AMERICAN HYBRID CONFERENCE. 



1067 



entertained the party at lunch. After paying due honours to Mr. Newbold's 

 beautiful garden the carriages were again requisitioned and a visit was paid to 

 Hyde Park, the residence of Mr. F. W. Vanderbilt. Hyde Park was formerly 

 the seat of Dr. Hosack, the founder of the Elgin Botanic Garden at the 

 beginning of last century. It was celebrated as one of the finest specimens 

 of the modern style of landscape gardening in America. " Nature has, 

 indeed, done much for this place, as the grounds are finely varied, beauti- 

 fully watered by a lively stream, and the views are inexpressibly striking 

 from the neighbourhood of the house itself, including as they do the 

 noble Hudson for sixty miles in its course through rich valleys and bold 

 mountains." So far Downing in his Landscape Gardening. What 

 was true when Downing wrote is equally true at the present moment. 

 The grounds were laid out by Parmentier, and both the native trees and 

 those imported from Europe during the last century are well cared for. 

 The consequence is that here are to be found remarkably fine specimens 

 of exotic trees rarely seen in the northern United States. Mrs. Vanderbilt 

 kindly acted as guide. 



The organisation of the Congress was in the hands of a committee 

 consisting of Dr. Britton, Chairman, Messrs. Hexamer, Siebrecht, and 

 de Wolf, with Mr. Leonard Barron as Secretary. The arrangements, 

 which must have been very difficult to make, were admirably carried out, 

 and, partly owing to the foresight of the Committee and partly to the 

 tact of the President, the lengthy programme was disposed of in the time 

 allotted. 



A special word of praise is due to Mr. L. Barron, who discharged the 

 secretarial duties with great discretion and ability, and the success of the 

 meeting was in great measure attributable to his faculty for organisation. 

 Readers of this Journal will be interested to know that Mr. L. Barron 

 is a son of Mr. A. F. Barron, V.M.H., who was so long Superintendent at 

 the gardens of the Society at Chiswick. 



In addition to the work of the Conference, Mr. Bateson paid a visit to 

 the Agricultural Station of the State of New York at Geneva, one of the 

 best equipped in the United States. The Director, Professor Jordan, and 

 Professor Beach, the head of the Plant-breeding Section, furnished many 

 interesting details with regard to the organisation and scope of the work. 

 Some idea of the magnitude of the undertaking may be gathered from 

 the fact that the yearly income appropriated to this station alone is about 

 $70,000 a year, the original cost of buildings and other permanent 

 installations bei-ng provided in addition. The object of these stations, 

 of which at least one now exists in each State in the Union, is to provide 

 agriculturists of the State with information on every point of scientific 

 or practical interest relating to their industry, and secondly to investigate 

 special agricultural problems, chemical, botanical, zoological, having an 

 economic bearing. As regards plant-breeding, the most important experi- 

 ments in progress at Geneva are directed to the improvement of Grapes, 

 Apples, and Rubi. Extensive series of these orders were to be seen, 

 and Professor Beach demonstrated the many interesting points they 

 illustrated. 



Subsequently a visit was paid to the Department of Agriculture at 

 Washington, where Professor Galloway, chief of the Plant-breeding Section, 



