AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 77 



There has long been a warm discussion as to wlieliier on the 

 parent fruit there are any immediate external etfects of crossing. 

 The evidence at hand at the present time would indicate that within 

 certain restricted limits there is an immediate visible effect of pollen 

 as seen in the pea, the bean and Indian corn. On the other hand 

 it is equa ly certain that the greater portion of food plants which 

 have received special study do not exhibit imuiediate effects of 

 pollen. Thus this question remains another of the unsolved prob- 

 lems. Some preliminary notes on this subject and some of the 

 other secondary effects of pollination have already been published.* 



In all of the work outlined, the laws of heredity play a most 

 important part, and form a legitimate field for investigation. 

 Breeders of fine stock are not unmindful of the importance of 

 pedigree; and in the vegetable kingdom as well as the animal, 

 crossing and selection, combined with suitable environment and 

 intelligent culture — in other words careful breeding — with certain 

 fixed types in view afford a field for investigation which is of the 

 highebt importance in its bearing upon practical agriculture. 



A record of the successive steps in the improvement, of the 

 parentage, of each successive generation constitutes the pedigree 

 of a given race or variety. In careful attention to the production 

 of the foundation stock lies the future value of the race. ''Pedi- 

 gree" is of value as evidence of such care. 



But ''blood" and selection of parent stock alone are not suffi- 

 cient Better individuals demand better treatment, and some 

 individuals respond to favorable conditions more quickly than do 

 others. 80 care in rearing is necessary to the maintenance of the 

 type after it is reached. 



The field is new and promising. The expense as compared with 

 that attending stock-breeding is slight ; while the results are more 

 quickly known and are far-reaching in their value. 



To insure the best results, however, we must first learn m^re of 

 the laws obtaining in this branch of science ; we must know more 

 of the relations between cause and effect, that we may proceed 

 along the most profitable lines. But in the search after laws we 

 may employ plants of economic importance that, perchance, the 

 preliminary work may not be without immediate practical value. 



As a pract cal illustration we may cite the development of a new 

 type of tomato which has attracted considerable attention. (The 



* Report Maine Experiment Station, lS.ii, pp. 29—58. 



