PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 7 



4. Variation and Selection of the Date. 



It was soon learned that, when the seeds from the fruits thus 

 obtained by fertilization w^ere planted, the offspring could no more 

 be depended upon to bear fruits like the original, than can the 

 seedlings of budded peaches, apples or pears. As a matter of fact, 



Plate VII. Demonstration by Arabs of the pollination of the date. Clusters of the 

 pistillate flowers being tied together to hold the staminate flowers in place. U.S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull. 53, Plate 8, Fig. 4. 



