cxxxiv PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



conducted by State institutions in other countries, especially in Canada 

 and the United States, and valuable results are already being obtained. 

 But in all these cases the objects are somewhat different from that which 

 it is proposed that we should follow. Each of these establishments is 

 engaged in the creation or improvement of some particular varieties or 

 species of direct economic importance to the country in which the work 

 is being done. This work, being immediately concerned with the manu- 

 facture of an economic product, does not differ essentially from that which 

 in England is done by the large commercial houses. Great pains are 

 taken with the work, and records, sometimes elaborate, are kept ; but the 

 particular and laborious precision which is needed to establish general 

 truths is rarely compatible with the rapidity which is essential to econo- 

 mic success. The subjects of experiment, moreover, must in these cases 

 be chosen rather with regard to the likelihood of a commercially valuable 

 result than with reference to their fitness to advance knowledge of the 

 principles. No one, I believe, would desire that the Royal Horticultural 

 Society should engage in the direct production of horticultural novelties, 

 work in which we might with difficulty hold our own against the great 

 firms, but rather it should be our object to gain such knowledge of the 

 fundamental properties of plants, and of the natural laws which they 

 follow in variation and heredity, as will be of service to the practical 

 breeder. This is not the moment to attempt any outline of the methods 

 by which these principles can be detected ; suffice it to say that through a 

 great part of the inquiry the lines of research are clear, and all that is 

 needed for the present is the means of following them out. 



" Those who are conversant with work of the kind will know that 

 there are two indispensable-conditions. First, the area of inquiry, though 

 restricted to a very few species — two for summer work and two for winter 

 work would be enough for the start — must be statistically large, and space 

 must be available for growing each of the forms chosen in at least 

 hundreds. Secondly, the analysis must be minute, and the behaviour 

 of the plants must be studied individually. The chief reason that so 

 little, as regards principle, was discovered by the older experimenters 

 on heredity was neglect of this second condition. The discrepant con- 

 clusions of different observers are mostly traceable to mistake as to the 

 identity of the materials used. Success in these researches, as in 

 chemistry or bacteriology, demands the most punctilious attention to the 

 purity of the material and to the cleanliness of the work. It is un- 

 necessary to insist that the observer must have had a thorough scientific 

 training and be familiar with laboratory technique. 



" For such an institution as that contemplated, there is magnificent 

 work to be done. Its inception need not in any way interfere with the 

 work that has hitherto been conducted at Chiswick, which we may 

 ii sunn will be continued al Wisley. The beautiful garden created by 

 Mr. Wilson must also be maintained as an object of delight and a source 

 of instruction to the horticultural world. But if the Society is to regain 

 the position it once held as an important scientific organisation, it cannot 

 do so more effectively than by taking the lead in instituting such an 

 Experimental Station as I have indicated. 



" We all rejoice that the Council and Officers have been successful in* 



