Mower County transcript., 1903-03-18

gence to bring forth the required re-
suits. If we deal in a comprehensive
manner with natural laws we shall,
eventually, be able to bring into exist
ence organisms adapted to the various
uses required. ~ = .@.@# sc
The reason seedlings Of, the Wealthy
apple are so frequently like it in quail
ity and exterior appearance has been a:
mystery to me for some time and it
only recently has been made plain why
it should be so in so many instances.
Nearly every year, at our state fair,
seedlings have been put on exhibition
resembling, SO much, the true type of
the Wealthy they have been indistin.
guishable, many very closely in color,
shape, size, flesh, quality, &c. Many
times we have declared they were only
grown on Wealthy trees but / now be-
gin to see we have 6een misguided in
erring honestly from our ignorance in
fertilization as explained by the most
modern scientific experts on hybridiza-
ton.
The physiology of reproduction and
heredity is receiving, in these modern
days of enlightenment and research, a
great impetus and when once a fixed
law, that can be relied upon, governing
the methods of cross breeding to form
certain types, be discovered, the CROP
! ing our way in a vague uncertain man
ner will be done away with. <z:f J.
Gregor Mendel says "that so far, no
generally applicable law governing the
! formation and development of hybrids
has been successfully formulated, can
hardly be wondered at by any one who
is acquainted with the extent of the
task and can appreciate the difficulties
with which experiments of this class
have to contend;;" he further says "the
value and utility of any experiment
are determined by the fitness of the
material to the purpose for which it is
used.'
"The selection of parents for hybrid
ization and experiments of this kind
must be made with all possible care if
| it is desired to avoid, from the outset,
. every risk Of questionable results.
Accidental impregnation by foreign
pollen must be guarded against; ifit
occurred during the experiments and
were not recognized it would, lead to
entirely erroneous conclusions. It is
essential to select 3 those characters
which are constant and easily and GER
ttainly recognizable, and when their n.y.
brids are mutually crossed they yield
perfectly fertile progeny. I.
If two plants which differ constantly
in one or several characteristics be
crossed, numerous experiments have de-
monstrated that the common charac-
tiers are transmitted unchanged to the
hybrids and their progeny; but each
pair of differentiating characters, on
the other hand, unite in the hybrid to
EfoTnlta new characte which ip the
fprogenysof the hybrid is usually varia-
BILE. In many cases the hybrid charac-
ter resembles that of one of the parental
forms SO, closely that the other either
escapes observation completely or can
not be detected with certainty. This
circumstance is of great Importance in
the delineation and classification of
the forms under which. the offspring of
the hybrid appears. Henceforth those
! characters which are transmitted en-
tire, or almost unchanged, in the n.y.
bridiZatiOn, and therefore in them
selves, constitute the characters of the
hybrid, and are termed dominant and
those which become latent in the pro-
cess recessive. The expression "reces-
sive'' has been chosen because the
characters thereby designated "with-
draw or entirely disappear in the hy-
brids, but nevertheless reappear un-
changed in their progeny" lit is per-
fectly immaterial whether the domi-
nant character belong to the seed bear
er or to the pollen parent, tho form of
the hybrid remains identical in both
cases." This interesting fact was also
emphasized by Galtner with the remark
that the most practical expert is not in
position to determine in a hybrid
which of the two parental species was
the seed or pollen plant. The Mende-
lian theory is that in, the first genera
tion bred from ybrids these reappear, to-
gether with the dominant (or prepotent)
characters, also the recessive or latt n
ones with the full peculiarities, and
this occurs in the definitely expressed
average proportion Of three to one, SO
that among each four plants of this
generation three display the dominant
land one the recessive. Once the by.
brids resulting from reciprocal crosses
are fully formed they present no appre-
ciable difference in their subsequent
development, and consequently, the re-
suits (of the reciprocal crosses) can be
ireckoned together. in each experiment.
; f. In the case of the Perkins seedlings
how shall we decide which is the dom.
inant character, by the appearance and
quality of the seedlings? Under the
heading of the offsprings of hybrids in
which several differentiating characters
are associated we find this explanation
"The next task consisted in ascertain.
ling whether the law of development
Egdiscovered in these applied to-. each
gEplL Of dfnere rentiating foftarac actelgW hen
.II9Axsral diverse characters are united II
i Fthesh hybrid ahyscro rossing. As reg3Sdss4ht
form Of the hybrids in.these crosses thu
Iexpeyimente shQWeds throughout thai
fthia ihyaEiAb snearly approaches
i to 6Eo1 tn TWO parental plantl
(which pos the greater .ns,nb so1
stsd0mir clhe :, s dlfa las-tesmy
Imind, with the Perkins seeding, moi
j 5IexAminfng tie trees and totbpItchlract
feli5ttc only judging from EXTERNAL ap'