12 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JANUABT 18, 1912. 



Q. Hill early in the nineties. The list 

 is as follows: 



Christina Dorner 



Tecumseh 



Hoosler 



Mra. Harrison 



Indiana 



Ben Hur 



Richmond 



Purdue 



Spartan 



Cere« 



"White Cloud 

 Mary Wood 

 G. H. Crane 

 Lorna 



Morning Glory 

 Dorothy Whitney 

 Stella 

 Sibyl 



Mrs. Elizabeth Rey- Apollo 



nolds Alba 

 Mme. Diaz Albertlnl Senorlta 



Dr. Smart Mauvlna 



Blanche Bizarre 



Wabash The Belle 



Wm. Scott Neptune 



Western Pride Lady Bountiful 



The Stuart Eclipse 



Storm King Aureola 



E. A. Wood Fiancee 



Uncle John White Perfection 



Michigan Red Chief 



Goldnnch Bonnie Maid 



Dazzle Winona 

 Mrs. C. H. Duhme Pink Delight 



Meteor Scarlet Glow 



Bridesmaid White Wonder 



Mrs. G. M. Bradt Gloriosa 



Gold Nugget Rosette 



Many of you are familiar with this 

 part of his work and perhaps would be 

 more interested in the methods used in 

 securing his results. One rule which he 

 insisted upon following was the selec- 

 tion of the best, and the use of none 

 but the best varieties in his breeding 

 work. 



He selected as the time for crossing 

 the months of January and February. 

 This selection was made for two rea- 

 sons: First, because the flowers at this 

 season were at their best and so he had 

 a fair idea as to form, color and 

 growth; the second, and perhaps most 

 important reason, is that at this time 

 of the year there were no insects to 

 interfere with the work. When insects 

 are present they carry the pollen from 

 flower to flower as they seek the honey, 

 and make it impossible to have pure 

 crosses unless each flower .is carefully 

 protected by means of a paper bag. 

 This last operation would mean a great 

 expense where from 700 to 1,000 crosses 

 are made each year. This expense is 

 not so much the cost of material as the 

 time necessary to put the bags on and 

 to riemove and replace them. 



The Production of Seedlings. 



In preparing his flowers for seed, the 

 first operation was emasculation, or, 

 in other words, the removal of all sta- 

 mens. The flowers were selected be- 

 fore the anthers were open and the 

 stamens and inner petals were cut off 

 at about the top of the calyx. The 

 outer petals were left intact, as they 

 always fold up when the ovules are fer- 

 tilized and so make good indicators. 

 The flower was then staked and left 

 until the pistil was receptive, as was 

 shown by its hairy condition. The 

 pollen was then transferred from the 

 flower selected by means of a camel 's- 

 hair brush to the pistil of the emascu- 

 lated flower. In a few days the petals 

 would curl and close toward the center 

 and, after they had become dry, they 

 were entirely removed. Later, when 

 the seed pod had almost reached full 

 size, the calyx was cut away, so as to 

 prevent moisture lodging at the base 

 of the pod and causing it to decay. 

 The seed, which was ripe by March 

 and early April, was gathered and sown 

 within two or three weeks. The young 

 seedlings were transferred to pots and 

 planted in the field as soon as they 

 were large enough. In the field the 

 plants from each pod had their label, 

 giving the number of the cross and the 

 parentage. These plants were allowed 

 to grow without topping and, as soon 

 as they began to flower, selection was 



made of the plants to be taken into 

 the house. During some years more 

 than 2,000 seedling plants were benched. 

 The best varieties are those which 

 flower earliest in the field, and so none 

 of these were neglected. As the plants 

 flowered, all those with double flowers 

 and perfect calyx were marked and 

 then topped, so as to make them branch 

 as much as possible. This selection was 

 continued up to the time that the 

 plants were removed to the house. The 

 seedlings were always some of the 

 last to be brought under shelter and 

 so all the good varieties had a chance 

 to flower outdoors. All varieties not 

 producing blooms by the time of the 

 early frosts were left in the fleld with 

 the singles and splits, as they were en- 

 tirely worthless because of their crop- 

 ping habit. In this manner all the 

 croppers were eliminated.* 



Testing the Seedlings. 



In the house each plant was given a 

 label upon which was the number of 

 the seed pod, and, as the plants began 

 to flower, all promising varieties were 

 selected for a second year's trial and 

 given a new number with the year. 

 The cuttings were made from those 

 plants selected and given a second 

 year's trial. If they showed up well 

 the second year they were carried on 

 for a third year, but it was not until 

 after a fourth year's trial that they 

 were placed upon the market. During 

 the time of growing seed, during Janu- 

 ary and February, no flowers were re- 

 moved from the second and third year 

 plants, as it was desirable to test their 

 keeping qualities on the plants, as well 

 as to have the flowers for crossing pur- 

 poses. In this way one was also able 

 to test the color, as to whether or not 

 it would fade out in the sunshine. 



Fred Dorner possessed the happy fac- 

 ulty of seeing the future possibilities 

 in the various varieties. In his work 

 he would use for the growing of seeds 

 varieties that to an outsider seemed 

 poor. However, an intimate knowl- 

 edge of the variety itself, as well as its 

 parentage, suggested to him that it 

 might be the basis of a large flower, a 

 good calyx, a long, stiff stem or a good 

 constitution. Unless the breeder pos- 

 sesses this faculty to a greater or less 

 degree, his work will be entirely hap- 

 hazard. 



He also realized that system and the 

 keeping of records were absolutely 

 necessary for success in his chosen 

 work. He not only thought that the 

 records were necessary, but he kept 

 them with him at all times during the 

 flowering season, so that when, in walk- 

 ing through the house, his attention was 

 attracted to some variety, he was able 

 to look up its parentage and find where 

 it derived its peculiar qualities. These 

 records consist of the number of the 

 plant, the year, the number of the seed 

 pod, the parentage, the color and notes 

 on the habit. He made further study 

 of his various seedlings and would 

 spend much time passing from plant to 

 plant, noting its good and bad quali- 

 ties and studying its ancestry. He was 

 so familiar with them that he could 

 call hundreds by their numbers and 

 give their parentage. 



His Method of Selection. 



After the first few years no foreign 

 varieties were used in his work, on 

 account of the fact that these varieties 

 might have had ancestors with objec- 



tionable qualities that might show up 

 at any time in the progeny. His work, 

 then, was confined to his own varie- 

 ties and especially to those in their 

 second and third year's trial. Only such 

 plants as had good constitutions were 

 employed. Such varieties as were sub- 

 ject to stem-rot, rust and other dis- 

 eases were discarded, as he always had 

 in mind the development of disease- 

 resistant varieties and worked with 

 that end in view. 



Before discussing his rules concern- 

 ing color, foliage; stem and calyx, it 

 might be well to get some conception 

 of his ideal carnation, towards which 

 he was ever striving. He realized that 

 without a good foundation a plant 

 could not produce good flowers nor 

 many of them. His first requisite, then, 

 was a plant that should haVe branches 

 in all stages of development, and which, 

 when planted in the bench, should 

 show the same number of flowers and 

 buds during the entire year. The leaves 

 of the plant were to be broader and 

 shorter than those varieties that be- 

 long to the class known as croppers. 

 The leaves were to have a strong bluish 

 green color, as this is the natural color 

 of those carnations that have- strong 

 constitutions. The stems were to be 

 long, and stiff enough to carry the 

 flowers. This did not necessarily mean 

 that they were to hold the flower per- 

 fectly erect, as he preferred that the 

 heads should bend just slightly toward 

 the side and so prevent them from look- 

 ing stiff. The flowers themselves were 

 to have purity of color, were not to be 

 overfilled with petals, were to have 

 size, symmetrical form and fragrance 

 and were to have a non-splitting calyx. 



Securing the Bight Color. 



With this ideal in view, he applied 

 certain rules in order to approach his 

 goal. The early seedlings showed a 

 great variety of color, due to the fact 

 that in an effort to build up a strong 

 constitution it was necessary to use va- 

 rieties that should have been in classes 

 by themselves. After building up the 

 constitutions it was necessary to secure 

 pure colors. This he accomplished by 

 the careful selection of the colors used. 

 In order to develop a white strain he 

 used white with white, never adding 

 any other color. To secure pinks he 

 used pink with pink, paying little at- 

 tention as to whether they were light, 

 medium or dark, but to get the clear 

 pinks, as represented by Fiancee and 

 Gloriosa, it was necessary to eliminate 

 the use of any pink with a blue or red 

 undertone. To secure reds he used red 

 with red, or used yellow with his red 

 in an attempt to intensify the color. 

 In speaking of reds in this case, we of 

 course include all the scarlets. For 

 yellow he used yellow with yellow, or 

 in some cases used white, or red with 

 the yellow, the red being used to deepen 

 the yellows. Scarlet maroons were 

 used with scarlet maroons or scarlets. 

 Purple maroons were relegated to the 

 purple class. All shades of purple and 

 lavender were used together. In the 

 case of the variegated varieties the 

 course was determined by both the 

 ground color and the variegation, so 

 that with a red and white variegated 

 flower a red and white variegated 

 might be used, or a clear red or white. 

 By following these rules he developed 

 what might be called color strains 

 which, when used together today, give 

 colors of the same value. 



