156 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



the Society should be spehed Burbunk we wrote direct to 

 Luther Burbank and received a note from him in which he 

 denied any connection Avith the Society. If that set of books 

 is ever reaUy issued, it ought to afford most entertaining read- 

 ing to the discriminating botanist. 



^ ^ ^ 



You never can nip these nature-fakers in the bud. They 

 ahvays burst into fuh bloom in some unlooked for quarter, such 

 as the local papers, and become disseminated through the lay 

 press before the scientists start in to eradicate them. Take this 

 specimen from the columns of the Big Four Successful Poultry 

 Journal, quoted by Modern Gladiolus Gron'cr. "You all know 

 the gladiolus. AMiile we keep some strains of bulbs in their 

 purity, the blending of colors by propagation is so fascinating 

 that Ave blend a large number of different colors every year. 

 This is done by setting two bulbs of dift'erent colors so that 

 they touch each other in the bed. The young bulbs that form 

 that season will throw blooms of dift'erent colors from the 

 parent bulb and while we cannot tell just what colors to expect, 

 we are sure of some new color creations every season.'" Such 

 a proceeding must indeed be ''fascinating" as the author claims. 

 EA^en to read about it is fascinating, but for our part we are 

 more fascinated by the colossal ignorance of botanical principles 

 displayed by the writer. It is absolutely impossible for even a 

 ''wizard" in horticulture, such as they keep on the Pacific Coast, 

 to perform such a feat. A poultry journal, we incline to think, 

 should stick to its chosen field. Readers who would believe 

 such stuff' about crossing the gladiolus would as readily saa'oIIow 

 a story to the eft'ect that woodpeckers lay Avooden eggs and the 

 latter tale Avould be much more appropriate for a journal of 

 this kind. We recently noted in another publication the asser- 

 tion that ncAv A'arieties of sweet peas Avere made bA' taking the 



