^14 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



or quite all the rest are worthless. This is the dark side of the picture. In get- 

 ting seeds of apples, I have generally had good luck, if we may call it luck. 



Which Parent Exerts Most Influence ? 



Mr. Armstrong thinks the pollen exerts a greater influence than the pistil in 

 ■case of wheat. Prof. Secoy, a French writer, says: "In general the product 

 resembles both, but in many cases the hybrids resemble the mother more than 

 their father." 



Pringle says, in the case of potatoes, sometimes the father was exactly repro- 

 duced and sometimes the mother. Berkeley says, " It is not very easy to deter- 

 mine whether a hybrid is more like the mother or father." 



Isaac Anderson Henry, a celebrated Scotch experimenter, "has had many 

 instances of hybrids taking sometimes to one side and sometimes to another, 

 but most frequently to that of the mother." 



Darwin savs, "When two sjiccies are crossed one has sometimes a prepotent 

 power of impressing its likeness on the hybrid." 



It is quite a popular notion in England that the pollen or male has much the 

 most influence on the offspring. 



J. W. Pearson, England, had raised from 3,000 to 6,000 geraniums per year 

 for six or seven years, and tried to discover the influence exerted by each parent. 

 He concludes that "some take after the male, some after the female ; some 

 after both, and some after neither; and that some kinds are good breeders and 

 some are bad ones." 



Shuilar efforts have been made in case of different kinds of domestic animals. 

 The subject is yet unsettled and perhaps always Avill be. Most experimenters 

 agree, however, with Dr. Denny, of England, that "by careful and persistent 

 fertilization, under the guidance of the observation of results, it is possible to 

 produce almost any modification in the character and habit of our plants in 

 oolor and form of flowers Ave may desire." 



After crossing two varieties or species of annuals, the seeds resulting will 

 sport or vary, giving many forms as they are sown for two or four or more years. 

 Some of the new plants will run back or revert to parents until fixed by repeat- 

 edly selecting a certain uniform style. Thus from one single seed, as the result 

 •of a cross, we may in a little time get many different races unlike each other. 



Other Points to he Observed or Tested. 



Mr. Arnold believes that in making crosses the natural stock in apples and 

 pears which have been grafted may exert a bad influence. 



Crossing plants seems in most cases to add renewed vigor to the stock, which 

 in some cases seems to become debilitated by long in-and-in or close breeding. 



The experimenter may have a very high ideal of what is a good fruit or grain. 

 He can easily imagine something better than we now have. Every variety has 

 its faults. No rose combines all the good qualities of roses in color, size, hardi- 

 ness, and abundance of flowers. 



To combine the good qualities of any two plants avc may cross, as in currants, 

 a berry with excellent flavor with a large one which may be deficient in flavor. 

 The same Avith other plants. To improve a good keeping fruit, Ave may cross 

 Avith one Avhich is not so good a keeper, but better in quality. 



Take care to select vigorous plants in all cases. To induce variation stimu- 

 late Avith high culture. 



In crossing apples, for example, Ave may Avish to determine Avhether the pollen 



