428 
THE GARDENERS’ 
EDITORIAL NOTICES. 
Advertisements should be sent to the PUBLISHER. 
ewspapers.—Correspondents sending newspapers should be 
е careful to mark the paragraphs they wish the Editor to see. 
— X vigi will thankfully receive and select 
те ‚ suitable for reproduction in these 
тара, of rien, or of orem ud Leyes flowers, trees, 
; but he cannot be responsible for loss or injury. 
APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
MEETINGS. 
yal Horticultural goner a Com 
the D ames 
TUESDAY, Ост. ы жов, at tbe Du. 
Horticultural Club, 
m imus at Protheroe & Morris" 
уы at the 
“arboretum Nune es, Wood Lane, 
hy by 0 Order of Messrs. 
D, by Protheroe & 
MONDAY, Ост. 14 
rig Trees, and Rbo- 
болама di re hes Farm 
Ег — near елем, by Order 
of M Дь ul & Son ‚ by 
Pr other a 
( Dutch Bulbs, at Жай & Morris’ 
К 3 25 at Protheroe & Morris’ 
TUESDAY, Ост. 15+ 
ms, 
| Clearance Sale of Nursery Stock. at 
he шеше Putney, y. D 
| f Mes ‚ Mahood & , by 
N 
WEDNESDAY, 1 
| Sale of the Collection с Mind 
1 
1 
1 
Ост. 16: 
Premises, 
Morris (two days). 
teh Bulbs, at Protheroe & Morris’ 
Room 
Bracebridge, near 
Pg by Order 
— by Protheroe & Morris 
NC 
e of Live and Dead Farm 
1 AA at Rose Cottage pones 
Enfield pg d 34 Order of 
а Wils Junr., b 
THURSDAY, Oor. 17 
Mr. J. 
Protheroe & Morr 
| Linden’s First Great. Orchid Sale, at 
X Steven юв’ Rooms, Covent Garden 
Dutch Bulbs, at Protheroe & Morris' 
FRIDAY, Ост. 18 
h 
Отана, from Meu. F.Sander & 
Co,, at Prothe roe & Morris' Rooms. 
SATURDAY,  Ocr. 19 T oe at Protheroe & Morris’ 
FOR THE ENSU- 
nt searches on 
the Sexuality f 
Imp. Univ., Tokyo, Japan been 
and shows that the Aren Pi subject of the 
origin of the sexes in plants is being stadied in 
the far east, as it has been in Euro ope and 
America; but at present the problem is not 
solved, and Жу question arises, is it ever likely 
to be? e think not, because we cannot 
fathom ы dinua of life, nor — immediate 
its Расы physical manifestations, 
We iow tha t plants can be bisexual or uni- 
climates. We even m bisexual plants 
unisexual late in the season, all the flowers, e.g., 
of some Umbelliferm being male. But what is 
the cause? One general reply to this question 
is, that it depends upon varying degrees of nutri- 
tion, Mr. MEEHAN od others have observed that, 
speaking broadly, the more vigorous trees or 
branches of a БОНДЫ bisexual character tend to 
produce female flowers; the less vigorous, males, 
Thus, Castanea, Hop, &c., have been exampled, so 
that any cause which can bring about an increase 
or decrease of nutriment may have the effect of 
producing female or male flowers, Аа ош А 
Again, it has been observed, as by KNIGHT, that 
a sane temperature tends to the лы of 
flowers, but old 
OFFMAN and others have found that if the 
seeds of a bisexual plant, as Spinach, Mercurialis, 
Ko., be sown thinly or thickly, the proportion of 
male plants is greater in the latter case, 
Hence a great number of coincidences of the 
above kinds have be:n noted from time to time; 
but still this does not bring us one whit nearer 
to the solution of the question what deter- 
mines the sex ? or why does the sexless embryo 
grow up into a male or female plant? We ma 
know something of the external conditions 
requisite, but we can only see that the protoplasm 
or living substance of the plant responds to them 
and gives such or such result, 
The late Mr. CROLL wrote a pamphlet entitled, 
of Life,” 
that there is ын» an © object” in all the results 
of life — and that not one of the known 
pro of physical forces oan throw the 
slightest 1 light upon the immediate cause of this 
“ object,” In the question before us this сое 
is either а stamen or а oarpel, s the 
sexless papilla on the floral receptacle pie into 
one rather than the other of these two organs ? 
microscopical examination throws the 
smallest light upon it whatever. The fact is, 
we neither know the nature, nor understand the 
powers of life. At this point the biologist is 
brought up sharply to a dead halt ! 
If we must be contented with knowing only 
the external influences, then it is here that the 
practical or experimental part of the subject 
comes in, crease of nourish- 
ment as а primary cause of the production of a 
female flower, the author of the paper mentioned 
j 
S 
flora are cut, as is usually done in J apan, by an 
annual pollarding. A second method is by 
keeping only one or two shoots, and breaking off 
all the other adjacent young shoots at the of 
the last year’s shoot; thirdly, by combining 
these two processes, 
The author supplies a table showing that “ out 
of forty-five branches experimented on, nine 
produced female or hermaphrodite flowers i in the 
And that out of 2283 
branches which were neither pollarded nor had 
any marks of previous injuries, the shoots of only 
seven branches produced 
dite 
He observes ina Summary that “ the sex of the 
flowers of re: densiflora is not determined by 
ological positions on the shoot. The 
CHRONICLE 
[Остовев 12, 1495, — 
3 
female when local inorease of nourishment takes 
place at a certain stage, or during certain stages 
of its development.” 
These experiments corroborate those of Matz 
who found that male = repeatedly proned 
gave rise to female flower thers ha 
with similar results. 
stigmas of Begonias, and in fertilising by the 
third stigma alone. 
fresh and d | 
pollen; though his results were in some degres 
contradictory, one, however, was inte 
= 
“í precocious n. 
duotion of the rose tint, for the proportion of 
red flowers to 100 white was 146 male and № 
female plants, Of those impregnated late, the 
proportion was about seventy male and fifty-six 
female, This result tallied with that of Can- 
(plants with red fiowers, being varieties, E 
species), he obtained a very great quantity of 1 
red flowers like those of the male plants, somè 
few only were nearly white, This rent 
followed from the impregnation by freshly- 
collected pollen 
ow far florists experiment in this way with 
1 ow; but 
on the above occasions in ! ring of 
flowers, there would seem to be some 0) р. 
for experiments in this direction, With reg 
to the subject of the paper, however, ОП tho 
origin of sex, further investigations are wanted 2 
to — if ever it be possible, the immediate 5 
cause of sex 
the most gorgeous of 
highly appreciated eden 
bloom next — 
treatment required by C. Lawrences 
ki 
simplest kind. Usually the plant is late in aa 
into growth, and the bulbs are only half Å 
when s of aut upon 
lightest part of the house, so 88 | 
growth quickly. This point is an essential cue. — » 
regards affording water at the roots, resting, 
course to follow is the same as is found 
ita congeners, To the wt of the 
be — vr — 
