706 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



position, the pitchers are usually almost dry. We are driven then to 

 accept the suggestion of Groom, based on the observations of Mr. H. N. 

 Ridley, that the organic matter is carried in by ants (I. c. 229). We 

 have, therefore, to deal with an adaptation of a singularly complex kind. 

 Originally destined to store and economise water, the pitchers often 

 imperfectly perform that function, and are then taken possession of by 

 ants, which supply solid in the place of liquid nutriment. Having begun 

 as 4 water cans,' they, by a change of function and by the aid of ants, 

 become 'flower-pots.' And there is a sequel to the story scarcely less 

 interesting. Looking through the descriptions of Dischidia in the 

 Flora of British India, I came on that of D. complcxa, based on a note 

 of Griffith, which no one seems to have taken the trouble to investigate 

 or confirm. What excited my curiosity was that in this species a second 

 pitcher is described internal to the primary one. This seemed to me so 

 extraordinary that, finding Griffith's solitary and imperfect specimen in 

 the Kew Herbarium, 1 ventured to take some liberties with it. The result 

 seemed to me so surprising that I have asked Mr. H. H. W. Pearson to 

 work out the promising problem which it presents." An account of this 

 investigation appears in the Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. xxxv. 

 p. 375, and will be found of great interest. — B. I. L. 



Plant-Bbeeding. 



Plant-breeding". By Prof. Homer C. Price (U.S.A. Hort. Soc. 

 Ioiva, 1901, p. 429).— A very valuable article is given here by a compe- 

 tent authority. The writer opens by comparing stock-breeding with plant- 

 breeding. The term " plant-breeding " is of comparatively recent origin. We 

 have long used the term " stock-breeding " to indicate that man possessed 

 the power to regulate, to some extent at least, the character of the offspring 

 of his animals ; but in the plant kingdom we did not recognise the plas- 

 ticity of reproduction so soon. The writer contends that what we can do 

 with animals we can do with plants. After setting forth the rudimentary 

 laws of breeding, the writer classifies the methods as (1) selection ; 

 (2) natural crossing ; and (8) artificial or hand pollination. Sufficient 

 care and attention are not given to selection. Large numbers of good 

 seedlings should be used and just a few selected, following the dog- 

 breeder's advice " to have lots of dogs and to hang lots of them." Hand 

 pollination is the highest development of the art of plant-breeding. The 

 work is difficult, tedious, and exacting, ' The parents should be carefully 

 chosen, and cross pollination secured by emasculating or removing the 

 stamens from the blossom of the variety chosen for the mother ; and after 

 carefully guarding it from any other pollen, the pollen that is chosen for 

 the other parent of the cross is placed on the pistil when in a proper con- 

 dition to receive it. 



The choice of parents is of vital importance, for if the cross is too 

 violent there will bo very few matured seeds, and the ones that do 

 develop are likely to be sterile. Improvement by plant-breeding, how- 

 ever, should bo accompanied by improvement in environment. In 

 order to succeed we must have an ideal, and that ideal must remain 

 constant. — V. J. M. 



