EXPERIMENTS IN THIS COUNTRY. 161 



topic, l)iit embraces hundreds of important though minor 

 papers scattered through the reports of societies and the col- 

 umns of our agricultural and horticultural journals. Many 

 of you are doubtless familiar with the valuable addresses of 

 Col. Wilder,' Mr. Pringle,'^ and others, upon this subject ; and 

 you are aware that there is now felt a very deep interest in 

 its practical bearings upon the future of our cultivated 

 plants. The correspondents in this country, whom I have, 

 perhaps, wearied by my pertinacious search for information, 

 have placed me in possession of the results of the more im- 

 portant experiments which have been made here. 



The narrow limits of my time do not allow me to mention 

 or name all of those who have aided me by their letters ; but 

 I must be permitted to say, that, although my earliest inquiries 

 by letter respecting this matter yielded scanty returns, I 

 was later rewarded by discovering that a vast amount of care- 

 ful hybridizing has been well done in this country. Much 

 of this hybridizing, if not most, has been between marked 

 varieties, instead of between recognized species ; but the 

 results, in many cases, are of great interest, and should be 

 brought together for comparison and study. An account of 

 the hybridizing already well done in this country, and of 

 wliich we have no printed record, is a great desideratum. 

 Such an account would surprise you, as its details surprised 

 me, by the number and range of the experiments. One 

 of the most instructive cases of hybridizing in this country 

 has been selected for illustration. The full account of the 

 experiments will be published by Mr. Francis Parkman in a 

 forthcoming number of the Bulletin of the Bussey Institu- 

 tion. The author has kindly permitted me to make use of 

 advance sheets of this communication ; and you will prefer to 

 have the statement of the experiments and of their results 

 in Mr. Parkman's words.^ 



"My first attempt was to combine the two superb Japanese lilies, 

 L. speciosum (lancifoUurn) and L. anratum. The former was used as the 

 female parent. Four or five varieties of it, varying from pure white to 

 deep red, were brought forward in pots under glass. This was neces- 



1 Report of Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



2 Report of Vermont Board of Agriculture. 



8 Three paintings of these lilies were used in the lecture to illustrate the 

 difference between the parent species and the hybrid offspring. 

 21 



