609 
Cultivated JPlanis of the Future. 
the microbes which produce decay, we may be able to protect the 
delicate fruits from injury for any reasonable period. Methods 
which will supplement refrigeration are sure to come in the very 
near future, so that even in a country so vast as our own, the most 
perishable fruits will be transported through its length and breadth 
without harm. 
The canning industry and swift transportation are likely to 
diminish zeal in searching for new fruits, since, as we have seen in 
the case of the cereals, we are prone to move along lines of least 
resistance, and to leave well enough alone. 
To what extent are our present fruits likely to be improved ? 
Even those who have watched the improvement in the quality of 
some of our fruits, like oranges, can hardly realise how great has 
been the improvement within historic times in the character of 
certain pears, apples, and so on. 
The term historic is used advisedly, for there are pre-historic 
fruits which might serve as a point of departure in the consideration 
of the question. In the ruins of the lake-dwellings in Switzerland, 
charred apples have been found, which are in some cases plainly of 
small size, hardly equalling ordinary crab apples. But in certain 
directions there has been no marked change of type — the change is 
in quality. 
In comparing the earlier descriptions of fruits with modern ac- 
counts, it is well to remember that the high standards by which 
fruits are now judged are of recent establishment. Fruits which 
would once have been esteemed excellent would to-day be passed by 
as unworthy of regard. 
It seems probable that the list of seedless fruits will be materially 
lengthened, provided our experimental horticulturists make use of 
the material at their command. The common fruits which have 
very few or no seeds are the banana, pine apple, and certain oranges. 
Others mentioned by Darwin as well known are the bread-fruit, 
pomegranate, arazole or Neapolitan medlar, and date-palms. In com- 
menting upon these fruits, Darwin says tliat most horticulturists 
“ look at the great size and anomalous development of the fruit as 
the cause, and sterility as the result,” but he holds the opposite view 
as more probable — that is, that the sterility, coming about gradually, 
leaves free for other growth the abundant supply of building 
material which the forming seed would otherwise have. He admits, 
however, that “ there is an antagonism between the two forms of 
reproduction, by seeds and by buds, when either is carried to an 
extreme degree, which is independent of any incipient sterility.” 
Most plant-hybrids are relatively infertile, but by no means 
wholly sterile. With this sterility there is generally augmented 
vegetative vigour, as shown by Niigeli. Partial or complete sterility, 
and corresponding luxuriance of root, stem, leaves, and flower, may 
come about in other obscure ways, and such cases are familiar to 
botanists. Now, it seems highly probable that, either by hybridising 
directed to this special end, or by careful selection of forms in- 
dicating this tendency to the correlated changes, we may succeed 
