1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



373 



made in that article in which your name appeared, 

 I inferred that you were of the same opinion as 

 myself. I thought you might be interested to 

 know that I have experimented for five years 

 with the object of determining the following 

 questions : 



1. Is the corn known by different names and 

 colors, distinct varieties ? One authority says, 

 Spain alone has 130 distinct varieties. 



2. Do the florets change color (wholly or par- 

 tially) independent of the pollen of the plant ? 



3. Can full, plump grains be produced from a 

 dent corn ? 



In taking up an ear of dent corn seven years 

 ago to examine it carefully, it occurred to me that 

 it had been cut before it was perfectly ripe, or 

 that there was something wanting for its perfect 

 development. 



Five years ago and since, I have been experi- 

 menting to answer these questions, as I believe 

 that all the colors, shapes and sizes of corn have 

 been propagated from one plant, whatever the 

 original color may have been, and with my ex- 

 periments of last year with white dent, and this 

 year with yellow dent corn, I am almost con- 

 vinced of my success. Last year I produced two 

 ears with red florets beneath white corn, and the 

 color from the florets permeated the white corn, 

 giving it a pinkish color. I am confident this 

 change was entirely in the florets, for the pollen 

 shed from the tassel which was a large one must 

 have been white. I was also fortunate in preserv- 

 ing an ear of the kind grown which is a perfect 

 match. I also produced full, plump grain. This 

 year I look an ear of yellow dent, treated it in the 

 same manner, and produced florets from white to ; 

 dark red, the dark red permeating the yellow corn, , 

 showing again internal changes ; the grain is of all 

 shapes and sizes, and even without dent and others 

 with various degrees of dent. Corn maintains its 

 character, when once established, with great per- 

 tinacity, but climate, soil and cultivation will pro- 

 duce in many plants marked changes. I am con- 

 fident that whatever the color of the corn planted 

 be, the florets have the power of changing under 

 certain conditions, and these conditions, I think I 

 can produce artificially. It is evident that the 

 florets color the corn, and the many partial 

 changes that have been observed (as to the one 

 you raised the question of the innate power of 

 changing) has erroneously been attributed to 

 foreign pollen. Cross fertilization is self evident, 

 and no one questions it, but I believe the male 

 (pollen) does not have his own way all the time, 



but the female (florets) will assert her rights when 

 little expected. 



If you are interested in this subject, I will shov/ 

 you the results of my experiments some time when 

 in Philadelphia. Jersey City, N. J. 



[Nothing can be more certain than that pollen has 

 not its own way all the time — in other words that not 

 all variation comes from the action of pollen. We 

 might decide this theoretically as the writer does ; 

 if all variations spring originally from one parent 

 species, as most of us believe, the first variation 

 must have been wholly independent of crossing 

 between two varieties. There were not two va- 

 rieties in existence to cross. But the question is 

 practically decided, for it is an every-day ex- 

 perience with introduction of new species, that 

 variations occur independent of crossing. 



This is, however, often forgotten, especially when 

 the subject of the immediate influence of pollen 

 on fruits is concerned. Natural or innate varia- 

 tion is lost sight of, and changes, easily accounted 

 for on this principle, referred to pollen influence. 

 That change in corn is often from the influence of 

 pollen can scarcely be denied, but that it often 

 occurs independently of this action is well shown 

 by our correspondent. — Ed. G. M.] 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Grafting Dutch Bulbs.— A Philadelphia cor- 

 respondent says : " I am about to plant some bulbs 

 in small pots (Hyacinths, Tulips and Crocus) and 

 wish to find out, without consuming the necessary 

 time to experiment, whether I would have success. 

 Suppose I take two Crocus bulbs, yellow and pur- 

 ple, and cut them in halves and place the cross 

 sections of half of the yellow and half of the pur- 

 ple together, will I succeed in getting the yellow 

 and purple flower seemingly from one bulb ? I 

 presume there would be two stocks but that the 

 centres of the bulbs would be so close together 

 that if both would thrive they would seem to be 

 sent forth from the same bulb." 



[Not knowing that such an experiment has been 

 tried, we can only give a hypothetical answer. 

 "Graft unions only take place in growing vegeta- 

 tion ; a bulb finishes its growth the year previous 

 to the proposed experiment. It, therefore, does 

 not seem possible that the two halves of mature 

 bulbs can unite. 



Then in regard to the flower buds, or say spike, 

 as in the Hyacinth. These buds are formed the 

 tall before, and we mav see the little buds with a 



