INHERITANCE OF CERTAIN CHARACTERS OF GRAPES 



By U. P. Hedrick, Horticulturist, and R. D. Anthony, Associate Horticulturist, 

 New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y. 



INTRODUCTION 



The breeding of grapes {Vitis spp.) was begun, in the Horticultural 

 Department of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station about 25 

 years ago and has been continued throughout this time as a horticultural 

 problem. Nearly 10,000 seedlings have been grown, and of these about 

 6,000 have fruited. This work was begun about 1885 by Prof. E. S. 

 GoflF, who at first grew seedlings and plants from seeds open to cross- 

 pollination. Later he crossed a number of varieties. In 1891 Prof. 

 S. A. Beach became the Station horticulturist, and besides seeking to 

 obtain new varieties he made studies of self-sterile varieties, studied 

 the correlation between the size of seeds and vigor of plants, and 

 did considerable hybridizing. In 1905 the senior author took charge 

 of the work in horticulture at the Station. Mendel's work had just 

 been discovered, and plant breeding was undergoing a stimulus from 

 it. The work with grapes was therefore replanned and extensively 

 added to with a view to studying problems of inheritance. This work 

 has been continued and increased from year to year. Several assist- 

 ants and associates have spent much of their time working with 

 grapes at this Station. Mr. N. O. Booth worked with grapes from 1901 

 to 1908; Mr. M. J. Dorsey from 1907 to 1910; Mr. Richard Wellington 

 from 1906 to 1913; Mr. R. D. Anthony, the junior author, began work 

 at this Station in the summer of 191 3, and has devoted most of his 

 time to the grape work since then. Upon him has fallen the task of 

 presenting the data in this paper. It is the purpose of this paper to 

 discuss certain results of this work. 



AIMS, METHODS, AND MATERIALS 



During this quarter of a century, experience and a better under- 

 standing of the principles of breeding have modified many of the methods 

 and changed considerably the nature of the data which are now taken. 



The ultimate aim in this work is, of course, the production of improved 

 horticultural varieties. Through the early days, when breeding laws and 

 methods were less understood than now, there was a tendency to make 

 this the immediate as well as the ultimate aim. The fact that the first 

 20 years of grape breeding produced but one variety Worthy a name served 

 to confirm the conviction that this goal would be reached quicker by for- 



Joumal of Agricultural Research, Vol. IV, No. 4 



Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. July 15, 1915 



N. Y. (Geneva)— I 

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