Hayes and Garber - Cucurbit Breeding

CHAPTER XVII
BREEDING OF VEGETABLES
SELF-FERTILIZED VEGETABLES
The long periods of cultivation and the various environments
to which many of our vegetables have been subjected, have
served to increase the number of varieties. Most of the vegetable
varieties have been produced by commercial seed firms or by
seed growers. An examination of any seed catalog shows numerous
new forms which are being constantly introduced into
cultivation. There has been a marked tendency among seedsmen
to give new trade names to old standard varieties. This
has led to a great deal of confusion in nomenclature and much
difficulty has been experienced in varietal identification. There is
need of a more scientific test of varieties prior to introduction and
of a standardization of varieties. Considerable progress has been
made in classification of some vegetables. More information
is needed regarding the mode of pollination and inheritance of
special characters before methods of breeding can be intelligently
applied. In this chapter the origin of both cross- and selffertilized
vegetables is briefly summarized. The mode of
inheritance of special characters of the self-fertilized vegetable
species, pea, bean, tomato, and pepper are given, together with
a brief discussion of methods of breeding.
The ancient Greeks and Romans were
Origin of Vegetables. 1
familiar with some of our garden vegetables; on the other hand,
many are of more recent origin and new varieties are being
constantly introduced. The discovery of America introduced
to civilization such important vegetables as the Irish potato,
1 For a complete history of the origin of vegetables see DE CANDOLLE, A.,
Origin of Cultivated Plants, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., London, Second
Edition, 468 pages, 1886; HENSLOW, G., The Origin and History ofOur
Garden Vegetables and Their Dietetic Values, in Jour. Roy. Hort. Soc., vols.
36 and 37, 1910-11 and 1911-12; STURTEVANT, E. L., History of Garden
Vegetables, in Am. Nat., vols. 23, 24, and 25, 1889, 1890, and 1891.
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