so 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



fJULY I, lfe86. 



age to them in Oeylon, thougli the " withering " by 

 steam is a hint which might be taken so far as ex- 

 periments are concerned. But iu regard to native 

 holdings of very small extent the relation of the 

 Japanese method of curuig is especially of interest, 

 showing as it does what can be done on a small scale 

 and with inexpensive tools, though, as we have already 

 stated we believe the general custom here will be for 

 the natives to sell the green leaf as picked from the 

 bushes to small manufacturers much as they have 

 been accustomed to do with their coffee in past days. 

 Mr. Drummoud Deane lias done a service to the island 

 by introducing his Japauesi' tea boxes, and his models 

 of implements used in Japan maybe regarded as an 

 interesting addition to our store of a material for a 

 general knowledge of the tea interest and cultivation 

 throughout the world. — Local " Times." 



A PLEA FOR THE PRACTICE OF HYBRID- 

 ISATION OF PLANTS. 



BY JAMES I'lNK, ESQ., F. U. H.S., 11RISB.«JE B0T.4.NICAL 

 OAK DENS. 



The produce of vegetation as found in its primitive 

 state conduces little in a direct manner to the main- 

 tenance of civilized man, and it is not until it has 

 been improved by culture that it is really of any 

 value to the world in general. This beneficial result 

 has been brought about by the practice of the arts 

 of cultivation and hybridisation. In this short paper 

 I intend to deal with the latter of these, viz : — 

 hybridisation, including cross-fertilisation. 



It may be fairly assumed that in the origin of 

 vegetation distinct species only were in existence, 

 all other forms being merely varieties of such sj^ecies ; 

 and this opinion is confirmed by the fact that, even 

 at the present day, botanists are unable to define 

 what strictly constitutes a species. 



It is only within a comparatively recent date that 

 the organs of fructification of flowers have been thor- 

 oughly understood, although the ancient s appear to 

 have had certain ideas as to the sexuality of flowers. 

 Emijodocles and Anaxagoras in the fifth century before 

 the Christian era, claim for vegetables the same sex- 

 uality as animals ; and Herodotus states that the Greek 

 cultivators of the date, Phfenix dactylifera, brought 

 the flowers from the male plants and attached them 

 to the fruit-bearing trees, that the produce might 

 attain maturity. Yet it was not till 1787 that any 

 great improvements had been efi^ected in varieties of 

 fruit and vegetables. In that year, Thomas Andrew 

 Knight, President of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 of England, commenced his experiments in hybridis- 

 ation, which he carried on uninterruptedly for forty 

 years, since which time the general appearance of our 

 cultivated plants has very much changed. It matters 

 not whether we look to the useful or to the orna- 

 mental department of the vegetable kingdom — at the 

 beautiful flowers that adorn our gardens and add a 

 charm to our daily lives ; or to the more useful, the 

 fruits and vegetables that supply our wants. In each 

 department is the thou:;ht and skill of man apparent, 

 as year by year new forms of beauty are added to 

 our already large list of flowers, and new and improved 

 varieties to our stock of fruits and vegetables. For 

 years past both the Queensland Acclimatisation Society 

 and the oflBcers of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens have 

 searched the world for fruits and plants of economic 

 value ; and with great success as the garden and 

 orchard throughout the colony testify. But here the 

 matter has ended ; with the exception of one solitary 

 instance — so far as I am aware — no endeavour has 

 been made to improve such plants by raising indigen- 

 ous hybrids, for it is only by such means that plants 

 can be really acclimatised. Some one has truly said 

 that plants like men thrive best on their native soil. 

 The one exception to which I referred is that of our 

 President, Dr. Bancroft, who has succeeded iu raising 

 a new and indigenous variety of grape by hybridising 

 or crocsing the Isabel with the Sweetwater, the former 



being the mother and the Sweetwater the father of 

 the new variety. This was -loue as an experiment, 

 an I no great result could be expected of it. To have 

 raised a really improved and invaluable hybrid I would 

 have suggested the crossing of the Muskat of Alexandria 

 with the Isabel. This cross would probably result in 

 a distinct break in our varieties of grapes, anil by 

 such means we might obtain a hybrid possessing the 

 hardness and productiveness of the Isabel with the 

 large and delicious fruit of the Muscat. 



The art of practical hybridisation is very simple in 

 itself, but it is absolutely necessary for the operator 

 to have a knowledge of the various parts of the 

 flower, and especially of the functions of the organs 

 of fructification. A typical perfectly formed flower is 

 composed of a calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil. 

 It is with the two latter essential organs that the 

 hybridist has to deal. The pistil is the central organ 

 of the flower and is divided into three parts, the 

 ovary, style, and stigma. The ovary is that part of 

 the pistil which is to contain the future .seel. The 

 stigma is the moist, spungy surface destined to receive 

 the pollen-grains by which the ovules are fertilised, 

 and the style is the column supporting the stigma, 

 through which the pollen-tubes pass to the ovary. A 

 stamen consists of a stalk called a filament and the 

 anther containing the pollen-grains. It is by convey- 

 ing the pollen-grains from the anthers of the flowers 

 of one distinct species or variety to the stigma of 

 the flower of another species or variety that the pract- 

 ical process of hybridisation is effected. Hybrid- 

 isation is one of the most interesting departments in 

 the whole field of horticulture, and one which from 

 its simplicity can be carried to a successful issue by 

 anyone especiallj' after having once seen the operation 

 performed. Morning and evening, in fine weather, 

 are the best times for effecting the process. 



It will be well to glance for a moment at what other 

 countries have effected by hj'bridisation. Take Amer- 

 ica, as an example and where America has led surely 

 Australia can follow, and in her turn raise hybrid 

 fruit of her own, better adapted to her climate than 

 imported kinds. 



America in the early days of her history did exactly 

 as we are doing, that is, introduced all her fruits from 

 the Old ■\Yorld, with various results. The apple as 

 introduced from Europe would not thrive, neither is 

 it indigenous to America, and early writers say that 

 nearly all the varieties had degenerated to the normal 

 state of " crabs." As soon, however, as Knight had 

 promulgated his theory of crossing and hybridising, 

 through the agency of the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 the Americans, ever ready at grasping inoproved ideas, 

 at once commenced experiments in raising new varieties 

 of apples by means of artificial hybridisation. The 

 result is that at the present day America has the 

 finest collection of apples of any country in the world, 

 and these all raised on her own soil. St local r.r<> 

 many of these varieties, that they will not thrive 

 out of the State in which they were raised. As with 

 apples so with grapes. The early American colonist, 

 crossed the European varieties with the native grapes 

 nth labrusea. This latter unfortunately gives to all 

 the American varieties a slightly '• foxy "' flavour, but 

 it also gives them a strong constitution and large pro- 

 ductive powers, and California is to-day reaping the 

 benefit of the exertions of her early settlers, in both 

 grapes and apples. To improve our own grape I think 

 we could not do better than follow the exampk- of 

 America, and cross the best European or American 

 varieties with one our native kinds, as a basis for 

 further hybrids. I have been informed by several 

 gentlemen that there is growing around Cooktown one 

 of tlie tuberous-rooted varieties of grape. I have never 

 seen this plant, but I very much wish to do so, for 

 if it is only half as good as the description given 

 me — which I have no reason to doubt — here is the 

 very thing to our hands : a plant with a fleshy tub* r- 

 ous root, and consequently capable of withstanding 

 any amount of drought, nature having adapted it. to 

 the position it occupies, and from which an endicss 

 variety of Australian hybrids might be raised perfectly 

 suited to our climate. 



