POPULAR ERRORS AND SCIENTIFIC DOGMAS. 219 



POPULAR ERRORS 



AND 



SCIENTIFIC DOGMAS IN HORTICULTURE. 



BY PETER HENDERSON. 

 (Read before the New York Horticultural Society in 1881.) 



IN nearly all matters of life, before accepting some 

 one's say so, it is wisdom first to use our own judgment 

 and common sense ; and this is particularly true in many 

 of the operations of horticulture, for in no profession is 

 there greater need for the reasoning faculties, and in the 

 neglect of the use of these, the most absurd errors and 

 delusions are held even by many who are practically 

 engaged in the business. The breeder of fancy fowls or 

 pigeons could not be told that the plumage of either 

 would ever assume the scarlet of the Flamingo, though 

 he would likely be quite ready to believe that his next- 

 door neighbor, who is a flower fancier, may yet have a 

 blue Rose or a blue Dahlia, phenomena just as unlikely 

 as that his Dorkings or his Brahmas would have a plu- 

 mage of scarlet ; for, so far, we find that there is no such 

 thing in nature as plants having scarlet, yellow, and blue 

 flowers, in varieties of the same species. Perhaps the 

 nearest approach to it is in the Hyacinth ; but in it, 

 although we have yellow and blue, we have no true 

 scarlet. 



Another very popular error is the belief that some- 

 thing mysterious is done by the professional horticultur- 

 ist to produce new or fine varieties of fruits or flowers. 



