PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA. 



135 



for such work was opened, and in 1887, when I removed from London, 

 Ontario, to Ottawa, I took with me all the surviving seedlings of promise, 

 about 800 in all, and since then a large proportion of these has been discarded 

 and a number of new forms produced. Among the newer forms of a spe- 

 cially interesting character are crosses between the black currant (Rib s 

 nigrum) and a cultivated variety of the gooseberry (Ribcs grossularia} . In 

 each instance the black currant was chosen as the female, and twenty-eight 

 of these hybrids were produced, all very similar in character. The branches 

 of the black currant are without thorns, while those of the gooseberry are 

 thorny. The hybrids have the branches thornless. In the form and serra- 

 tion of the leaves and in the hairiness of the stem at the base they are in- 

 termediate in character. The leaves of the hybrids are odorless. 



The flowers of the black currant are in bunches of from seven to twelve. 

 In the gooseberry they are usually in pairs, but sometimes they are three in 

 a cluster. In the hybrids they are in clusters of from four to seven. The 

 impress of intermediate character in the hybrids is also seen in the structure 

 of the pistil. In the black currant this is single and smooth throughout and 

 thickened toward the tip, which is flat and blunt. In the gooseberry the 

 pistil is longer and divided to the base, each branch slender and very hairy 

 at base for nearly half its length, the slender branches diverging toward the 

 tip. In the hybrids the pistil is single for about half its length or more, less 

 hairy toward the base and divided toward the tip, with divisions divergent. 

 The hybrids are also intermediate between the gooseberry and black currant in 

 the time of their blooming. 



These hybrids bloom freely every season, but scarcely ever set any fruit. 

 One year three berries in all were formed, and two other vears one berry only 

 These were borne singly, like the gooseberry ; were about the sfze of a 

 large black currant and of 'a dull reddish color. The seeds of these berries 

 were carefully saved and sown, but none of them germinated. Clusters of 

 the flowers have been artificially fertilized with pollen from flowers on the 

 same bush, also from flowers of the black currant and of the gooseberry, 

 but without success. 



The Gooseberry Saw-fly (Nematus ribesii), which is not known to eat 

 the foliage of the black currant, feeds freely on the leaves of the hybrids, 

 which, although raised from seeds of the black currant, are recognized by 

 this insect as partaking of the nature of the gooseberry. The Gooseberry Mil- 

 dew (Sphaerotheca mors-m'ae) also, which is not known to affect the black 

 currant, grows freely on the hybrids. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH CEREALS. 



As the summer season in many parts of Canada is comparatively short 

 early ripening varieties of grain are desired. Hence, efforts have been made 

 to obtain early ripening sorts from other countries, notably from the northern 

 parts of Russia, and from India. Several early varieties of wheat have been 

 introduced, but they have proved deficient in vigor and productiveness, and 

 the grain has not been as good in quality as the best sorts in cultivation here. 

 Crosses have been made of these early sorts with the Red Fife and White 

 Fife, with the view of combining the vigor, productiveness and high quality 



