278 EXPERIMENT STATION— BULLETINS. 



Seeds from two of these fruits were planted last spring, and the fruits 

 produced showed conclusive evidence of their parentage. They were in all 

 cases white like the male parent, but were also covered with warts, which 

 are so noticeable in the Crooknecks. While some of them had necks that 

 were slightly developed, most of them were flattened and with deep scallops 

 similar to those of the White Bush. (Fig. 7, Plate II.) The effect of the 

 White Bush seemed most potent. Some of the seeds were planted on muck 

 and others upon sandy soil. The effect of the soil upon the character of the 

 fruit was quite noticeable, as the fruit grown upon light soil had much 

 shallower creases, and fewer warts than those grown upon muck. 



Another experiment has given some very interesting results. Seeds of 

 Crooknecks, Bush, and other varieties of squashes were planted near together 

 and allowed to cross fertilize but no effect of crossing could be detected in the 

 fruit as no effect was noticeable in the fruits upon any one vine. Twenty- 

 three typical fruits were selected, photographed, and the seeds removed. Last 

 spring the seeds were planted, and, as might be expected, there was great 

 variation in the fruits, upon different vines, although the fruits upon any 

 one vine were identical. To show the effect of the cross, the notes upon 

 one of the squashes are here inserted. 



Squash No. 8 (a) — Fruit from Crookneck seeds planted in the spring of 

 1887. Length 5^ inches, greater diameter 4-£ inches, very warty, irregularly 

 ridged. (Fig. 8, Plate II.) 



Squash No. 8 (b) — Seeds were selected from the above squash No. 8 (a), 

 planted in the spring of 1888, and the following fruits (Fig. 9, Plate III) 

 were raised from different vines. 



1. Orange, very warty, and irregularly ridged. 



2. Dark green, with a few yellow spots near blossom end, warts numerous 

 but small, not ridged. 



3. Dark green, a few yellowish spots on one side, nearly smooth, warts 

 few and small, ridges inconspicuous. 



4. Greenish white, with dark green stripes between scallops running from 

 stem to blossom. The body color spotted with the same shade of dark 

 green, a few small warts, regularly scalloped. Flattened.- 



5. Cream color, warts few, regularly and deeply scalloped. Flattened like 

 Bush scallop. 



6. Cream color, very warty, irregularly and but slightly scalloped. 



The differences in the other twenty-two cases were nearly as marked as 

 in those mentioned. And, especially as the results coincide with those 

 obtained by others, the only conclusion that can be reached is that, under 

 normal conditions, the effect of a cross upon the squash is confined to the 

 seeds. This test with one plant is of course not sufficient to warrant the 

 statement that the same rule holds true for all plants, but, although many 

 cases are instanced where the pollen affects the receptacle, yet no investigators, 

 while working upon this subject, have been able to produce fruits in which 

 the ovary walls or receptacle were affected by the pollen used. 



IV. TOMATOES. 



In the test of tomatoes the same course was pursued as last year, and with 

 the exception of Nos. 170 to 177 the seed used was saved by the department, 

 so that from most of the varieties three crops of fruit have been secured since 

 the seed was originally obtained from the seedsmen. > 



