Hyhridization in Floriculture. 233 



HYBRIDIZATION IN FLORICULTURE. 



BY DAVID B. WOODBURRY, OF MAINE. 



By hybridizing, wonderful results have been obtained in naany of our best 

 plants. Every year the florists and nurserymen offer new and choice things, 

 the result of scientific fertilizing by some lover of the art, seeking to do what 

 can be done by aiding nature in the production of seeds, and through them 

 of plants. 



I think the plant which furnishes the pollen will exert more influence on 

 the offspring, and if rightly used will produce many new and choice plants. 

 It is best that both parents should be hardy and strong growers. The object 

 in crossing is to reproduce in one all the desirable points of both parents, and 

 may be done between any plants of the same family. If the work be rightly 

 done, the chance of obtaining a favorable result is much better in hand than 

 in chance fertilized seed. It is better to grow the specimens to be operated 

 in isolated places, protect from insects, etc. By hand fertilizing new plants, 

 crosses and hybrid crosses are produced, and from these, "sports" and " freaks 

 of nature." Of the failures of the originator the world knows but little. 



A very large part of the product of hybridization is worthless, or con- 

 tains nothing superior to that we already have. Hope must be large with 

 him who engages in a work taking so long to perfect and with the chance of 

 so many failures. He must wait from one to five or even more years for the 

 flowei's and ripened fruit. Not until then can he know if his labors are re- 

 warded with success. 



Crosses are quite easily produced, yet the work must be rightly done to 

 insure satisfactory results. Many are quite pure from the start, others 

 ''sport" and grow to be very unique. I have crossed and grown geraniums 

 that have "sported," and grown four distinct kinds of foliage on as many 

 branches. Others growing two kinds of leaves and two of flowers, each as 

 pure as though distinct plants. These '-'sports" may be used as cuttings to 

 propagate the varieties. 



Hybrid crosses are between two very different kinds of the same family, 

 as the water and musk melon. It might be possible to cross them, but is 

 doubtful. Different varieties of the watermelon can easily be cr"ssed to- 

 gether, as can the musk. " Sports " and " freaks of nature" are no doubt due 

 to some previous cross, though they may have grown for years and shown 

 no sign of mixture, the sport bearing no resemblance to the one that pro- 

 duced it. Extra cultivation helps force them, and adds much to their beauty 

 and worth. 



Nearly all our best new potatoes of the last fifteen years are the result of 

 hybridization. Were we compelled to go back to our old varieties of twenty- 

 five years ago and cultivate them a year, we might perhajis realize what the 

 hybridist has done in giving us better kinds. The new varieties obtained by 



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