84 



The Journal of Heredity 



the new plant in another class. For 

 example, the reflexed carmine, King of 

 Crimsons, produced vegetatively the 

 carmine anemone variety, Mrs. R. A. 

 Mudic; from the reflexed white Chris- 

 tine Caine, the incur^^ed white John 

 Bradner. Flowers of one color become 

 striped, as, from the red Queen of 

 England came the striped Queen of 

 England. 



Some varieties are not known to have 

 ever produced bud variations; e.g., Non- 

 pareil, which has been grown for sixty 

 years. 



According to Elmer D. Smith Sc Co.,^ 

 of Adrian, Mich., "Regarding bud 

 variation there seems to be no law to be 

 depended upon, it is so obscure. We 

 know of some which sport with only a 

 few petals and will vary only a very 

 little, and again, they will sport an 

 entirely different color. We have grown 

 some varieties and they will be true to 

 type for a niunber of years and then will 

 sport another color in several places in 

 one .season, some distance apart." 



DIFFERENT COLORS ON .SAME PLANT 



In October, 1917, the writer's atten- 

 tion was called to a plant grown by H. 

 E. Witte, 439 Chestnut Street, Riverside, 

 California, bearing two varieties of 

 chrysanthemums. The plant consisted 

 of a short stem, having two nearly equal 

 branches, each bearing different colored 

 flowers of about the same size. The 

 name of the parent variety is unknown 

 to Mr. Witte. It has been grown by 

 him for three years and bears pink 

 colored flowers. The bud ^•ariation, on 



the sporting plant, bore a yellow colored 

 blossom. The two blossoms retained 

 their color virtually unimpaired from 

 the beginning to the end of the blooming 

 period. The two branches bearing the 

 different colored blossoms arose from ad- 

 joining buds near the base of the stem. 

 The difference in color of the two blos- 

 soms was very striking and attracted 

 the attention of many observers. There 

 is no doubt but that it is an example of 

 the rather frequent occurrence of bud 

 variation in the cultivated chrysanthe- 

 mums. 



The writer, in his garden at Ri\-crside, 

 grew three beds of chrysanthemums in 

 1917. A careful inspection of the plants 

 all of which were propagated from cut- 

 tings, revealed several instances of 

 different colored flowers borne by the 

 same jjlant, and of different colored 

 petals in the same blossom. While 

 variation in leaf shape and arrange- 

 ment were observed in some of these 

 plants, a lack of knowledge of plant 

 characteristics prevented any careful or 

 intelligent consideration of these varia- 

 tions at this time. The writer, however, 

 is planning to study his chrysanthemum 

 plants more carefvilly from the bud 

 variation standpoint the coming season. 

 It seems to be one of the most interesting 

 of cultivated flowering plants upon 

 which to base a systematic study of bud 

 variability. 



The foregoing discussion is presented 

 for the purpose of calling attention to 

 the origin of valuable cultivated varieties 

 of ornamental plants from bud varia- 

 tions. 



Ohio Conserving Superior Seed Corn 



In order to locate all good seed corn, 

 the Ohio Experiment vStation at Wooster 

 is offering to test corn free for any Ohio 

 farmer. vSeed com in Ohio in 1917 is 

 considered poorer than it has been for 

 many years, and for this reason, steps 

 are being taken to insure a normal crop 

 this year. Samples of one hundred 

 kernels chosen from one hundred repre- 

 sentative ears may be sent in by any 



fanner, together with the name of the 

 variety, how the seed was chosen and 

 stored, and a statement regarding the 

 quantity of corn like the sample he may 

 have to sell. By this method, it is 

 hoped that all available seed of real 

 worth may be located, superior seed 

 be assured for this season, and the 

 buyer and seller may later be brought 

 t ogether. 



* Letter of Novrmlirr 24, 1''17 



