236 Plant-Breeding 



ornamental plants ; the danger is that persons are likely 

 to expect too much from hybridization, and too little 

 from the betterment of all the other conditions which so 

 profoundly modify plants. Violent hybridizations gen- 

 erally give unsatisfactory and unreliable results; but 

 subsequent crossings, when the " blood" of the original 

 species to the contract is considerably attenuated, may be 

 expected to correct or overcome the first incompatibility, 

 as explained above. 



10. Establish the ideal of the desired variety firmly in 

 mind before any attempt is made at plant-breeding. If 

 one is to make any progress in securing new varieties, he 

 must first be an expert judge of the capabilities and merits 

 of the plants with which he is dealing, otherwise he may 

 attempt the impossible or he may obtain a variety that 

 has no merit. Make frequent use of a score-card to famil- 

 iarize yourself with all details. It is important, also, 

 that the person bear in mind the fact that a variety which 

 is simply as good as any other in cultivation is not worth 

 introducing. It should be better in some particular than 

 any other in existence. The operator must know the 

 points of his plant, as an expert stock-breeder knows the 

 points of an animal, and he must possess the rare judgment 

 to de'termine which characters are most likely to reappear 

 in the offspring. Inasmuch as a person can be an expert 

 in only a few plants, it follows that he cannot expect satis- 

 factory results in breeding any species that may chance 

 to come before him. Persistent and uniform effort, con- 

 tinued over a series of years, is usually demanded for 

 the production of really valuable varieties. Thus it often 

 happens that one man excels all competitors in breeding a 



