Burbank in July, 1904, and still more startling improvements were said
to have been secured.
I may perhaps be allowed to avail myself of this opportunity to point
out a practical side of the study of elementary species. This always
appears whenever wild plants are subjected to cultivation, either in
order to reproduce them as pure strains, or to cross them with other
already cultivated species. The latter practice is as a rule made use of
whenever a wild species is found to be in possession of some quality
which is considered as desirable for the cultivated forms. In the case
of the beach-plum it is the hardiness and the great abundance of fruits
of the wild species which might profitably be combined with the
recognized qualities of the ordinary plums. Now it is manifest, that in
order to make crosses, distinct individual plants are to be chosen, and
that the variability of the wild species may be of very great
importance. [59] Among the range of elementary species those should be
used which not only possess the desired advantages in the highest
degree, but which promise the best results in other respects or their
earliest attainment. The fuller our knowledge of the elementary species
constituting the systematic groups, the easier and the more reliable
will be the choice for the breeder.
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