Hybridization 131 



" I will relate a definite attempt towards the fixation of 

 a squash that I had obtained from crossing. The his- 

 tory of it runs back to 1887, when a cross was effected 

 between a summer yellow crook-neck and a white bush 

 scallop squash. In 1889 there appeared a squash of 

 great excellence, combining the merits of summer and 

 winter squashes with very attractive form, size, and color, 

 and a good habit of plant. I showed the fruit to one of 

 the most expert seedsmen of the country, and he pro- 

 nounced it one of the most promising types he had 

 ever seen; and, as he informed me that he had fixed 

 squashes by breeding in and in, I was all the more anxious 

 to carry out my own convictions in the same direction. 

 It is needless to say that I was very happy over what I 

 regarded as a great triumph. Of course, I must have a 

 large number of plants of my new variety, that I might 

 select the best, both for in-breeding and for crossing similar 

 types. So I selected the very finest squash, having placed 

 it where I could admire it for some days, and saved every 

 seed of it. These seeds were planted on the most con- 

 spicuous knoll in my garden in 1890. It was soon 

 evident that something was wrong. I seemed to have 

 everything except my squash. One plant, however, bore 

 fruits almost like the parent, and upon this I began my 

 attempts towards in-breeding. But flower after flower 

 failed, and I soon saw that the plant was infertile with itself. 

 Careful search revealed two or three other plants very 

 like this one, and I then proceeded to make crosses with 

 them. I was equally confident that this method would suc- 

 ceed. When I harvested my squashes in the fall and took 

 account of stock, I found that the seeds of my one squash 



