,^9i ■-'.-' T/r^-m ry . 



May 13, 1009. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



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Greenhouse Establishment of the State Nursery Co., Fe'ena, Mont. 



PLANT DEVELOPMENT. 



[A synopsis of a lengtUy paper prepared by 

 Charles Allen, of Queens, N. Y., and read be- 

 fore the New York Florists' Club, May 10.] 



There are three distinct methods of 

 plant development, each equally potent 

 in its own way, each of equal impor- 

 tance in the line of usefulness to the 

 plant grower and a marvel to the student 

 of natural phenomena. 



First — Selection through environment ; 

 which means to render nature all the as- 

 sistance possible in harmony with what 

 we term natural law. 



Second — The second phase, or method, 

 is to thwart nature in all her purposes 

 along the lines of reproduction, which is 

 done through the agency of hybridiza- 

 tion, the object of which is to unite the 

 good qualities of two or more species, 

 forming one of greatly increased value. 



Third — The third is nature acting in 

 self-defense in the restoration of some of 

 the specific properties for which the plant 

 is distinguished, and which have been 

 destroyed through the interference of art. 

 These results are usually termed 

 "sports," or, to be more scientific, a case 

 of atavism, or reversion. 



Environment. 



The dahlia, more than any other plant, 

 shows the changes due to environment; 

 changes the hybridist claims are due to 

 his marvelous skill in the distribution of 

 pollen — than which there can be no 

 greater mistake. The marked change in 

 the dahlia from the original type to the 

 show, exhibition, cactus and pompon 

 forms, is truly remarkable, in fact, won- 

 derful. Strange as it may seem, human 

 agency has had but little to do with the 

 changes in these floral forms which have 

 created such an intense interest. 



Let us be more explicit and elucidate 

 the cause of these wonderful and pleas- 

 ing developments. In Mexico, the home 

 of the dahlia, the flowers are apetalous; 

 the margin of the flower, the same as 

 with all the composita;, is simply an 

 adornment and undoubtedly for some 

 wise purpose. When removed to a colder 

 clime the floral discs of the dahlia elon- 

 gate to protect the germ from the cold, 

 which would prevent fertilization and 

 render our beautiful flowers, from na- 

 ture's standpoint, failures, as are all 

 seedless flowers. We find in the history 

 of the dahlia that some of the most rare 

 of the double ^orms became such in the 

 hands of some most distinguished flo- 

 rists in Germany, the second generation 

 from seed. This was not the result of 



the treatment at the hands of the plant 

 breeder, but from the conditions of en- 

 vironment. To protect her own, nature 

 changes the form of the flower by pro- 

 tecting its germ with the beautiful from 

 the standpoint of art. 



In its native habitat the sweet pea is 

 the tallest grower of the numerous fam- 

 ily of lathyrus, and, where growth is 

 slow and climate moist, its period of 

 flowering is much longer than whore the 

 seasons are short and the atmosphere of 

 a high temperature. But the law of re- 

 production is always understood and re- 

 spected by the plant and, in obedience 

 to command, it adapts itself to any 

 situation in which it may be placed. In 

 the short seasons of northern New York 

 growth is rapid, and, in the heavy clay 

 soil, with seasons of heat and drought, 

 in order to produce the required number 

 of seeds, the rampant growth of vine 

 had to be curtailed and the season of 

 flowering made shorter; the result was 

 all its flowers were produced at nearly 

 the same time, which makes the plant far 

 more effective and useful for the florist. 

 This result is conspicuous in Blanche 

 Ferry and the dwarf varieties now in 

 general cultivation, which shows clearly 

 the plant 's adaptation to change of en- 

 vironment. It shows, too, that the keen 

 pye of the horticulturist — the man that 



(Concluded on page 24.) 



MONTANA'S LARGEST RANGE. 



Two interesting photographs from the 

 State Nursery (Jo., of Helena, Mont., are 

 here reproduced. One picture shows the 

 greenhouses, containing 120,000 feet of 

 glass, with the dry land farm on the 

 farther side of the houses, close to which 

 are the company's ice houses and ice 

 pond. The nursery lies to the left, where 

 a mile of the Northern Pacific railway 

 branch runs through the 400 acres of 

 land owned by the nursery company. On 

 the left are the residences of T. E. Mills, 

 the manager, and J. M. Mills, the fore- 

 man of the nursery stock. The building 

 at the extreme left, showing only in part, 

 is the nursery's boarding house, where 

 some of the thirty employees are catered 

 for. The tennis court lies just in front 

 of the boarding house, in the left-hand 

 corner. The company has forty-seven 

 greenhouses, all devoted exclusively to 

 flower culture, and is adding ten more 

 this summer, representing an additional 

 .■?0,000 feet of glass. Forty acres of the 

 firm "s land are used for the growing of 

 nursery stock and for experimental pur- 

 poses. The nursery has its own street 

 car station. The station and the bridge 

 by which it is reached are built in rustic 

 style. 



The group in the other picture includes 

 the manager and a majority of the em- 

 ployees. 



Employees of the State Nursery G)., Helena, Mont. ■< 



