THE PLUMCOT 187 



later were to produce the plumcot. It was like 

 entering an unexplored country. 



Apricot flowers were dusted with plum pollen 

 and plum flowers with apricot pollen. But for 

 a long time the experiment failed. 



Finally, however, when about to despair of 

 success, several crossbred seedlings were found 

 among a lot grown from the seeds of a Japanese 

 plum that had been pollenized with various apri- 

 cot blossoms. 



The young seedlings could be early distin- 

 guished readily from the uncrossed seedlings by 

 the foliage, bark, buds, and general appearances ; 

 differences being noticeable while the seedlings 

 were still less than a foot high. The combined 

 characters of the plum and the apricot were tc 

 be noticed in the bark, the leaves, the buds, and 

 especially the roots. The apricot root is bright 

 red while the plum root is yellow, pale yellow 

 or almost white. The hybrid seedlings had red 

 roots, of various shades. 



BATTLING HEREDITIES 



With the recognition of characteristics began 

 the great work of selecting and discarding. 



Moreover, fresh hybridizing tests were made 

 and in due course other hybrids were produced, 

 some having the plum and others the apricot for 



