28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The logical result is simply this : the best results of crossing 

 are obtained, as a rule, when the cross is made between dif- 

 ferent individuals of the same variety, or at farthest, be- 

 tween different individuals of the same species. In other 

 words, hybrids — or crosses between species — are rarely 

 useful, and it follows as a logical result that the more unlike 

 the species the less useful will be the hybrids. This, I am 

 aware, is counter to the notions of most horticulturists, and, 

 if true, must entirely overthrow our common thinking upon 

 this subject. But I think that I shall be able to show that 

 observation and experiment lead to the same conclusion to 

 which our philosophy has brought us. 



At this point we must ask ourselves what we mean by 

 "best results." I take this phrase to refer to those plants 

 which are best fitted to survive in the struggle for existence, 

 those which are most vigorous or most productive or most 

 hardy, or which possess any well-marked character or 

 characters which distinguish them in virility from their 

 fellows. We commonly associate the term more particularly 

 with the marked vigor and productiveness ; these are the 

 characters most useful in nature and also in cultivation, the 

 ones which we oftenest desire to obtain. Another type of 

 variation which we constantly covet is something which we 

 can call a new character which will lead to the production 

 of a new cultural variety, and we are always looking to this 

 as the legitimate result of crossing. We have forgotten — ■ 

 if, indeed, we ever knew — that the commoner, all-pervading, 

 more important function of the cross is to infuse some new 

 strength or power into the offspring, to improve or to 

 perpetuate an existing variety, rather than to create a new 

 one. Or, if a new one is created, it comes from the gradual 

 passing of one into another, an inferior variety into a good 

 one, a good one into a superlative one. So nature employs 

 crossing in a process of slow or gradual improvement, one 

 step leading to another, and not in any bold or sudden 

 creation of new forms. And there is evidence to show that 

 something akin to this must be done to secure the best and 

 most permanent results under cultivation. The notion is 

 somehow firmly rooted in the popular mind that new 

 varieties can be produced with the greatest ease by crossing 



