856 



HORTICULTURE 



December 28, 1907 



tests been thorough enough, so that 

 a list of varieties can be given with 

 the percentage of viability of the pol- 

 len indicated. Eacli year's work seems 

 to make the problem more complex 

 and the range of investigation wider. 

 As pollen seems to vary in different 

 sections, it appears desirable that it 

 be tested in various places, and the 

 results compared. It is with a hope of 

 arousing interest in this phase of pol- 

 lination that this paper is presented. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



J. Lambert & Son, Trier, Germany. 

 — General catalogue of flower and 

 vegetable seeds, plants, roots, etc. 



Samuel Murray, Kansas City, Mo. — 

 List of Christmas plants for 1907, in- 

 cluding Murray's unrivalled Lorraine 

 begonias and Chinese primroses, the 

 latter grown from Farquhar's seed. 



Charles H. Totty, Madison, N. J.— 

 1908 catalogue of chrysanthemums, 

 carnations, roses and other specialties. 

 As might be expected the list of 

 chrysanthemums in this catalogue, 

 while limited to the cream of the dif- 

 ferent types is very complete from the 

 standpoint of the grower either for 

 exhibition purposes or for sale. Every 

 chrysanthemum grower will want a 

 copy. 



Alex. Dickson & Sons, Ltd., New- 

 townards, Ireland. — Rose catalogue for 

 1907 and 1908. Colored plates of 

 Avoca crimson, Harry Kirk yellow, 

 Elizabeth Barnes salmon rose. Sou- 

 venir de Stella Gray orange, Dorothy 

 Page Roberts coppery pink, all pedi- 

 gree seedling roses for 1907. are in- 

 serted and add to the attractiveness 

 of this very comprehensive list which 

 describes in full some eight hundred 

 varieties of roses in the various 

 classes. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



Missouri Botanical Garden, Eigh- 

 teenth Report, 1907.— The annual re- 

 ports of Director Trelease and the of- 

 ficers of the board which make the first 

 two chapters in this volume furnish 

 ample evidence of the good practical 

 work this great St. Louis institution 

 is carrying on. The scientific papers 

 which follow Include The literature of 

 Furcraea with a synopsis of the known 

 species, by J. Drummond; Branch Can- 

 kers of Rhododendron, by Herman von 

 Schrenk; On first injuries to sycamore 

 buds, by the same author; The germina- 

 tion of Hydrastis canadensis, by Henri 

 Hus; An abnormal Odontoglossum Cer- 

 vantesii, by the same: Virescence of 

 Oxalis stricta by the same; Effect of 

 light upon the germination of spores 

 and the gametophyte of ferns, by H. C. 

 Life; Plantae Lindheimerianae, Part 

 III, by J. W. Blankinship; Additions to 

 the genus Yucca, by William Trelease; 

 Agave macroacantha and allied En- 

 gaves, by the same. A portrait of F. 

 Lindheimer forms the frontispiece of 

 the volume and there is a large number 

 of other interesting and beautiful 

 plates. A complete index to Plantae 

 Lindheimeriana is given. 



CHARLES G. PATTEN OF CHARLES 

 CITY, IOWA. 



President-elect of Iowa Plant Breeders' 

 Society. 



The history of the apple runs 

 parallel with the history of man. but 

 never in its long story has it had such 

 an intelligent, persistent, devoted 

 friend as the subject of this sketch. 



Peter Gideon, the pioneer pomologist 

 of the Northwest, who gave the best of 

 his life to moving the apple belt three 

 hundred miles to the north, went at 

 the matter in a sort of a blind, dogged 

 way like a hound on the track that 

 would not give up till he died. What 

 if his elbows were out of his coat and 

 his toes out of his boots, he keeps at 

 it till he blazes a path through every 

 difficulty and gives the world the 

 Wealthy which has been such a signal 

 success. 



Forty years ago, Mr. Patten began 

 his work along scientific lines. He did 

 not rush, but laid siege and by slow 

 approach has won success never be- 

 fore accorded to man. 



The Situation. 

 Eastern and southern fruits would 

 not gi'ow in the North. It is well- 

 known however that the higher alti- 

 tude in the mountains the apple can 

 have, and the further north it can be 

 grown, the better it is. Orchard after 

 orchard went down before 40 below 

 zero and so a new and hardy race must 

 be created. Even the Wealthy was 

 not entirely hardy, especially on a 

 common stock. So the Iron Clad apple 

 must be built up, hardy from the 

 tiniest rootlet to the topmost bud. 

 Again there must be a greater variety 

 of fruit and longer keepers. The 

 Rhode Island Greening was a good ap- 

 ple but it was not hardy. Top graft- 

 ing on a crab cross increased its 

 power of endurance. He crossed this 

 with the Duchess and that gave Pat- 

 ten's Greening, giving the fine flavor 

 of one and the hardiness of the other. 

 It has had a marvelous record. It 

 has or will, add millions to the wealth 

 of fruit growers. Hardy as an oak, 

 with good quality and an enormous 

 bearer, it is a great favorite. 



Now the work fairly opens and 

 broadens. The best two apples in the 

 West are the Jonathan and Grimes 

 Golden. The question is, how to trans- 

 mit their lusciousness to a progeny 

 hardy enough to endure the severe 

 winters. We can not stop to tell of 

 the long, tedious process but he 

 showed us a cross of Grimes' Golden 

 and Patten's Greening which seems to 

 fill the bill. He also exhibited the 

 Jonathan which had been born again 

 into the Iron Clad family. At the 

 Minnesota meeting of the Horticultural 

 Society, this winter, he showed fifty- 

 five varieties of his hardy hybrids, all 

 of them worthy of propagation, in 

 flavor varying from the sourness of the 

 Duchess to the most luscious sweets. 

 Color in apples is an important item 

 and he has succeeded admirably in 

 transmitting the richest tints to his 

 new creations. 



It was highly important to have a 

 suitable stock for foundation. For, 

 time and again, orchards of hardy 

 varieties were wiped out because they 

 had tender roots. He tried the 

 Pyrus baccata, the little Siberian crab. 

 This worked well for a year or two 

 but was not thrifty enough to sustain 

 the tree and some began to blow over. 

 Then he found the best types of the 

 crab crosses, like Whitney's No. 20 and 

 the Transcendent, with seedlings of the 

 Duchess and Hibernal and others of 

 that character were just right. 



Mr. Patten is now seventy-five 

 years young and his health is better 

 than it has been for the last ten years. 

 He says, "I must live twenty-five 

 years longer to see my work 

 through, then." he says, "I have 

 reached a point where I can't go on 

 and I can't let go." Can we estimate 

 the work of hands and brain of such 

 a man, reaching through forty years 

 of the most painstaking research, 

 evolving from his own genius, results 

 worth millions'? He is not a pauper 

 but he can not give mind, soul, and 

 body forever, without help. In some 

 way the State or Government or some 

 big-souled or big-pursed man should 

 help. The giving should not be all on 

 one side. 



He might have done like some others 

 we know of, take some new thing, 

 herald it with great flourish of 

 tnimpets. with bright pictures, and 

 plenty of printer's ink and big prices 

 attached. He is too conscientious. 

 "It takes time," he says. "A tree must 

 be tested in various locations. We 

 must get acquainted with it before we 

 send it out and know that it will fill 

 the hill, I'Ot only at home but else- 

 where." 



See how the work widens. Here are 

 those fifty-flve new and partially tried 

 varieties. Thousands of new sorts on 

 the way and barrels of well-bred ap- 

 ples the seeds of whicli should be sown 

 and the results noted. And thus the 

 work grows on. The grand old man 

 who tor untiring zeal, intelligent, and 

 persistent efforts on behalf of tlie King 

 of Fruits, doubtless stands without a 

 peer in all the earth and all the ages. 

 C. S. HARRISON. 



York, Nebr. 



The Long Island Agronomist is au- 

 thority for the statement that the rec- 

 ord shipment for one day from one 

 community, via the "Cauliflower Ex- 

 press," was 7,000 barrels each contain- 

 ing from ten to twenty-five heads of 

 the succulent vegetable, according to 

 the method of cutting and sorting. 



MICH ELLS 



m 



\ Are Always Reliable. 



MARKETST. 

 PHI LA. 



WHOLESALE CATALOGUE FREE 



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