Cornell Extension Bulletin io 



Groff (1907 a) said: " If the breeder uses his full opportunity, this 

 ideal will be a progressive quality, and his standard will advance yearly 



as he sees the results attained by 

 unlocking the treasuries of ages of 

 the past in scientific, though unre- 

 corded, practical plant-breeding." 



HYBRIDS AND HYBRIDIZATION 



GENERAL DISCUSSION 



The first record of the crossing 



of plants was in 17 19, when Thomas 



Fairchild, an English gardener, 



crossed a carnation {Dianthus caryo- 



phyllus) with sweet william (Dianthus 



barbatus). David Fairchild (191 2) 



writes: 



This seems a long time [referring to the 

 two centuries since the first hybrid was 

 made] if measured in the terms of mechan- 

 ical invention, but when it is remembered 

 that with most plants such a cross as that 

 first one produced can be made only once a 

 year, the accomplishments of plant "hybridi- 

 zation appear truly remarkable. A me- 

 chanic makes a new machine and tests it 

 at once ; a plant breeder makes a new cross, 

 but must wait for the following season, and 

 if his plant is a tree or shrub he must wait 

 for many seasons before he knows whether 

 he has obtained from his cross something 

 worthless or a new hybrid which is an 

 improvement over that which the world 

 already has. 



The inventor makes his machine, patents 

 it, or keeps some feature of its manufacture 

 secret, and on the basis of his secret or his 

 patent convinces capital that some kind of 

 a monopoly can be maintained by which 

 the exploitation of the invention can be 

 made profitable. The plant breeder, on the 

 other hand, can not patent his new variety, 

 neither can he keep its origin secret to any 

 material advantage ; consequently he must take the risk of growing a stock of his new 

 plant on the ground of his personal conviction that it will be profitable, and then, if 

 he can, he must sell this stock of plants to the pubHc at paying prices. How difficult 

 is his task of making a large amount of money out of a single new plant hybrid becomes 

 apparent when we consider how easily any one can obtain a few seeds or cuttings by 

 dishonest methods, from these produce the identical plant, and in a few years have a 

 stock of plants of the same kind for sale, and even claim to have himself originated 

 it by crossing. Coupled with this difficulty, which seems to be inherent in the creation 

 of plant hybrids, is a still greater one, that of adequately testing the new variety before 

 putting it on the market. One can therefore see the reason, or at least one of the 

 reasons, why even more has not been done to make new forms of plants which com- 

 bine old characters or bring into expression new ones. 



Fig. 24. MRS. FRANK PENDLETON 



One of the superb pink varieties. The lower 

 segments are gorgeously blotched with French 

 purple. The growth is strong, and the flowers 

 abundant 



