HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 57 



is, I think, general!}" true (provided, of course, that they are impregnated.) 

 And it would seem reasonable to infer that when but one of the sexual or- 

 gans is complete, the other will have more strength. Plants, therefore, that 

 are perfect in both organs, require a higher state of cultivation. There is, 

 however, a wide difference in the productiveness of different kinds, that are 

 perfect in both organs, some being much more liable to blast than others. 



G. W. HUNTSMAN. 



Flushing, L. I., July 14, 1846. 



Mr. Editor : — You say that you "would like to hear my opinion of a 

 very frequent variation of petals taking the place of the anthers of the 

 stamens in some varieties of Fuchsias." The variations to which I presume 

 you allude are, a peculiarity in some varieties of different genera, the sta- 

 mens form the footstalk of forced petals with the anthers imbedded in the 

 centre. Or, in other words, these forced petals form a garnishment or 

 mantle to the stamens and anthers. Such is the case with some varieties of 

 Fuchsia; and the double red Althrea has the same peculiarity, but yet its 

 sex is unchanged, as it bears seeds with such malformations of its organs ; 

 but the Fuchsias do not, for the reason that they are produced by excessive 

 culture, kept up by excessive culture, and are so succulent by excessive cul- 

 ture and the confined and humid atmosphere of a greenhouse, that one 

 would more readily take them for herbaceous than ligneous plants, if he did 

 not know the genus to which they belonged ; and in this state they cannot 

 bear seeds, but are monsters or mules with respect to reproduction. And 

 does any body assert that they have changed sex, because they are rendered 

 abortive by such treatment, and having a tendency to such peculiarities. It 

 is in the sex that I say stability rests, and although man can destroy, he has 

 not the power to amend the laws of nature in this particular. You advise 

 me to study certain authors, I used to consult Smith and Lee when I was a 

 lad; they were then considered good authority, but now I suppose you class 

 them among the "old Fogies." When the great Patrick Henry was in the 

 prime of life, some friend of his suggested to him the propriety of studying 

 certain authors, to which he made answer, " books are very useful for in- 

 structing the young, and I have been much benefitted by them, but now I 

 must gather knowledge from experience, and read men and things — the 

 world is my book." To which I add, Amen. Respectfully. 

 Philada., Jan. 16, 1854. Walter Elder. 



Fir3t, for Mr. Prince. He pronounces Mr. Elder's "commentary on sex- 

 ual immutability," " one of the most lucid and comprehensive ever penned 

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