218 EXPEETMENT STATION RECORD. 



detail. Specimens were exhibited which showed the results of a 

 number of the crosses. Among them were crosses of Pyriis haccata 

 with several varieties of Russian apples, of different species of bar- 

 berry, of gooseberry and black currant, of Pyrm maidei and P.ja])on- 

 iea^ and of various cereals. 



During an evening session a iuiml)er of papers were presented which 

 were illustratecl by specially prepared lantern slides. The first of 

 these was Ijy W. B. Alwood, of the Virginia Station, in which an 

 account was given of investigations in wine fermentation. The selec- 

 tion, propagation, and uses of pure cultures of yeasts in wine and 

 cider making, and in brewing and distilling, were considered and the 

 different methods of elimination and of cultivation described. Graph- 

 ics were shown of the action of various wine ferments upon grape 

 must. 



The second illustrated paper was by W. Van Fleet, of Little Silver, 

 New Jersey, on Hybridizing Gladiolus Species. In growing Gladioli, 

 only summer-blooming varieties with good winter-keeping corms are 

 desired in this country. Hybrids of large flowered species seldom 

 prove valuable in the lirst generation but seem to improve in subse- 

 quent ones. Many species h3"brids have been produced but few have 

 proved of intrinsic value. As a rule. Gladioli do not grow well in 

 clay. Sandy soil with an underlying of peat, if kept well wet, is the 

 best soil for their growth, A number of h3'brids were exhibited, one 

 of which (Pi'inceps) was said to have a flowering period of nearly 5 

 weeks, 4 or 5 of the huge flowers succeeding each other until the 

 entire spike has blossomed. This same phenomenon occurs when 

 flower stalks are cut and placed in water, if the water is frequently 

 changed. During 10 years of active hybridizing, in which a number 

 of species were used for breeding purposes and more than 150,000 

 seedlings produced, many new commercial Aarieties would have been 

 expected, and although there were many promising novelties only 2, 

 Princeps and Lord Fairfax, have been thought worthy of naming and 

 commercial introduction. 



The paper of C. W. Ward, of Queens, Long Island, on Breeding 

 Florists' Flowers was also illustrated by lantern slides. He gave the 

 results of 12 years' work in the hybridization of carnations. His work 

 has been confined to 8 types of stock which were based on color differ- 

 ences. These have been subjected to various crossings, and it was 

 said that the staminate parent showed its effect in the color of the 

 progen3^ If crossed upon another flower of the same color the result- 

 ant plant would show reversion to prominent ancestral tj^pes. The 

 writer claims that when the connnercial habit of the carnation has 

 been established any desired color can be ))red into it. In breeding 

 carnations, if it is desired to heighten the color in no case should pur- 

 ple or similar colors be used, as those colors tend to dull the color of 



