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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



yellow and purple spotted throat. Dr. Van Fleet found that first-genera- 

 tion hybrids seldom proved valuable, but seemed to improve in later 

 generations. 



The Improvement of Carnations. By C. W. Ward, of New York. 



Mr. Ward gives the results of twelve years' work in breeding Carna- 

 tions. The first six years were spent in indiscriminate crossing, and little 

 or no advancement was made. The last six years he adopted a definite 

 system of breeding from definite shades of colour and habits of growth. 

 After securing habit and colour he then bred for size of flower with great 

 success. In this way Mr. Ward was apparently following Mendel's 

 methods of breeding, but quite unconsciously. 



The colour forms were divided into classes or sections, and of these 

 the crimson, dark pink, scarlet, white, and light pink have become fairly 

 fixed, reproducing their own type in the greater percentage of seed- 

 lings. The yellow and white variegated, fancy, and blue sections are not 

 so well fixed, and, being hybrids in the Mendelian sense of the word, will 

 possibly never be fixed. Altogether 50,000 seedlings have been grown, 

 and out of these 36 varieties of commercial value have been produced and 

 profitably grown. Mr. Ward believes that, while indiscriminate breeding 

 on a large scale may produce occasionally good results, yet it is largely a 

 waste of effort. More uniformly better results were secured by him from 

 pedigree stock than from mixed breeding. As to the determining 

 influences of the respective parents, Mr. Ward does not believe that the 

 pollen parent has a positive determining influence in colour nor the 

 pistillate parent in habit. After the hybrid has been secured it can be 

 much improved in habit of growth by skilful selection of the cuttings 

 used to perpetuate the variety. 



The Breeding of Native North- Western Fruits. By 

 N. E. Hansen, of Dakota. 



The prairie regions of the North- West require hardier varieties of fruits, 

 and to secure these Mr. Hansen has raised more than 100,000 seedlings 

 of Cherries, Plums, Raspberries, and Strawberries. Chief reliance is 

 placed on selection from large numbers and good cultivation. So far 75 

 Cherries and 200 Strawberries have been selected as worthy of propaga- 

 tion. The Ever-bearing Strawberries imported from France were winter- 

 killed, but their hybrids with the wild Dakota Strawberry proved hardy. 



Advantages of Selection and Hybridisation among Grapes. 

 By T. V. Munson, of Texas. 



A summary of results obtained in attempting to combine four distinct 

 species of vines. Mr. Munson claims that quality of Grapes can be improved 

 by increasing the vigour of the vine. Better varieties are to be obtained 

 by conjoint selection and hybridisation. Selection alone is too slow, as 

 inbreeding limits variation and causes weaknesses. Indiscriminate cross- 

 ing without selection may prove injurious, and valuable results can only 

 bo obtained by crossing followed by careful selection. In crossing, pure 



