ir progeny and, to the
contrary, a good-for-nothing variety in the vineyard is often valuable
in breeding.

From present knowledge it does not appear that new characters are
introduced in plants by hybridizing. A new variety originating from
hybridization is but a recombination of the characters of the parents;
the combination is new but the characters are not. Thus, one parent of
a hybridized grape may contribute color, size, flavor and practically
all the characters of the fruit, while the other parent may contribute
vigor, hardiness, resistance to disease and the characters of the
vine. Or these and other characters in the make-up of a new grape may
be intermingled in any mathematical way possible. The grape-breeder
must make certain that one or the other of the parents possesses the
particular characters he desires in his new grape.

It is now known that the characters of the grape, in common with those
of other plants, are inherited in accordance with certain laws
discovered by Mendel. The early workers in grape-breeding did not know
of these laws and could not take aim in the work they were doing.
Consequently, hybridization was a maze in which these breeders often
lost themselves. Mendel's discoveries, however, assure a regularity of
averages and give a definiteness and constancy of action which enable
the grape-breeder to attain with fair certainty what he wants if he
keeps patiently at his task. The grape-breeder should inform himself
as to what Mendel's laws are, and on the work that has been done on
the inheritance of characters of the grape. A technical bulletin
published by the State Experiment Station at Geneva, New York, and
another from the North Carolina Station at Raleigh give much
information on the inheritance of characters in certain grapes, and
further information can be secured by applying to the United States
Department of Agriculture at Washington for literature on the subject.

The grape-breeder can hope to progress only by making many
combinations between different varieties and growing large numbers of
seedlings. He should extend his work to all varieties which show
promise in the breeding of grapes for the particular purpose he has in
mind. The seed may be saved and planted as directed in the chapter on
propagation. Unless he desires to make scientific interpretations of
his results, weak seedlings should be discarded the first year, and a
second discard may be made before the young plant