The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-05
BREEDING NEW FRUITS
RESULTS OBTAINED BY DEPARTMENT OF AGRI-
 CULTURE.
Methods of Plant Breeder-Al Opera tions of Adjudication Require
 the Greatest Care.

-
 Philadelphia Record.
 Judging by the enthusiasm Of the chroniclers, no work undertaken by the Department of Agriculture during re- cent years has been of greater popular interest than the development of new citrus creations by carefully controlled plant breeding and selection. The writers for the most part, have con
 fined their work to descriptions of the efforts to produce a frost proof, or cold
 resistant orange, this unusual feature appealing highly to the public imagina-
 ton.
 As matter of fact the Department
 experiments have been much more com prehensive, and while the frost resist ant type has been one of the most inn
 portant objects, equal attention has
 been paid to the perfection of existing oranges and grape fruits or pomelos
 and the breeding of Intermediate new fruits which possess the characteris-
 tics of both the pomelo and the orange. Until within the fifteen or twenty
 years new plant or fruit types, were
 developed from chance variations, re- sulting from some freak of nature. The
 new era nurseryman and agricultural plant-breeder now secures his best types fro msystematic selection and cross- breeding or hybridization. Many or the CnOlCe OeSSeTl typcS Ol luS Cohi~ mon fruits, the apple, pear, grape, etc..
 have been developed during recent years along modern scientific lines. The work with the citrus fruits has been conducted continuously for the past nine years and considering the difficulty of fixing permanently the
 characteristics of hybrids the work of the Bureau of Plant Industry has been
 extremely creditable. There have now l. ota1 NF hxyhr the exact history of each being a mat ter of record, but possibly only half | dozen or so are considered worthy of commercial development.
 Perhaps no better idea of the methods | of the plant breeder can be given than | to follow the operations of A. F. Woods. vegetable pathologist and physiologist, of the Bureau of Industry, as described | in the last issue of the Governments Year Book. All the operations of | hybridization. he says. require the greatest care to avoid contamination with pollen other than that from the selected plant parents.
 Buds Opened Artifcially.
 In all cases guds are selected for hy- bridizing before they open, In the course of their natural maturity These are artificially opened and the stamen. l or at least it's double celled sac, which contains the pollen, Is removed, after
 which the flower, or bud, Is enclosed in paper bag to prevent the visits of 1 insects who invariably carry upon their | legs the pollen from other plants. In fact, this is the particular func- l tion of many insects, and occasionally, when new plant introductions have been made from foreign lands it has | been necessary to import and establish | in its new habitat the particular pol | lenizlng insects that performed this | function in the plants native home. But | this is another story, although very | fascinating one. When the emasculated bud has ma | tured sufficiently to be receptive the bag is removed and the pollen from the selected male plant Is dusted over | the pistil or seed bearing organ. The paper bag Is then replaced over the flower and left until the blossom has set afterward which 1t Is removed and the flower labeled. In order that the father plant may be absolutely true to type, the buds from which the pollen Is taken are covered with bags In the same man. ner as above described. The plant breeders have found that the seed de- rived from the matured fruits of such hybridized blossom differ markedly in their reproductive characteristics. Seeds from the same fruit will pro- duce plants that resemble the maternal plant in foliage and fruit, others will resemble in an equally distinctive man. ner the paternal plant while still others will produce plants possessing some of
 the characteristics of both parents, that is to say, the leaves are Intermediate between those of the two parents and the fruit may partake of some of the characteristics and qualities of each.
 By eliminating such plants as come true to either parent and developing the
 real hybrids entirely new fruit types may be created.
 With this in mind, 1t can readily be
 understood how 1t may be possible by
 using what is known as the trifoliate
 orange for one parent and an especially large sweet orange for the other parent
 to secure an intermediate plant, which, while possessing the palatable qualities and attractive appearance of the sweet orange. combines the hardness of the trifoliate. It Is we'll known that along
 these lines frost resistant type of commercial orange may be looked for, and, in view of the almost total destruc-
 tion of the Florida orange groves by frosts at intervals of from ten to twelve years, the perfection of such type would be of incalculable value. The trifoliate orange, while remarkably hardy and thriving out of doors as far north as Philadelphia. Is entirely unfit TOT IOOu. the ITulI DelnB HlleQ Wllu seeds and membranes and very tough, woody pulp. Instead of getting frost resistant orange, the hybridizing exper- iments have thus far resulted in the creation of two entirely new fruits, which the experts consider of sufficient commercial promise to call the cit range" a word made up of the first syllable of the word citrus and the last syllable of the word orange.
 Two varieties have been developed one known as the Rusk citrange. nam ed in honor of the first secretary of agriculture. J. M. Rusk. under whose administrator the first work on citrus fruits in Florida was undertaken by the Department of Agriculture. The fruit of the Rusk is a beautiful little orange, of excellent texture and exceedingly juicy, It is rather too sour to be eat en in the hand. but it Is very palatable with sugar. There Is a bitter taste somewhat characteristic of the grape fV.ttt .Nh