The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-01
;[H[ BREEDING:
0F..N|E|N'F |:'.|:
Some It,terestitlg 1t !, OBJ 9l'..l
tained b O'ur ID Department. ut IA.
of9Agricultttrc.
METHODS OF. PLANT y BREEDER R !, q !: 7
All operate 3 br ~
Rcquirc the Greatest
s5s Care. \
METHODS OF PLANT, BREEDER R E 4 ! E

t5t Care. 4
tf lRs Eli 3t II -.--A. q I. - u 5ss
I. Judging by the enthusiasm Of ,the.
clroniclers, no work undertaken by the
Department. Of Agriculture during recent
years has bcentof greater popular inter
est than the development ofsI1ew citrus
creations by carefully controlled plant
breeding and selection. The writer's, for
tho most part, have confined their work
Ito descriptions ofsthe efforts TO produce
q frost proof, or cold resistant orange,
this unusual feature appealing highly 70,
the public imaginable N,
5 AS a matter Of fact, the Departments
experiments have been much more COM
kprehensive, nnd while thel frost resistant
type has been one Of the mos nporr Ia, ~
y to the perfection OF existing oranges ana
grape fruits ol,iipon1elos and the breed
Ing Of intermediate new fruits which pos
so hed M hs tie
+ Is or 20 years new plant, 3or fruit types,
were developed from chance variations,
resulting from some freak OF nature;
The new era ntlrseryman and agricultural
plant breeder now securses his best types
from sys tenlAtic selection and cross
breeding or hXbridization.8 Many OF the.
choice dessert types of the common lrl1ll =,
the apple, pear, grape. ETC., have beeh
ern scientific lines. ~ syf a
The work with the ctrous fruits mas
been conducted contlnuously'fo for the past
nine years sand considering the difficulty
Of fixing pern1nnetlyE the characteristics
OF hybrds the work Of the Bureau OF
Plant Industry has been extremely cred,
table. q There have now been produced
a total of i ,7S0. 3hybrids, the exact his
r,fs On oh l. matter OF record,
but possibly only a half dozen ,or !, 50
are considered worthy Of con1nerclal ele-
velopnlent. q u al Il rs "a ,
Perhaps no better idea o. the methods
of3.the plant breeder can be given. than
|9toSfollow the operations Of A. f. sSVoods.
vegetable pathologlst and psychologist Z OF
the Bureau of Industry, as desert bed IN
the last issue of@thea Governments Year
Book. a All the operations of, hyhridlza-
ition, he says require the greatest care
L tofavoid contamination with pollen Other he
than that from the selected plant pa
h rents. sS3a a4i.fSs 2i s4.s
Buds Opened Artificially.
In all cases buds are selected for ny
ofdIzaE bsGls AsS 9psRt s0are
|3artlficially opened and the stamen, or
at least Its double celled sac, which CON
lstains the pollen is removed, after which
per ba e to prevent the visits5s,of Insects
who Invariably carry upon ,their.$legs
the pollen from other plants
Gin fact, this IL the particular, function I;
new plant jntroductlons4h have been made
from foreign lands It; has been neces- N
sarNs TO import and establish, in@.lts
new ha bltat the particular pollenfzng;
the. plants native home But this is
another story although very 70 selma ting
when The eil,iasculatsd bid has ma:
ntnti t0fAf
t baE Is renpyed and the pollen from
the selected male pantsls busted over
the pistil or seed-bearing organ.4 The
paper bag lis then replaced over the
flower and left until the blossom has set
afterward which tit is removed and the
flower labeled. In order that the "a ther
plant may be absolutely true to- type,
1.-THE buds from which the pollen is taken
breeders have found that the seed de-
rived from the nlatured fruits OF suchf
a hybridlzed blossom differ markedly
in their reproductive 'chara cteris tlcs.i \ n
Seeds from the same fruit will produce
plants that resemble the matenalt plant In
foliage and fruit. others will resemble in
an equally distinctive nlunnerSlthe pa,
duce plants possessing some of8the char.
;lctelistlcs OF both parents, thatftis to
say the leaves. are intermediate be-
tween those Of the two parents !, and the.
aacteristics and qualities Of each. BY
eliminating such plants as come true TO-
either parent and developing the real hy-i
birds entirely new fruit types may " be
created .4S
with this in mind it can readily be I'M
derstood how It may be possible BY using
what is known as the trfoliate orange
for one parent and an especlaly large
sweet orange for the other parent to. secure
an intermediate plant which, whiletpos-
sessing the paatable, qualities and at-
tractive appearance Or me sweet or r''l -
1t is we'll known that along these lines
a frost resistant type Off commercial
orange may be looked for. and, in view OF
orange ora s,'I groves BY frosts at intervals Of
from ten to twelve years, the perlec-
ton Of such q type would d., be o. ~, m
cnlcunble commercial value, the trifollate
thriving out of doors as far North as
Phjladelphla, is entirely unfit for food, the
fruit being filled with seeds and mem
branes and very tough e.os Woo ass p
orange. these hybrldizing experl,men Is
have thus far resulted in the. creqtion of
two entirely now fruits, which the ex,
perts consider OF sutticlent 60 nii'eruln,
fruits. it is proposed to call the cit
range word made UP of the hrts syl.
liable Of the word citrus and the last
syllable of the word orange.
Two vareties have been developed, one
known rs the Rusk ci,rnnse named
in honor OF the first Secretary OF Agri-.
culture. ]. NJ. Rusk,7under whose admin
istration the first work on citrous fruits
in Florida was undertaken by the De-
ipartment OF Agriculture. The fruit of
the Rusk is a beautiful little orange.
Of excelen, texture and 2 s ~ sly
In the hand but Is very palatahle With
sugar. There is a bitter taste somewh hi !
characteristic Of the grape fruit, The
aroma Is very strong and pleasant. The
fruit is almost seedless, The membranes
are thin aud tender, having what rs
technically known as very little rag
1t us suggested that the citrange can
be used for making q drink similar to
lemonade or for culinary purposes In
the preparation of pies preserves and
marmalades, and with sugar, should
Another citrange which has attracted
favorable attention is named the VIII
let's, In honor OF the first Assistant Secrc-
.s.xxSfuE1s0p.. d