36 BUSH-FRUITS 



them well. Yet nobody can tell him how to do this 

 part of the work. It is largely a special problem, to 

 be worked out for each individual case, and the man 

 who fails to make a careful study of his conditions and 

 to devise plans for the satisfactory disposal of his pro- 

 ducts, will surely fail, and there is no help for it. 



REMARKS ON CROSSING BERRIES* 



It is only within comparatively recent time that 

 the necessity of careful, systematic plant -breeding has 

 been recognized, and the history and development of 

 horticulture is a conspicuous evidence of the fact. 

 Animal breeders have long recognized the necessity 

 of working along definite lines with definite aims in 

 view. Horticulturists, on the other hand, have for 

 the most part been content to take what they found 

 and call it good, at least until something better ap- 

 peared. In looking over the history of American va- 

 rieties of fruits, one can hardly fail to be struck by 

 the almost continuous recurrence of the phrase, "a 

 chance seedling," "found growing," and the like. The 

 sooner we begin to work for what we want in ac- 

 cordance with scientific principles and with a definite 

 purpose in mind, the sooner will we see the progress 

 and improvement for which we hope. 



To some the terms crossing and hybridizing may 

 convey the idea of something too scientific and too 

 difficult for the majority of people to undertake. On 



*The whole question of breeding by means of crossing is discussed in Bailey's 

 " Plant-Breeding". 



