PLANT BREEDING AND HYBEIDIZATION. 219 



the progeny. The most difRcult coh)rs to fix in hybrid carnations are 

 the yellows and blues, and the variegated forms are almost impossible 

 to tix. Of 60,000 seedlings grown to flowering, 36 have been consid- 

 ered of sufiicient merit to continue propagation, and of this number 16 

 have been introduced to commerce. In the lantern slides accompany- 

 ing this paper were shown the parentage and progen}'^ of many of tlie 

 hybrids produced by the writer. 



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

 Breeding of Native Northwestern Fruits. The prairie regions of the 

 Northwest require the breeding of new varieties of fruits, since all 

 the Eastern varieties so far tested have proved 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 proceeded on Darwin's theory that excess of food induces 

 variation, and the writer l)elieves that selec^tion and cultivation are 

 the chief factors to be considered in his region. His work with the 

 sand cherry {Pninxs hesi^ey!) was described at considerable length. 

 Of this promising fruit between 1:,000 and 5,000 seedlings or the 

 third generation are under investigation. The quality of the wild 

 fruit is known to be very variable, and this has been taken advantage 

 of in his propagation work. He has at present 75 varieties budded 

 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 ma}^ possibl}^ ])e 

 secured. Experiments with raspberries, strawberries, currants, goose- 

 berries, 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 investiga- 

 tions and observations on the selection and hybridization of grapes in 

 a paper entitled Advantages of Conjoint Selection and H3"bridization 

 and Limits of Usefulness in Hybridization among Grapes. The author 

 claims that the qualit}' of grapes may be readily improved bj" increas- 

 ing the vigor of the vine. To secure better varieties of fruit recourse 

 should be had to selection and hybridization. Selection alone is con- 

 sidered 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 selec- 

 tion 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 fecundation, stating that were it possible it would aid very 

 materially in hybridizing so that in a single generation forms possess- 



