PLANNING A NEW PLANT 191 



At best, however, I am very often reminded 

 that each species has its own individuality and 

 that even the most famiHar plant may hold sur- 

 prises in store for us. 



The Rough Sketch 



"But just how do you start out when you are 

 seeking to create a new form of plant life?" I am 

 constantly asked. 



And here again the answer is difficult. Every- 

 thing depends upon the ultimate object. If I am 

 seeking merely to test the possibilities of making 

 certain crosses, or as it were feeling my way along 

 new channels, it is more or less like a person grop- 

 ing in the dark. 



This form of vague experimentation is often 

 full of interest. Instances have already been 

 given of what may come to pass when we combine 

 plants of widely separated species or of diiferent 

 genera. The reader will recall the case of the 

 petunia with the tobacco habit and of the dew- 

 !)errv crossed with such remote cousins as apple 

 and pear and mountain ash. These experiments 

 were made without a clearly defined object — ex- 

 cept to ascertain whether it was possible to com- 

 })ine plants of such diverse character. 



And the results of these experiments, while of 

 very great scientific interest, were not practically 



