Gardner: Sweet Cherry Breeding 



313 



supposed parentage is given for some 

 of them in standard pomological works 

 it is often found that there is only 

 circumstantial evidence to indicate such 

 parentage. Perhaps the seedling sprang 

 up near a tree of some other known 

 variety and hence was assumed to be 

 its offspring. 



Of course the cherry breeder can make 

 large numbers of crosses between varie- 

 ties he thinks might combine to give 

 him the partictilar qualities he desires, 

 but in this he would be very largely 

 dependent upon chance for his results. 

 No body of facts is available which will 

 enable him to select parents that he 

 can depend upon for transmitting cer- 

 tain qualities. It would seem that one 

 of the first things for the cherry breeder 

 to do is to make a careful analysis of 

 the varieties now in his possession, to 

 determine if possible what is the nature 

 of their gametic constitution, what 

 really are the unit characters or factors, 

 or the combinations of unit characters 

 or factors, that they possess; and to 

 determine how these factors or combina- 

 tions of factors are transmitted. This 

 is not essentially^ different from the 



work that is necessary when starting 

 breeding studies with other plants; 

 but the problems assogiated with an 

 analysis of his materials are somewhat 

 more difficult than usual for the cherry 

 breeder, because at least a large per 

 centage, if not all, of the varieties with 

 which he would work are self sterile. 

 The inter-sterility of a number of the 

 apparently more promising varieties 

 still further complicates the whole 

 question. A certain amount of progrc ss 

 in this direction is being made, but it 

 will probably require many years to 

 acquire the data that are really funda- 

 mental to scientific cherry breeding 

 work. This is not stating that valuable 

 varieties will not originate as chance 

 seedlings within the near future, just 

 as Lambert, Bing and a niimbcr of 

 others have originated during recent 

 years. It is to be expected that 

 valuable additions to our cherry list 

 will come in that way. Furthermore, 

 varieties of merit are almost certain to 

 appear incidental to the careful experi- 

 mental work necessary in studying 

 the inheritance of characters in the 

 sweet cherry group. 



Race Betterment Conference 



The second Race Betterment Conference will be held at San Francisco August 5-8 

 inclusive. Arrangements are in charge of a committee with David Starr Jordan as 

 chairman. Dr. Herbert Stolz of Lane Hospital, San Francisco, as secretary. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS 



THE GREAT SOCIETY— A PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS, by Graham Wallas, Lon- 

 don School of Economics and Political Science. Pp. 382, 8vo., price $2. New York, The 

 Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth avenue, 1914. 



"This book is written with the practical purpose of bringing the knowledge which 

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 the ideas of almost every social worker. 



