreen ; it 1s subevergreen, 
the leaves falling in January and February. 
In 1792 the acorns of the Lucombe Oak were sown ; and a crowd of forms 
appeared in the seedlings, some of which were preserved, but none equalled in 
vigour the parent tree. Some of the seedlings are very close to Q. Suber in 
bark and are nearly evergreen, keeping the leaves on till May. 
Here, again, we notice the extreme vigour of the first cross ; and the dis- 
integration, so to speak, of the first cross into numerous forms, so soon as its 
seed is sown. The facts about the Lucombe Oak are strictly parallel to what 
is going on in the elms. 
The practical corollary to all these observations seems to me evident. We 
have instances in the Black Italian Poplar, in the Huntingdon Elm, in the 
Lucombe Oak, probably in the Cricket-bat Willow, of vigorous first crosses 
that were produced accidentally, and which are timber trees of considerable 
value. Why not, then, proceed to make artificially first crosses in other trees, 
with still more valuable timber ? In the Ash and Walnut* the quality of 
the wood, owing to its structure, will be improved the faster the tree grows ; 
and both these trees produce already extremely valuable timber. First crosses, 
of course, can only be reproduced by cuttings or by grafting ; and con- 
siderable difficulty may be anticipated in adapting on a large scale these modes 
of reproduction to forest trees. But our resources are not exhausted, as there 
is no telling but that amongst the crowd of different combinations that 
appear in the F, generation there may exist one which will display great 
vigour and yet breed true. This is the next step to explore. 
In countries like our own, the only hope of salvation for forestry is in 
growing timber rapidly : and we have been helped in that by the introduction 
of fast-growing trees like the Larch, the Corsican Pine, and the Douglas Fir. 
But it is essential to grow the more valuable classes of non-coniferous timber ; 
and I see no reason why the attempt should not now be made to essay experi- 
ments on the lines laid down in this paper. We are ourselves making some 
experiments in cross-fertilization this year ; but more workers are required in 
this field. Hitherto nothing whatever has been done to improve the breeds of 
forest trees ; and foresters have never even thought of the possibilities in this 
direction, though gardeners and farmers have shown the way for centuries. 
ж De Vries, in ‘ Plant-Breeding,’ 174, fig. 37 (1907), describes а remarkable first-cross 
walnut which he saw in California. The particulars which he gives about its fastness of 
g rowth are so astounding as to seem incredible. I have no doubt, however, of the correct- 
ness of his observation. 
