698 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



September 14, 1929 



oth^T hatul, that the evidence of plan and 

 design, and tlie wondrous adaptations 

 among which we live, and of which we form 

 part, indicate some creative guidance, and 

 that of a benevolent, omniscient, and omni- 

 potent character. This doctrine, thouo-h 

 it involves conceptions far and away beyond 

 human (*:ip:i(*ity , i.s <'ertain]y the more com- 

 foitinij. (jt tilt' Lwo, and appeals more deeply 

 than one u lu< li ai i^ut^s that all tlu^ \vorld\s 

 beauty, charm, and more especially the in- 

 tellectual enjoyment it provides, is the mere 

 outcome of blind laws minus a J^aw-giver. 



Mr. Robert Morten, who has for 



some years oecupied a leading position 

 among the large body of amateurs who de- 

 vote sonu' portion of their leisure to the 

 cult of the l)or<ler carnations, evinced a 

 strong aticetion for these delightfully Ira- 

 grant flow4Ts quite early in life, and b<^ior(^ 

 lie wa> out of his Unms he entered on their 

 cull iv;it](Hi. Ili'^ however, considers that it 

 was not until ls!)7 that he -began to grow 

 theni St l idusly. Sine© that year he has de- 

 voti'd much time and attention to his 

 favourite flowers, ami. as the r<*snlt of un- 

 remitting attention and a kvvu apprecia- 

 tion of their- enltural reqniri^nents, has 

 from the first achieved much snecevs. Mis 

 success in(luce<l him, someeiglit years smee, 

 to exhibit at the exiiibitions of tlie National 

 Carnation ami Pieotee Swiety. In 1908 

 Mr. Morton was sn;<essful in winning the 

 Divisioiuil Cup in tin' second division, and 

 this a<'hievenuMit he rt^peated at tlu^ exhibi- 

 tion held by the society \u July last. In 

 1910 'Mr. Morton eomp(*ted for tlie Martin 

 Smith (or- Anmt<Mii-s') Cup, and was placed 

 StH'ond. Ili^ iaiinr'.' {<> otimw thrruveted 



award e\id«'ntly stimulated him to further 

 endi^avoui-, tor in Ii)ll an<l the pri'si'iit year 

 he was successful in -vvinnintr this trophv. 

 EviiliMitly. Mr. Morton has a de<ided pr'e- 

 fer(MH4' foi- horder carnations that are 

 shown nu>r«» or less naturally, for In^ 

 <'onhiH\s himself to the classes for un- 

 dresse<l flowers, an<l has not at anv time 

 competed for the j^rizes for <lresseil flowers 

 shown on cards. Mr. Morton attributes 

 much of his vUf'ccss to the many kindnesses 

 and hints on ilu^ cultivation of the plants 

 that he received from tlie late Mr. James 

 Douirlas, who, as so well known, was ever 

 rea<ly to encourage amateuis in the culti- 

 vation of these and other flowers, and to 

 assist them in anv difficulti<\s Avith whicli 

 they ha(l to iontend, owing to their not 

 'being conversnit wirh some of the details 

 essential to >ncc» >,N. Mr. Moiton evidentlv 

 fully utilised tho advice he rweived, and 

 in tlie interest of horder rariritions we 

 trust h(^ may hmg continue to take an ac- 

 tive interest in the work and the <\\hibi- 

 tions of the Xatinnal Carnation and Picn)- 

 tee Society. For his vnice^^ as a cultivator 

 and exhihitor <an hardiv f iil to have a 



stimulative eff^ect upon tlinst* entering:: on 

 the cult of his favourite flowers. \V<v have 

 been fortunate in inducing Mr. Morton to 

 de&cribe his method of procedure in the 

 cultivation of border carnatiouis for exliibi- 

 tion, and we coinmend his contribution, 

 which appears in another part of this issue, 

 to those of our readers who ar*^ interested 

 in these flowers. 



a method he gave to 



Mendelia.n 



■In the 



presidential address given bv Professor 

 Keeble at the opening meeting of the Bota- 

 nical Section of the Britisli A ssociation 

 special reference was made to t Ih^ great 

 value f)f the Mciidt^lian method in biologi- 

 cal research. If, a,s he believed was the 

 . the greatest gift which an ^^xperinn^n- 

 tal science could receive was a new, ser- 

 viceable general method then to no man 



were biologists more indebted than to 



Mendel, for such „ ___ ^ 



their science. The supreme importance of 

 Mendel's contribution to science consisted 

 in thi&j that instead of mixing anything 

 with anything, he had taught them the 

 value of the method of genetical analysis 

 of individual characters. Thus the tirst 

 part of the Mendelian restatement of the 

 okl problem of heredity read, ''Investigate 

 one i)v one the modes of iiduM'itance of the 

 several characters of an individual. L'lioose 

 for this purpose organisms which are as 

 far as possible alike in all respects except 

 for the character under investigation. 

 Carry the experiment to its conclusion^ 

 even to the third or fotirth gL-neration. 

 If uncertain result^s are obtained, ascer- 

 tain before discarding the method whether 

 the uncertaintv may not be due to the 

 inter h'l-erui' of other characters not to be 

 siispe. tcd a priori of exercising an influence 

 upon tlir e\])rcssi(j;i of the clmracter under 

 investigation." Who, for example, would 

 suspect a morphological character like 

 thickness of stem of exercising an influence 

 on the time of flowering of a plant? Yet 

 such was the case with the pea (Pisum sati- 

 vum), and there was evidence that wnen 



this disturbing influence was removed, in- 



heritance of time of flowerinir followed '^^^ ^^^^^ afforded by the I'ecent visits of 



Somers Rivers. The programme of the 

 meetings held on the second day included 

 a fruit bottling demonstration by Mr. "W 

 B. Little, a lecture on Canker and Other 

 Bark Diseases," by Mr. F. J. Chittenden 

 and a demonstration of pruniup; fruit tif>J 

 and btisnes. 



The British Potato Crop, ^hi ii 



was very promising over a wide area ui 

 Great Britain until about the middle of 

 July, has suffered so severely from the 

 wretched weather that has been experienced 

 since then, as to suggest one of the least 

 satisfactory of the yields of late years. 

 The disease is rife over the whole of Great 

 Britain, and, in many instances, it has 

 done much damage. In some instances 

 large areas of potatoes have been under 

 water, and the soil is in a saturated con- 

 dition. According to the official returns 

 which have recently been issued, the area 

 under potatoes in England and Wales 

 amounts to 463,007 acres, or an increase 

 of 33,835 acres, as compared with last year's 

 cro23. 



Mr. E. A. White's Visits to 

 Ottawa and Stockholm. An in- 

 teresting sequel to the Royal Tnternatioiial 

 Horticultural Exhibition held in May last 



Mcndeliiui ridt-s. 



Foreig:n Horticultural Exhibi- 



'-^'^ international horticultu ral 

 exhilntinn will, as already announjed in 

 these pages, be held at St. Petersburgli 

 in April, i9i3, and a great chrysanthtn um 

 and truit show at Aantes, November 12-17 

 of the prese!it year. Tile Presidenc and 

 Council ot tlie Uoyal Horticultural S- ciety 

 lia\e \H^vn asked to suggest some names of 

 gentlemen willing to act on the jury of cne 

 or other of these exhibitions, liiey aviU 

 consequently be glad to hear from any 

 Hritisn horticulturists intending to attend 

 either of them. Thev should, of course 

 write to the Rev. \V. Wilks, Vincent 

 Square, AVestminster, S.W. 



The Wisley Viola Trial The aiid son— Tessin. 



the honorary manag-ing directcjr. Mr. Ed- 

 ward White, to Ottawa and Stockholm. 

 At the former city he was called upon by 

 the Dominion Government to advise upon 

 the laying out of the ground adjoining the 

 Parliament Buildings acquired for the pur- 

 pose of the erection of extensive new 

 departrnental buildings. At Stockholm 

 Mr. White was commissioned to give 

 advice concerning the arrangement of 

 the gardens at the Royal Palaces 

 at Stockholm and Wrottningholm. The 

 latter is the Windsor Castle of Sweden, 

 and it is hoped to be able to restore, to a 

 certain extent, the magnificent gardens 

 w^hich were planned wdien the Palace was 

 designed more than two hundred years ago 

 by the famous Swedish architects— father 



trial of violas has this year been so success- 

 ful, particularly in ttie late spring and 

 early summer, that it has been suggested 

 (ana the council have accepted the sugges- 

 tion) that the trial should be continued in 

 1918 for the purpose of determining the 

 date of the flowering of the various varie- 

 ties. Growers, amateurs as well as trade 

 are therefore requested to send three rooted 

 cuttings of each variety (old as well as new) 

 so that they may be planted before the third 

 week m Octobt-r. A<ldl•(^^s l)v post The 

 SuiHM-niteiHb^nt. H.H.S. (iardens, Wislev 

 Kipley, Sui rev. *^ ' 



R.H.S. Daffodil Show, 



Tbe Koxal Horticultural Societv's <laffodil 



1913. 



sbo^y w!l next year l)c lield on Tuesdav and 

 A\edne,sday April lo and 16. The schedule 

 of pri/os nu»y l.o now obtainecl from the 

 Secretary, Uoyal Horticultural Society 

 ^im-eut Square, Westminster, Londom 



Northern Fruit Congress.— The 



■contereuce on fruit cultur,. that was held 

 at Carlisle on the 3rd and 4th inst., under 

 Jie auspices of the North of England Hor- 

 tioultural Society in conjunction with the 

 exh.l.itu.n of the Carlisle Horticultural So- 

 ciety, was attended with a fair amount of 

 success. At the afternoon meeting on the 

 first day Mr. Chisholm gave a demonstra! 

 V'Zv approved method of fruit 



to vl. h "" '7 " Soils in Relation 

 to J^ruit Growing. Profes.sor F. V Theo 



^ald was to have given at the evening 

 meeting on the first day a lecture on " The 

 Spray.ng of Fruit Tre^s," hut was unahle 

 to attend, ami Ins place was taken by Mr. 



Endowment of the South 

 London Botanical Institute.— 



Mr. Allan O. Hume, C.B., formerly of the 

 Bengal Civil Service, and a well-known 

 botanist and ornithologist, who died at the 

 end of July last in his 83rd year, left his 

 collection of heads and horns of Asiatic 

 animals to the trustees of the British Mu- 

 seum. He also confirmed a settlement, 

 dated January 10, 1907, of .£10,000 2A per 

 cent, stock for the endowment of the South 

 London Botanical Institute, and also the 

 provision of an indenture bv which he gave 

 his premises, 323. Norwood'Koad. S.E., for 

 the purposes of the Institute. He left all 

 his hooks on botany and ornithoh-gy and 

 dictionaries upon trust for tlie Institute 

 to oneoura^e tbe studv of hotanv and (esjie- 

 eially Britisb hotanv) in the 'County of 

 London south of the Thames, and also the 

 pai-t of his herbarium not already trans- 

 ferred to the Institute. 



North of England Horticul- 

 tural Society. The next meeting of 

 the N. E. H. S. will be bel^l on the iSih 

 inst. in the Queens (Midland) Hotel at 

 half-past six p.m., when Mr. W. i^vl^e, ct 

 Cranbourne Nursery, Ware, Herts, who is 

 a recognised expert*^ on commercial manur- 

 ing, will lecture on " Commercial and 

 General Manures/^ It is hoped there wiU 

 he a good attendance of market growers. 

 The show fixed for the 18th inst. is post- 

 pones! for many causes over which the 

 executive have no control. The reports of 

 gardf^ners and others are in favour of con- 

 centrating on the two-days show, October 

 17 and 18, when a very fine exhibition ot 

 fruits, orchids, etc., is anticipated. 



