The Hybrid Plums 81 



It is partly on this account that we find the hybrid 

 plums often occurring in groups of three, or six, or ten 

 varieties of a kind. Thus Mr. Breece, of North Caro- 

 lina, has a group of Triflora-Hortulana hybrids; the 

 late D. H. Watson, of Texas, raised a very homoge- 

 neous lot of Triflora-Angustifolia hybrids. Mr. J. L. 

 Normand of Louisiana has grown a similar series. 

 Even among the multifarious productions of Mr. Bur- 

 bank, one cannot help noticing the prominence of the 

 Triflora-Simonii crosses. Both in nature and in cul- 

 tivation, hybrid plums seem to occur in groups. 



How shall we know a hybrid plum? This is 

 sometimes a difficult question. The views of the 

 author have been elsewhere set forth, but it seems 

 proper to repeat them here. There is a strong preju- 

 dice in almost all quarters against admitting the hybrid 

 origin of any plant except upon the most indubitable 

 evidence. This is a good, conservative, scientific prin- 

 ciple, but it may be carried too far. It is rather a near- 

 sighted way of looking at the matter, though not un- 

 common, to think that careful hand-pollination of 

 emasculated blossoms, followed by painstaking rear- 

 ing of the seedlings, furnishes the only basis upon 

 which hybridity can be really certified. We are taught 

 by all our theories, and know from observation of the 

 facts, that hand-pollinations made with the greatest 

 care give very uncertain results. The offspring when 

 secured may resemble one parent alone, in which case 

 the strong presumption is that the hybridization was 

 a failure. That is, the extrinsic characters of the plant 

 are relied upon for the final proof of its parentage. 



This overturns at a stroke all our prejudices, but 

 it puts the subject in its proper light. On the whole, 

 the practical horticulturist cares very little whether 

 a plant is a hybrid or not, unless its visible characters 

 show some evidence of its pluri-specific parentage. 

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