188 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAT. SOCIETY. 



good qualities for it than is possessed by any other rose in the 

 world. I take pleasure in bestowing on it a naine dear to the mem- 

 bers of the Minnesota State Horticultural Societj'-, "Wyman Elliot," 

 not only as a compliment to this society, but to a gentleman who 

 has kiudlj^ encouraged the writer in his attempts to discover some 

 of nature's laws. 



SECONDARY EFFECT OF FOREIGN POLLEN, 



My experiments in crossing and hj^bridizing native plums and 

 sand cherries the past two seasons clearly show a general secou- 

 darjr effect of foreign pollen on the fruit the current season in all or 

 nearly all varieties of our native plums and cherries. The bene- 

 ficial effect of cross-fertilization as a means of increasing product- 

 iveness has been observed by many writers on the subject of plum 

 culture. My experiments clearlj' show that the effect not only ex- 

 tends to increased or decreased productiveness, but is also as clearly 

 shown, within certain limits, in the size and quality of the fruit, and 

 the question of obtaining such increased beneficial results is cer- 

 tainly within our control. I am not certain whether the adaptive- 

 ness or non-adaptivenese of pollen will prove the rule in all locali- 

 ties and under different conditions, or whether the qiiestion of which 

 particular pollen is best adapted to produce given beneficial results 

 must not be worked out for each different locality. 



My data is as yet insufficient to be given out for the practical 

 value which it promises; however, my experiments have been car- 

 ried far enough to prove an universal rule. There is no doubt that 

 with the right kind of pollen the productiveness, size and quality 

 of all our native plums can be increased. I will cite but one of 

 many experiments recorded the past two seasons, which can be veri- 

 fied bj^ any one having the varieties at hand. 



The Wolf plum possesses many qualities to make it desirable for 

 use as one of the parents of a future improved race of plums. The 

 past season, I pollinated about one hundred blossoms on the Wolf 

 with pollen of six other varieties. Those pollinated with pollen of 

 Hiawatha soon showed the beneficial effects of the cross and were 

 far superior in size and quality to all the rest. Hiawatha is one of 

 my seedlings, a pure P. Americana, and, probablj', the finest native 

 plum in the world; but it conies so near being a male that, although 

 it blossoms abundantly, over ninety- nine per cent, of the blossoms 

 are without pistils and are so unproductive on that account as to be 

 of no value except for experimental purposes. The same pollen on 

 other varieties gave good and indifferent results. 



In the case of ten blossoms pollinated with pollen of Hammer, a 

 probable hybrid between P.Americana and P. hortulana, originated 

 by H. A. Terry of Crescent City, la., the fruits differed only slightly in 

 shape, but were otherwise very fine and equal to the first cross. Ten 

 blossoms pollinated with pollen of New Ulm, one of mj"^ seedlings, 

 that is productive with its own pollen, developed only normal fruits, 

 and were rather inferior to the self-fertilized Wolf. Ten blossoms 

 pollinated with pollen of a supposed (unpublished) new species, in- 

 digenous to Minnesota, developed verj'- small fruits and changed the 

 fruit from nearly freestone to a perfect cling. Ten blossoms pollinated 



