WINTER RHUBARB 257 



growth and vigor of the different seedlings. 

 Moreover, some of the vines produce ten or even 

 twenty times as much fruit as others, and the 

 flavor of the fruit varies from exquisiteness to 

 entire insipidity. Some specimens have a large 

 amount of edible pulp while others are made up 

 almost entirely of skin and seeds. 



The seedlings often bear during the second 

 year, or at latest the third. 



The fruit does not ripen to advantage unless 

 the weather is very warm. 



So from the outset those seedlings were se- 

 lected that bore earliest in the season, attention 

 being given also, as a matter of course, to the 

 size and flavor of the fruit, and to the attrac- 

 tive qualities of the flowers — for I had in mind 

 a plant that would have not only great value as 

 a fruit bearer, but also a recognized place among 

 ornamental vines. 



The passion flowers show wide range of varia- 

 tion, and thus furnished at the outset abundant 

 material for the operations of the plant 

 developer. 



But in addition to this it was found easy to 

 hybridize the different species, thus insuring fur- 

 ther variation. The pollen sacs and the pistils 

 are very prominent, and it is easy to effect pol- 

 lenization by removing the prominent bright- 



9— Vol. 5 Bur. 



