1G8 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



horticulturist lias no other duties ; in about 30 cases the horti- 

 cultural work is prosecuted with some vigour ; and in about 20 

 cases the horticultural work attains real importance, the horti- 

 culturist being aided by one, two, or three trained assistants. 

 Nearly all of these stations are comparatively very young, having 

 been organised since 1887. The work is not therefore settled in 

 all of them, and the supply of well-trained men fitted for 

 scientific investigation along horticultural lines is still consider- 

 ably below the need. In certain sections there has always been 

 in operation the notion that men of so-called "practical" 

 experience would be most likely to secure good results in horti- 

 cultural experimentation ; but all the experience of a decade is 

 against that belief. It is seen more clearly each year that pro- 

 gress is being made only as investigators apply themselves to 

 fundamental principles ; i.e. to the underlying sciences. Thus 

 scientific talent of a high order is required to solve the compli- 

 cated problems in applied science, such as make the study of 

 plant culture. Indeed, much of the best work has been done for 

 horticulture by botanists, mycologists, and entomologists, who 

 make no pretensions to " practical " training. 



" This is well illustrated in the matter of the treatment of 

 plant diseases. I suppose that the practice of spraying is no- 

 where better understood or more effectively carried on than in 

 America ; and almost every increment of progress has come from 

 experiment station work. Mr. Lodeman's recent book on " The 

 Spraying of Plants," is an excellent index of our knowledge on 

 this subject and its sources. This line of study in particular 

 has shown results of incalculable value chiefly through the work 

 of the mycologists. 



" The work of botanically inclined horticulturists, among 

 whom Professor Bailey, of Cornell University, deserves special 

 mention, has put our knowledge of classificational pomology on 

 a scientific and rational basis. The mere record and description 

 of varieties is now seen to be of very slight permanent value. 

 The study of groups, and types, and natural relationships ; or of 

 variation, its directions, causes, and limitations, is seen to have a 

 much deeper significance, a broader application, and a much 

 higher practical value. 



" Experiments in propagation, cultivation, and fertilisation 

 have given varying results — sometimes worthless, sometimes 



