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Pl \ \ i Bbekding. 
X. E. Hanson, of South Dakota, read the following paper on Methods in Breed* 
Ing I [ardy Fruits : 
My purpose in tliis brief paper is simply to emphasize some of the points 
brought <>ut in Bulletins NT and 88 of the South Dakota station published this 
season. In crossing various fruits I have found it of decided advantage over 
the old outdoor method to do the work under glass. The trees, shrubs, and plants 
are raised in pots, hoxes, or tubs for a year or two before blossoming time, in 
Winter they are stored in a specially constructed tree cellar, where they are kept 
dormant and even allowed to freeze somewhat, with enough windows to afford 
some light In late winter or early spring they are brought into the greenhouse, 
and the crossing is done when the flowers are ready. Only a small part of the 
blossoms are emasculated; the remainder are removed while still in the bud. 
No sacks are necessary, as a rule. As soon as possible the plants are put out- 
doors to ripen the wood. When there is no room in the greenhouse the tubs 
are taken direct from the cellar to their permanent summer position late enough 
to escape frosts. 
As a whole, the method demands close attention and careful manipulation. 
While visiting orchard houses in Europe in 1894 and again in 1897 the thought 
came to me that this method could be utilized in experiments in the prairie 
Northwest. The applicability of this method elsewhere remains to be deter- 
mined. 
The use of dwarf stocks is necessary, as the Paradise for the apple, quince 
for the pear, and the western sand cherry for the stone fruits. 
Considerable success has been secured in hastening the fruiting of cross-bred 
seedlings. For instance, strawberries originated one winter by crossing the 
wild with the tame have been raised up to fruiting size the same year outdoors 
and fruited in pots under glass the following winter. This saves much time- 
in selecting varieties for propagation, and also hastens the work of propagation 
by our being able to pot many layers before transplanting to the field. 
In handling a quarter of a million fruit seedlings I find many interesting 
side lines of investigation presenting themselves, but just now the main effort 
must he to originate a few varieties of the various orchard and small fruits 
worthy of a permanent place on the present limited fruit list. Some of the 
seedling variations which present themselves make me feel confident that Dr. 
Hugo De Vries in his theory of mutation hit the nail on the head. It is cer- 
tainly a very helpful thought that new forms worthy of specific rank can origi- 
nate as sports; that evolution is by steps instead of being a long and very 
gradual upward slope. Members of the legislature who have the dispensing of 
funds will certainly find more comfort in the theory of De Vries than in that 
of Darwin. My experience at first hand with many thousand seedlings of 
native and cultivated fruits and plants certainly compels me to believe that the 
evolution of new species as the result of man's effort intelligently directed is 
more like the labor of an inventor of machinery in his workshop than that of 
an observer of an ever changing panorama. In brief, plant breeding is the 
inventing of new plants, using material as furnished by nature, and the time 
necessary for the work with modern scientific methods is very much shorter 
than that usually considered necessary. The modern plant breeder rides in 
his automobile on the highway of evolution. And perhaps Mendel's law and the 
De Vries mutation theory are two of the wheels. 
T. L. Lyon, of Nebraska, discussed Improvement in the Quality of Wheat, as 
follows : 
My object in presenting this matter at this time is to call attention to the dif- 
ficulties that present themselves in attempting to improve the quality of wheat. 
So far as I have been able to ascertain, efforts at improvement in the quality of 
wheat have not dealt with the individual plant, but witli the progeny of other- 
wise desirable plants. In selecting plants for improvement the selection has 
been based primarily on the yield of grain, stiffness of straw, rust resistance, 
or other points of that kind. After several generations had been produced the 
selection was then applied to quality. The result of this has been to limit the 
number of plants selected for quality, and thus to curtail the possibility of 
improvement in that direction. 
The reason that selection for improvement has not gone hand in hand with 
selection for yield in the individual plant is because we have not had a method. 
