r8gS. 



■ GARDENING. 



347 



cial object. The grower will always get 



more satisfaction out of a good variety 

 which runs uniformly true to type than 

 he will out nf fancier but utilised varie- 

 ties. 



The fact is the seed buying public in 

 America has not yet decided to pay the 

 price for seeds true to type. Even after 

 they shall have progressed so far it will 

 be necessary still to determine what are 

 proper types of standard old and new 

 varieties, and then to fix these tvpes by 

 years of careful selection as described by 

 Mr. Tracy. Here is an example of pres- 

 ent conditions: We have been growing 

 this year the variety of Lobb's nastur- 

 tium known as Asa Gray. We have it 

 from two leading American seedsmen. 

 One describes it as "pale sulphur yellow. 

 very delicate," the other as "cream 

 white, blotched sulphur maroon." Here 

 are expressed two widely different ideas 

 of what Asa (".ray nasturtium ought to 

 be. When the plants blossomed both 

 lots were equally mixed with five or six 

 separate forms, some cream white, others 

 showing a distinct tinge of buttercup 

 yellow, others blotched with a very light 

 scarlet, etc. I have no doubt that the 

 cream white is the proper type for Asa 

 Gray, but not more than one-fourth of 

 our plants show that color, and one of 

 the seed dealers did not even think that 

 to be the type. 



What I started out to say more briefly 

 is just this: It seems to me that we could 

 better spend a greater proportion of 

 effort in fixing the varieties which we 

 now have, and give a little less to the 

 production of new ones. 



Burlington, Vt. F. A. Wai'cii. 



FIXING VARIETIES. 



The papers on "Seed Growing in 

 America" by Prof. Tracy, of Detroit, have 

 given me much pleasure and profit in the 

 reading. I am unable to speak from per- 

 sonal experience uoon the vegetable side 

 of the subject, although I have had some 

 opportunity of looking into the methods 

 employed in the seed pea growing terri- 

 tory of Canada. Here the trade amounted 

 to nearly $200,000 annually till the Mc- 

 Kinley tariff shut off the American mar- 

 ket to a large extent. A number of new 

 varieties of peas have originated in this 

 locality and there are a few in process of 

 development, in other words, being 

 "fixed." 



It seems to me that one of the weak 

 points in connection with variety making 

 in vegetables is that the variety is placed 

 on the market before the type is fixed, in 

 the hurry of the producer to get to the 

 front. This defectin American seed grow- 

 ing is no doubt also due, as pointed out 

 by Prof. Tracy, to the lack of a clear con- 

 ception of the ideal type. In some of the 

 newer varieties of beets and cabbages it 

 is not difficult to select half a dozen types 

 from a row thirty feet long. The process 

 of selection has not been carried on long 

 enough and too little regard has been 

 paid to the characteristics of the ideal. 

 As a rule the seed grower depends upon 

 sports or variants for his working stock. 

 In selecting after this method the mental 

 picture— as it very often is— may change 

 slightly from year to year; and there is 

 less chance for wide comparison at the 

 beginning, than there is if crossed set ds 

 are sown. In the case of spring wheat I 

 have watched the behavior of a number 

 of crosses between Ladoga and Red Fife, 

 the former an early Russian variety, and 

 have seen a fixed type intermediate in 

 time of ripening produced in eight years 

 by rigid selection. When a bearded wheat 

 w'as used as the female and a beardless 



variety as the male, the larger proportion 

 of the first progeny were bearded, thus 

 following the older and more stable i ype. 

 In the second sowings, as might be 

 expected, both types sport freely, and the 

 work of fixation is inconsequence com- 

 paratively slow. 



As Prof. Tracv says, in substance, the 

 more difference in the parents the greater 

 the number of types will be produced in 

 the progeny and the slower will be the 

 work of selection. For this reason pro 

 portionatel v fewer beneficial results have 

 flowed from violent crosses than have 

 attended experiments carried on within 

 narrower confines. It is true that in 

 fruits the California wizard, Burbank, 

 has obtained wonderful results from 

 hybridization; but this is probably dueto 

 the marvellously extended range of his 

 operations. 



Ithaca, N. V. John Craig. 



PLANT PROPAGATION fOR PARKS. 



At the Minneapolis meeting of the 

 American Park and Outdoor Art Associa- 

 tion, Fred ICanst, landscape gardener of 

 the South Park system, Chicago, read an 

 excellent paper, as follows: 



The subject of plant propagation for 

 parks is one which is often brought before 

 park officials for consideration, there 

 being few parks throughout the eountry 

 so well supplied with native trees and 

 shrubs that none need be procured. 



In the majority of parks, and especially 

 small ones, it is usual to obtain plants by 

 collection from the surrounding country, 

 or by purchase from nurseries. In larger 

 parks, where thousands of plants are 

 required, it is very essential in order to 

 obtain the best results, as well as for 

 economical reasons, that a park nursery 

 be established where such trees as theelm, 

 oak, ash, linden, negundo, birch, maple, 

 etc., may be kept growing in a healthy 

 condition until such time as tbej' may be 

 needed. These trees when young can be 

 purchased from nurseries very reasonably 

 and when in nursery rows they can be 

 had at any time they are wanted, thus 

 saving delay, as the seasons of planting 

 are usually short. Another advantage is 

 that the trees will have become accli- 

 mated. But the principal object of a park 

 nursery is to furnish quickly and in large 

 quantities such varieties of trees, shrubs 

 and plants as will be mostly used in the 

 plantations, such as spiraeas, cornus, 

 ligustrums, philadelphus, ribes, sym- 

 phoricarpus, lonicera, poplars and wil- 

 lows. These and many others may be 

 readily increased from cuttings obtained 

 from plants already about the park, by 

 collection or by purchase. 



A place for cuttings should be prepared 

 in the fall by covering a piece of ground 

 with manure or leaves to keep the frost 

 out, sandy places being the best for the 

 purpose. Cuttings of about ten inches 

 in length should be taken in the winter. 

 The old, tough wood does not root easily, 

 therefore cuttings taken from young, 

 ripened wood are preferable. Put the cut- 

 tings in the prepared ground, removing 

 the leaves or manure as fast as space, is 

 wanted. After the cuttings are in place 

 the covering can be put back to prevent 

 hard freezing, as it is necessary to retain 

 all of the vitality possible. 



The planting into the park nursery 

 should begin when the heavy frosts are 

 over, or about April 15, when most of the 

 cuttings will have calloused in their 

 winter quarters. A suitable piece of 

 ground for the nursery can usually be 

 found in some incompleted portion of the 

 park. The ground should be well plowed 



and pulverized, and ample provision 

 made for water. Cuttings should be 

 planted in rows running north and 

 south, so that the sun can penetrate 

 between the rows, as they make better 

 plants and grow straighter than if 

 planted east and west. 



For park purposes cuttings may be 

 planted from- twelve to fourteen inches 

 between rows and from six to eight inches 

 apart in the rows, or about 50,000 to the 

 acre. ( )ne man with a good hand culti- 

 vator can attend during the summer 

 about 100,000 plants. At one year old 

 cuttings will have grown into fine stock 

 ready for use in the plantations, and at 

 that age the cost is very little com- 

 pared with what it would beif the plants 

 were allowed to grow another year or 

 two in the nursery. They are easy 1 1 > 

 handle and only a small hole need be dug 

 to insert the roots. In plantations where 

 the ground is as soft as it should be one 

 man can put out about 500 per day. 



The raising of their own plants, as 

 before described, has been practiced by 

 the South Park commissioners for years 

 past, and over 400,000 trees and shrubs, 

 all grown in this way, are now in differ- 

 ent parts of the park and all in finecondi- 

 tion. There are also 150,000 cuttings, 

 which were made last winter, growing in 

 the nursery at the present time, which 

 will be ready for next spring's planting. 



THE DROPPING OF ROSE BUDS. 



Ed. Gardening: — A microphylla rose 

 in our garden at Chestnut Hill, Philadel- 

 phia produces only four or five perfect 

 flowers in a season. The plant is verv 

 large, its loiiage is luxuriant and per- 

 fectly healthy, and it is each year covered 

 with buds, but when the blooms are halt 

 opened, the petals become separated at 

 the base, so that at the first touch they 

 all drop off. Can you tell me what 

 causes this and whether it can be pre- 

 vented? D. E. 



The dropping of rose buds when but 

 half developed, as described by this cor- 

 respondent, is not peculiar to the micro- 

 phylla. Many others are subject to it, 

 especially those that flower a little later 

 than the "June roses" as the microphylla 

 does. The troublecomesfrom the attack 

 of a iungus, causing premature decay. 

 Just how to combat it is a problem. 

 Lime and sulphur might be dusted on the 

 buds as soon as formed, first spraying 

 them that the dust may adhere, and 

 repeating the operation again when the 

 buds are further advanced. This would 

 be better than Bordeaux mixture, which 

 is objectionable among flowers on account 

 of its poisonous nature. 



It is a pleasure to note that this queri- 

 est has the microphylla rose. It has 

 always been a favorite about Philadel- 

 phsa, and most all old residences can 

 show one or more plants of it. There is 

 a white and a pink one. The white used 

 to be called the Memorial rose before the 

 advent of the Wichuraiana, its beautiful 

 foliage and white flowers making it a 

 favorite for memorial purposes. It is 

 very hardy. Joseph Meehan. 



TAB WBATHER AND THE GROPS. 



During the past two weeks it has been 

 warmer than usual in the central and 

 southern plateau regions and from the 

 Great Lakes to Idaho. The excess has 

 been greatest in North Dakota. In New 

 England and the southern and south- 

 western states it has been 3° to S° cooler 

 than the usual record. On the morning 



