The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1901-1903, 1902-10-26


its most important constituents Hugo
de Vries of Holland, has carried com
mon red clover through Il process of
breeding which has resulted in increas,
ing the leaflets from three up to five
and even up TO eight in some i'll
stances. Carton Brothers, of England,
have hybridized various species of
forage grasses, and made species new
to science, ana their work with oats,
wheat. and other crops is equally re'
markable r.
THE WORK OF LUTHER BURBANK.
Wonderful results of hybridization
have been produced by Luther Bur
hank, the horticultural scientist Of
Santa Rosa, Cal, whose name is men,
toned wherever plant-breeding is writ
ten or spoken OF. and who is known
rs the Wizard Of Horticulture" Born
in Lancaster. Mass. in 1S49 ne was
trained as a machinist, and while still
boy developed valuable improve
ment in the machinery of the factory
in which he was employed His bent
towards horticulture was so strong,
however, that he soon abandoned me
chanics for the plant and seed bust
ness. In this line his first notable
success was quickly achieved by the
production of the Burbank potato.
which was developed by selection,
from only one Of twenty-three seeds
found in patch of Early Rose pota-
toes which he had planted. Though
doing we'll where he was, he became
convinced that California would afford
him much better opportunities for hor
ticultural investigation, and he re-
moved in 1875 to Santa Rosa, where he
has since devoted himself to his re-
markably successful experiments in
plans breeding. On fifteen acres of
land he breeds fruits and flowers by
thousands, continually producing new
varieties. BY crossing ana recrossing
innumerable seedlings. so as TO have
large numbers to select from, he has
introduced n great many new plums,
most of which are superior to any of
the parent varieties One of these
is the well-known plum which is called
by his own name. He is now breeding
a stoneless prune, having already sue
ceeded in eliminating the pit, so that
only the kernel Of the stone remains.
His giant prune, an offspring of the
French prune, is nearly three times
n a ho h,. in
troduced several kinds of blackberry
raspberry hybrids the berries Of which
are more than twice the size of either
of the parent fruits.
BY crossing the apricot with q plum,
Mr.. Burbank has produced new fruit
called the plum-cot The appearance
of the fruit and foliage of the plum
cot and the flavor of the former are
said to combine in a remarkable de-
gree the characteristics of both its
parents. BY hybridizing the black wal
nut and the English walnut. Mr.. Bur
bank has created new species, with
nuts very much larger and more valua-
BILE than those of either parent, and a
more rapid-growing tree. Another re
markable achievement Of his was the
production of a white blackberry.
OTHER PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT.
All sorts of surprising things occur
in plant breeding, rs it is impossible
to foresee the exact results of inter
marriages, however scientifically an6
cx-c+ar,o II ooI1,, ,,Iouun1 Dcoforro. D.
ron D. Halsted, of Rutgers College
as the results Of experiments in test
ing the susceptibility Of certain grains
to different diseases, incidentally pro.
duced ears Of corn bearing an even
mixture of white, black and rose-col-
ored grains, these being the hybrid off.
spring of a white and black breed OF
sugar corn.
The economic value Of plant breeding
is illustrated in many different ways
In agriculture one OF the notable ad-
yantages OF hybridiZation is the fact
that tender plans may be made more
resistant 10 cold by crossing them
with hardy species. Highly bred cult
waited plants are especially liable to
disease but by selection Or hybridiza-
ton this tendency can often be over
come. For instance, the COW pea,
which is valuable for blowing under
as a green crop 10 increase the nitro
gen in the soil, suddenly developed
disease which threatened it with prac.
teal extinction, Herbert ]. Weber,
who is in charge OF the plant breeding
laboratory of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, investigated the
matter and found a certain group OF
cow peas which were not affected by
the disease. With this as a basis, he
developed, by the process of selection,
variety which is perfectly healthy.
Up to a few years ago, it is said. nc
one had ever seen the ripe seeds of the
sugar cane-perhaps because no one
had looked for them-and propagation
was made from cuttings alone, so that
there was a comparatively limited
range Of variations. Now seedlings are
being raised, and some Of these prove
to be so much richer in sugar than
others that their cultivation may make
all the difference between profit and
Ice