112 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



VIEW OF ITALIAN GARDEN (IN ESTATE OF MR. LARZ ANDER- 

 SON, BROOKLINE, DUNCAN FINLAVSEN, SUPERINTENDENT. 



Other magazines. In the greenhuuses, divisions are de- 

 voted to grapes, peaches, orchids, roses, carnations and 

 other plants. 



At Airs. C. G. Welds, W. C. Rust, superintendent, ex- 

 tensive changes have recently been made, the whole 

 place practically being replanted and fine new green- 

 houses built. 



]Mrs. John L. Gardener's estate has for years been well 

 known. The Italian garden is a leading feature : the or- 

 chids and other greenhouse plants are well done by Will- 

 iam Thatcher, who is in charge. 



At E. D. Brandegee's, "I'"aulkncr Farm" a pond two 



VIEW OF ITALIAN GARDEN ON ESTATE OF MR. E. D. 

 I;R.\NDEGEE. BROOKLINE; W. N. CRAIG, SUPERINTENDENT. 



acres in extent is being excavated and will soon be ready 

 for flooding. Xew features soon to be added are a rock 

 garden, rose garden, walled-in garden, swimming pool 

 and up-to-date farm buildings. W. N. Craig has charge 

 here. 



! In Chestnut Hill, which adjoins Brookline, the estate of 

 Ernest B. Dana, where Donald Mc Kenzie is the horticul- 

 tural genius, contains the finest collection of Orchids in 

 America. At E. S. Webster's. William Downs, superin- 

 tendent, there is a fine range of U-Bar greenhouses and 

 they always contain seedlings of interest to visitors. 



There are numerous other private estates of note in 

 Newton, Weston, W^estwood, Framingham, Hamilton. 



Wenham, Hingham, Cohasset, Plymouth, etc., but space 

 w ill not permit of any reference to them. Estates in 

 Massachusetts usually average smaller in area than similar 

 ones in Xew York, but no state in the Union is more 

 keenly interested in horticulture than Alassachusetts, and 

 this love of plants and flowers pervades all classes. IMem- 

 bers of the N. A. G. gathering in Boston on August 19 

 are sure to find something to interest them on all the 

 places they may have time to visit. 



THE MUTATION THEORY A MYTH. 



During the past decade, no phase of botany has re- 

 ceived greater attention than the mutation theorv of 

 DeWies. In brief, this theory accounts for the origin 

 of new species by the occurrence of sudden leaps or 

 mutations from existing species, in contradistinction to 

 the Darwinian theory which assumes a slower and more 

 gradual variation from e.xisting forms. Both theories 

 are based on the idea that plants vary from the normal 

 and difi^er chiefly in the length and number of the jumps 

 or mutations required to make the new form a species. 

 De\'ries stands for a single long jump, Darwin for a 

 succession of shorter ones. Much plausibility has been 

 given the theory advocated by De\'ries by his production 

 of new forms from that form of evening primrose known 

 as Oenothera Lamarckiana, but Prof. E. C. Jeffrey writ- 

 ing recently in Science claims that O. Lamarckiana is a 

 hybrid. The great trouble is to decide what are and 

 what are not hybrids. The old test for a hybrid was its 

 sterility. If completely sterile it was considered as cer- 

 tainly a h\brid. H}'brids, however, are now known to 

 be of various grades of fertility. A great number of 

 crosses between different species have been made and as 

 the plants crossed differ in the degree of relationship, 

 it follows that various grades of sterility may exist. 

 Jeffrey gives it as his opinion that hybrids may always 

 be identified by the fact that the pollen grains are more 

 or less abortive and infertile. Judged by this test, the 

 plant with which De\'ries made most of his experiments 

 is a hybrid and Jeffrey insists that in consequence the 

 mutation theory has no standing in court and should be 

 relegated to the realm of myths. It may be said, how- 

 ever, regardless of the merits of the new theory, that 

 the discussion of the subject has had a tremendous in- 

 fluence on the production of new forms by breeders and 

 this much at least nuist be set down to its credit. — 

 .liiicrican Botanist. 



APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP 



National Association of Gardeners 



I hereby apply for Membership in your Association: — 



Name in full 



Occupation ^ ^ 



Address 



Date . 1 



Reference 



For'wa.rd Application to M. C. EBEL. Secretary, Madison. 

 N. J., 'with dues, 'which are $2.00 annually, including subscrip- 

 tion to the official organ of the Association. 



