* 3 8 THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



unite readily, though great differences may develop, due to 

 which plant serves as the male parent. As the varieties be- 

 come more and more distinct the act of cross-fertilization 

 becomes increasingly difficult, and between very distinct spe- 

 cies it has hitherto been found impossible to bring it about; 

 you cannot, as yet, hybridize an indian corn with a lily. In 

 connection with this phenomenon is another of equal interest : 

 in almost exact proportion as hybridization and cross-fertiliza- 

 tion prove difficult, if the difficulty arises from the fact that 

 there is too great a distinction in kind, to that degree, if the 

 fecundation is successfully effected, are the offspring apt to 

 exhibit pronounced characteristics. Herein lies another one 

 of man's great advantages over Nature. She is indifferent 

 to such work. Often the bees upon which she so largely 

 depends visit only one species of flower, in which case there 

 will, of course, be no hybridization. It not infrequently hap- 

 pens that allied species which might be hybridized grow, so 

 long as they are left in a state of Nature, in the most dis- 

 tinct and distant localities, so that no likelihood remains that 

 these plants would be crossed within conceivable centuries. 

 But man, realizing that hybridization and cross-fertilization 

 are the means by which he may break up the life habits of a 

 plant and secure at once marked and probably desirable modi- 

 fications, is untiring in his efforts to bring it about. It is thus 

 that he now frequently effects in a single season variation in 

 type which Nature has failed to effect during all the previous 

 years of her history. 



We have already hinted at the advantage which man has 

 over Nature in being able to bring together by means of swift, 

 certain and far-reaching transportation facilities plants from 

 the most distant sections of the globe. In this respect the 



