ilij^ (iarkncr's UtontMg. 



237 



SPORTING " IN FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 



BY PHILIP WOODLEY, RALEIGH, N. C. 



Two articles in the Monthly for June, by Messrs. 

 Crucknell, of Pa., and P. B-, of New York, make 

 inquiries as to "graft hybrids" and " sporting," — 

 two subjects which 1 have long thought to be, in 

 principle, the same. One of them speaks ot "Prof. 

 Caspary's interesting article, published in the Gar- 

 dener s Chronicle of last year," on the subject— and 

 from the note you append to the contribution I in- 

 fer you have seen it. Will you repubhsh it for your 

 reader.? 1, for one, would like very much to read 

 it, as I have never perused anything pretending in 

 any way to account for this very common occur- 

 rence of "sporting." Many instances have come 

 under my observation, and I have endeavored to 

 account for it in a way which, to me, is reasonable 

 and satisfactory. 



Amongst the various kinds of plants which beau- 

 tify and adorn our world, there are characters borne 

 by all that have a resemblance to each other. For 

 instance, all have leaves, all bear seed, and all pos- 

 sess the power of continuing their kind. Now, 

 while they have these general properties in com- 

 mon, there are differences, even in those species 

 which are yet closer allied, of a very striking and 

 important nature, which serve, at the same time, to 

 distinguish them into those classes which are gov- 

 erned by fixed and lawful rules, and which have met 

 with favor wherever the study of Botany has been 

 encouraged. 



No one, I suppose, would now think of contend- 

 ing that these common characters would indicate a 

 common origin, any more than peculiar conforma- 

 tions in varieties would a different one. That all 

 our species sprung from a different origin — the first 

 parents of the several kinds possessing those great 

 and striking differences which we find distinguish- 

 ing their descendants of to-dav — is a well establish- 

 ed fact, and needs no argument to establish it. The 

 apple and the peach cannot boast of a common pa- 

 rentage. The Newtown Green Pippin and the 

 Rhode Island Greening are, nevertheless, apples, 

 though differing much in many respects. 



Now, lyght here, arises the question, why should 

 the Pippin seed not produce the Greening tree ? 

 For the same reason that it cannot produce the 

 Seckel pear or the Tillotson peach. "And God 

 said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb 

 yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after 

 his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : 

 and it was so." He said. He made those laws 

 which we see ruling to-day. "And in the sweat of 

 thy face," whereby bread is obtained, do we find 



the cause that has given to man so many fine varie- 

 ties from a common parent. There we must con- 

 fine our inquiries within natural bounds. Have 

 those species which are closely allied the in-power 

 of producing yet new varieties, by hybridization or 

 otherwise? Have varieties of a common species 

 the innate power of producing, at times, a common 

 sort, or which bear a close resemblance to the com- 

 mon parent or to each other. The first we leave for 

 future experiments to establish : the latter we have 

 to deal with. 



Now, we lay it down down as a rule that varieties 

 have not the power of continuing themselves 

 through their seed. The seedlings of fine fruits 

 having the tendency to relapse into the original 

 state, is ample evidence enough to sustain this. But 

 they have the power contained m their buds. See 

 the difference ! The buds produce, to a certainty, 

 the true variety of its parent ; while the seed of 

 that very fruit has the property of producing some- 

 thing totally different ! 



Plere is a prma'ple, an inherent principle, devel- 

 oped in the one case and latent in the other. Take 

 an example : — A graft from the Seckel pear invari- 

 ably produces its well-known buttery and melting 

 fruit; an "accidental" seed produces the far-famed 

 Ot! Why so? Here is an effect produced; 

 where lies the cause ? 



Nay, we see two extraordinary phenomena in this 

 case ; the hud propagating its kind, yet differing in 

 its product from its own seed: and an "accidental" 

 seed, not following the usual course, but producing 

 a variety almost equal to, and closely resembling, 

 its parent. We can only say that an unusual cause 

 has operated upon this seed and produced the ef- 

 fect we see. 



Can we understand what that cause is that has so 

 far rendered latent this inherent principle of this 

 seed as to cause it to produce this superior seed- 

 ling? (1.) 



Let us see. . We take two varieties of the Apple, 

 for instance, and endeavor to produce a new variety 

 partaking of the nature of both the varieties opera- 

 ted with, by hybridizing them. The result is a new 

 variety : — the same effect produced as we before 

 saw in the "accidental" seedling of the Seckel. 

 We draw our inference, and our conclusion is 

 just. (2) 



Again, the mere fact of a new variety being pro- 

 duced, is sufficient to show that there is something 

 contained alike in the bud and seed which is sus- 

 ceptible of being influenced. We say ahke in the 

 bud and seed, because it has been influenced in one 

 and can be,, by the same process in- the seedling. 



