THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



and only those retained from year to 

 year which are true to the types selected. 

 After several seasons of careful selec- 

 tion the type usually becomes estab- 

 lished and is then fairly permanent." 



Arguing from the known sterility of 

 the mule, it was supposed that all true 

 hybrids were sterile. It is evident that 

 in the vegetable kingdom we must either 

 abandon such a position or introduce a 

 new factor into our classification. Bot- 

 anically, Juglans nigra and Californica 

 are different species, so are Rubus 

 Idaeus and triflorus, Clematis crispa and 

 C. coccinea, and so on ; more than this, 

 we say all the Raspberries belong to 

 the genus Rubus and the Strawberries 

 to the genus Fragaria, and yet plants 

 have been raised by fertilizing the rasp- 

 berry with pollen of the strawberry. 

 Genera and species, after all, are but 

 our inventions for convenience of clas- 

 sification ; to which genus or species 

 a given plant belongs depends upon the 

 opinion of experts, and they are not all 

 of one mind. 



We learn from Mr. Burbank that 

 when we change the condition of plants 

 from that of a state of nature, give them 

 plenty of room and of suitable food in 

 the form most readily assimilated, pro- 

 per light and heat, and add to these 

 potent forces those of hand-pollination 

 and judicious selection, great changes 

 are sure to occur. Possibly in time the 

 relative potency of these several forces 

 may be ascertained, and certain lines of 

 procedure laid down whereby definite 

 results can be secured. 



Here is a field for study open to the 

 lovers of natural science. Will not 

 Canadians contribute something to its 

 solution ? Hand-pollination is taught 

 at the Ontario Agricultural College, 

 perhaps thence shall come some who 

 shall reveal to us these as yet unknown 

 laws. Professor J. L. Budd, Iowa Agri- 



cultural College, tells us he has found 

 that in the case of cross-bred apples, 

 " hardiness follows largely the mother 

 variety, and that the fruit is most fre- 

 quently modified by the male parent.' 

 Is this a universal law ? Questions in 

 abundance cluster around this matter 

 of our control of the vegetable kingdom. 

 These problems await solution. Mr. 

 Burbank has given us no further light 

 regarding them than the assurance that 

 " there is no barrier to obtaining fruits 

 of any size, form, or flavor desired ; and 

 none to producing plants or flowers of 

 any form, color, or fragrance ; all that 

 is needed is a knowledge to guide our 

 efforts in the right direction, untiring 

 patience, and cultivated eyes to detect 

 variations of value." 



Fig. 1362.— Dr. D. W. Beadle. 



Mr. D. W. Beadle, the writer of the fore- 

 going article, is a well-known figure in Can- 

 adian Horticultural circles. Being a B.A. of 

 Yale, and LL.B. of Harvard [Jniversity, Mr. 

 Beadle was well fitted to take the position of 

 Secretary of the Ontario Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation, to which he was elected in January, 



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