NATURAL SPORTS. 83 



appear a simple question, but by tlie mass of plant lovers it is not 

 so well understood. A natural sport is a variation or peculiar 

 change of any part of a plant from its normal state. Take for 

 instance the camellia, or japonica, as it is so often called. Here 

 we have the Old Double White (alba plena) ., a Chinese variety, 

 imported into England as long ago as 1739, and since then exten- 

 sively propagated and disseminated all over Europe and America. 

 Yet it is still the very same flower it was in 1739 so far as we 

 know ourselves, or can learn from descriptions, paintings, or books. 

 It has never been anything else. If, however, you or I had a plant 

 which should, upon one particular branch, show a flower of a difi"er- 

 eut form or color, that particular flower would be denominated a 

 "sport." So, too, if the leaves were to assume a different shape, 

 or the branches some peculiar form, that would be also a sport, 

 because, in either instance, it has departed from its original tj'pe. 

 Such a flower or branch is, therefore, a " natural sport," and so 

 considered in these remarks. 



It is somewhat extraordinary when we notice the character and 

 importance of these sports, that so little has been written upon the 

 subject. In the very hasty manner in which I have been enabled 

 to look through the works of various authors 1 find that it is 

 scarcely mentioned at all. Mr. Knight, in his numerous physio- 

 logical and horticultural papers, published from lime to time in 

 the "Transactions of the London Horticultural Society," does 

 not speak of sports. Loudon, in his various exhaustive volumes 

 on trees, plants, and shrubs, has little or nothing to say of them. 

 Lindley, in his " Theory of Horticulture," does not notice them, 

 and M'Intosh, Thompson, and other authors, do not give us any 

 information upon the subject. Indeed it is only in the periodical 

 works upon horticulture, and scattered tlu'ough many volumes, 

 that much can be learned, and this in the main recorded of only 

 a few particular sports. 



When we reflect a moment upon their importance, and consider 

 how much our pleasure grounds and gardens, our greenhouses and 

 conservatories have gained in recherche additions through these 

 sports, we are surprised that so little has been treasured up 

 regarding them. The fact that we know so little of the cause of 

 these sports, is probably the reason why the record of their pro- 

 duction is all that can be found. 



It is only within a few ^-ears that they have assumed any promi- 



