HYBRIDS. 145 



HYBRIDS. 



O. M. LORD, MINNESOTA CITV. 



At the present time we generally understand that a hybrid 

 means the offspring of two species, but some of the older scien- 

 tists classed the offspring of different varieties as hybrids, also 

 claiming that the only difference was in degree, or in the promi- 

 nence of dominating characters. 



Later writers, however, designate as hybrids only the off- 

 spring of distinct species ; as for example, a cross between the 

 wild crab apple and our domestic varieties, or the cherry and 

 plum, or the peach and plum. The behavior of these crosses has 

 long been a study in attempts to formulate some general law to 

 govern the character of the progeny of crosses in the cultivation 

 of fruits and flowers. A lively interest in this subject has lately 

 been created by the convention lately held in New York City of 

 scientists representing Germany, France, Austria, England and 

 our own country. 



At this meeting considerable time was occupied in the discus- 

 sion of Mendel's Law, which had been comparatively unnoticed 

 for forty years but is now recognized as a valuable addition to 

 our knowledge of heredity and hybridizing. His experiments ex- 

 tended over a period of eight years with different plants, and 

 though his conclusions have been somewhat criticized the prin- 

 ciples he lays down are worthy of our careful consideration if 

 we are seeking to improve our fruits by crossing. Had we been 

 conversant with his methods and results, it would have saved 

 us much effort and groping in the dark along grounds that had 

 been well covered by his work. 



It has been said that the union of two buds in budding has 

 sometimes produced a hybrid, but the only practicable method 

 generally known is to place the pollen of one blossom upon tlie 

 stigma of another, and one of Mendel's principles was that the 

 character of the progeny was wholly dependent upon the con- 

 stituents of the pollen cells and the egg cells of the mother plant 

 or, in other words, what combinations had entered into the life 

 formations of the cells, heredity playing no part in influence on 

 the progeny. 



The application of some of these principles to the production 

 of native plums explains in a measure their remarkable variety 

 in form, color, quality, season, etc., and their variability when 

 produced from the same seed. Domestic apples may also be 

 governed by the same law. The Americana group of plums 



