August 8, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



169 



every conceivable respect. Many and 

 many a time I have seen produced 

 from the seeds sown from one hip, half 

 a dozen seedlings absolutely distinct 

 in color and form, some as single as 

 the ordinary dog rose, and some su 

 full in substance that it was im- 

 possible to get them to open even 

 under glass. 



A New Ideal. 

 In the early eighties, when we be- 

 gan to see the results of our labors, 

 we abandoned the original basis of our 

 experiments, namely, the fertilization 

 of the better varieties of Hybrid 

 Remontant or Perpetual, and began a 

 series of cross-pollination between the 

 Hybrid Perpetual and Teas and 

 Austrian Briars, and then, using the 

 results of this first cross in a syste- 

 matic course of in-breeding. The mam 

 object which we had in view, was to 

 produce varieties of roses at once 

 vigorous in their habit, continuous in 

 their bloom, at the same time retain- 

 ing the absolute essentials of all good 

 roses, namely, beauty of color, perfec- 

 tion of form, and delicacy of perfume. 

 It was, of course, a great ambition, 

 and how we have succeeded we must 

 leave the world to judge. Broadly, I 

 would say that such success as has 

 attended our labors, is due far more 

 to the careful selection than to any 

 defined plan of fertilization. As a 

 broad basis of our experiments, we took 

 as parents such varieties as appeared 

 to us to embody the chief elements of 

 our ideal, and worked steadily from 

 these. We had, of course, to experi- 

 ment upon a very extensive scale, and 

 my point will be readily appreciated 

 when I say, that we were only able 

 to retain for use, either for further 

 fertilization or for commerce, about 

 5 per cent, of the seedlings raised. To 

 appreciate the labor this entails upon 

 the hybridiser one must follow the 

 rose from the hip until it reaches 

 maturity. In hybridisation, carried out 

 upon a systematic plan such as ours, 

 it means that the plants with which 

 we are working, have to be specially 

 selected, planted and grown, and the 

 blooms fertilized. There is then the 

 period required to ripen the hip, (and 

 in Ireland this takes considerable 

 time owing to the cold and dampness 

 of our climate). Then comes the sow- 

 ing of the seed, and the attention and 

 care during the period of germination. 



Some Uncertainties. 

 In this respect, it is interesting to 

 note the wide differences in the period 

 of germination in the different cases. 

 In some instances, the seed will ger- 

 minate in two or three months and in 

 others I have known it to lie dormant 

 for twelve to fifteen months. ( I have 

 never been able to give any reason 

 why this should be so, and particu- 

 larly why there should be marked 

 differences in the periods of germina- 

 tion in seeds taken from the same 

 hip yet there is very frequently a 

 marked difference). To continue on 

 the point I am making, it takes any- 

 where from three to six months ac- 

 cording to the vigor of the plant, to 

 bring it to such amount of growth, as 

 will enable us to bud it for the pur- 

 pose of testing outside Then, when 

 It is budded of course it takes a full 

 year to bring the plant to maturity. 

 Here again, one has to face uncer- 



tainties, and to be very careful about 

 forming a judgmetnt, as experience 

 has proved time and again, that in the 

 early stages of culture some varieties 

 have displayed the greatest shyness in 

 flowering, and yet, after a few years 

 cultivation, have taken their places 

 in the front rank, as perfect garden 

 roses, blooming with the greatest free- 

 dom. Each year we are compelled to 

 make a very close selection, and to 

 discard every seedling which does not 

 suggest some improvement in, at least, 

 one or two of the essential elements of 

 the perfect rose, otherwise we would, 

 of course, have been flooded out with 

 varieties, which would have been of 

 no practical value to us, or indeed to 

 the rose world at large. 



System in Crossing. 



The system we ultimately adopted 

 was hybridisation in the first instance 

 between hybrid perpetual and teas, and 

 then inbreeding from their offspring 

 upon the following lines. We made 

 four distinct crosses. We took a seed- 

 ling of our own, which gave some evi- 

 dence of possessing at least some of 

 the qualities aimed at, and, in the 

 first instance, this seedling was 

 crossed with the male parent; second- 

 ly, the seedling crossed with the fe- 

 male parent; thirdly, the male parent 

 crossed with the seedling; fourthly, 

 the female parent crossed with the 

 seedling. As soon as we were able 

 to form an opinion of the results of 

 this inter-breeding, we again made a 

 selection of those most closely ap- 

 proaching our ideal, again in-breeding, 

 but with this difference, that we only 

 made use of a limited number of par- 

 ents, but in almost every instance 

 making a double cross. For example, 

 if we made a seedling with, say, Marie 

 Van Houtte as the male parent, then 

 during that season we reversed the 

 cross, making Marie Van Houtte the 

 seed bearing parent, and the seedling 

 the male parent. We always had re- 

 lays of plants prepared in duplicate 

 for this purpose, and we carefully 

 and methodically registered each ex- 

 periment thus carrying on our work 

 in a systematic manner, the system 

 of selection of course always playing 

 the most prominent part in the re- 

 sults From practical experience we 

 were able to ascertain which varie- 

 ties, or rather types, gave us the best 

 results, and we were, therefore, able 

 to a considerable extent to lessen the 

 waste and to reduce our methods to 

 a system containing at least some 

 elements of certainty. We, of course, 

 have made use of varieties of other 

 raisers, where we have been struck 

 by any special feature which they con- 

 tained, which was in our opinion an 



advance upon anything in commerce. 



Some Interesting Results. 

 The result of our labors has been to 

 produce what is admittedly an abso- 

 lutely distinct class, if not family, of 

 roses known as the "Alex. Dickson 

 type " We of course claim that the 

 types of roses we have introduced 

 have made a great advance on those 

 previously in commerce. We aimed 

 at producing a type having vigor ot 

 growth freedom and continuity or 

 bloom, the flower full and perfectly 

 formed, with unusually long petals at 

 the same time, growing on bushes, 



the foliage of which is luxurious and 

 handsome. How far the varieties we 

 have sent out have done what we 

 claim for them, you must judge. 



In our experiments and in strug- 

 gling with the qualities we have in- 

 dicated, we felt convinced that La 

 France would prove one of the most 

 useful parents we could possibly have, 

 if we could succeed in making it pro 

 duce seed. It was, of course, the 

 opinion of most hybridisers that La 

 France was sterile, and with this opin- 

 ion we were for a long time inclined 

 to agree, and indeed the best that 

 could be said for it is, that there is 

 just the possibility that it may be fer- 

 tilized. Out of many hundreds of 

 crosses with this rose, only in one 

 single instance did we succeed in 

 making it produce seed, but we feel 

 that the labor we spent was amply 

 repaid, as the ultimate result of It, 

 was the introduction of Mrs. W. J. 

 Grant, known to you as Belle Sie- 

 brecht. in our opinion one of the finest 

 roses in cultivation, at least from the 

 Britishers' standpoint. In addition to 

 this, we have always found from prac- 

 tical experience, the roses descended 

 from this particular cross have al- 

 ways impressed their offspring with 

 some at least of the more prominent 

 qualities of the parents, and it was 

 pursuing this particular line of breed- 

 ing that enabled us to produce varie- 

 ties, which, from a British standpoint, 

 are' ideal exhibition flowers, and at 

 the same time the plants are flori- 

 ferous and of excellent constitution,. 

 In this group we might mention Kil- 

 larney, Mrs. Edward Mawley, Bessie 

 Brown, Liberty, Lady Moyra Beau- 

 clerc, Lady Ashtown, Mrs. David Mc- 

 Kee, Dean Hole, Countess of Derby, 

 Betty, Mrs. G. W. Kershaw, and, last 

 but not least, Mildred Grant and Wil- 

 liam Shean, two of the finest exhibi- 

 tion roses at present in cultivation in 

 Great Britain. Mildred Grant resulted 

 from a seedling between Niphetos and 

 Madame Willermoz in the first in- 

 stance, crossed with a seedling of our 

 own, which is not in commerce, and 

 the system of which this is an in- 

 stance applies pretty generally to all 

 the better classes of roses introduced 

 by us. 



The Framingham Nurseries 



Offer a large and selected stock of the following 

 varieties of 



EVERGREENS 



Abies Balsamea, Concolor, and Fraseri: Junipers 

 of various varieties; Picea Alba, Engelmanni, E.v- 

 celsa, Pungens glauca. and Pungens Kosten: Pious 

 Austriaca, Excelsa, Mugho, Ponderosa, Resinosa, 

 and Strobus; Pseudo-Tsuga Douglass.; Retino- 

 sporas, assorted; hardy Taxus, such as Canadensis, 

 Cuspiilata, and breviiolia; Thuya Occidentalis, 

 Globnsa. Peabody's Golden, Pyramidalis, and Si- 

 berica ; Tsuga Canadensis, Hemlock Spruce, a large 

 and fine lot. 

 We have some fine specimens of Abies concolor, 

 Puogens, and Pinus Strobus. Most of the 

 i arteries can be safely planted from the 

 middle of August until the middle of Sep- 

 tember A personal selection is always advisable, 

 ind Worcester Electrics pass our grounds. 



ADDRESS 



W. B. WHITTIER & CO. 



South Framingham, Mass. 



