102 HORTICULTURAL MANUAL. 



it has been tried. As an instance, the writer crossed the 

 blossoms of the De Soto with Japan pollen. By accident 

 all the plants were lost but four. One of these now called 

 Ames is as large as Lombard, sutured and better in quality 

 than either parent. The other three trees produce fruit 

 superior in quality to the De Soto or any of our native 

 varieties, especially for culinary use, and all of them retain 

 the hardiness of the Americana species. In all other cases 

 the hybrids of the Japan varieties with our natives have 

 given results as striking as those realized on the west coast. 

 The little done as yet in crossing nearly allied varieties of 

 the apple, pear, and cherry gives equal promise of quick 

 and valuable results. 



106. Violent Crosses. — All experience favors the belief 

 that such violent crosses as wheat with rye, raspberry with 

 blackberry, peach with plum, or our native wild crab with 

 the cultivated apples, will not give results of value. 

 Without doubt some of these violent crosses can be made, 

 but the writer's experience has been that the seeds were 

 either abortive or only capable of making a weak growth. 

 It has been claimed that hybrids have been developed by 

 crossing the blossoms of our wild crab {Pyriis coronaria) 

 with pollen of the common apples. On the college 

 grounds at Ames on several occasions such crosses have 

 been made with great care by only pollinating the first 

 blossoms that opened on the Soulard and wild crab. That 

 a cross was secured is evidenced by the fact' that the shape, 

 color, and cavity were changed in the crossed apples. 

 Where the Soulard was crossed with Eoman Stem pollen 

 even the fleshy protuberance at the base of the stem of the 

 latter variety was reproduced in the Soulard crab. But 

 not a single perfect seed was found in over one hundred 

 specimeus. 



In some cases the near relation of two species can only 



