Pomology, Gardening, Forestry, Horticulture, Rural Architecture, Bees. 



Vol. I. 



DES MOINES, IOWA ; LEAVENWRTH, KANSAS, DECEMBER, 1870. 



No. 12 



MARK MILLER, 



Editor and Proprietor, - - Des Moines, 



J. STAYMAN, Leavenworth, Kansas. 

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Color and. Hardiness of Plants. 



That color was a true imlcx of the health 

 and hiirdiut'ss of plants, wc were convinced 

 many years agn, by experieuce and observa- 

 tion. Some six years since we commenced 

 a series of articles on the Health and disease 

 of plants, first published in the" i7ortjc«tor- 

 ist, July, 18G4, and subsequently in the 

 Gardeners' Minthly, from whicli we make the 

 following extracts, which show the position 

 we then held. 



" Tlie darker the color of the bark, foliage, 

 flower and fruit, all other things beiug equal, 

 the more hardy and healthy plants are, and 

 the greater will be their capabilities to witli- 

 stand the various vicissitudes of climate, 

 whether it is tlie sudden and extreme changes 

 of temperature, iinfavoral)k' locations, or the 

 direct rays of the sun." " Now, as liigli 

 color is a representation of hardiness, her 1th, 

 and vigor, so, very light color is character- 

 istic of tenderness, debility, and disease. 

 Consequently, the lighter the color of the 

 leaves, flowers, bark, and fiuit, all other 

 things being the same, the less vitality they 

 have, and the more feeble their growth, and 

 the more subject they are to the various 

 vicissitudes of climate.' ' " Any variegation 

 of the foliage or bark of a negative charac- 

 ter, shows incipient debility, disease and de- 

 generacy. Even when the bark or foliage is 

 much speckled with while, it produces an 

 effect; but when they are striped or blotched 

 with white, it produces a marked effect, 

 which may be seen on those varieties. If 



there is any doubt upon this subject of vari- 

 egated leaf plants, let him compare the vari- 

 egated Balm, Loni';era, Viuca, Deutzia, Hy- 

 drangea Varicgata, and Aurea, with those 

 not variegated. The subject might be con- 

 tinued through all varieties of trees, slirubs, 

 plants, and vegetation, with the same result." 

 '■ The theory herein advanced explains why 

 light colors and variegated plants are pro- 

 duced from darker colors, because, as the 

 seedlings degenerate and become diseased, 

 thej^ change and variegate to liglit ; this con- 

 stitutional defect becomes, through several 

 generations, hereditary and permanent, and 

 when the types become fixed, they cannot re- 

 vert again, because they have no power with- 

 in themselves to absorb sufficient heat, elec- 

 tricit}', and carbonic acid ; they become par- 

 alyzed and incurable ; their characters be- 

 come local and conditional." 



Notwithstanding the fact of these simple 

 extracts, we found but one paper at that 

 time admitting their truth, which the fol" 

 lowing quotation from the Gardeners' Month- 

 ly, of March, 1866, by Mr. Thomas Meehan, 

 will fully show : 



" We stand, we believe, entirely alone in 

 sustaining Dr. Stayman's views. All of our 

 cotemporaries who have noticed tlie subject 

 at all, oppose it. It is not unfrequcnt — in- 

 deed, it is the rule, when any new subject of 

 philosopliical inquiry is presented, that con- 

 trovcrtists mistake, the position they oppose, 

 and lience mystify and obscure what other- 

 wise would be clear enough. Dr. Stayman's 

 viewsare going through this ordeal. The real 

 matteris this : Paleness has long been identi- 

 fied with sickliness ; that is to say, the pale 

 man or the pale plant is not considered so hale 

 and hearty as the ruddier neighbor, paleness 

 being used a- a comparative term between 

 clo.sely allied individuuis. Varieties of fruits 

 we class distinct from species of fruits ; va- 

 rieties of fruits are in fact preci.sely as indi- 

 viduals amongst men. No dozen children, 

 from tlie same parents, are like each other; 

 and no dozen seedling apples are more like 

 thtir parent fruit than these. As the pale- 

 faced child will genefalli' be more tender 

 than his brother who is darker. Dr. Stnyraan 

 so shows the rule holds good with .seedling 



fruits of the same individual fiimilies. This 

 we believe to be our correspondent's claim 

 to a new discovery, and no more, and they 



have our hearty endorsement. No writer 

 has before put them into sba^ie to be of prac- 

 tical use to cultivators, and Dr. Stayman de- 

 serves the credit of discovering a valuable 

 rule in pomological science." 



This candid and able review at that time 

 by the editor of the Gardeners' Monthly, 

 showed frankness, fearlessness, and inde- 

 dendence. It was also consoling to us to 

 find such a timely advocate to our cause, 

 when we were entirely alone, and not yet 

 established in the good graces of the public 

 press, but were left at their mercy, which 

 the following paragraphs show: 



The Journal of Commerce, M cw York, 1865, 

 said : " Are dark colored fruits the most 

 hardy ? A Kan.sas correspendent has, dur- 

 ing the past two years, contributed a series of 

 articles upon the affirmative of this question 

 to the Horiiculturist and Gardeners' Monthlg, 

 which are attracting more attention than 

 they deserve." " He has not yet given us 

 one iota of new and valuable information, 

 or proved one item, of his theories." 



Reuben a critic in the Uorliculturist 1865' 

 said: "I, however, cannot think that the 

 color of the petal of a flower, or the pellicle 

 of the fruit has aught to do with the hardi- 

 hood of the plant." Another writer re- 

 marked. Gardener's Monthly, 1866, "that if 

 this new fledged science of the Kansas phil- 

 osopher, were a living thing, the black man 

 would stand cold better than the white, and 

 the Black Hamburg grape be the vineyard 

 grape, and the White Fox tribe of Maxa- 

 tawneys, and Rebeccas only to be grown in 

 hot houses or glazed structures ; but as we 

 know this is not the case, the animal is little 

 more than still-born at the best." 



The only merit of these remarks lie in 

 these critics' own imagination. Notwith- 

 standing their tirade of fancy and assertion, 

 it appears tliat science slowly but truly has 

 sliown the " animal," although stiU-born, 

 (if not resuscitated) yet lives. Mr, Edgar San- 

 ders, in Prairie Farmer, August 13, says 

 "that this variegation of foliage renders the 

 plant more weakly, we are quite certain in 

 the geranium, as well as probably all other 

 plants, and we are the more convinced of 

 this than ever from the beautiful golden 

 blotched Abutilon Thomsoni, growing out 

 of doors extremely slow, whereas la the 

 green-house, it does quite well in the sum- 



