September, 1909 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



187 



II 



ly prized of our smaller fruits, such as 

 the Houghton and Downing gooseber- 

 ries ; the garden strawberry [Fragaria 

 Chiloensis) ; the \vilson's Early, Lawton, 

 Wilson Junior and the Eureka blackber- 

 ries, and the Wolf and Quaker plums 

 are mutations. The apricot is probably a 

 mutant of the plum. The purple-leaved 

 plum (Prunus pissardi), an ornamental 

 species, may be classed as a distinct mu- 

 tation. 



Most of our best varieties of grapes 

 are probably mutations. The Catawba 

 is a sport of the wild grape ; the Concord 

 and the Clinton are seedlings of wild 

 grapes and are very likely true muta 

 tions 



The history of the apple is obscure, 

 but it is generally believed that the mod- 

 ern varieties have been derived from 

 several "elementary species" of the wild 

 crab. As a matter of fact we know for a 

 certainty of the origin of the Wealthy, 

 the Mcintosh Red and others. 



De Vries' wonderful discoveries of the 

 mode of origin of several new species 

 of evening primroses from Lamarck's 

 evening primrose are now fairly well 

 known to readers, as are also his obser- 

 vations on the origin of the Pelonic 

 toadflax, from Linaria vulgaris, a double 

 marigold from Chrysanthemum segetum, 

 and a twisted variety of Dracocephalum. 

 Moldavicum. 



Suffice it to say, that after De Vries 

 had detected Lamarck's evening prim- 

 rose in a mutating condition and had 

 transferred some of the roots and seeds 

 from the field to his garden, he grew 

 over 50,000 individual plants. Out of 

 this number of plants more than 800 

 showed mutation, which comprised about 

 fifteen new kinds. Some of these ap- 

 peared time and again in the course of 

 the experiments, which extended over a 

 number of. years. 



MUTATIONS IN NATURE 



These are examples of mutations that 

 sometimes occur in nature. De Vries 

 found these mutations "to occur sudden- 

 ly, without preparation, and without in- 

 termediates." Among garden and house 

 plants we may notice two or three muta- 

 tions : The cut-leaved variety of the 

 greater celandine, (Chelidonium lacinia- 

 tum) discovered in 1590 by Sprenger at 

 Heidelberg, which is distinguished from 

 the ordinary species (C. majus) by the 

 narrow cut lobes of its leaves and petals ; 

 the white cyclamen which made its ap- 

 pearance in 1836 in Holland; the cocks- 

 comb (Celosia crtstata) and others. 



The Shirley poppy originated definitely 

 and suddenly as a mutation of the com- 

 mon wild poppy (Papaver rhoeas) in 

 1880. This poppy is characterized by the 

 presence of a narrow white border on the 

 petals, and was discovered as a solitary 

 flower by the Vicar of Shirley near Croy- 

 don, England. It is unnecessary for me 

 to give more examples, but simply to re- 



fer you to the literature of. horticulture, 

 where mention is made of the many 

 "sports" that have occurred. 



Burbank's wonderful success in the 

 origination of new and valuable varieties 

 of plants is largely due to his ability to 

 detect new and original forms which 

 arise in his breeding grounds. He grows 

 thousands, even tens of thousands of 



seedlings, and from these he selects those 

 that give promise of greater usefulness. 

 In many cases the plants he chooses are 

 mutaitions. Oftentimes he causes a 

 staple variety to vary by crossing it with 

 a closely related form, and from the vari- 

 ations he selects the most likely forms. 

 By selection he then brings the plant up 

 to his ideal. 



The Famcusc Apple 



■H. W. Shepherd, Montreal 



THE orchard shown in the illustration 

 on this page has suffered much from 

 winter killing the last four years. 

 The varieties are Fameuse (Snow) and 

 Mcintosh. The latter has stood the se- 



Orchard of Fameuse and Mcintosh 



vere winters better than Fameuse. I 

 have found that much cultivation in this 

 province rather tends to induce too late 

 a growth and, consequently, the young 

 wood is not well enough prepared for a 

 severe winter. The Fameuse is apt, in 

 any case, to grow late in the season, and 

 does not generally finish off its terminal 

 growth in preparation for our winters, as 

 well as the Mcintosh. All growers in 

 this vicinity complain of much winter kill- 

 ing in late years. 



If the orchard is not well protected 

 by belts of trees from the cold winter 

 blasts, when the thermometer falls to 

 twenty degrees below zero for three or 

 four days, there is sure to be a loss in 

 that orchard of Fameuse the following 

 spring. Once the trees are seriously 

 damaged by severe winters, and become 

 black-hearted, the days of those trees are 

 numbered ; they will gradually succumb. 

 No nursing will help them. 



In the province of Quebec fifty years 

 ago, the Fameuse trees were hardier and 

 better able to withstand the winters. 

 Probably there was more natural tree 

 protection to the orchards, and also, pro- 

 bably, the Fameuse trees of those days 

 were of a more robust constitution. 



Much of the delicate constitution of the 

 Fameuse we may attribute to the practice 

 of cutting scions from unhealthy trees 

 or trees that are slightly blackhearted. 

 Nurserymen are not particular enough 

 about the healthiness of the trees from 

 which they cut scions. At any rate, it 

 is well known fact that Fameuse trees, 

 which fifty years ago were expected to 

 live at least forty or fifty years, do not 

 now live beyond twenty-five or thirty 

 years. Of course, on the Island of Mon- 

 treal and around St. Hilaire Mountain, 

 there are orchards of Fameuse of fifty 

 years of age or more, and in good condi- 

 tion, but the orchards that have been 

 planted within the last twenty-five years 

 in these sections show weakness and a 

 tendency to decline ; therefore, I cannot 

 trace this weakness to any other source 

 but the selection of scions from unsound 

 and unhealthy trees. It may be that thor- 

 oughly healthy scions are very difficult to 

 procure. 



We must remember that the Fameuse 

 variety is probably 150 to 200 years old 

 and, perhaps, there is a time when a vari- 

 ety must begin to decline. I predicted 

 two years ago, at the winter meeting of 

 the Quebec Pomological Society, that the 



Potatoes Growing Between Trees 



In Orchard of Mr. R. W. Sliopherd, Como, Quo. Photo 

 taken two years ago. 



