174 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



wisely made to conform. The liabit of the plant may be bettered, the 

 size or shape or colom* and flavour of its flowers or its fruits, roots, or 

 leaves may be enhanced or improved ; but whatever the earnest or lon<^- 

 felt want may be, will it so, stick to the point persistently, and ultimately 

 in a great measure, even if not wholly, you will find the old adage verified 

 that " all things come to those who will and wait." In all arts and crafts 

 the first great motor power is the will, or the imagination, and this in the 

 main is where the great artist differs from the merely clever and dexterous 

 workman or maker of things inanimate on canvas or in wood and stone- 

 But in improving the wild plants you are remodelling life itself ; yours is 

 a nobler duty than that of the artist, who simply imitates and ennobles 

 inanimate, or even animate things. You are nearer to nature, and art: 

 really and truly carrying on the life work, the evolution of beautiful and 

 useful created things. Having formed a clear idea as to the plant or 

 plants best worth improving, the next point is to select the best wild 

 varieties as breeders. Thus, in the case of the blackberry, you will choose 

 forms remarkal)le for at least one good (juality — it may be size, or flavour, 

 or a good and prolific habit of growth and fruiting, and these may be 

 further improved l)y cross-breeding the selected wild parents under good 

 cultivation. Good culture does not always mean a deep, rich, heavily 

 manured soil. The blackberry often does its best amongst rocks and 

 furze bushes, or in hawthorn or sloe hedges, where its roots have to 

 compete with others for earth food, but where they have shelter and 

 support. Our failures with the best American kinds may be due to their 

 having been grown alone in too rich earth in part, and also to the lack of 

 bright sunshine, or of too much moisture. Then the blackberry is 

 naturally a climber, and one that i)refers a living support to a dead one. 

 A hedge of bullace plums and blackberries might prove an ideal way on 

 many dry warm soils. Both plums and other stone fruits like chalk or 

 limestone soils, which also suit blackberries well, so that there is a double 

 advantage in growing both together. 

 Plant improvement is effected by : — 



1. Forming a strong and high ideal of what is beautiful or desirable. 



2. Selection of tlie best or most suitable wild kinds and garden 

 varieties. 



8. By good culture of the finest of garden varieties. 



4. By selection of the best garden-reared seedlings. 



5. By careful cross-breeding the best wild and cultivated varieties. 



6. By hybridising distinct species, or a distinct species and a garden 

 or Continental wild variety together ; and of course all these operations 

 and phases of culture and improvement may be carried out side by side at 

 the same time. 



7. In the case of many good and distinct things like caltha, the 

 greater buttercup, lily of the valley, asparagus, seakale, blackberry, &c., 

 simply selection from seed or judicious cross-breeding would probably 

 yield better results than hybridisation with other species. 



• In modern science, in politics, and even modern novels we often hear 

 of what is called the "psychological moment," or the exact time for 

 prompt action and all due appreciation. I am old enough to remember 



