THE APPLE 233 



say nothing of fruit. These, like the quince- 

 apple hybrid seedlings, being only cumberers of 

 ground which was needed for other purposes, 

 were destroyed. 



It will be seen, then, that nothing of practical 

 importance came of experiments in hybridizing 

 the apple with its remoter cousins. Neverthe- 

 less the proof that such hybridization is possible 

 must be regarded as highly interesting. It seems 

 by no means unlikely that further tests along 

 these lines might result in revealing some varie- 

 ties of these various fruits that would combine 

 more advantageously and produce fertile off- 

 spring. 



As mentioned in another connection, there is 

 perhaps no opportunity open to the amateur 

 fruit grower that suggests greater possibilities of 

 really important discoveries than this. Out of a 

 union of apple and quince or apple and pear 

 might very possibly come a new fruit that would 

 constitute an acquisition of the very greatest 

 value. 



But even if the practical or economic results 

 should prove meager, such a series of experi- 

 ments might still have a large measure of scien- 

 tific interest, more than justifying the time and 

 labor devoted to them. So very little work has 

 hitherto been done in this line, that the field may 



