74 MARKET GARDENING. 



Few farmers or gardeners have the patience, the 

 inclination or the training, to be close observers of the 

 habits of plants under different climates and soils, fre- 

 quently so modified as to appear in new forms, the mod- 

 ifications covering all the results of pollination and 

 selection ; consequently those who have acquired this 

 habit of observation are marked men in their respective 

 communities. 



The variations in cultivated plants, due to the fancy 

 or caprice of the seed grower, is not the only difficulty 

 experienced by the purchaser of seeds who desires par- 

 ticular qualities ; but equally difficult is the identification 

 of fruits, flowers and vegetables under the various names 

 by which they are sold, some particular varieties having 

 a dozen names in as many locations, indeed, as many in 

 the same locality. Of course, this can only be corrected 

 by the natural determination among seed growers and seed 

 merchants to refrain from the manufacture of names to 

 advance the sale of their stocks in hand, but this is not 

 likely to be soon realized, as there is no court or author- 

 itative bodies to forbid the multiplication of names. 

 Nevertheless, an effort is now being made to have estab- 

 lished by Congress a national plant register, which, it is 

 designed, shall give the description and history of every 

 newly introduced fruit, vegetable, grain, flower or fiber, 

 the record being official and authoritative. The bill, 

 however, if passed, will not prevent Tom, Dick or Harry 

 from introducing a plant by whatever name, good or 

 bad, old or new, and the utmost that can be expected is 

 that honest originators will register their introductions, 

 and even some of these may not, through studied pur- 

 pose or caprice. 



In England an official record has been kept for years 

 by the Royal Horticultural Society, which issues certifi- 

 cates to the exhibitors, for the first time, of new plants 

 of merit. The introducers of good plants thus get a 



