140 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1907 



ed from time to time, and the weaker 

 ones are thrown out; and, finally, on 

 fruiting, those which stand the tests of 

 growth and health are compared as to 

 performance. 



The production of an improved new 

 variety may be far from complete at 

 the end of the first cross. In studies of 

 the behavior of crosses, it has been 

 observed that the offspring of the crosses 

 frequently show a wider range of varia- 

 tion than do the crosses. The breeder 

 must, therefore, make provision for 

 testing the offspring of his crosses, as 

 well as the original crosses themselves. 

 To hasten the fruiting of his crosses, 

 he will resort to grafting on older trees, 

 using scions from each of his seedling 

 crosses, and planting seed from this 

 generation, fertilized by pollen from the 

 same cross, as soon as blossoms can be 

 obtained. 



Moreover, it may be necessary to 

 intensify the characters of a cross by 

 further crosses. For example, a variant 

 appears among the Ben Davis x Spitz- 

 enburg crosses essentially Ben Davis 

 in everything save a faint suggestion of 

 Spitzenburg flavor. Such a variant 

 should be crossed again with Spitzen- 

 burg; for, according to the laws of 

 hybrids (which apply with equal cer- 

 tainty to all pure characters in all crosses) 

 somewhere among the offspring must 

 appear some individuals possessing 

 the desired flavor character in a marked 

 degree. Indeed, were the crosses them- 

 selves fertilized among themselves, the 

 intensified flavor "character" would 

 appear somewhere, providing numbers 

 sufficiently large were used; but the 

 probability is greatly increased by using 

 pure Spitzenburg blood in the second 

 cross. 



It is impossible to state the number 

 of seedlings that should be grown from 

 each cross. The breeder will be limited 

 by his facilities for testing, rather than 

 by the number of pollinations that can 

 be made. The more seedlings that can 

 be grown, the greater the chances for 

 success. In the instance just given, I 

 believe that 1,000 first generation seed- 

 lings should be grown from each cross, 

 and twice as many second generation 

 seedlings, in case the desired variations 

 fail to appear in the initial trial. This 

 makes a total of 9,000 first generation 

 seedlings, and 18,000 second generation 

 seedlings, of which at least one-half 

 should be eliminated within three years 

 of age, and probably two-thirds before 

 bearing age. Planted 10x12 feet apart, 

 these would require 12 acres for the 

 testing of the first generation and 24 

 acres for the testing of the second gener- 

 ation ; or. planted 12x15 feet, would 

 require ISJ^^ acres for the first genera- 

 tion and 37 acres for the second. The 

 writer believes, however, that the former 

 distance is sufficient for testing purposes. 



The example given is typical of the 

 methods employed in originating new 

 varieties of orchard fruits. Each case 

 will, however, require its own particular 

 treatment, as regards choice of founda- 

 tion stock and method of procedure; 

 that is, whether by bud selection, im- 

 portation of foreign varieties and species, 

 change in environment of the plant, 

 crossing and so forth. 



"Weeds in La-wns 



In many lawns, weeds are persistent 

 nuisances. No matter how careful has 

 been the selection of seed or fertilizers, 

 weeds will make their appearance. Fre- 

 quent mowings will destroy many young 



disturbing the surrounding sod. It is 

 an inexpensive device and should be 

 in everyone's collection of garden tools. 

 Weeds are more prevalent in thin 

 lawns than in those that are thick and 

 velvety. By improving the turf, thick- 

 ening it, most weeds will disappear. 



Dendrobium "Wardianum 



The illustration on this page repre- 

 sents a beautiful specimen of Dendro- 

 bium Wardianum Lowii as grown in the 

 greenhouse of Mr. R. B. Angus, of Mon- 

 treal. The photograph was taken in 

 the third year of flowering. 



While this variety of orchid is a free 

 bloomer, as may be seen from the illus- 



A Free Blooming Orchid -in a Montreal Greenhouse 



weeds, but too frequent cuttings in dry 

 weather often weakens the grass and 

 sometimes weeds get the upper hand. 



In a newly-made lawn, it is necessary 

 to keep a careful watch on the weeds. 

 They should not be allowed to get a 

 start sufficient to make them trouble- 

 some. Dandelions, narrow-leaved plan- 

 tains, docks and that class of weeds can 

 scarcely be gotten rid of except by spud- 

 ding. These tools can be secured from 

 any seedsman. There also are other ex- 

 cellent tools for ridding lawns of weeds. 

 Among these is the Cleveland Lawn 

 Weeder. With it, one can get at the 

 root of the evil and remove it without 



tration, it has not proved to be a durable 

 one with private gardeners. This may be 

 owing to the flowers being allowed to re- 

 main on the plant too long or to the neces- 

 sity of having to place them, when in 

 flower, in the cool and often draughty 

 conservatories. That they may be grown' 

 with much satisfaction when given par-- 

 ticular care and attention is evidenced 

 by the success that has been attained^ 

 by Mr. Wm. J. Wilshire, gardener fori 

 Mr. Angus, in the production of the.; 

 specimen illustrated. It should be an 

 incentive to greater efforts on the part 

 of others who are growing this valuable 

 varietv. 



