536 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE, 



August 



** tt* 



though the crested ones and the normal one may be regarded in some 

 measure as legitimate reversions, the occurrence of the plumose or 

 crispum frond in such a connexion is one of the very last things the 

 experienced fernist would expect. Its departure from the original type 

 is really an extreme case, seeing that a narrow, much divided, very fertile 

 frond is replaced by a broad, frilled, barren one, belonging to a different 

 section altogether. The occurrence of such a multiform plant 

 independently of a cross, is another proof of the versatility of species in 

 themselves, and undermines materially the evidence which has been 



eighteen to thirty inches in length, and in the second ^ • 

 crops of fruit of high quality. These branches are Zll»7 ^ *** 

 following the production of fruit, and every scrap 0 ? 

 burnt. Under this course of procedure, one crop only fa * P 

 plantation in two years ; but by cutting back one-half the °h k & ° m ■* 

 continuous supply of fruit is obtained. The question, therefore n ^ * 

 has to consider is whether half an acre of healthy bushes will b thc P°** 

 than an acre of bushes in a more or less unsatisfactory ftnutitiJ «l ^ profiuUe 



Mr. T. F. Rivers, the head of the SawbridgeLrthtm whn 



tion. 



ui^no^v^, anu uuu.nuu., , 7* . " UCC " highest authorities on the culture of fruit for marLT ., 01SODeo, «t 



adduced of multiple parentage m multiform plants of a similar class. As ga * rden? is strongly of the opinion that tfae ™ « *eU as on fruits fa * 



the hart's-tongue is easy to raise from the frond bases, it would form a 

 very interesting experiment to mark these diverse fronds, and take 

 cuttings from them to ascertain whether such a start being once initiated 

 by the frond itself as it were, its base would reproduce its own particular 

 type to the exclusion of the other. Some well marked and constant 

 varieties of ferns have been so intimately associated with normal plants 

 when found as to indicate the possibility of their resulting from bud 

 sports instead of spores, and we know of one case of a heavily crested, 



give the best results and that he has the courage of his opinion is eXta££ 

 his practice. It would be interesting to know the exact difference ann J 

 weight of fruit obtained from the two areas mentioned, and we conZl £ 

 matter to the attention of those who have an experimental turn of mind • t» 

 do not suggest that the mite should be introduced to the plantations for txnSm!fi 

 purposes. pennon 



Hybrid Nymphaias.-Dr. Masters exhibited several kinds of nymphi. 

 at the recent meeting of the Scientific Committee, with the purpose of aS? 



attention to the different arrancrempnrc znA ~r »i_ _ . ™ 



frilled hart's-tongue originating as an undoubted offset from a plain frilled attention to the different arrangements and number of the lacuna in thesteaiftf 

 one, from which it could only be separated by cutting. Any evidence, the flowers and in the petioles. He observed that the species could be erouDrf 

 therefore, of such potency in local partial sports to become fixed as by means of them, and proposed to make a further examination of the b - 



established varieties is well worthy of collection, our knowledge in this 

 direction being of the most meagre description. 



FRUIT HYBRIDIZING. 



for the purpose of ascertaining whether they could also be arranged into groups 

 by the aid of the lacunce. 



Violas at Chiswick. 



gardens of tic 



Royal Horticultural Society has, notwithstanding the somewhat unfavowihlr 

 climatic conditions that have obtained during the summer, brought into pi*, 

 minence the varieties specially suitable for garden decoration. The Ins 

 collection has been examined on several occasions during the season, and thiet 

 marks or awards of merit given to the. finest of the varieties in the several bueioJ 



The unsatisfactory results so far attained by the attempts to cross 

 fruits of different species are not much to be wondered at when we 



consider the far greater complexity involved in a successful fruit cross _ 



than there is in a merely floral combination. The bigeneric orchids colour. These have been fully reported upon in the Gardener. Macaws* 



recently produced, and cited as exemplifying possibilities in this direction, and it is of interest to know that the varieties selected for distinction at the cutis 



have resulted from crosses between plants which even if of varietal meetings of the Floral Committee still maintain a leading position. At the 



forms, are practically wild finds, and hence have fairly pure blood in each inspection of the collection on Tuesday it could readily be seen that had the 



parental form to start with, and, moreover, the external appearance of the awards been made on that day they would not have differed materially from thoae 



made earlier in the season. 



three 



marks, and this was Bronze Queen, which has dark, red-bronze flowers, ttd 

 appears to be well able to resist the effects of drought when growing in light soik 

 It is fairly free in flowering. 



Function of Iron in Plant Life.— At a recent meeting of the Vm 



Academy of Science, M. Jules Stoklasa submitted his views on the physiological 

 function of iron in the vegetable organism, which created considerable intemt • 



has long been recognised that iron is necessary for vegetable life, and miaotfuj* 



. •• - - • coabuu- 



bi-typical flowers, if they present new forms or new tints, is held to justify 

 all the trouble taken. With fruits, however, there is the far more subtle 

 question of flavour to be considered in addition to the second material 

 point that the parental forms of raspberry or strawberry, gooseberry or 

 currant, are the outcome of long-continued selective culture, so that, as 

 opposed to the case of orchids, whose seed would presumably give fairly 

 true progeny, the seeds of these fruits are of such variable potencies 

 that little or no dependence can be placed upon them as reliable repro- 

 ductive agents. The results of this is that the fruit hybridist has really 

 no fair start, and when we consider what an exceedingly delicate matter 

 flavour is, especially in our finer fruits, and how it requires a connoisseur 

 to fully appreciate their niceties, grading not merely from the pleasantly 

 acid to the intensely sweet, but all grades mingled with the specially 

 characteristic taste and aroma of the variety concerned, it becomes clear 

 that any combination is almost bound to spoil rather than to improve, and 

 the connoisseur shudders at the mixture precisely as the judge of wine 

 would do at a mingling in one glass of his choicest vintages. In cross- 

 ing and hybridizing, however, it occasionally happens that the influence 

 of one parent is peculiarly limited, only one feature out of the many 

 being transmitted, and in this fact lies, in our opinion, the greatest 

 encouragement for the hybridizer of fruits, since among a multitude of 

 failures due to mixed, and therefore unpalatable, flavours, he may here 

 and there arrive at a type worth having, say, bunch gooseberries with the 

 true gooseberry flavour, or currants immensely enlarged by the goose- 

 berry influence, but with their characteristic taste unimpaired. This 

 type of combination is well worth trying for, and though we predict that 



the successes will be numerically few, we heartily hope that the efforts to ^ urnin g ^own from the exterior part 



reap them will not be relaxed on account of preliminary difficulties, * 

 especially as Nature has a peculiar knack of introducing surprises in the 

 varietal line by way of bonus to the assiduous cultivator over and above 

 the legitimate prizes arrived at and won by judicious unions. 



organic co»^- 



has extracted from onions and from peas a substance containing I 68 per cent 

 iron, which closely resembles, in composition and properties, the hermitof* 

 obtained by Bunge from yolk of egg. This compound is also contained in 

 chlorophyllaceous plants, as was proved by its being obtained from moulds (N** 

 mttcedo) and fungi {Boletus edulis). 



Blind Strawberry Plants.-Some plants of Royal Sovereign iwwtajf 



were received at the meeting of R.H.S. Scientific Committee from Mr. J- 

 of the Gardens, Foxbury, Chislehurst, in which the crowns were g cncr ~^ ^ 

 Mr. Lyne writes : " Last autumn we planted a bed of last seasons "J^^ 

 the object of getting early runners this year. They grew well, and — * 

 of early runners. All trusses of bloom were picked off the parent p— - ^ 

 they appeared. The runners were layered four in a six-inch pot, an 

 well ; but last week, when transferring them into single pots, we lo ^ 



' A healthy plant would t* * 



of CP* 



light oc 



4 



Ml 



were blind, the crowns being brown within, 

 growing in the same pot with defective ones." 

 berries may have had a similar experience, and can throw so 



growers 

 t 



angi nor insee *T" 

 apparently sUf* 1 * 



an external source of the mischief. 



Royal Botanic Society's Garden 



Checkmating the Black Currant Mite.— As yet but little has been 



accomplished in obtaining a more thorough knowledge of the life history of the 

 Black Currant Mite {Phytoptus ribi), or in devising an effectual means of checking 

 its ravages. As the result of the several scientific bodies leaving the pest severelv 

 alone, and the failure of the grower* to combine for the purpose of conducting a 

 series of experiments with a view to devising some means of warding off attacks, 

 the mite continues to extend and inflict heavy losses upon cultivators. So far we 

 na%e not passed far beyond picking off infested buds and cutting away branches of 

 *h.ch the greater number of buds indicate the presence of the mite ; but both 

 me thods of procedure are tedious and involve a considerable expenditure in labour, 



Zl n^ fl i lmUed ? them - In the large plantations of black currants 

 S rt P :!f S l ° \\ M ^- T- Rivers and Son at Sawbridgeworth, the 



K to within I T t CCkmated b * the ^ process of cuttmg the branches 



they have been thuT sevTrdv ^ iecond The 6rSt ^ 



' pruned they produce stout growths ranging from 



the ch»». 



the annual meeting of the Royal Botanic Society, at which l 100*^ ^ 

 was one aspect of the society I could not dwell on as I shou ^ m 



yet it is one of some importance. When the gardens of the ^ ^ rf 

 formed, not only were they intended to promote horticu itui ^ rf ^ ^ 

 botany, but also to protect a spot in the centre of London w e * 

 features of Nature might remain untouched, plants common - » 

 rare in London, might still find a home, and birds nest waS Jd*** 1 !* 

 many, too, the sense of quiet and repose which thcse r e*sO*** 



feeling of rest which only the country can give ~" 



obtain 



ission 



Fellows reserved to themselves the - „ ^ 

 that, like the squares, a character of privacy was maintain , { rf >l3 ^ 



or any senous »^ 



and the g"<^~ ^ 



This spirit of exclusiveness is not now maintained, anu ]{0e J* m 



open to the general public as is possible, if they do not a ^ ^ 



intention with which they were formed, and the natu !^ rior K^nd^ 

 possess, does not disappear. To turn them into an ^ 



imitation of the Palmen Garten in Frankfurt, wou P ^ irW j ]_ 

 failure, and take away one of the few places where t e ^ ^ 

 invalid, and the old may find a few moments of "P^ 6 ' afld tn e 

 away from the noise ot the crowded street, the eye is » 



