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discovered by —
RICHARD DIENE

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GIFT OF

THE
LAWS OF HYBRIDIZING

DISCOVERED BY

RICHARD DIENER
KENTFIELD
CALIFORNIA

IN PUBLISHING THIS DISCOVERY T WISH
TO DEDICATE IT TO HON. WILLIAM KENT
OF CALIFORNIA, WHO BACKED AND AIDED
THE WORK IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST

WHAT PLANT LIFE IS

f^kLANT life is a chemical process by which the sun's
J rays are caught through the chlorophyll of the leaves
and deposited on the earth's surface as carbon. Since the
beginning, untold numbers of plant life have been created
continually by the sun's rays in water or moist places where
conditions are favorable. But of those untold numbers only such
as had the ability to sport could climb the ladder of evolution.

In their early stages it was their habit of life to float in
moisture, and propagation was accomplished by splitting apart.
This was the sexless state.

In later stages, growing in the marshes, they commenced to
develop root systems, and finally developed varieties growing
outside the marshes; sex developed, and eventually reached the
stage of seed production. After they had reached the stage
where they reproduced themselves from seed they developed all
kinds of forms which were necessary in dryer conditions.

They then developed faster — from grasses to shrubs, from
shrubs to bushes and from bushes to trees.

Under whatever condition they were living at this time their
object was to catch the sun's rays, make carbon out of them
and deposit them as solid matter on the earth's surface.

Take for instance our California redwoods, which are Nature's
highest development on earth to-day. Billions of years since
a thousand ancestors of these very redwoods could be held in
a drop of water. Some trees, like the California live oak, or
many varieties growing in the tropics, show the wonderful result
of Nature's intention in a very striking way. If the leaves of a
single tree of this description were laid side by side they would
cover the greater part of an acre, yet the tree occupied only a
small part of the earth's surface. In order to build themselves up
in their evolution the roots had to take material from our earth,
as lime, to strengthen their structure, and many other chemicals

42526:

necessary for the same purpose, just in the same fashion as the
animals do to build up their skeletons.

Now the carbon will remain on the earth's surface till some
day fire is set to it, which is still another chemical process, and
release all that came from the sun in gas. The gas will disap-
pear from the earth but all material which was used from the
earth for building up the structure of plants will remain as ashes.

When we look over the earth and see only a few thousand
plant and animal families, it means that from the untold num-
bers of embryonic life that the sun created through the billions
of years only those upon which Nature bestowed the ability
to sport have survived.

SPORTS

A sport is an individual outgrowth of a variety; in most cases
with characteristics so markedly different from the original as
to attract attention. It is the nucleus of a new cycle in the variety
and may appear as bud, branch or seed, without cross pollination.

Prior to the acquisition of sex, when the propagation of plant
life depended entirely upon the splitting-apart process, any vari-
ety which did not produce a sport during its cycle of existence
was doomed to extinction.

These cycles differ in length from a short period in fast-grow-
ing ones to a term of a thousands of years in the slow-growing.

As an example of the first we have the Sagina Supulata which
spreads like a carpet on the ground in its moss-like growth. The
original color of the plant is dark green, while the sports, which
can be discerned easily, appear in light green, yellow and brown.

In the germ form of animal and plant life where the growth
is so rapid that a cycle of life comprises but a half hour we see
the most rapid sporting, as in diseases like colds, flu, cholera and
typhoid. The cycle of a variety here is composed of a term
of from a few months to a few years, so that when they reappear
after a certain period they will show different habits and charac-
teristics from their progenitors which the new sport has taken on.

ANIMAL LIFE IN RELATION
TO PLANT LIFE

Originally plants and animals came from the same source, but
in later developments of early germ stages some species acquired
the habit of plant eating, and thereby losing their chlorophyll.
Animal life became Nature's maw which, whether carried by
an elephant or the smallest microbe, performs the function of
transforming plant matter into plant food upon which the new
plant forms thrive.

If it were not for the existence of animal life the leaves, bark
and general residue of vegetation would, in a period of twenty-
five years or thereabouts, cover the ground to such a height that
no new vegetation could spring up and plant life would annihi-
late itself, there being no decay.

CROSS-BREEDING— WHAT IT IS AND MEANS

Cross-breeding can only be accomplished within family lines.

Take for instance the lines of Solanum and Pirus, which are
widely distributed over the earth, and have acquired, through
many sportings, re-sporting and varied climatic conditions, very
many varied forms.

One cannot cross a Solanum with a Pirus, or vice versa, but
must conduct the crossing between the two members of a single
family, a Solanum with a Solanum, a Pirus with a Pirus, in order
to develop new hybrids. The rule would hold the same with the
Gladiolus or Erica families.

Ever since boyhood I have been interested in plant life in
general and anxious to delve into the secrets of plant growth.
Cross-breeding at that time was just being seriously entered
upon, and consequently I adopted it as my hobby. When seven-
teen years of age, happening to cross some tuberous Begonias, I
found, when the seedlings flowered, that a great many had
doubled the size of the parent flower. This set me to thinking
that there might be natural laws existing of which we have no

<4!

knowledge. From this time onward I worked systematically
with crosses, making an endless number, and carefully preserving
records of the sizes of plants and flowers used. As the seedlings
bloomed they demonstrated more and more clearly that I was
on the right path, and certain of the crosses gave me an inkling
of the method used for increasing size, though it took thousands
of crosses and about fifteen years of time to perfect the actual
laws I herewith submit; these laws accomplish by short, direct
method what it would take Nature thousands and hundreds of
thousands of years to do in a natural way .

EXPLANATION OF DIAGRAM

Sizes A and B in Figures i, 2 and 3, are intended to represent
the comparative sizes of sex parents of flowers, fruit or grain con-
cerned in fertilization. Size C represents the size of the resulting
offspring. Each figure represents but one fertilization ; by using
new parents derived from the offspring C the process can be con-
tinued indefinitely.

The first or declining way: reduction of size.

Size A Figure i shows a small pollen parent, one- half the
size of the ovule parent B. Under such a condition the resulting
offspring c will be one-half the size of the pollen-bearing parent A.

It is to be noted that in case the pollen-bearing parent A were
smaller than the ovule parent B, but more than one-half its size,
the ofl^spring C would be proportionately larger; on the other
hand, if A is less than one-half the size of B, then C will be propor-
tionately smaller than shown in the diagram. Consequently, if
smaller sizes than the current normal size of a given plant are
desired, any amount of reduction can be secured by continuing
the process illustrated in Figure i .

The second or enlarging way: increase of size.

For the purpose of increasing the size the best results will be
obtained by using pollen- and ovule-bearing parents of exactly
the same size, as shown in A and B of Figure 2. If the sizes are the
same an actual doubling of size will be secured in the offspring C.

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KEY io the LAW

discovered by

A. DECLI?s(iJN/g ^Y

POLLEN
PARENT

(MALE)

B. ENLARGIIsfe ^WAY

OVULE
PARENT

(FEMALE)

POLLEN

PARENT
(male)

OVULE

PARENT
(female)

POLLEN

PARENT
(male)

OVULE
PARENT
(female)

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f HYBRIDIZING

-RICHARD DIENE

RESULT: Fir 1

1 ^t. GENERATION ^ ^^' ^•

RESULT:

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1st. GENERATIOIs/ ^ ^^' ^'

RESULT: p^yp ^

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It is to be understood that not every individual represented by
C will be doubled even if A and B are precisely the same size. In
the first generation the average number of C individuals of maxi-
mum size will be 12 out of 100 under conditions stated. The
remaining 88 in 100 will all be larger than either Aor B and will
range in sizes between the size of parents and the maximum size
of offspring illustrated. As for the second and later generations
derived from C, since the A and B of subsequent fertilizations are
more closely related than were the original A and B, the percent-
age of maximum results runs up as high as 40 per centum, as I
found in my Petunia crossings. This will happen only in case of
close relationship between A and B.

The third:

Figure 3 illustrates the result when the ovule parent B is one-
half the size of the pollen-bearing parent A. In this case the
offspring C will be slightly larger than the pollen parent A, but
no great increase in size can be expected from this method.

By observing the results obtained under the conditions repre-
sented by Figures i, 2, 3, one can determine exactly what to
expect out of material on hand, whatever the relative size of the
plants A and B may be. Size comparisons are made between parent
blooms when pollinating for the purpose of increasing the size
of blossoms; between fruits by increasing the size of fruit, and
between kernels by increasing the size of kernels.

MODIFICATIONS OF COLOR
OR FORM OF FLOWERS

The pollen-bearing parent is always the dominating factor in
changes of form or color. For instance, if one desires to increase
and accentuate incipient ruffling or frilling which may occur in
the petals of a given plant, A and B parents already having some
marks of the nature desired should be chosen; but the pollen
should be taken from the individual which shows the desired
feature most strongly.

Likewise, in modifying colors to increase the intensity of a
given color, choose two colors of the same shade but take the
pollen from the one which shows the most pronounced coloring
of the shade desired.

On the contrary, if lighter shades are desired, select colors as
before but take the pollen from the plant which has the lighter
shade.

Further, in attempting to derive new colors always use a white
flower as a B parent with which to break up colors. This will
work to absolute perfection. This method of mixing colors
works the same when applied to plants as the actual mixture of \i
colors on an artist's palette.

RESULT OF ANIMAL CROSSES

iEXEMPLIFIED BY CHICKENS)

On account of the sexes being in different individuals it takes
two crosses to reach the same result that is obtained by a single
fertilization in the case of plants where both sexes reside in the
same individual. First two individual chickens are selected. The
female offspring C from the resulting fertilization is then mated
with the original A parent. Of the offspring from this second
fertilization about one-third are double the size of the original
parents. This high proportion of larger sized individuals is due
to the fact that the A parent was a sport of white leghorn and
was mated with the same flock from which it originated and
consequently very closely related. The same idea has been used
in carnations where the sports of the carnation Enchantress as A
parent and Enchantress as B parent with very striking results as
the high quality of plants is intensified in this case. The same
result can presumably be obtained by taking male offspring C of
the first generation and securing fertilized eggs by mating with
the original B parent.

The fact that both animals and plants respond to this law is a '^'i}^
proof of their common origin.

M'S

Generatiori

Increased to

I Pound

B Parent

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B Parent
Weight
1 Ounce

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C&^c/yiMy^mcrA.

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In concluding I want to say that few people at the present
time realize the immensity of this discovery to mankind. It is
equal to the discovery of electricity, if not greater. It means
that the farmer and horticulturist will get three to four times
the amount of fruits and grains from the same land without any
additional fertilizer or expenses, simply by using varieties devel-
oped higher through these laws from the vai-ieties in use now.
Not only is the size of fruit and grain doubled, but the yield
per plant also.

The common wheat with which I started brought only twenty-
five to thirty bushels per acre while in the third generation of
the same wheat some varieties produced one hundred and fifty
bushels to the acre. The same increase in quantity I found in
tomatoes, beans, corn, Sudan Grass and many other things I
worked on.

By the proper application of these laws almost any degree of
improvement can be obtained in a few crossings as I have proven
to everyone's satisfaction with my gladioli, petunias, wheat,
tomatoes and corn.

PRESS OF THE HANSEN CO. S. F

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WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN
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WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH
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OVERDUE.

mjSJ 2f> '' '^h

LD 21-100m-7,'40 (69368)

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

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