1908] CURRENT LITERATURE 61 
prominent participants in the Conference, as LAWRENCE, WILKS, BATESON, 
JOHANNSEN, TsCHERMAK, WitTmMAcK, Hurst, Miss SAUNDERS, and the VIL- 
MORIN brothers. 
Besides the address of the chairman, Prof. BATESON, upon ‘‘The progress of 
genetic research,” there are a number of important contributions to Mendelian 
inheritance, by Hurst, DARBISHIRE, DAVENPORT, Miss SAUNDERS, TSCHERMAK, 
and BIrFEN; two papers upon orchid hybrids by RotFE, and CrawsHay; and 
several papers upon the occurrence of natural hybrids, the most comprehensive 
of which by E. G. Camus is not printed in full because it was sufficiently volumi- 
nous to make a separate book. This paper deals with the spontaneous hybrids 
of the European flora. A lengthy list of natural hybrids is also given by LyNcu, 
Curator of the Botanic Garden, Cambridge. PrirzER deals briefly with hybridi- 
zation and the systematic arrangement of orchids, and a valuable posthumous 
paper by the same author discusses the probability of the origin of the Orchida- 
ceae from the Amaryllidaceae. OsTENFELD describes some castration experi- 
ments with Hieracium, and RosENBERG reports briefly his work upon the cytology 
of Drosera, and also on Hieracium hybrids. In some of the latter he has found 
considerable differences in the number of chromosomes carried by different eggs 
of the same plant. Bunyarp reviews the question of xenia, stating that after 
an extensive search for evidence of this phenomenon he knows of but a single 
instance, this being an apple cross made by him (‘‘Sandringham” X Bismarck”). 
J. H. Witson describes a considerable number of infertile hybrids, which he has 
studied with some care. 
Dealing with plant breeding from the more practical point of view are the 
following: E. F. Sure outlines the plant-breeding operations of the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture; the improvement of sugar cane is discussed at length 
y Sir DanteL Morris; papers by Zavitz, P. DE ViLmorIN, C. E. SAUNDERS, 
and BrrFEN describe results in breeding improved races of wheat and other 
small grains; HANSEN tells of his work in breeding cold-resistant fruits; RIVERS 
and Laxton also give some of their results in hybridizing fruits, particularly 
peach X nectarines, apple hybrids, and plum hybrids; Laxton draws some 
conclusions from the work with peas for which his family is justly famous; WarD 
gives a finely illustrated description of some of his excellent work on carnations, 
explaining among other things his method of keeping pedigree records; VAN 
TUBERGEN, of Haarlem, discusses hybrids among bulbous plants; Paut gives the 
derivation of a number of fine hybrid roses of recent production; H. H. GROFF, 
the specialist in Gladiolus, discusses plant-breeding from the point of view gained 
by work with these plants, and emphasizes the idea that the plant-breeder has 
much to learn from the animal-breeder. ‘There are several shorter papers by 
other authors. 
_ Many of the articles are illustrated with fine halftones and the press work 
Sup to the high standard for which the reports of the Royal Horticultural Society 
are well known.—Grorcr H. SHULL. 
