48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



squash was handsome and exceedingly productive, nothing 

 more seemed to be desired. But it still remained to have a 

 squash for dinner. The cook complained of the hard sheli, 

 but, once inside, the flesh was thick and attractive, and it 

 cooked nicely. But the flavor! Dregs of quinine, gall, 

 and boneset ! The gourd was still there ! 



We have now seen that uncertainty follows hybridization, 

 and in closing, I will say that uncertainty also attaches to 

 the mere act of pollinating. Between some species which 

 are closely allied and which have large and strong flowers, 

 four-fifths of the attempts towards cross-pollination may be 

 successful ; but such a large proportion of successes is not 

 common, and it may be infrequent even in pollinations 

 between plants of the same species or variety. Some of 

 the failure is due in many cases to unskilful operations, but 

 even the most expert operators fail as often as they succeed 

 in promiscuous pollinating. There is good reason to believe, 

 as Darwin has shown, that the failure may be due to sonic 

 selective power of individual plants, by which they refuse 

 pollen which is, in many instances, acceptable to other 

 plants even of the same variety or stock. The lesson to be 

 drawn from these facts is that operations should be as many 

 as possible, and that discouragement should not come of 

 failure. In order to illustrate the varying fortunes of the 

 pollinator, I will transcribe some notes from my field book. 



Two hundred and thirty-four pollinations of gourds, 

 pumpkins and squashes, mostly between varieties of one 

 species (Cucurbita J*epo) y and including some individual 

 pollinations, gave one hundred and seventeen failures 

 and one hundred and seventeen successes. These crosses 

 were made in varying weather, from July 28 to August 

 30. In some periods nearly all the operations would 

 succeed, and at other times most of them would fail. 

 I have always regarded these experiments as among my 

 most successful ones, and yet but half of the pollinations 

 "took." But you must not understand that I actually 

 secured seeds from even all these one hundred and seven- 

 teen fruits, for some of them turned out to be seedless, and 

 some were destroyed by insects before they were ripe, or 

 were lost by accidental means. A few more than half of the 



