248 RESEARCH SEMINAR. 



(C. aurantiiiui), trifoliate orange (C. trifoliatd), where each seed- 

 ling differs from every other seedling, was cited. 



It was shown that the conception of purity of the germ cell 

 which is the primary feature of Mendel's laws must certainly be 

 modified as the fact of reversions to ancestral characters in types 

 that have bred true for generations show that the " Analage " of the 

 character must have remained in the germ cell through all these 

 generations without exerting or showing itself. Cases of rever- 

 sion in cotton and other plants were cited as illustrations. 



The principle of the segregation of characters in the formation 

 of the germ cells was also denied from the fact that many hy- 

 brids have been bred into fixed races coming true to seed that 

 exhibit a heterozygote character intermediate between the two 

 parental characters. Such races are the white cap dent corn, a 

 hybrid of a yellow and a white dent which is yellow on the sides 

 and white on the apex of the kernel ; the Griffin, Allen hybrid, 

 and Doughty cottons which are hybrids of sea island and upland 

 cotton that have fibers intermediate between the two parents in 

 length and fineness. 



Mendel's researches were considered by the speaker to be of 

 the utmost importance from the theoretical scientific standpoint, 

 but it was claimed that they will have little or no effect in chang- 

 ing the methods of practical breeding. 



July jr. The Utilization of Hybrids in Practical Plant 

 Breeding ; and the Selection of Vegetative Parts in Breed- 

 ing. By HERBERT J. WEBBER. 



While pure selection gives the quickest -and surest results in 

 breeding, it is to hybridization that we must give attention when 

 we desire to produce striking new sorts or combinations of the 

 good qualities of two or more existing sorts with the elimination 

 of the undesirable features. It is very necessary to carefully 

 select the races or species to be combined, and also just as nec- 

 essary to select the best individuals of these races or species that 

 are to be used as the parents. 



The second generation is the variable hybrid generation from 

 which our selection of desirable combinations must be made. 

 This is in accordance with Mendel's conclusions but was known 



