470 



The Journal of Heredity 



However, progress must be slow in a 

 problem of this nature, and we must 

 all be patient. The ]jromise is very 

 great for the future. We feel that we 

 are on the doorstep of a dawning of 

 great things. The workers in ])lant 

 breeding are holding their breath, so to 

 speak, for they realize that the time 

 is close at hand when very definite, 

 startling progress will undoubtedly Ijc 

 made. 



Let us encourage our \'(mng in\-cs- 

 tigators in every way that we can. 

 Encourage those in the field of pure 

 science. Encourage those who are 

 working with the problems of morphol- 

 ogy, cytology, physiology, and bio- 

 chemistry, because many of these must 

 be worked out before very definite 

 progress can be made on other phases 

 of our investigations. Let us con- 

 tinue our many ]3ollination sti:dies, for 

 the>' are bound to contribute much to 

 our knowledge of genetics. We must 

 know more of the fundamental laws of 

 genetics, and their adaptation to the 

 plant kingdom, and their ultimate 

 relation to our commercial jjrogress. 

 In a relatively short time we should 

 know the \'alue for breeding jjurposcs of 

 our leading varieties of fruits on the 

 Pacific coast ; we should trace back their 

 pedigree as far as possible, and know 

 the value of any one given variety as a 

 parent for future work. 



Some of the most promising com- 

 mercial varieties may prove useless as 

 parents, and some very unj^romising 

 commercial varieties may prove very 



valuable as parents. I have seen one 

 illustration of this in apples, for ex- 

 ami)le. Take the seedlings of the Ben 

 Davis. We have found in our work 

 that, no matter whether the Ben Davis 

 was a male or a female ]:)arent, the seed- 

 lings from this variety tend to be weak, 

 that they are lacking in vigor and 

 vitality. Yet the Ben Davis apple is 

 often spoken of as a tree of wonderful 

 vitality. My observation of this vari- 

 ety, however, in the Pacific Northwest, 

 would lead me to conclude that it 

 is not one of great vitality. It becomes 

 decrepit at an early age, and its seed- 

 lings are certainly very unpromising. 

 On the other hand, we have a variety 

 which is very seldom heard of, the 

 White Winter Pearmain, for example. 

 This variety when used as a parent 

 produces vigor. It gives vegetative 

 strength, and strong sturdy seedlings 

 result whenever this variety is used as a 

 jmrent. I simph' cite these two cases 

 to show that the field is large, that we 

 have more work than all of us put 

 together can do in many generations to 

 come. 



The field is measureless, the oppor- 

 tunity unlimited. Optimism should be 

 the watchword of our young workers. 

 Let the Pacific coast not only contrib- 

 ute to horticulture by growing to 

 unexcelled excellence the well-known 

 varieties of fruits, but let us contribute 

 just as generously with new gifts of 

 flower, fruit and vegetable, and at the 

 same time do our .share in contributing 

 to the world's knowledge of genetics. 



Grape Breeding 



The first i)lunt-l)reeding work in the horticultural department of the New York 

 Agricultural l'>xperiment Station (Geneva) was done \vith grapes. "The main 

 problems with this fruit arc as follows: Inheritance of color — a si)ccial efi'ort is 

 being made to find varieties which are i^ure for the x'arious colors; inheritance of 

 size and shaix' of bunch and berry; high quaHty; season of ri])cning; stamen type 

 and its corrolary problem of self -sterility and inheritance of sex. A large number of 

 luiropean gra])es, Vitis vinifera, are being grown in an attempt to find x'arieties 

 a(lai)ted to this region and to use in crossing with our native si)ecies. The grajjc 

 material now on the grounds comprises two vineyards of about 350 named native 

 varieties, about fifty varieties of Vitis vinifera, some cSOO ero.sses now in bearing, 

 .aV)out 1,6(K) self seedlings of known varieties now in bearing and about v?,500 crosses 

 -still to fruit." 



