HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



bean. Here again we find a cycle of change. Three sports appeared within 

 a very short time, almost simultaneously, viz., Kummerle's, subsequently 

 called Dreer's; Henderson's, which appeared with several growers at 

 the same time; and Burpee's. Of the origin of the first two I have no 

 specific knowledge, they merely happened; but as to the last, the raiser — I 

 had almost said the creator — claimed that a horse trod on a plant while it 

 was young, that it never grew to be a climber, and that the beans reproduced 

 dwarf plants! This was generally known in the trade and more than one 

 grower crippled vine plants in an effort to develope a dwarf, but without 

 success. 



The White Plume Celery is another notable example of a seed sport 

 and once the break came others followed. I had almost forgotten to 

 mention the latest and most interesting forms of sporting, viz: the ferns 

 which have sported from the "Boston" variety. If I remember correctly, 

 when that variety first made its appearance, there was considerable discussion 

 as to what it really was, and it was finally classified as a sport from 

 Nephrolepis exaltata. Darwin said: "Of all the causes which induce 

 variability, excess of food, whether or not changed in nature, is probably 

 the most powerful." Here again we have the food question. The florist 

 and gardener believe that the amount of food which will bring his crop to 

 the highest perfection is not excessive, possibly he is wrong. The excessive 

 amount is that which will cause deterioration, and it is not under such con- 

 ditions that sports have appeared with him. It might not serve any useful 

 purpose, yet it seems to promise an interesting field of study for some of 

 our scientists to thoroughly examine into sports obtained through bud 

 variation under domestication in an effort to clear away the mists which 

 now surround their origin. 



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