i8gS. 



GARDENING: 



283 



field <it" very fine corn in which 1 spent 

 several hours in studying the variety and 

 forming an idea of what a perfect plant 

 ot the sort should be, how tall, how many 

 and how broad the leaves, color of the 

 silk and tassel, length of husk, length and 

 character of the ears, character of the 

 grain, etc., etc. I then wrote a minute 

 description of this ideal plant, with the 

 limit of variation in each particular ad- 

 missible in a breeding plant. I then went 

 into the field and it took me many hours 

 to find a hundred plants which did not 

 vary beyond the limit in one or more par- 

 ticulars. I selected the best ten as breed- 

 ers, and each succeeding year, with my 

 description of the ideal plant in hand, 

 made similar selections. The result ot the 

 work was that the sixth year I had on 

 that same five-acre field a crop over ."1 >' i 

 of which was within the limits of varia- 

 tion established for breeding stock six 

 vears before, when not one plant in a 

 thousand came within the limit. 



I am certain that my success 111 thus 

 fixing the desirable qualities of the variety 

 came from the persistent adherence to 

 the clearly defined type. It may lie argued 

 that this course leaves no chance for 

 improvement, and it does not as to type, 

 nor should there be any. When we "im- 

 prove" the type, we change it and in just 

 so far are establishing a different variety, 

 for by variety as used in relation to plants 

 propagated by seed we mean all those 

 plants which are of a certain type, and 

 the very idea necessitates that type being 

 a fixed one; but there is not a stock of 

 any variety, either of vegetable or flower 

 seed in existence in which there is not 

 room for improvement in the proportion 

 of the product which will come absolutely 

 true to the type of the sort. An intimate 

 acquaintance with most of the stocks of 

 vegetable and flower seedsin common use 

 convinces me that the greatest horticul- 

 tural need of the age is clearly defined 

 ideas of just what ideal plants of the dif- 

 ferent varieties propagated by seed should 

 be, and a closer adherence by seed grow- 

 ers to such ideals in selecting seed stock. 

 It seems to me that the defining and 

 describing such ideal plants is work which 

 can best be done by our national Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture working in connec- 

 tion with our state experiment sta- 

 tions Such descriptions, if well done, 

 would be accepted by all seed growers 

 and the result would be the weeding out 

 of a great many sub- varieties and a vast 

 improvement in the quality and practical 

 value of our common varieties because of 

 their closer adherence to universally 

 accepted types. Will W. Tracy. 



NOTES FROM GERMANY. 

 While the cool nights of April and 

 almost continuous cloudy weather were 

 fortunate conditions for planting, the 

 advent of May was accompanied by a 

 warmer atmosphere and clear skies, and 

 a thunderstorm on the 3rd of the month 

 settled the soil firmly about the roots ot 

 the new plantations. The fruit trees are 

 now flowering very profusely, and it isto 

 be hoped the crop will prove abundant. 

 During the past season fruit trees were 

 planted in quantity greater than ever 

 before, especially apples. In former times 

 almost every fruit plantation consisted 

 of a great many varieties, but now only 

 a very few sorts are grown. The variety 

 most esteemed is the White Winter Cal- 

 ville, of which a single fruit of the best 

 quality is sold for two marks (about 

 fifty cents ) in April, and in autumn for 

 one mark. These fine fruits all come from 

 Austria, and the variety succeeds only as 

 a cordon on the Paradise stock in hot 



CARNATIONS GROWN IN COAL ASHES AND PEAT MOSS. 



summers. The trees begin to fruit the 

 second year after grafting. American 

 exporters should be careful so as not to 

 ship any fruit to Germany which bears 

 traces of insect pests, for all such ship- 

 ments are refused at the frontier. 



A pretty but little known plant is the 

 summer snowflake, Leucojum sestivum, a 

 native of Austria and Hungary. It 

 blooms from May till July. The flowers 

 closely resemble those of Leucojum ver- 

 num, but they are pure white, each petal 

 tipped with green. The flowers are aiso 

 a little smaller than those of the latter 

 plant. The stems are from sixteen to 

 twenty inches high, each bearing from 

 four to six blooms. The bulbs are about 

 as large as those of a tulip producing 

 leaves as long as the flower stems, and 

 once planted some six or eight inches 

 deep and from eight to ten inches apart, 

 they bloom freely everv year. The plant 

 likes a deep, rich soil, in which it forms 

 large and handsome tnlts. 



The Royal Botanic Garden at Berlin, 

 for two hundred years on the same site, 

 will now be transierred to another place. 

 The present "location is too small, and it 

 is surrounded by large houses injurious 

 to many delicate plants. The new garden 

 will be four times the size of the old one, 

 viz., forty hectares. It will be interesting 

 to learn which of the old trees and shrubs 

 will grow on when transplanted. Dur- 

 ing the past two winters the larger ones 

 were prepared for removal as follows: A 

 circular ditch or trench three feet deep 

 and twelve inches wide was sunk around 

 each specimen, leaving a ball space some 

 six to eight feet in diameter, with the 

 trunk as center of the circle. A sheet of 

 iron was then placed in the trench, divid- 

 ing it into exterior and inner parts, the 

 former part being filled with pebbles and 

 the latter with rich soil. The filling pro- 

 cess completed, the iron sheet was 

 removed and the treeorshrub thoroughly 

 watered. The young branches were also 

 sharply cut back. It is hoped that the 

 plants will make numerous new roots in 

 the good soil and not enter the pebbles, 

 as in that event they can be moved with- 

 out serious risk. Trees with trunks more 



than a foot in diameter have been treated 

 this way, and they have made good top 

 growth during the present spring. 



Udo Dammer. 



OUTDOOR PROPAGATION OF ROSES. 



Will some one kindly tell me through 

 your columns, the best way to propagate 

 roses outdoors? S. J. Y. 



In the extreme south many florists con- 

 sider layering the most satisfactory 

 method for outdoor propagation of roses, 

 and in a climate where the rose makes such 

 vigorous growth in a season this system 

 certainly has much to recommend it. 

 Where there is abundant growth suitable 

 for layering it would be no difficult task 

 to propagate and have ready for sale in a 

 very short time any quantity of large 

 salable plants. The southern florists 

 usually layer directly into pots; they are 

 plunged deep into the soil all around the 

 plant that is to furnish the layers, as 

 many pots as there are available shoots. 

 When they arc all in position (and full of 

 soil) a stout stake is put down firmly 

 outside of but close to each pot, the 

 shoots are bent over, a slit is made on 

 the under side directly above the pot, the 

 part cut is pressed down into the pot, 

 covered with soil, and pegged down to 

 hold it secure; the operation is completed 

 by tying the end oftheshootto the stake. 

 It is not a very difficult feat and need not 

 necessarily consume very- much time, be- 

 sides if the weather is at all favorable 

 success is reasonably certain. In a short 

 time the shoot will have thrown out 

 roots immediately above the cut and it 

 can then be severed from the parent plant. 

 The work is always done in the early fall, 

 as soon as the wood is mature and 

 climatic conditions are favorable. Cut- 

 tings of outdoor roses are sometimes 

 rooted in a cold frame with just enough 

 protection to keep oft' the strong sunshine, 

 drying winds, and freezing cold. For the 

 state of Georgia the early part of October 

 would probably be the best season to put 

 in the cuttings. This is a time honored 

 mode of propagating, but for rooting 



