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JOUBNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDEHER. 



[ Aogost 5. ISC!), 



After the fruit tree qnestion, of which I foar yon mnst ho nbnost 

 tired, wo pass naturally to the shrnhs. Are our small fruits incapablo 

 of further improvement * Not while Red Currants are sour, and — I 

 now address myself to an especial audience, — Men of Tianca^hirc, I 

 call upon yon to produce an eatable prize Gooseberry. Red Cnrrants 

 Btill obstinately persist in being acid, although thoy wore once worked 

 at by a master hand ; but a few Renerations under the care of the 

 hybridist would undoubtedly improve the Gooseberry in tlavour as 

 well as in size. Your huge Lancashire Roarin;; Lions might be made 

 rich with the honied jnicea of the old Roagh Green, Red, and Yellow 

 berries, and tho *' unsapid " pachydermatous, prizo-taking monster 

 might beeome a mouthful for a prince. 



I hud prepared materials for carrjing out far more fully my inten- 

 tion in treating of this subject. Time flies, and I have only got to 

 Gooseberries. 



So now I will bring my fragment, for it can perforce be no better, 

 to an abrupt conclusion. I hope I have inculcated an important 

 principle, to wit, the getting out of a rut ; and I wish all good fortune 

 and success to tho bold traveller in untrodden ways. — R. T. Clarke. 



P.S. — There is no earthly reason why we should not cross the Pino 

 Apple. ' 



ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF PLANTS 



BT SBLECnOS, H\"BRIDISINr,, AND CROSS-BBEliDING, HAVING SPECIAI. 

 BEFERKNCE TO THE HOLLYHOCK AND THE ROSE. 



Theef. are two important methods of procedure open to him who 

 may wish to engage in the moditication, or improvement of plants. 

 1, Selection. *J, Hybridising and cross-breeding. The first method, 

 •' selection," is exceedingly simple, and may be successfully followed by 

 anyone who possesses or who may acquire the habit of observing cor- 

 rectly. The second method, " hybridising and cross-breeding," is 

 more complex, and requires, in addition to the habit of observing cor- 

 rectly, an acquaintance with at least some of the laws of vegetable 

 physiolocy. In adopting the former, we seize upon certain variations 

 or phenomena which we meet with in Nature, and endeavour to " fix" 

 or render permanent that which we ai-e accustomed to call accidental ; 

 in pursuing the latter, we start with a conception which wc labour to 

 rouvett into a fact. To the mere man of bnsines:?, selection is usnally 

 the more attractive ; the method is more suitable to his habits of 

 thought and practice ; but to the scientitic mind hybridising or cross- 

 fcreeding are usually more inviting, and the results more satisfactory. To 

 ioth methods are we largely indebted for improvements m the ve- 

 getable kingdom, and it would be exceedingly diflScnIt, perhaps im- 

 jwssible, to say bow much wo owe to the simple process of selection, 

 and how much to the more complex and scientific labours of the 

 lybridist. 



It will be my purpose to place before yon, as fully and clearly as I 

 can, a few instances of improvements by both processes, drawing, as 

 Jar as practicable, from my own observations and experiments. 



First of selection. It is well known to observers in this field that 

 znost plants, and especially cultivated plants, when raised from seed, 

 are prone to vary : — 



'* The earth was made so various, that the mind 



Of desultory man, studinus of change, 



And pleased with novelty, might be indulged." 



We sow a handful of seed, and in somo cases scarce any two of the 

 jonng plants which arise therefrom prove absolutely identical ; there 

 iB a difference in size or appearance, in form, colour, or texture. This 

 shows an inherent capacity of progress or development. It is more 

 inarkcd in cultivated than in wild plants, and the tendency increases 

 under cultivation ; yet it appears in both states. Among wild plants I 

 }iave met with no more striking example than that of the Lychnis 

 diuma, which grows plentifally m the hedgerows surrounding my nur- 

 series at Waltham Cross. The flowers of some of these self-sown 

 plants are much larger than others, some are of a deeper colour, and 

 some of a smoother aspect and more rounded form. The habit of 

 growth of the different seedlings also varies gicatly. The Dog Rose 

 <Roea cauina) is another case in point. Examples of this fact are, 

 however, plentiful enough in Nature, and might be adduced almost 

 "without limit if required. But it is only by selection and cultivation 

 that the most attractive forms of these natural variations can be fixed 

 and turned to practical account. The advanced Lychnis, if neglected 

 and allowed to seed in its native wilds, would probably produce off- 

 . spring for the most part similar or inferior to itself, except rarely and 

 at long intervals of time. If, however, removed to a superior soil, 

 more highly nurtured, and the seeds gathered from the most attractive 

 plants only, the improvement would probably go on gradually but re- 

 gularly from generation to generation. 



To elucidate further the principle and results of selection, let us 

 suppose an intelligent agriculturist observing in his Wheat fields some 

 individual plant of Wheat more vigorous in growth, or more prolific, 

 longer, stouter, and fuller in the ear than those by which it is sur- 

 Toonded. He wishes to retain this variation, knowing that if he can 

 succeed in so doing ho will thereby increase his crop. He sets a mark 

 upon this plant, saves and sows the seeds separately, selects again and 

 again, from year to year, those most in advance, bo they few or many, 

 actil the variation first noticed has become constant and fixed, and, 

 perhaps, even further developed. This process of selection usnally re- 

 quires to he pursued through several generations, some of the iu- 



diridnals from each sncccisivo sowing continuing to advance on tho lino 

 first indicated, and the whole drii-.viiig closer together, till in tho end 

 he establishes the pujity or coD>tancy of the rate. Once cstabliahod 

 or fixed, thu variation will remain an improved race or breed, and if 

 the individual plants composing it are not absolutely identical, they 

 aie yet butliciently so for practical pnrposes. In this instance we have 

 BQppoficd a case of selection for a prolific tendt-ucy, bat the same prin- 

 ciple may be applird to any other desired improremcnt, as qnality of 

 gi-ain, carliness or lateness of riptning. quantity or quality of straw, 

 and so on. Or. to take oUier iiiritauros from agriculture, the farmer 

 observes among his Mangold Wnrtzil a plant remarkable forthehipge 

 size of the root and tlio small hi/,e of the top — amoug his Turnips a 

 root that has stood the front uninjured, while others surrounding it 

 have been materially damaged ; he selects the I^angold with tho viOW 

 of increasing the weight uf his crop without dniwin;.' loo much from 

 his laud, the Turnip for tho sake of obtAiniu'^ a hardier race of this 

 valuable root, and follows up the process of cultivation already de- 

 scribed, until he fixes tho recognised and coveted features. 



As with the agricultiui^t so with the market gardeurr, whose superior 

 vegetables are in great part duo to tbe judicious selection of the in- 

 dividual plants from which he saves his wed. Perhaps half a dozen 

 of the whitest and closfist heaus of white Broccoli are selected off many 

 acres as tbe sourco of tho crop for the ensuing year; and other Te- 

 getables and flowers — as Onions, Cabbages, Lettuces. Stocks, &:c. — are 

 subjected to the same careful process of selection. 



To continue : Our seed-growere work on the same principle, al- 

 though in place of leaving a few only of the best, the qaaniity of seed 

 they require compels them to rekit satisfied with eradicating a few of 

 the worst only, and the value of their crop of seeds i^, or should be, in 

 propoi-tion to the thoroughness of the selection, or. as the growers 

 term it, tho purity of tlie stock. If in the Bill on tbe adulteration of 

 seeds now before Parliament, a clause could have been inserted in- 

 suring the purity of tho stock, I fhould have considered that by S^ 

 tho most important part of tho measure. 



I hare intentionally given prominence to the above cases, becaoBC I 

 believe the farmer, market gardener, and seed-grower, whatever at- 

 tention they may be giviog to cross-breeding now, have in tho past de- 

 rived their improvements chiefly, ii not entirely, from selection ; 

 whereas, the horticulturist has been for many years past working more 

 or less ardently in both fields. There has, however. I believe, eren 

 with him, till recently, been bnt little hybridising or cross-breeding 

 with vegetables; more, perhaps, and for a longer period, with fmits; 

 and most of all, and for tho longest period, with flowers. 



The vegetables and flowcr.s which I have improved by selection 

 merely are somewhat numerous; among the former, Parsley and 

 Brussels Sprouts. 



Parsley was the first plant I endeavoured to improve by selecting 

 for seed one or two individual plants from a large bed, the nnnsuaily 

 double or curled leaves of the selected plants having pleased my 

 fancy. The result was so striking in the following year that I was 

 encouraged to persevere, and did so from year to year with increasing 

 success, until Paul's Parsley became household words. Brussels 

 Sprouts, the seed of which it was considered necessary in those days to 

 import from tbe Continent, was the next plant taken in hand, and I 

 proved over a series of years, to my own satisfaction at least, that it 

 was neither the continental soil nor air, but the pmctico of a vigorous 

 selection, that gave to the continental seed an acknowledged supe- 

 riority. 



The Aster was the next plant taken in hand, and with the same 

 results. Stocks. Pansies, Roses, Cinerarias. Hollyhocl:s, Zonal Pe- 

 largoniums, Chinese Primulas, and Polyanthuses, were taken up in 

 due succession, similarly dealt with, and similarly improved. 



The Hollyhock would seem to demand at my hands more than a 

 passing word. To the improvement of the flowers of this plant by 

 selection, I gave long and close attention, from the year IS.'JS to 1857. 

 Let me submit to your notice somo of the resolts of the sowing of 

 seeds from selected plaiits, without the interposition of artificial fer- 

 tilisation. The variety Gloria Mnndi (yellow) gave Sulphnrca perfecta, 

 Argo, El Dorado, Queen of the Yellows, and King of the Yefiows, all 

 yellow flowers ; aud Charles Barron, buff. Kl Dorado, a smooth yellow 

 flower, gave yellow flowers only, bri*;ht in colour, but rough and irre- 

 gular in form. Lady Willoc^hby d'Kresby (cream c dour) gave a lot 

 of rough dirty whites. Lady Fr.vnkliu (deep pink) reproduced iteelf, 

 and also gave sundry good rose-colonrcd flowers. Lady Palmerston 

 (blush) gave a very fine brood of pe.ich-coloured and pink flowers. 

 Purple Defiance (puq)Ie) gave a rough lot of purjdes. Attraction 

 (pink) gave a fine brood of pinkj. Princess Roy:;l (cream and cho- 

 colate) gave a rough lot of dirty cream aud chocolate -colon red flowers. 

 Crusader (pink) reproduced itself, and also others of similar colour, 

 varying in form. Celestial (blush; reproduced itself, and yaiious 

 shades of blush of superb quality. Meinnon la fine crimson flOwer) 

 produced regularly some plants hearing crimson, aud others bearing 

 puri>le flowers. Omar Pacha (cream edged with white) reproduced 

 itself. A purple seedling of good form and snbstauce gave some purple 

 and some blush-mottled flowers of very iudifferent quality. A salmon- 

 coloured seedling of fine quality gavo flowers of the same colour, hot 

 of indifferent form. A fine dark shining crimson seedling gavo flowers, 

 ©■ange. fawn, and buff, of midJl ng quality, hut no ciiai«on. A white- 

 edged seedling gave flowers like tho parent, but as a rule not so good. 

 A fine rosy peach-coloured seedlinggave rubbish. A nankeen-coloured 



