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206 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Feb. 



The second meeting of the Botanical Branch was held at 

 the home of Mr. R. B. Whyte on Saturday evening, November 

 27th, 1909 There were present, in addition to the Chairman, 

 Messrs. Geo. H. Clark, Groh, Michaud, Blackader, Attwood, 

 Newman, Campbell, Prof. J. Macoun, W. T. Macoun. 



There was no special subject for discussion, the arrange- 

 ment being that each person present was to say something 

 about what he had been doing during the summer. The dis- 

 cussion, however, proved so interesting that few men had an 

 opportunity of telling of their work. Mr. Whyte told of what he 

 was doing in raising seedling gooseberries. His object was to 

 obtain a variety that would be as good, or better in quality, than 

 any other, and which would be hardy and free from mildew. 

 He showed specimens of a fine large seedling of the English 

 gooseberry which he said was of very good quality. A discussion 

 arose as ' to Mr. Whyte's methods, some claiming that there 

 would be no marked increase in hardiness without the introduc- 

 tion of blood of a hardier gooseberry. The reason why the 

 English gooseberries are susceptible to mildew in this country 

 was thought by some of those present to be due to the fact that 

 the English gooseberry was a native of a moist climate and when 

 grown where the conditions were drier the leaves and fruit were 

 affected by the mildew, as occasionally occurs in the drier parts 

 of England. This brought out the interesting fact that some 

 species of mildew thrive best in dry air, while some do best under 

 moist conditions, as do the higher plan's. 



Mr. Michaud gave an interesting account of his work in the 

 testing of vegetable seeds during the past summer. He found 

 that, on the whole, seeds germinated better in diffused light 

 than in total darkness. For instance, lettuce seed germinated 

 better on the surface of blotting paper than between folds of 

 this paper. The fact was brought out that in Nature most seeds ^ 



germinate on the surface of the ground. As, however, it is 

 impossible to control the conditions of moisture in the growing 

 of crops outside it is necessary to plant the seeds in order to 

 ensure their receiving sufficient moisture to germinate. 



After Mr. Michaud had told of his germinating tests there 

 was considerable discussion on the growth of plants and as to 

 what proportion of the growth took place at night. One member 

 claimed that there was more growth at night than in the day- M 



time, but the general opinion was that this was not so. Growth 5, 



takes place in darkness as well as in light, but elaboration of 

 plant food takes place only in light. For instance, a potato 

 may grow in a dark cellar by using up the food in the tubers t' 



which has been previously elaborated in the light. 



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