NATIONAL COUNCIL OF HORTICULTURE 31 



pollinating, as the anthers mature in the bud, are quite subject to nat- 

 ural crossing by the agency of minute pollen-bearing insects that enter 

 immature blooms. 



The Pepper. Is a very neat subject for crossing and useful varie- 

 ties may be produced with tolerable precision. It appears development 

 by pure hereditary selection has played a smaller part with the pepper 

 than with most vegetables. 



The Potato. As the most important vegetable propagated by di- 

 vision, has a different status from its congeners. New varieties are 

 produced by selection among seedlings grown mostly from chance or 

 self pollinated seeds. It appears certain that intentional crossing or 

 hybridization has played a minor role in the development of potato 

 varieties. The breeding of the potato is more ardently pursued at the 

 present time than that of any other vegetable yet few experimenters 

 are willing to claim they have actually produced crosses or hybrids. 

 Every available species of tuber-bearing Solanum is apparently being 

 used by breeders in different countries in the hope of imparting vigor 

 to the cross-bred progeny. The paucity of results, up to date, is quite 

 remarkable, and appears to indicate that for practical results we must 

 return to the old plan of growing seedlings in quantity from the best 

 available varieties. This, in view of the progressive sterility of our 

 best commercial varieties, is becoming an increasingly difficult matter. 



Tomatoes. The tomato is such a modern addition to our list of 

 really important vegetables, that its development from an ornamental 

 curiosity to the most widely grown and valued of garden fruits lies 

 almost within the memory of living men. Selection, as usual, was the 

 potent and comparatively rapid means of changing the original small, 

 flabby and seedy fruits to the large, solid and shapely tomatoes of to- 

 day, but critical crossing has within the past 15 years become an im- 

 portant factor in the production of superior varieties. Many breeders 

 find the tomato a fascinating and practical subject for their efforts. It 

 requires four or five years of rigid selection to sufficiently fix a cross- 

 bred variety, if of markedly diverse parentage. There appears to be 

 a particular tendency toward reversion to primitive forms in the third 

 generation of cross-bred tomatoes. The classic development of the 

 Trophy tomato by 20 years of selection from the original cross of 

 primitive tomato or "love apple" with the angular garden tomato of 

 1850, made by Dr. Hand of Baltimore, Md., has never been equalled 

 and is not likely to be excelled by hurried modern introducers. 



The practical vegetable breeding of the immediate future would 

 seem to lie rather in efforts to produce varieties resistant to current 

 diseases than in continual refinements of the edible portions. In- 

 creased vigor and resistance to germ infection appear to be of the 

 highest importance in many varieties. Substantial progress has been 

 made by varietal selection in opposing asparagus rust, potato blight 

 and corn smut. A reasonably blight-resistant melon is at the present 

 time most ardently desired. Many factors go to make up the complex 

 modern demands on vegetable growth. All are important, but vigor 

 and disease resistance are so in the highest degree. 



