1878.] 



AND HORTJCULTURI^ 



185 



•eyes and leaves of the product were of the Molle, 

 but the stem and the size of the Cayenne. In 

 this case, the two eyes were selected and split in 

 halves, as taken by the editor of the Garden- 

 er's Monthly with his apple grafts, and the 

 alternate halves united before grafting. Trials 

 were made to set these united halves as cuttings, 

 ■but no hybrid results came. Only when grafted 

 on a growing stock did hybrids result from the 

 halved pieces. 



In order to test the matter, the Imperial 

 Agricultural Instiiute undertook to investigate 

 it. Accordingly, in 1867, Dr. Glasl, of the 

 Botanical Garden, grafted a number between 

 October and January, at different times. Many 

 various plans of grafting were employed. Dr. 

 Glasl concluded that the results faVored the idea 

 of hybridizing by bud-grafliug. whereupon there 

 was a committee of learned men appointed, who 

 reported that, after long examination of the 

 specimens thems(dves, they cont^luded that the 

 theory was untenable, because inconsistent with 

 the views of Mirbel and Du Petit Thours on 

 Vegetable Physiology. They found there was 

 no absolute union of parts, and consequently no 

 grafLing. The variation, therefore, they regarded 

 as a mere sport, just as likely to occur in a piece 

 with another sort fastened to it, ixs in many 

 plants there is change witho\it grafting. The com- 

 mittee, therefore, concluded to report against 

 the graft-hybifid idea, and Dr. Glasl signed the 

 paper with the rest. 



For our part, and for the reasons given in the 

 first part of this notice, we regard the conclu- 

 sion as unsound. We see no reason why hybrids 

 may not be had from bud-grafting the sugar- 

 cane, and, therefore, have made this condensa- 

 tion of the facts so as to draw attention to the 

 subject. We have no doubt of the soundness of 

 the teachings of Du Petit Thours and Mirbel. 

 We should not want to discuss U>at question ; but 

 we do want to see a few experiments tried by 

 •different people, which would take no more time 

 to make, than to read through a volume by these 

 ■celebrated naturalists. 



Hairs of Plants— Their Forms and Uses. 

 — Under this head, a valuable i)aper by Prof. 

 Heal is contributed to the May number of the 

 American Naturalist. Representations of a 

 great number of hairs are given, many species 

 having forms, in many respects, peculiar to 

 themselves. As to the uses of hair and hair-like 

 glands, Prof. Beal asks, " May not these glands 

 also draw nourishment from the particles of dust 



which fall on them from the ground?" and he 

 refers to Mr. Darwin's experiments to prove that 

 " some of these plants (Tomatoes, Tobacco, 

 Petunia, and many others) do certainly absorb 

 and appropriate gaseous and liquid bodies." 

 Prof. Beal believes that there is a great 

 mass of useful knowledge yet to be obtained 

 from a study of these appendages. 



Abies and Picea. — The reason why we have 

 to call the Spruces Picea, and not Abies, and 

 the Firs Abies, and not Picea, is thus given by 

 Dr. Engelmann in his recent monograph on the 

 Firs of the United States : 



" I follow Link (Linncea, xv., 525, 1841) in his 

 name, definition, and circumscription of the 

 genus, which seems to be a very natural one, 

 comprising the Silver or Balsam Firs. The 

 synonym Picea (Don) in Loudon, Arb., iv., 2329, 

 1838, is the older name, and enjoys the Linna^an 

 prestige, (but is contrary to classical Plinius, 

 &c.,) and philological authority. The name 

 Abies is generally adopted on the continent of 

 Europe, while Picea was heretofore principally 

 used in England, but is now being abandoned. 

 Picea, Link (the same Abies, Don), is the proper 

 name for the Spruces. Tournefort, the elder 

 De Candolle, Gray, and others, comprise under 

 the name of Abies both Firs and Spruces. The 

 generic distinctions between them are based 

 both on the floral and fruit characters, as well as 

 on the leaf anatomy." 



The Origin of the Prairies.— We rarely 

 meet an intelligent man who has not made up 

 his mind as to how the prairies were formed ; 

 and further, rarely found one person develop his 

 theory that did not unexpectedly receive a 

 "poser" from some wily antagonist. Prof. 

 Lesquereaux has written on the subject, and 

 now O. P. Hay, in the American Naturalist, 

 offers some reasons why belief in Prof. Lesquer- 

 eaux should be foi bidden. 



Botanical Contributions.— Professor Asa 

 Gray contributes an account of some new plants 

 to the April number of the Proceedings of the 

 American Academy of Arts and Sciences. No 

 less than seventeen new species of Astragalus 

 are described, some of which will probably 

 prove of gardening interest. Acanthacea^, not 

 a large order in the United States, has two new 

 genera added to it. 



Par.\site on the Codling Moth. — Mr. 

 Chas. D. Zimmerman, of Buffalo (Pine Hill 

 Nurseries), has discovered a new and useful 

 enemy to the Codling Moth, which latter is so 



