EFFORTS TO INCREASE FOOD RESOURCES 



that the parents did not exhibit, why some individuals are 

 weak and sterile and easy victims of disease, and why 

 Others are strong and virile. 



Even before Mendel's time plant and animal breeders 

 had learned that crossing different varieties or different 

 breeds made new and more desirable combinations of 

 characters, and that in some cases entirely new traits were 

 obtained. But Mendel's rules of heredity made this enter- 

 prise more purposeful and more effective, eliminated much 

 wasted effort, and helped to avoid the discouragement 

 that comes from trying to do impossible things. Already 

 new wheats are spreading over the plains from Texas to 

 Saskatchewan. Trainloads of crisp firm-headed lettuce are 

 coming from California that grew in fields where disease 

 had formerly caused sad losses. Go to any eastern market in 

 the shipping season and you will find the stores piled high 

 with crates of Marglobe tomatoes. New grapes, that have 

 come from crossing the older varieties and selecting plants 

 that ripen earlier, bear bigger bunches, and have a flavor 

 that the Concords and Niagaras never have, are listed by 

 nearly every nurseryman. 



New York State is well adapted for growing grapes. 

 The experiment station at Geneva — under the leadership 

 of Beach, then Hedrick, and later Wellington — has long 

 been interested in the production of better varieties. Some 

 of the most successful developments are the Portland, 

 Ontario, Brocton, and Sheridan grapes. All of these varie- 

 ties are earlier, sweeter, or better flavored than the older 

 varieties of the same season. As grov/n in Connecticut, 

 Portland is the first grape to ripen, producing handsome 

 bunches of well-flavored fruit. It combines many of the 

 good qualities of the black Champion and the red Lutie, 

 its parents. Unlike either, Portland is a green grape. On 

 account of its early maturity, Portland may be grown where 

 heretofore no variety ripened satisfactorily. 



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