HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, 



Sports* 



By Patrick O'Mara — December 12, 1906. 



About a year and a half ago I was invited to address this body on the 

 subject of "Sports" in connection with a paper read here from Prof. L. C. 

 Corbett. At that time the opportunity was not forthcoming to deliver the 

 address which I had planned, and so the material which was accumulated 

 was lost or mislaid and is not available now. My intention was to address 

 this meeting without the aid of a written paper and thus possibly it would 

 be more extended, but having been called away on a pressing matter, was 

 compelled to hastily put something together so as not to disappoint the 

 members and visitors. 



It is with much misgiving as to my fitness for the task that I approach 

 the subject, and willingly would I forego it entirely. It is to be hoped 

 that at some future meeting some one competent to deal with it from its 

 scientific aspect will be found who will address this body on the subject and 

 treat it exhaustively, as I believe there are many of us who are intensely 

 interested in it. The possibility that I may say something which will induce 

 a further ventilation of the subject here is probably the motive which impels 

 me to venture into it now. It is not my purpose to broadly consider the 

 question of sports, but only to confine myself to a few of the leading 

 varieties of cultivated plants which have originated in that manner, with 

 possibly a passing reference to a few noted "seed sports" so popularly 

 designated to distinguish them from those which have been produced by 

 bud variation. A "sport" as popularly understood amongst florists and 

 gardeners is that portion of a plant which assumes one or more character- 

 istics essentially different from the rest of the plant, either in flower, foliage 

 or habit. The vexed question amongst gardeners and florists is how this 

 change takes place, to what prime cause can it be ascribed. I candidly 

 confess to knowing little of what science has imparted on the subject, but 

 that little leads me to believe that nothing definite has been enunciated. 

 The preponderance of opinion as far as I have sounded it seems that 

 "sporting" is due mainly to conditions of growth, or to put it in one word, 

 environment. This cause is not accepted by the vast majority of growers 

 as responsible for the phenomena of "sports," the general belief is that it 

 lies in the blood, to use the vernacular, or to put it in one word, heredity. 



In his paper presented to this society March 8th, 1904, Prof L. C. 

 Corbett said: "Sporting, then, may be encouraged by extreme conditions. 

 Either extreme feeding or extreme poverty may induce plants to sport. 

 Severe changes in climate or soil conditions may result in decided changes 

 in stature, habits of growth and faithfulness, which are as marked attributes 

 of a sport as are changes in the color of foliage or fruit." 



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