12 



The Florists' Review 



F£BBUABX 10, 1916. 



plants. It is established beyond ques- 

 tion that sex exists in the vegetable 

 as well as in the animal creation, and 

 if we would improve the rose, this is 

 the right line to work upon. Practical 

 experience is the only teacher. Scru- 

 tiny, observation and application are 

 the three forces that win. The late 

 Mr. Carmen, editor of the Kural New 

 Yorker, made this statement before the 

 S. A. F. years ago — that roses and all 

 plants have their predisposition at cer- 

 tain times more than others to assume 

 the sex relation; in other words, they 

 fall in love just as the members of the 

 animal creation do. 



The Hybridizer's Methods. 



The modus operandi is simple so far 

 as the mechanical act is concerned. The 



the work of the hybridist. Let the 

 imagination have play; in other words, 

 conjure up in your mind the kinds and 

 qualities you wish combined in the. va- 

 riety you wish produced; then select 

 the parents carefully and await re- 

 sults. Time, patience — unlimited pa- 

 tience — is the one great requisite. 

 Someone has said that out of 1,500 ger- 

 minated rose seedlings, if you get one 

 that towers above existing varieties, it 

 is all that can be reasonably expected. 

 It might be that through accident, or 

 what is called luck, you might get the 

 coveted prize with a less number. 



Saving and Sowing the Seed. 



The care of the plants after fertili- 

 zation is all-important. Too free use 

 of water will cause the hips to rot and 



E. q. HHl. 



stamen, the pollen-bearing anther, must 

 be removed, else there is danger of 

 self-pollenization. The pistil, the seed- 

 bearing organ, is composed of the ovary 

 and stigma, and upon this the pollen 

 must be placed. This is best done by 

 a camel 's-hair brush. Care should be 

 taken to protect from insect interfer- 

 ence if definite results are to be had. 



Spring is suggested as the most op- 

 portune time for the work of the 

 hybridist with roses. Select with care 

 the roses you wish for your mother 

 plants, and it would be well to have 

 these grown in pots, for convenience 

 and after care. 



Idealism plays an important part in 



damp off. Air must be allowed to cir- 

 culate freely among the bushes; no 

 coddling or impure atmosphere must 

 be allowed, else the work done thus 

 far will be lost. If, say, your fertiliza- 

 tion is done in April, it will take until 

 the end of November for the seed to 

 ripen. One essential matter is that 

 the seed must be thoroughly ripe and 

 hard; unripened seed will not germi- 

 nate. Sowing the seed as soon as gath- 

 ered is practiced by many, and I think 

 this is perhaps the wise thing to do. 

 Some file the seed on one side, taking 

 fare not to injure the germ; this facili- 

 tates germination. Seed may be sown 

 in any ordinary good loam, with drain- 



age in the pots or boxes used. Great 

 care is needed in watering and nursing, 

 else the little seedlings may suffer from 

 damp. 



We potted off in April last about 

 2,200 seedlings, all from carefully 

 thought-out crosses, and these, when 

 planted, occupied 500 feet of bench 

 room. With a few exceptions, they 

 flowered, and the result is quite grati- 

 fying, prospectively at least. The last 

 year's work has been more carefully 

 and scientifically performed — this as a 

 result of fifteen years' experience. 

 Mendel's theory has been of great as- 

 sistance and I would commend a care- 

 ful perusal of his work. 



Some Famous Hybridizers. 



You perhaps know that Pernet- 

 Ducher, of Lyon, has given us a ma- 

 jority of our finest and best roses; to 

 Mr. Pernet we are indebted for the 

 fine yellow coloring bred into our fa- 

 vorite forcing varieties, such as Sun- 

 burst, Mrs. Aaron Ward and others. 

 Antoine Eivoire is one of his varieties, 

 and the valuable Ophelia is a seedling 

 from this noted sort. The Dicksons, of 

 Newtownards, gave us the original 

 Killarney, together with other valuable 

 sorts. The Hugh Dickson firm, of Bel- 

 fast, has been awarded the $1,000 prize 

 by the Panama-Pacific jury. One of 

 the most studious of the European hy- 

 bridists is Samuel McGredy, of Porta- 

 down, Ireland. Some of his seedlings 

 under test at Eichmond give promise 

 of good things in roses in the near fu- 

 ture. The two Pauls, of England; the 

 Souperts, of Luxembourg, and Lambert, 

 of Germany, have made notable addi- 

 tions to our list of valuable roses. 



Among our successful American rais- 

 ers of new roses may be mentioned 

 John Cook, of Baltimore; Walsh, of 

 Woods Hole, Mass.; Montgomery, of 

 the Waban Eose Conservatories, and 

 others. I shall miss my guess if we do 

 not produce in the near future roses 

 of such character as will put our Amer- 

 ican productions in the front rank. 



The South 's Opportimity. 



What we need in this country is va- 

 rieties of roses that will thrive and em- 

 bellish our gardens. The people in 

 Tennessee are particularly favored by 

 soil and climate for this particular line 

 of work. Let them get busy and lend 

 a helping hand, and see if they cannot 

 produce some new varieties that will 

 more perfectly embellish our gardens 

 and dooryards. They owe it to their 

 state and profession that they under- 

 take this work. 



Some of the most promising introduc- 

 tions of late years are succeeding 

 finely in the southern climate. I was 

 particularly pleased with Mrs. Charles 

 Eussell and Ophelia as grown under 

 glass in the south; Hoosier Beauty and 

 Killarney are making good with most 

 growers who have given them a trial. 



One thing must be borne in mind — 

 it costs time, patience and money to 

 produce new varieties of roses. You 

 cannot expect these to be forthcoming 

 unless you are willing to purchase of 

 these new varieties, thus encouraging 

 those who, I think, are deserving of 

 more hearty support than has been ac- 

 corded thus far. 



The Demand for New Sorts. 



When last at Lyon, France, I found 

 that the great silk manufacturers bent 



