Seeds for the Garden 123 



New Jersey Expt. Sta. 



FIG. 74. Result of crossing summer squashes with the field pumpkin. The 

 large cream-colored, pear-shaped fruits in the center of the upper row and 

 the somewhat flattened white or yellow-colored fruits in the bottom row 

 are offspring of a cross between the white scallop and the field pumpkin. 

 The large, elongated, warty fruits in the center row were obtained from 

 among the offspring of a warty "jug" fruit (itself a hybrid) crossed with the 

 field pumpkin. 



sary. What he does depends on the kind of flowers 

 borne by the plants. 



The plants that grow from the seeds produced in this 

 way are hybrids, or cross-breeds. In some cases (for 

 example, in peas and corn) the cross-bred seeds them- 

 selves may show that they are hybrids, but for the study 

 of characters like the shape of leaves and the size and 

 color of the fruit, the hybrid plants within the seeds 

 must be grown to maturity. 



Usually the first generation of hybrids between two 

 stocks that are not themselves hybrids are all very much 

 alike. They may resemble one parent in one way and 

 the other parent in another way. In general appearance 

 they often seem to be a blend of the two parents. 



When the plant breeder saves seed from some of these 

 first-generation hybrid plants, and raises the second 

 hybrid generation, this generation of plants usually 

 shows wide variations. Among these the plant breeder 



