790 PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 



Many successful variations are not the results of experiment, 

 but of accident. An observant man making his rounds through his 

 garden has acquired fame, and sometimes fortune, by observing 

 peculiarities in the growth of self-sown seedlings, fertilized with- 

 out human aid. 



Progress with hybridisation and selection work in Australia is 

 slow, as we have not at present a number of well to-do amateurs 

 possessing the necessary knowledge and enthusiasm, as in older 

 countries. Many experiments in hybridisation (and not a few 

 with varieties) have been carried on at the Sydney Botanic 

 Gardens, chiefly by Mr. George Harwood, a veteran in experi- 

 mental work. In fact I doubt whether any man has done more 

 in this direction in New South Wales than my colleague. I am 

 happy to say that some experiments are still proceeding at this 

 establishment in regard to which I hope to be able to announce 

 successful results later on. In a recent Annual Report of the 

 Gardens I expressed the hope that we may have a small physio- 

 logical laboratory to serve for the headquarters of experiments in 

 hybridisation and for cognate work with our delightful wealth of 

 material. When public opinion is sufficient!}^ educated in this 

 matter, I do not doubt that Parliament will readily place the 

 necessary funds at my disposal for the employment of one officer 

 whose exclusive duty it will be to carry out experiments of the 

 kind, and for means (necessary in a public garden) of protecting 

 our experiments from the depredations which have discouraged 

 us so much in the past. 



Many crosses, e.g., of Verbenas are the result of accident. 

 The difficulty of raising plants begins when one gets so far as 

 making a cross If any accidents happen to these seedling plants 

 ©ne, of course, has to work de novo. We have to select parents, 

 to wait until the seed has set, then to wait until the plants can be 

 raised, and further wait until flowers are obtained. These results 

 often take several years to obtain, and may in the end have little 

 or no horticultural value. Many of our experimenters have had 

 disappointments, but I am sorry they have not kept a careful 

 record of their results. If the experiments are worth making at 



