THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



63 



is, in fact, less than seA^enty years old. The Catawba grape is 

 nearly fifty years older but it never attained to the Concord's 

 popularity. The grape, however, is not an isolated case. When 

 we begin to inquire into the history of almost any of our vari- 

 eties of fruit, we find that all are of comparatively recent ori- 

 gin. The varieties in cultivation a hundred years ago^ were 

 seldom up tO' the standards we hold at present. Prohably the 

 fruits of another generation will in their turn excel those which 

 we regard so highly. 



Varieties of Garden Flowers. — The conservative bot- 

 anist is not the only one to complain of the undue multiplica- 

 tion of varieties. The gardener, like his scientific confrere, is 

 beginning to find the flood of new forms somewhat embar- 

 rassing and objects to many of them as trivial variations of no 

 value to anybody. In the Modern Gladiohts Grower, one nur- 

 seryman voices his complaint in part as follows : "Take any 

 catalogue that describes a long list of varieties and one of ex- 

 perience cannot select the best by the descriptions, for all are 

 described in such a way that they appear to be good and we 

 might say extra good. If one of experience cannot select the 

 best, how is the average amateur going to select them ? I for- 

 merly had the mistaken idea that the more, varieties the cata- 

 logue contained the better, but now I believe the fewer the bet- 

 ter, provided they are the best obtainable. If I ever issue an- 

 other catalogue I shall have fewer varieties, but those the best 

 of their color. The past summer I compared my irises when 

 in bloom with this end in view. I now have twenty varieties 

 of German Irises in my catalogue that are blue of dif¥erent 

 shades and markings and my next catalogue will contain but 

 four or five. What is true of the iris is true of most flowers, 

 but probably peonies are the most abused of all flowers in this 

 respect. I have over 150 varieties of peonies and if three- 

 quarters of them had never been named they would not have 



