SOME INTERESTING FAILURES 



I had hopes even of being able to produce some- 

 thing of real value, at any rate from the second 

 generation. 



But when it came time for the fruits to ripen, 

 another surprise awaited me; only two plants out 

 of the five thousand produced a single fruit. 

 One of these was a plant somewhat resembling 

 a raspberry bush, and this produced a number 

 of ill-tasting berries of a yellowish-brown. The 

 other bush produced insignificant fruits of an 

 orange-yellow color. 



Though unpromising in themselves, these fruits 

 were carefully watched and guarded, for I felt 

 convinced that possibilities of strange variation 

 were contained in them, if only I could get from 

 them a few seedlings. But when the fruits were 

 fully matured, I examined the seeds and found 

 all of them hollow. They were nothing but shells, 

 containing no kernel. 



So by no possibility could I get a single seed- 

 ling of a succeeding generation. 



Some of the most curious of the plants were 

 preserved for another season, but they proved as 

 unproductive as before; and as I needed the 

 ground for other purposes I felt constrained to 

 destroy the entire company of curious hybrids. 

 In all my experience I never destroyed a lot of 

 plants with more sincere regret. 



[289] 



