216 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



emplo3'ed in a like manner. From the commercial side this has an 

 important bearing, as it is luore economical for the Horist to produce 

 his roses each season from blind wood. 



Under the title of Improvement of Oats b}^ Breeding, J. B. Norton, 

 of this Department, gave a description of the work recently under- 

 taken in the plant- breeding laboratory. This has included the selec- 

 tion and hybridization of oats to secure rust resistance, hardiness, 

 increased yield, to prevent lodging, etc. As yet the results can not 

 be definitely determined. 



In experiments to increase the yield and hardiness of Avinter oats by 

 selection, sowings were made at different dates late into the autumn, 

 and the hardiness of the plants was tested by freezing out during the 

 winter. It was found that the farther south seed oats are produced, 

 the earlier the crop when sown at Washington; and there are appar- 

 ently no varieties of oats which come absolutely true to type description. 

 In experiments in crossing, onl}^ .5 to 10 per cent of successful fertili- 

 zations were ordinarily secured. If cool, moist days were chosen for 

 pollination, better results would be obtained, in some cases almost 100 

 per cent of the pollinations resulting in the production of fertile seed. 

 The presence of natural crosses was briefly commented upon, and it 

 was stated that Rimpau in his work, covering many years, observed only 

 4 or 5 cases. This seems to indicate that oats are nearly always self- 

 fertilized. 



In commenting upon this paper, Director Saunders, of the Canada 

 Experimental Farms, called attention to the Canadian work along the 

 line of oats breeding, which has been carried on for about 10 or 12 

 years, and D. G. Fairchild referred to the work being conducted at the 

 experiment station at Svalof, Sweden, along similar lines. (E. S. R., 

 13, p. SU.) 



The su])iect of Breeding Florists' Flowers was treated in papers by 

 E. G. Hill, of Richmond, Indiana, C. W. Ward, of Queens, Long Island, 

 and A. Wintzer, of West Grove, Pennsjdvania. In Mr. Hill's paper 

 notes were given on ])reeding experiments w^ith roses, carnations, and 

 geraniums. Of many thousand hybrids produced, but few of desirable 

 qualit}' Avere o])tained. Not one in a thousand was said to in any way 

 approximate to thc^ value of the ideal Avhich was sought. Wiien the 

 great number of hybridizers who are experimenting with roses is con- 

 sidered, the number of valuable new sorts is very meager compared to 

 the amount of labor expended. While rose fertilization is said to be 

 ver}' easy, the most important part of the work is in properl}^ matur- 

 ing the seed and propagating it. A number of successful hybrid roses 

 were cited as being recently introduced into the market. Somewhat 

 similar results were reported with carnations, in which out of thousands 

 of seedlings grown every year by hundreds of growers, only a few 

 impro\ed forms are annually obtained. In experiments with chrysan- 



