- r > 16 



HORTICULTURE 



April 21, 1906 



and Location for them. A moist but well-drained, situ- 

 ation is what they like, as the}' have succulent roots 

 that need a certain amount of moisture. April is the 

 month for moving them and this will be the time when 

 many of the Japanese and Chinese varieties are in 

 flower. Fall planting, which is often attempted, is gen- 

 erally speaking, not successful. The plants do not 

 have time to recover from the transplanting before 

 winter starts in, and the soft sappy roots suffer from 

 freezing and thawing; the tops also winter killing. 

 After transplanting them a good mulch is advisable as 

 it keeps the ground surrounding in a moist condition 

 and encourages root growth more quickly. 



Of the native kinds the most popular in the Eastern 

 States is the glauca or sweet bay. Its fragrant flowers 

 are the last to burst into bloom but are in so much 

 demand that in Philadelphia they are sold along the 

 street, where they find a ready market. The leaf of 

 this one is small but beautiful, having a glossy surface 

 giving it an evergreen appearance and glaucous on the 

 underside. It is leathery in texture and farther south 

 is an evergreen. 



The variety grandiflora or southern magnolia hardly 

 needs description, as it is well known, even in the 

 northern cities where it is not hardy. Its large glossy 

 leaves are magnificent and the cinnamon color on the 

 under side is a distinct characteristic. The flowers are 

 large and the fragrance they exhale is delightful. It 

 thrives in Washington, D. C, and Louisville, Ky. In 

 the latter city some beautiful specimens can be seen in 

 Cave Hill Cemetery, standing thirty and thirty-five 

 feet high. Joseph Meehan reports it hardy as far north 

 as Claymont, Del., and one old plant grew for years in 

 Philadelphia at Broad and Chestnut Streets. 



The umbrella type, tripetala, makes a fine showy 

 specimen for lawn planting and gets its common name 

 from its style of growth. The macrophylla has even 

 larger leaves, some measuring thirty inches in length. 

 The tropical appearance of this species makes it a valu- 

 able lawn specimen. 



Fraseri can be distinguished from the other native 

 sorts by the heart-shaped base of the leaves. It has 

 large foliage and flowers of a delightful fragrance. 



The acuminata makes a fine lawn or avenue tree of 

 conical habit of growth. The red seed pods are also 

 attractive Liter in the season. The appearance of the 

 green pods, gave this variety its common name of 

 cucumber magnolia. 



Of the foreign types the commonest is undoubtedly 

 Soulangeana. This is the species that has the large 

 pink and white flowers in April. Speciosa resembles it 

 so closely that they can hardly be told apart. This can 

 also be said of Alexandria and Norbertiana. Though 

 the former comes earlier and the latter later than the 

 type. Lennei is a fine deep red or crimson variety, 

 the flowers being cup shaped and quite large and full. 



The very earliest to flower is the stellata or Halleana. 

 This is a dwarf species and when coven?'] with flowers 

 makes a grand display. Its beautiful star-shaped flow- 

 ers are smaller than the other foreign types and very 

 sweet. The only purple of merit is purpurea, which 

 can be relied on to give good flowers. 



In speaking of all as a class much can be said to their 

 advantage and few criticisms made except regarding 

 their hardiness in some localities. 



f mU^^O^^r\ 



The Real Inwardness of Hybridizing 



When I am so often asked if crossing is done by graft- 

 ing, and when I see an article published in the Scientific 

 American that the way to obtain seedless fruits is to 

 remove the pistil before pollen has taken effect, I feel 

 that I may be excused for writing what the plant 

 breeders already know. A hybrid in this country is 

 understood to mean a cross between two different 

 species ; and the combining of the two varieties of a 

 species is called a cross. In either case the work is done 

 through the blossom, and our tools are the germ-cells, 

 both male and female, called gametes by scientists. 



There are two classes of hybridizers. The object of 

 one is to ascertain the whys and wherefores of results, 

 the other seeks improvement by various combinations. 

 If a person who is engaged in the poultry business 

 wishes to change his flock to a more popular breed, he 

 can do so by obtaining a male bird of the desired breed 

 to mate with his flock and the offspring will be hybrids ; 

 and if those hybrids are bred together, each germ-cell 

 will represent one or the other of its grandparents; 

 and if two germ-cells representing the male bird unite, 

 the offspring will be pure bloods of that breed; but if 

 a germ-cell representing the flock unites with one 

 representing the male grandparent a hybrid is formed, 

 the same as the first hybrid or first generation; and 

 these hybrids if bred together will continue to produce 

 both pure bloods and hybrids, and it is only necessary 

 to s.-lect the pure bloods from the hybrids of each 

 generation to increase the pure blood flock. But the pure 

 bloods when bred together will produce pure blood off- 

 spring. This, thus roughly described, is what is known 

 as Mendel's law of heredity, and is a boon to breeders. 



The old method of purifying or grading up stock was 

 by what is known as Galton's law, which is that the 

 whole heritage of the offspring, the two parents to- 

 gether, contribute one-half, the four grandparents one- 

 quarter, the eight great-grandparents one-eighth, and so 

 on. But under that law the breeders did not know that 

 they were constantly producing hybrids which were 

 taking them back to the original cross, which gave to 

 pedigrees a black eye, by occasionally cropping out. 

 The Mendel's law, as described above, supposes purity 

 of parents, hence purity of germ-cells. But if the 

 parents are of a compound nature the germ-cells will 

 also be compound, and the character of the cells that 

 may unite cannot be foretold. Of over 100.000 grape- 

 vines tested, no two alike have been produced. We 

 cross and hybridize and get things never known before. 

 Some are probably reversions back to varieties that 

 perhaps were growing one thousand years ago. It is 

 only when two germ-cells of those remote characters 

 happen to meet that they are developed. We can only 

 study prepotencies and affinities, and determine the 

 effects of various combinations, and it will ever be thus 

 until we can analyze pollen grains and female cells and 

 read the characters they bear. 



Bui the above-mentioned fruits have one advantage 

 over plants that are propagated by seed only. It is in 

 i lir fact that when a desired variety is obtained it can 

 lie propagated indefinitely by buds or grafts and the 

 exacl typo is fixed and endures and is not subject to any 

 mixture, while with all plants such as corn, wheat, rye, 

 oats, cotton, etc., it i- very difficult to keep them pure 

 am lengt h of time. 



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