Practice of Plant Breeding 



disease-proof melons and wheats which withstand rust 

 fungi.^^ 



Mr. Biffen has long been engaged in trying to produce 

 a " strong " (in the baker's sense) wheat which will also 

 have the enormous yield of our ordinary English wheats. 

 The barleys, wheats, and oats of Messrs. Garton are also 

 apparently hybrids. 



But it is in crossing orchids that the most remark- 

 able results have been obtained. 



These orchid-hybrids are sometimes entirely new and 

 quite different from either parent. The flowers are not 

 infrequently larger and show magnificent colours and 

 strange combinations of characters. 



Hybrids are often more vigorous and luxuriant than 

 their parents, but it is not always the case that the 

 descendants of these hybrids inherit those characters. 

 The various species of Odontoglossum and other orchids 

 hybridise very freely and even in naturci without any 

 assistance. This was well seen in the exquisite series 

 of Odontoglossum hybrids shown by Mr. Rolfe at the 

 Darwin-Wallace celebration of the Linnean Society in 

 1908. Even those who hybridise most, almost invari- 

 ably select carefully as well, and it is by a combination 

 of both methods that the most striking results are 

 obtained. 



It is necessary, of course, to speak of Luther Burbank, 

 whose creations have been very freely described in 

 books and gardening papers. He had the advantage of 

 being born near Boston in America, but his father was 

 English and his mother Scotch, which is also always an 

 advantage. 



As a baby (he was born in 1849) he used to hold 

 flowers in his cradle, and when able to walk preferred 

 plants such as a ^' lobster cactus " to kittens and dogs 

 for his pets. All through his life he continued to study 



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