Cross-Breeding and Hybridizing. 21 



me to think that the legitimate process of origination of new kinds here, as 

 indeed, if not in general, is a more gradual process of selection, coupled, per- 

 haps, with minor crossing. 



I will relate a definite attempt towards the fixation of a squash which I 

 had obtained from crossing. The history of it runs back to 1887, when a 

 cross was effected between a summer Yellow Crookneck and a White Bush 

 Scallop squash. In 1889 there appeared a squash of great excellence, com- 

 bining the merits of summer and winter squashes with very attractive form, 

 size and color, and a good habit of plant. I showed the fruit to one of the 

 most expert seedsmen of the country and he pronounced it one of the most 

 promising types which he had ever seen ; and as he informed me that he had 

 fixed squashes by breeding in-and-in, I was all the more anxious to carry 

 out my own convictions in the same direction. It is needless to say that I 

 was very happy over what I regarded as a great triumph, and I remember 

 that I experienced a keen feeling of satisfaction that I had been able to over- 

 come nature's prejudices. Of course I must have a large number of plants 

 of my new variety that I might select the best, both for inbreeding and for 

 crossing similar types. So I selected the very finest squash, having placed 

 it where I could admire it for some days, and saved every seed of it. These 

 seeds were planted upon the most conspicuous knoll in my garden in 189a 

 It was soon evident that something was wrong ; I seemed to have everything 

 except my squash. One "plant, however, bore fruits almost like the parent, 

 and upon this I began my attempts towards inbreeding. But flower after 

 flower failed and I soon saw that the plant was infertile with itself. Careful 

 search revealed two or three other plants very like this one, and I then pro- 

 ceeded to make crosses upon it. I was equally confident that this method 

 would succeed. When I harvested my squashes in the fall and took account 

 of stock, I found that the seeds of my one squash had given just as many 

 different types as there were plants, and I actually counted no kinds dis- 

 tinct enough to be named and recognized ! Still confident, in 1891 1 planted 

 the seeds of my crosses, and as the summer days grew long and the crickets 

 chirped in the meadows, I watched the expanding blossoms and wondered 

 what they would bring forth. But they brought only disappointment ! My 

 squash had taken an unscientific leave of absence and I do not know its 

 whereabouts. And when the frost came and killed every ambitious blossom, 

 my hopes went out and have not yet returned ! 



Let us now recall how many undoubted hybrids there are, named and 

 known, among our fruits and vegetables. In grapes there are the most. 

 There are Rogers' hybrids, like Agawam, Lindley, Wilder, Salem and Barry; 

 and there is some reason for supposing that Delaware, Catawba, and other 

 varieties are of hybrid origin. And many hybrids have come to notice 



