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Apbil 20, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



I3J7 



bedding plants in the spring, but to win- 

 ter many hard-wooded plants. For in- 

 ^ance, this spring it has been hard work 

 to retard our azaleas. In such a frame 

 they could have been kept just above the 

 freezing point by regulating the heat 

 and many days with no heat at all. They 

 are usually heated by running a steam 

 or hot water pipe around the wall, these 

 pipes coming from the system which 

 heats the houses. W. S. 



TURNING PLANTS OUT OF POTS 



Wbat an experienced grower does with 

 ease, and almost unconsciously, may, of* 

 course, be not so easy for a beginner at 

 the work, and there are many such in 

 these days of the rapid development of 

 horticulture. It is so in the matter of 

 turning plants out of their pots. It is 

 frequently necessary to turn some of 

 them out, it may be for the purpose of 

 ascertaining whether they have filled 

 their pots with roots and require pot- 

 ting, or whether they are too wet or too 

 dry, or for the purpose of dislodging 

 worms. It is a very simple matter to 

 turn a plant out of a pot, but there is a 

 right and a wrong way, and a brief 

 description of the right way, with the 

 accompanying sketches from the Gar- 

 deners' Magazine, can hardly fail to 

 prove useful. To perform the opera- 

 tion smartly, place the fingers over the 

 soil, with, the plant stem between them 

 (Fig. I); invert, and, holding the pot 

 with the other hand, give the rim one 

 or more sharp taps on the front edge 

 of a solid bench. This will cause the 

 ball of soil to slip out of the pot (Fig. 

 2), and, holding it bottom upward, it 

 may then be subjected to the necessary 

 examination. This completed, put the 

 pot over the ball (Fig. 3), press it 

 down, and turn the right way up. Then, 

 Tieeping the fingers firmly on the sur- 

 face of the soil, give the pot one or two 

 sharp taps on the bench to settle the 

 plant in its place. This little operation 

 will also prove the advantage of using 

 perfectly clean pots for potting, for if 

 the pots are dirty inside, when used, 

 the new soil and new roots will stick 

 to it in such a way that when an at- 

 tempt is made to turn the plant out 

 for examination the ball of soil becomes 

 broken and many roots are damaged. 



CAN SPORTING BE INDUCED? 



[A note by L. C. Corbett, of Washington, 

 read before the American Institute of New 

 York. March 8, 1906.] 



The Sporting of plants, as we term 

 the vegetative variations, which occur 

 during the life of the individual is only 

 a special form of variation. Variation 

 we know is the natural tendency of 

 plants and animals. The direction and 

 extent of such variation are frequently 

 predetermined by external circum- 

 stances — environment — or by inherent 

 tendencies of the individual of species. 



In fact, fixity of type, either in na- 

 ture or under cultivation, is a very dif- 

 -ficult thing to attain, as all seedsmen 

 and plantsmen well know. The fixity 

 which appears to exist in nature and 

 which is responsible for the existence of 

 so-called species is the result of certain 

 limiting forces working in conjunction 

 through countless generations. Break 

 up this deadlock and the species almost 

 invariably throws off varieties, a con- 

 venient term for indicating a departure 

 from the parent type. 

 ' From what has been said it will be 



evident that I consider a sport simply 

 a marked variety or variation, which 

 may appear as a distinct individual or 

 as a part of an individual during its 

 period of existence, in which case, for 

 purposes of distinction, we are pleased 

 to call the latter a bud sport or variety. 



Sporting, then, may be encouraged by 

 extreme conditions. Either extreme 

 feeding or extreme poverty may induce 

 plants to sport. Severe changes in 

 climate or soil conditions may result in 

 decided changes in stature, habits of 

 growth and fruitfulness, which are as 

 marked attributes of a sport as are 

 changes in the color of foliage of fruit. 



Burpee Dwarf Lima bean is a good 

 example of a sport where the habit of 

 the plant was markedly changed. The 

 white and fancy sports of the Lawson 

 carnation are good illustrations of 

 changes in color. 



Just here I wish to note that in a bed 



of Lawsons and upon a plant with oth- 

 erwise normal flowers, one shoot pro- 

 duced a blossom one half of "which was 

 pure white while the other half was of 

 the normal pink of the Lawson. These 

 sports in the Lawson are exceedingly 

 interesting, for they clearly indicate 

 that the Lawson is composed of two 

 parts, pink and white, in which the pink 

 is the predominant. Under favorable 

 conditions, however, the white asserts 

 itself and we have the sports above 

 spoken of. This frequent breaking out 

 of a recessive character is all the more 

 interesting in the case of the Lawson 

 carnation on account of the fact that 

 neither of its immediate parents is 

 white, the Lawson being the result of a 

 cross of Daybreak, pink, with Van Lee- 

 wen, cerise. The facilities now at 

 hand do not allow me to analyze the 

 composition of either Daybreak or Van 

 Leewcn, but I suspect from the behavior 

 of Lawson sports that one of these 

 parents, and perhaps both of them have 

 a strong white strain of blood in them. 

 From what has been said it is evi- 

 dent that cross-pollination is believed 

 to be one of the most important means 

 through which the sporting or varia- 

 tion of plants can be induced. The 

 wonderful results obtained by Burbank 



in his work with fruits have been based 

 almost entirely upon the practice of 

 cross-pollination. In connection with 

 this work there seem to be two pretty 

 well established theories. They may be 

 stated somewhat as follows: When 

 working with species the more violent 

 the cross that can be secured the more 

 variable will be the hybrids in the sec- 

 ond generation and the more likelihood 

 there is of securing distinct forms or 

 monstrosities. Second, that when 

 working with plants which are them- 

 selves of cross-bred or hybrid origin, 

 the peculiar attributes of the particu- 

 lar plants used for breeding purposes 

 cannot be counted upon to appear in 

 the mongrel offspring, except in so far 

 as these characters form important dom- 

 inant or recessive characters in the 

 breeding of the parent plants. 



The marvelous results achieved by 

 some of our modern plant breeders 

 seem to lie in their wonderful skill as 

 manipulators of plants. Grosses have 

 been successfully made by these men 

 and fertile seeds obtained from plants 

 which have been considered incompat- 

 ible and so entirely distinct that it was 

 considered heresy to seriously consider 

 the question of making such a cross. I 

 am free to confess that with ninety- 

 nine persons out of every hundred en- 

 gaging in such work I believe the re- 

 sults would be nil. The success of 

 the one proves his superior skill and 

 ability to discern the conditions essen- 

 tial for success. 



The factors, then, which may be con- 

 sidered as contributing to the sporting 

 of plants are: Extreme conditions in 

 the environment, such as marked 

 changes in latitude, altitude, soil condi- 

 tions as from alluvial to desert, in- 

 creased .food supply the results of an 

 excessive use of plant foods or of culti- 

 vation, and violent or continuous cross- 

 breeding. 



EoCKFOBD, III. — W. H. Hizer does 

 considerable in the way of landscape 

 and nursery business and has recently 

 been at Belvidere with a force execut- 

 ing an order for Judge Wright. 



Warsaw, Ind. — Miss Jessie Thayer 

 and Mrs. Friend have built a greenhouse 

 in East Warsaw and embarked in busi- 

 ness with the intention of adding to their 

 glass as fast as the development of trade 

 will warrant. 



Newport, R. I. — The Newport 

 Horticultural Society has completed 

 arrangements for two exhibitions this 

 year. For several years past the 

 exhibitions have been held in Ma- 

 sonic hall, but the growth of the society 

 and the greatly increased number of ex- 

 hibits each year, together with a gener- 

 * ous increase of interest on the part of 

 the summer residents, gave reasons to 

 suppose that if a more commodious as 

 well as a mdre fashionably located place 

 for these exhibitions could be obtained, 

 still greater success would result. With 

 this end in view the Casino, the great 

 rendezvous of fashion, on Belle vue ave- 

 nue, has been secured for the society's 

 exhibitions. The first, an exhibition of 

 roses, fruit, flowers and plants, will be 

 held in June; the other, embracing all 

 the main features of former ones, with 

 several new and attractive classes in ad- 

 dition, the whole to make the greatest 

 horticultural show ever held in this city, 

 will be held in August. 



