56 



As compared with the Trinidad oil the lower specific gravity and mark- 

 edly higher dextro-rotation are notable. The Boiling Point of Citronellol 

 is given in Watts' Dictionary as 210°— 220". 



These oils have been sent to Messrs. Schimmel for their report, and it will 

 then be possible to form an opinion as to the commercial production of 

 Lemon grass oil in Jamaica. To the student of organic Chemistry these 

 oils present an attractive subject for investigation. The Island Chemiet 

 will be pleased to supply to any Chemist who would undertake the inves- 

 tigation, a reasonable quantity of oil for that purpose. So pressing are the 

 needs of our strictly technical work at the Government Laboratory, that it 

 is quite impossible for the Chemist and his Staff to undertake this inves- 

 tigation under present conditions. 



INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PLANT 

 BREEDING AND HYBRIDIZATION. 



Editorial From Expeimental Station Record.* 



The second International Conference on Plant Breeding and Hybridiza- 

 tion, which was recently held in New York City, exceeded in attendance 

 and interest the previous meeting, held in London in 1899, and served to 

 show the large interest in the subject in tbis country. An extensive pro- 

 gramme of papers was presented, but only a portion of them were read. 

 These discussed the principles of plant breeding and their application, as 

 well as giving the results of years of work and observation in the produc- 

 tion and pre pagation of improved varieties of plants. 



In the theoretical discussion of tbe papers there was an almost universal 

 acceptance of Mendel's law regarding the appearance of dominant and re- 

 cessive characters in the later generation of hybiids. This law, although 

 announced in 1865, has only recently been given wide publicity through 

 its publication in various journals (E. S. R., 13, p. 744). It was the con- 

 sensus of opinion that it is the best available working hypothesis for the 

 plant and animal breeder, and that it seems to stand the test of experience 

 to a remarkable degree. The methods of Mendel were commented upon, 

 and in a number of papers his conclusions were reaffirmed relative to the 

 necessity of large numbers of individuals in breeding experiments and the 

 continuation of the investigations through many generations, in order that 

 the results may be of permanent value. The futility of indiscriminate 

 crossings and the necessity of working with pure strains or races was 

 shown by abundant examples. A hybrid produced from a mixed ancestry 

 is very liable to be inferior to either or both of its parents, unless by a 

 long system of cultivation the characteristics of the parents have become 

 definitely fixed. 



In all kinds of breeding experiments it is necessary to adopt an ideal 

 and adhere closely to it, rejecting for the time all secondary variations 

 that may appear. If these seem veiy promising, they can be cultivated 

 independently of the m^in investigation, but nothing should divert the 

 breeder from continuing to follow to its conclusion the line of experimen- 

 tation, which should be well formulated at the start. Once a hybrid is 

 established, then selection and cultivation enter into the problem of fixing 

 it. The selection requires keen discriminating powers, and is in many 

 ways more important than the act which produced the hybrid. 



Another thought brought out quite prominently was the necessity for 



* Vol. xiv, November, 1902. 



