A detailed comparison of the hybrid
with its parents demonstrated a minute blending of the anatomical
peculiarities of the parental species.
Luther Burbank of Santa Rosa, California, has produced a great many
hybrid brambles, the qualities of which in many respects surpass those
of the wild species. Most of them are only propagated by cuttings and
layers, not being stable from seed. But some crosses between the
blackberry and the raspberry (_R. fruticosus_ and _R. idaeus_) which
bear good fruit and have become quite popular, are so fixed in their
type as to reproduce their composite characters from seed with as much
regularity as the species of _Rubus_ found in nature. Among them are the
"Phenomenal" and the [269] "Primus." The latter is a cross between the
Californian dewberry and the Siberian raspberry and is certainly to be
regarded as a good stable species, artificially produced. Bell Salter
crossed the willow-herbs _Epilobium tetragonum_ and _E. montanum_, and
secured intermediate hybrids which remained true to their type during
four successive generations.
Other instances might be given. Many of them are to be found in
horticultural and botanical journals which describe their systematic and
anatomical details. The question of stability is generally dealt with in
an incidental manner, and in many cases it is difficult to reach
conclusions from the facts given.
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