226 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 



The nature of cucurbitaceous plants is well adapted to show" 

 the immediate effects of crossing, if such occur. In a mixed 

 plantation many of the flowers on any individual plant, when 

 left to natural processes, would necessarily receive pollen from 

 very different sources. If, now, there were an immediate effect 

 of pollen, we should expect to find fruits of very different char- 

 acter on any vine. We should expect to find the evidences of 

 the pumpkin upon the fruits of squashes; of the melon upon 

 cucumbers ; of the different varieties of the several species upon 

 each other. Such is not the case, however. I have repeatedly 

 lookd for this foreign influence in the current generation, but 

 have never seen it; nor has such influence been observed when 

 several flowers on the same plant were artifically crossed with 

 pollen from different varieties or species. This lack of foreign 

 influence was particularly well shown in crossing the field 

 pumpkin with the ornamental gourd. While, in the current 

 generation, all fruits were similar in form and size, the seedlings 

 were exceedingly variable. Crozier* and Baileyf have repeat- 

 edly obtained like results. 



In our work with tomatoes and egg plants, extending through 

 several years, there has, in no case, occurred an instance of the 

 immediate effect, other than alteration of form due to insufficient 

 pollen. The accompanying figures, used in a previous report,^ 

 show very clearly the entire absence of immediate effect when 

 some of the most violent crosses are made. 



Fig. 3 represents the "Lorillard," each fruit of which has 

 been crossed by the "Currant," (Lycopersicum esculentum X L. 

 Pinipinellifoliiim). The Lorillard is a smooth nearly spherical 

 variety of medium size, usually weighing from two to four 

 ounces. The Currant, (fig. 6,) is very different both in size 

 and habit. As will be observed, the fruit when crossed by the 

 Currant, is still in every respect typical of Lorillard. The off- 

 spring from this cross, however, show unmistakable evidences 

 of the influence of the male parent, in the habit of the plants, in 

 the character of the foliage and flowers, and in the size and. 

 character of the fruit. 



*Ag. Sci. I, 227. 



t Bui. 25, Cornell Univ. Exp. Sta. 181 (Dec. 1892). 



X Rep. Maine Exp. Sta. 1892, pp. 37, et seq. 



