^THE" 



RISKS AND REWARDS 



IN RAISING NEW ROSES 



Among the chief fascinations of. hybridizing are its mysteries and uncer- 

 tainties. The hybridizers are ever seeking success hy seeking fuller ac- 

 quaintance with Dame Nature, the chief of hybridizers, but the lady shuns 

 familiarity. Occasionally, however, when such a free favor is least expected, 

 she coquettishly presents to some astonished florist a fine new rose — a sport. 



tR 



OSES originate in two 

 definite ways, either 

 through the reproductive 

 organs or by bud varia- 

 tion — the adventitious 

 bud, as the scientist puts 

 it. We florists speak of 

 bud variations as sports. 

 These bud sports, when 

 they become fixed in their 

 character, are really the creation of a 

 new rose, especially in color, and often 

 the growth also varies, sometimes show- 

 ing more vigor and greater strength 

 than in the parent, but often a lessened 

 degrefe of vitality. It is a strange per- 

 formance of nature, to say the least. 



Climbing Sports. 



Sometimes these adventitious buds 

 produce really remarkable scandent 

 growths, taking the character of a real 

 climber. I think it safe to state that 

 every variety of rose 

 that has had extensive 

 propagation has devel- 

 oped this trait. These 

 climbing growths can be 

 fixed, so that they retain 

 their newly formed 

 character. These climb- 

 ing variations refuse, 

 however, to bloom con- 

 tinuously, like their par- 

 ents, but give forth 

 their flowers annually, 

 with intermittent bloom 

 at intervals through the 

 growing season. 



As illustrations we 

 have Climbing Killarney, 

 Kaiserin, Meteor and a 

 host of others which are 

 catalogued by the trade. 

 Among the last to take 

 on this form of sporting 

 is the variety Ophelia, 

 as reported by Chas. L. 

 Baum, of Knoxville. 



These climbing varia- 

 tions are certainly of 

 great value in the way 

 of furnishing varieties 

 for porch, pillar and 

 veranda decoration and 

 in the way of giving 

 valuable varieties for 

 screen purposes, pillar 

 roses and porch adorn- 

 ment. I distinctly re- 

 member a climbing 

 Perle des Jardins in 

 R. C. Kerr's city, grow- 

 ing with such vigor that 

 it had then covered a 



By E. G. HILL. 



(Address at Tennessee Florists' Convention.) 



large portion of a two-story veranda. 



A Baffling Mystery. 



It would seem that nature, while un- 

 willing to reveal her secret in this par- 

 ticular, evidently works along fixed 

 laws, for when one of these bud va- 

 riations- appears in one place, it comes 

 forth in like character in one or more 

 places. The variety Caroline Testout 

 developed this trait at Lyon, France, 

 and at Berkeley, Cal., some 7,000 miles 

 apart, at practically the same time. 

 Some of our superior forcing varieties, 

 those extensively used for flower pro- 

 duction, are the product of varieties 

 that have sent forth these adventitious 

 buds. For instance, Catherine Mermet 

 gave us Bridesmaid and The Bride, and 



New Rose Mme. Marcel Delanney. 



(Awarded the Odd Medal in the Bagatelle Garden Trials in Paris.) 



how well and faithfully they served the 

 growers of roses for a quarter of a cen- 

 tury! Then we have the Killarney 

 family — White Killarney, Killarney 

 Brilliant, Killarney Queen, Double 

 White Killarney, Red Killarney; this 

 variety has been specially prolific in its 

 color variations and has proved a valu- 

 able asset to the rose growing frater- 

 nity. I mention Catherine Mermet and 

 Killarney as prominent in adding great 

 value t^o the market florist. How we 

 are to explain this phenomenon is past 

 comprehension, except that it is accord- 

 ing to the divine plan of the Creator. 



Limits of Man's Knowledge. 



Of the fact of evolution we are cer- 

 tain; of the workings of natural selec- 

 tion we have no doubt. But with re- 

 gard to the nature of the variations, 

 what causes them and when to expect 

 their appearance, we at this date know 

 practically nothing. 



The writer has often 

 wondered whether the 

 orchardists and the nut 

 and fruit men have not 

 overlooked these bud 

 variations, to t h e i jr 

 great loss. If, when a 

 superior apple has ap- 

 peared, or any other 

 fruit differing from the 

 normal, it has ever been 

 propagated and an ef- 

 fort made to fix it, the 

 writer has never heard 

 of such an attempt. 



On this particular 

 phase of our work, let 

 every florist keep a 

 keen lookout, for there 

 is no telling what good 

 fortune may come to 

 you. Killarney Brilliant 

 and White Killarney 

 made up into the thou- 

 sands of dollars for the 

 g'entlemen who discov- 

 ered and disseminated 

 them. Can the Ethi- 

 opian change his color 

 or the leopard his spots? 

 No, but a rose can 

 change its color, and 

 does do it. 



Biology is the science 

 of life. Fertilization is 

 the method of pro- 

 cedure for anyone who 

 would give earnest 

 thought and effort to 

 produce new types, 

 either in roses or other 



