i8 4 PLANT-BREEDING 



Of this species, Burbank has sown thousands of seeds and 

 cultivated the seedlings until they ripened their first fruits. 

 Among them he has chosen one excellent individual, which is 

 still growing on his farm near Sebastopol. It is a tree about 

 six feet high, with wide-spreading fruit-laden branches. Its 

 quinces have the same aroma as the ordinary loquat but are 

 much larger and of an orange yellow color. Their seeds are 

 not larger than those of the ordinary species, but the juicy 

 fruit flesh is greatly developed in thickness and very deli- 

 cious. These new Japanese quinces are considered as a 

 notable improvement, making one of the finest delicacies for 

 the table. In the same way, Burbank is trying to improve 

 the California currant (Ribes sanguineum). This species is 

 also known as the flowering currant of the Pacific coast and is 

 popular in European gardens as an ornamental spring- flower- 

 ing shrub. It flowers profusely but is poor in the ripening of 

 its fruits. In California it is abundantly found in the wild 

 state, and is often densely covered with racemes of small blue 

 berries. It occurs in quite a number of elementary types, 

 slightly differing according to their localities. Those of the 

 northern districts along the Pacific coast are notably hardier 

 in winter than the more southern varieties. In such cases, 

 selection has to begin with the choice of one or two of the ele- 

 mentary species, and Burbank preferred the hardiest, which 

 he secured from British Columbia. In sowing the seed of 

 this variety on a large scale, variations in the size and color of 

 the blossoms, in the number of flowers on the raceme, and 

 especially in the development of the fruit, soon appeared. 

 Among those he chose the best plants in different directions, 

 some having long clusters of bright blossoms, others distin- 

 guished by an increase of the pulp of the berries or an im- 

 provement in the flavor. Long rows of shrubs with an almost 

 inconceivable variety of fruits may now be seen on his farm. 

 Among these a definite choice must still be made and proba- 



