NATIONAL COUNCIL OF HORTICULTURE 41 



Chairman Manning: I think this question of protection that Mr. 

 Kendel speaks of is very important in avoiding the effects of frost. 



Dr. Galloway: A great deal of work is being done in the matter 

 of frost protection, so that on the Pacific coast where late frosts some- 

 times cause damage to citrus fruits, there the fruit is protected by 

 smudging, by water spraying and other processes. The question of 

 frost protection is in a measure a pathological question, and the method 

 of frost injuries is also a pathological question. The question the 

 gentleman just raised with reference to the cause is something that is 

 well known to those who have had experience with frost troubles, that 

 is, if you can prevent the frost from quickly going out of the plant, 

 as the common expression is, you can prevent injury, hence water upon 

 a growing plant produces that effect, simply due to changes brought 

 about in the cell. 



A Member: I think we might take up the subject of Florists' 

 Flowers. 



Mr. Pierson: I am a practical florist rather than a breeder or 

 experimenter. I am rather inclined to look at the profit, or discern 

 as far as possible the market value. I have rather prided myself on 

 the ability to see the dollars and cents ; Mr. Rudd has mentioned in 

 his paper that he does not find time to devote to the scientific aspect 

 of the case, but Mr. Rudd's article is full of thought; Mr. Rudd is 

 a thoughtful man and anything that he writes always makes people 

 think. He speaks of the relation between the variations by sports and 

 seedling variations and shows that they are not vastly different. I 

 think he is right in that. I think the ordinary deterioration in cuttings 

 comes from the very fact that we are not the close observers that he 

 says we should be, and make too many cuttings from deteriorated parts 

 of the plants, for we look at them collectively rather than individually, 

 even in one particular variety. Take for example our native tree fruits 

 of the forests, and there are probably hundreds or thousands of varie- 

 ties or distinct types of these trees, which if propagated by grafting 

 would be perpetuated, but we are not close observers and do not pick 

 out those particular types of trees and do not appreciate them. With the 

 florist's flowers you will find this quite marked in some cases. You 

 will remember the Pierson fern which was sent out some time ago. 

 That was an accident if we may so term it. One of my young men 

 who was a close observer saw in the small plant as it came from the 

 original plant a marked variation in the evolution of the leaf. It was 

 called to my attention, laid aside and developed into a plant that was 

 absolutely distinct from the original. This was not so wonderful in 

 itself, but it is in the fact that from this variation so many different 

 and unique forms of this species were developed. Now we have the 

 elegantissima, showing the tendency of this particular plant to under- 

 go bud variation the same as seedlings so often do. He speaks about 

 carnations deteriorating. I think we often assume that varieties deteri- 

 orate because they are sent out before they become well fixed. They 

 do not stand the test of time, consequently we are apt to hastily say 

 that they deteriorate. I claim they never ought to have been christened. 



