HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



Other B. Davidsonii. They were identical and as the Davidsonii was 

 first on the market the other name was dropped. The original stock of 

 B. elegans in both cases was purchased from Peter Henderson and the 

 conclusion arrived at then was that the elements of change were contained 

 in the plants, and that it would occur under any circumstances. Subse- 

 quently a double white and a double pink variety were produced as sports, 

 and later a dwarf variety, White Bouquet, sported from B. Vreelandii 

 with William Bock of Cambridge, Mass., who retained the old nomenclature 

 (Vreelandii,) having the same flowers as the parent, but a dwarf, bushy 

 habit, about a foot high when in flower. The fact that these sports were 

 progressive in color leads to the belief that the cause for their appearance 

 was within the plant rather than that their coming was brought about by 

 outside forces. As Bouvardias are largely propagated by root cuttings, it 

 strengthens this belief. 



An instance where at a bound a white sport issued from a scarlet 

 variety is found in Salvia splendens alba. From Salvia splendens, at the 

 base of the tube in the latter is always found a bleached white which 

 extends less or more beyond the sheath, therefore, the white sport seems 

 a natural progression, as the subsequent striped sport is. 



The double Abutilon, a sport from A. Thompsonii and identical in 

 its variegated foliage and color of flowers is the only case of sporting 

 which I can recall in that plant, although widely grown. 



The Carnation sports are numerous and here again they are progressive. 

 I cannot recall, for instance, where a yellow issued from a red or white, 

 or a white from a yellow or a crimson. It is when neutral shades are 

 reached that sporting begins. The same is true of Chrysanthemums and to 

 a lesser extent of Dahlias, both of which are very prolific in sports. It 

 seems to be along well defined lines of color changes then that sporting 

 follows, and the layman may well be pardoned when he arrives at the con- 

 clusion that it is in the blood and is not brought about by growing conditions. 

 If the latter theory was correct, it seems to me there would be no limit to 

 sports while the limitations seem to be arbitrarily fixed, which is not the case 

 with seminal reproduction. 



Another phase of sporting is when the habit of the plant is changed, 

 some examples of which I have alluded to previously. Climbing roses 

 issue frequently from dwarf sorts, particularly in the Monthly class. As 

 far as I can recall, the flower in such cases is always identical with the 

 parent. In the Hybrid Perpetual ,and Hydrid Tea classes too, climbing 

 sports are produced, but there is a difference very marked from the 

 Monthly sports. The latter are easily fixed and never "run back," while 

 the others to the best of my knowledge are never absolutely fixed, and thus 

 are constant reversions, temporary and permanent, in individual plants. 



The foliage sports are many, but I will only mention one, viz., the 



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