560 



HORTICULTURE 



October Ifi, 1909 



tion. Several new forms of poplars 

 have been secured, one of wbich it is 

 believed will prove a valuable tree for 

 avenues and streets. Mr. Meyer also 

 seemed a collection of Chinese pis- 

 tachio, a beautiful ornamental tree and 

 a very promising stock tor the pis- 

 tachio nut — a plant which tne Depart- 

 ment is endeavoring to introduce in 

 various parts of the country. Various 

 forms of elms have also heen found, 

 and introduced. Some of these have 

 promise of value in their ability to 

 resist drought and alkali, hence may 

 become quite useful in connection with 

 the development of gardens and parks 

 in the semi-arid regions of the United 

 States. Some promising cold and 

 drought resistant roses were secured 

 which may be of value in connection 

 with the drier sections of the country 

 or may become useful adjuncts to the 

 horticultural possibilities of other sec- 

 tions. 



Plant Breeding and Improvement. 



Closely associated with the plant in- 

 troduction work is that which has to 

 do with the improvement of plants by 

 breeding and selection. Considerable 

 work of this kind has been under way 

 for a number of years, the results of 

 which have already been published. 

 Mr. Oliver's efforts in the direction 

 of improving the lily have been set 

 forth in bulletins from the Depart- 

 ment, and his work in securing new 

 types of dahlias has also been de- 

 scribed from time to time in other pub- 

 lications. 



As a finishing touch to our lily work 

 we secured a large number of appar- 

 ently healthy bulbs of such varieties 

 as the multiflorum, Harrisii, and gi- 

 ganteum. They were flowered and what 

 was thought to be desirable crosses 

 made between the varieties. Nearly 60 

 quarts of seed resulted which was dis- 

 tributed in southern California and 

 elsewhere. One firm has eight acres 

 of these seedlings in fine condition 

 which will bloom next spring. .Other 

 lots are equally promising. The future 

 of lily growing will depend upon the 

 growers growing the bulbs upon new 

 ground; that is, to put other crops in 

 the ground for at least three years 

 succeeding the lily crop. In connec- 

 tion with the work with dahlias I may 

 say that we now have about six seed- 

 lings which are promising. One of 

 them is a semi-double red with long 

 stems and early in blooming. 



Considerable work is in progress in 

 the matter of getting at the basic prin- 

 ciples involved in improvement by 

 breeding and selection of commercial 

 florist crops, such as the rose and car- 

 nation. The principles involved in car- 

 nation breeding are being studied by 

 Mr. J. B. Norton, who has already pre- 

 sented one or two papers before this 

 Society bearing on his work and the 

 results he has secured. Mr. Oliver is 

 doing considerable breeding work with 

 roses, chrysanthemums, pansies, glad- 

 ioli, and sunflowers. I may say that 

 one of the roses discovered by Mr. 

 Meyer has flowered. It has double yel- 

 low flowers and has the peculiar dis- 

 tinction of being the first of all the 

 rcses to bloom in the spring. This 

 and several other species introduced 

 from China and elsewhere are being 

 used by Mr. Oliver in his breeding 

 work and already some promising seed- 

 lings for outdoor planting have been 



secured, notably a cross between the 

 new double yellow rose and the white 

 Rugosa. Mr. Meyer while in China was 

 instructed to secure the wild forms ol 

 chrysanthemums from which our culti- 

 vated varieties have sprung. He suc- 

 ceeded in securing a variety with white 

 or rosy-white flowers and also a yellow 

 variety, both from the very cold re- 

 gions of north China. These wild 

 forms Mr. Oliver is crossing with some 

 of our best hardy cultivated varieties 

 in order to secure a thoroughly hardy 

 race for outdoor culture in the north. 

 Some promising seedlings have already 

 been secured. Mr. Oliver has also be- 

 gun some interesting work with pan- 

 sies, crossing a summer blooming spe- 

 cies secured from Australia with other 

 varieties. This Australian variety 

 blooms abundantly during our hottest 

 summers, provided it gets sufficient 

 moisture. We look to obtaining some 

 Interesting results along this line. We 

 need a productive annual sunflower for 

 summer cutting with larger and better 

 shaped flowers than we have in the 

 common varieties. This Mr. Oliver has 

 secured by crossing, the resulting 

 progeny having large and well devel- 

 oped flowers with long stems well 

 adapted for cutting. In connection 

 with the plant breeding and improve- 

 ment work an interesting line of study 

 has been conducted for some time by 

 Prof. L. C. Corbett, having to do with 

 the comparative merits of blind and 

 flowering wood for propagation pur- 

 poses in rose growing. 



Studies of Diseases. 



The Bureau of Plant Industry is con- 

 tinuing its investigations of the dis- 

 eases affecting crops under glass. The 

 results of this work, as is well known 

 to the florist trade, have been pub- 

 lished from time to time in the bulle- 

 tins of the Department and elsewhere. 

 The results of studies of wet stem rot 

 of carnations, dry stem rot, microspo- 

 rium spot, bacterial spot, and other 

 diseases of this crop have been set 

 forth from time to time, so that there 

 is little new to be added regarding the 

 manner 'n which the various diseases 

 work or the methods of preventing the 

 same. Wet stem rot has proved quite 

 destructive in a number of sections of 

 the country recently and as already 

 pointed out, the fungus which causes 

 this disease lives in the soil on decay- 

 ing organic matter, especially if the 

 soil happens to be poor in lime. 



The crown gall disease of roses and 

 chrysanthemums has received some at- 

 tention from our pathologists. The 

 cause of the disease has been dis- 

 covered to be a bacterial trouble. We 

 have also found out that it is spread 

 by cuttings, which frequently become 

 infected in the cutting bench. Some 

 evidence has also been secured show- 

 ing that certain varieties are not so 

 susceptible to this trouble as others. 



Experiments In Bulb Growing. 



For a number of years the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry has been giving atten- 

 tion to the possibilities of bulb culture 

 in the United States. Various efforts 

 have been made to encourage bulb 

 growing in different sections and four 

 or five years ago co-operative experi- 

 ments weie inaugurated in the State of 

 Washington with several individuals, 

 the work having for its object experi- 

 ments and demonstrations in the mat- 



ter of growing bulbs, especially Dutch 

 bulbs in that section of the country. 

 Reports of this work have been made 

 from time to time, but as it progressed 

 it W9s seen that to secure the best re- 

 sults the Government should have con- 

 trol of a certain amount of land upon 

 which it could inaugurate with its own 

 men a line of experimentation and 

 demonstration that would necessarily 

 have to last for several years. The 

 citizens of BeUingham, Wash., were 

 very much interested in this work, and 

 for the purpose of encouraging the De- 

 partment to undertake it near this 

 town, placed at our disposal ten acres 

 of land four miles from the city. The 

 ground is well adapted to bulb culture 

 and in addition to putting it into thor- 

 ough shape for the work in view, the 

 Chamber of Commerce, through whom 

 the site was secured, also constructed 

 the necessary buildings, provided water 

 for irrigation, and also furnished other 

 necessary equipment. The Department 

 now has three experienced men in 

 charge of this garden carrying on tests 

 in the growing of various bulbs. Good 

 slocks of the bulbs have been secured 

 from Holland and planting was started 

 last fall. Tests will be conducted so 

 as to show the best methods of culti- 

 vating and manuring, the best soil con- 

 ditions for each class of bulbs, etc. 

 Careful records will be kept of the 

 operations so that when definite results 

 have been secured, publications may 

 be prepared and issued tor the infor- 

 mation of persons desiring to take up 

 the v/ork of propagating bulbs to sup- 

 ply the trade. It will be well under- 

 stood, of course, by the members of 

 this Society that time is an important 

 element in work of this nature, and 

 premature reports are to be avoided. 

 It is probably sufficient to say that the 

 Department recognizes the importance 

 of developing the bulb industry in the 

 United Slates and is putting forth its 

 best efforts to this end. With the im- 

 provement of transportation facilities, 

 which is likely to come within the next 

 few years, and with the gradual ad- 

 justment and settlement of agricultural 

 and horticultural practices through the 

 northwestern section of Ihe country, it 

 is believed that more interest will be 

 taken in intensive crops, such as bulb 

 and seed growing. The latent possi- 

 bilities for the development of indus- 

 tries of this nature are present and as 

 soon as it is demonstrated that the 

 work is practicable and profitable, men 

 with sufficient capital to inaugurate It 

 will not be wanting. 



'nr rest of Prof. Galloiua/s paper, relating 

 to special vork with Carnations will appear tK 

 next week's issue. 



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