38 Bush-Fruits 



are liable to occur all along the line, so that the result of 

 a summer's work may be, in the end, only a few plants, 

 most or all of which are worthless. Yet persistent effort 

 in this line should be encouraged, and in time the results 

 are likely to repay all the attempts made. 



While located in Rhode Island, the writer grew many 

 raspberry seedlings which were obtained by definite 

 methods of crossing. He found that as a rule the seedlings 

 of a given cross showed well-defined tendencies in certain 

 directions. The greater number resembled each other 

 rather closely. They were usually intermediate in char- 

 acter between the two parents, some more closely resem- 

 bling one parent and some the other. Here and there a 

 plant would show enough variation to be worthy of note. 

 Of the hundreds grown only a very few gave sufficient 

 promise to make their further propagation seem desirable. 

 Yet this is just the line which must be followed if real 

 progress is to be made. It is not the kind of work to bring 

 popular approval or upon which claims for increased ap- 

 propriations can safely be based. It should be undertaken 

 only by those who have persistency of purpose and who can 

 hope to continue it for many years. Long-continued effort, 

 wisely applied, building upon what has already been ac- 

 complished, will in time bring results of real value, but is 

 not likely to win much loud acclaim for the worker. He 

 must be content to discard hundreds of his productions, 

 for each one of value. It requires courage to do this. 

 Each seedling is a distinct variety and the one plant the 

 only one of its kind in existence. 



Work in breeding raspberries has been carried on for a 

 number of years at the Geneva, New York, Experiment 



