260 Plant-Breeding 



wherever man has allowed nature a bit of ground upon 

 which to make garden as she likes. In 1892, there were 

 878 varieties of apples offered for sale by American nursery- 

 men, and it is doubtful if one of the whole lot was the 

 result of any attempt on the part of the originator to pro- 

 duce a variety with definite qualities. And what is true 

 of the apple is about equally true of the other fruit trees. 

 In the small fruits and the grapes, where the generations 

 are shorter and the results quicker, more has been done 

 in the way of direct selection of seeds and the crossing 

 of chosen parents ; but even here, the methods are mostly 

 haphazard. Latterly, however, the professional experi- 

 menters have begun the breeding of the apple and new 

 varieties on a new basis have been secured; and there is 

 now considerable literature on the subject. 



Beans. Perhaps there are no plants more tractable 

 in the hands of the plant-breeder than the garden beans. 

 A few years ago, a leading Eastern seedsman conceived 

 of a new form of bean pod that would at once com- 

 mend itself to his customers. He was so well con- 

 vinced of the merits of this prospective variety, that he 

 made a descriptive and "taking" name for it. He 

 then wrote to a noted bean-raiser, describing the proposed 

 variety and giving the name. "Can you make it for 

 me?" he asked. "Yes, I will make you the bean," re- 

 plied the grower. The seedsman then announced in his 

 catalogue that he would soon introduce a new bean, and, 

 in order to hold the name, he published it, along with the 

 announcement. Two years later, I visited the bean- 

 grower. "Did you get the bean?" I asked. "Yes, here 

 it is." Sure enough, he had it, and it answered the re- 



