66 



subjected to various crossings, and it was said that the staminate parent 

 showed its effect in the color of the progeny. If crossed upon another flower 

 of the same color the resultant plant would show reversion to prominent an- 

 cestral types. The writer claiii.s that when the commercial habit of the 

 carnation has been established any desired color can be bred into it. In 

 breeding carnations, if it is desired to heighten the color in no case should 

 purple or similar colors be used, as those colors tend to dull the color of 

 the progeny. The most difficult colors to fix in hybrid carnations are the 

 yellows and blues, and the variegated forms are almost impossible to fix. 

 Of 60,U00 seedlings grown to flowering, 36 have been considered of suffi- 

 cient merit to continue propagation, and of this number 16 have been in- 

 troduced to commerce. In the lantern slides accompanying this paper 

 were shown the parentage and progeny of many of the hybrids produced 

 by the writer. 



N. E. Hansen, of the South Dakota Station, read a paper on the Breeding 

 of Native Northwestern Fruits. The praiiie regions of the Northwest re- 

 quire the breeding of new varieties of fruits, since all the Eastern varieties 

 so far tested have j -roved too tender. The writer has been extensively 

 engaged in originating new varieties and more than 100,000 seedlings have 

 been under investigation. To induce variation he preceded on Darwin's 

 theory that excess of food induces variation, and the writer believes that 

 selection and cultivation are the chief factors to be considered in his 

 reo-ion. His work with the sand cherry (Prunus hesseyi) was described at 

 considerable length. Of this promising fruit between 4,000 and 5.000 

 seedlings of the third generation are under investigation. The quality of 

 the wild fruit is known to be very variable, and this has been taken ad- 

 vantage of in his propagation work. He has at present 75 varieties bud- 

 ded upon plum stock. The results obtained so far have yielded a larger 

 and better flavored fruit. The sand cherry is said to cross readily with 

 many species of Prunus, and valuable hybrids may possibly be secured. 

 Experiments with raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and 

 huckleberries were briefly reported, and promising crosses have been 

 obtained of all of them. 



T. V. Munson, Denison, Texas, gave the results of his investigations and 

 observations on the selection and hybridizing of grapes in a paper entitled 

 Advantages of Conjoint Selection and Hybridization and Limits of Use- 

 fulness in Hybridization among Grapes. The author claims that the 

 quality of grapes may be readily improved by increasing the vigor of the 

 vine. To secure better varieties of fruit recourse should be had to selection 

 and hybridization. Selection alone is considered too slow, and new flavors 

 and characteristics can be obtained only in a limited degree through bud 

 variation. On the other hand, indiscriminate crossing without selection 

 may prove injurious, and it is only when crossing is followed by careful 

 and continued selection that valuable results are obtained. The methods 

 of securing crosses were described and the statement made that any method 

 of crossing which is adapted to a genus of plants having many species will 

 be found adapted to other genera possessing numerous species. Among 

 the limits of crossing the author considered the possibility of double fe- 

 cundation, stating that were it possible it would aid very materially in hy- 

 bridizing so that in a single generation forms possessing several desirable 

 attributes could be obtained. In grape hybridizing, as well as with other 

 plants, so far as possible pure races alone should be used. Seasonal changes, 

 soils, and climates iofluence the character of hybrids. A hybrid adapted 

 to a given region in which it has exceedingly valuable characteristics may 

 utterly fail in other regions with different conditions. Special sorts of 



