STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 87 



Mr. Hunt — No, sir, I have not, but I intend doing so. 



Mr. Wikr — I have noticed some very peculiar things about bud vari- 

 ation. The most peculiar one is the propagation of the Kittatinny black- 

 berry from root buds. I produced plants, having white berries. The 

 first time I thought there was something wrong, but this last time I made 

 myself very sure. These two productions vary from each other. I do 

 not think there is any fact better ascertained than that of these two in- 

 stances; they don't resemble the Kittatinny in any point, and don't 

 resemble each other. 



Mr. Hay — On the ground of Professor Turner, at Jacksonville, there 

 is a weeping willow tree, which has had the top broken off. Its leaves in 

 the lower part are the ordinary willow ; but where the top was broken off 

 they are entirely different leaves. 



The President — The Professor said it was struck by lightning, and 

 that after the change it produced the ring-leaf willow at the top. On 

 the Deaf and Dumb Institution's land I once found a peach tree that had 

 the south half covered with nectarines, and on the north half were peaches. 

 I have gathered peaches from that side a number of times. 



Mr. Foster — This subject is very interesting, indeed. Now I should 

 think it would be safe to conclude that a great many of these variations 

 result from external influences, rather than from internal influences, or the 

 nature of the plant. The characteristics of the plant might be toward 

 the outside influence, and the seed be more susceptible of that direction ; 

 therefore it would have the power to make the change. I regret very 

 much that our friend, Mr. McAfee, had not preserved that verbena, and 

 gone on to show us whether it was an essential change in the plant, or 

 merely the result of external influences. 



Mr. McWhorter — I will add one little remark. I once had occasion 

 to notice on a Rhode Island apple tree a limb that seemed to hang in a 

 slightly different shape to the other branches, and it seemed to have Rox- 

 bury apples on it. I went up in the tree and looked at them, and found 

 that they were truly Rhode Island apples, and while all the apples on that 

 limb were russet they were really Rhode Island Greening apples. My 

 curiosity was excited about the matter, and I took notice the next year. 

 The next year the limb produced one or two apples, but they were not 

 russets — they were green — and the next year the tree was dead. 



Mr. Flagg — What makes the difference in our sweet and sour apples, 

 of which a part is sweet and the other i)art sour ? 



Mr. McWhorter — It is a partially diseased condition, which that 

 variety of the family of apples is subject to. 



