THE MODERN GLADIOLUS. 



THE VARYING QUALITY OF ADAPTABILITY IN 

 HYBRID TYPES. 



(Second Article by H. H. Groff.) 



The object of these articles is to show the absurdity of attempting to limit 

 the dissemination of high class hybrid Gladioli, by the annual introduction of a 

 few named varieties, produced for the purpose of serving an expensive and un- 

 satisfactory system, that must soon be obsolete so far as the Gladiolus is concerned. 



If wild species cease to be what they were for hundreds of generations so 

 soon as they are placed under conditions of changed nutrition, and if domesticated 

 species only retain their characteristics so long as the conditions under which they 

 have been bred continue to exist, what reason have we to hope that the less staple 

 hybrid types will repeat their satisfactory performance at the point of production, 

 in many different places and under endless diversity of condition and treatment — 

 they do not, and they will not — therefore, the more we limit the production of 

 hybrids, the more we lose in value and satisfaction. 



If we must accustom ourselves to consider species as nothing but temporarily 

 established equilibriums, and this under given conditions of soil, climate and 

 environment, producing the more or less stable equilibrium between vital forces; 

 on what grounds can we promise definite results from unstable hybrid types 

 in ten thousand homes, spread over two hemispheres — we cannot and should not. 



In view of these admitted conditions may I not deserve to claim the con- 

 sideration and approval of all growers of hybrid Gladioli, for the enormous 

 multiplication of well-balanced types of the choicest breeding the world has known, 

 in the production of which much expensive material, in experiment, has often been 

 discarded after trial, to say nothing of the best years of life's activity, impossible 

 of recall. 



In my former article I referred to the fact of variation in adaptability, and 

 I propose here to briefly state some of the causes and influences inducing the limit- 

 less diversity, as this condition is the foundation of the variation to which I have 

 referred. 



With the view of simplifying my explanation of these causes and influences, we 

 will confine our consideration to a series of crosses made between two varieties 

 only. I have repeatedly stated in conversation that I would not hesitate to repeat 

 annually the same cross between two types of desirable character, without fear of 

 producing duplicates as the result of these frequently repeated crosses, and the 

 following remarks will make clear my reasons for this statement. 



There are three great causes influencing this tendency to great diversity, and 

 when each of these is sub-divided into innumerable subsidiary influences, we can 

 readily realize the possibilities to which I refer. The first of these primary causes 

 is the influence of heredity as affecting the chemical composition of the variety. 

 The second, the varying conditions in the composition, quality, maturity and potency 

 of the pollen at each cross, thereby making fertilization bv two grains of identical 

 properties practically impossible, and the third is the influence of the diverse con- 

 ditions of age. health and vigor upon the product of such crosses. 



It is not difficult for us to agree upon the effects of the first stated cause, be- 

 cause contact with every hybrid form in the plant or animal kingdom bears evidence 

 of this influence, and here, even with the most limited experience, we learn that the 

 proportion of diversity is increased by the multiplication of crosses entering into 

 the composition of the parents, and this proportion is more greatly increased by the 

 use of parents made uo from the largest number of crosses. 



I hare referred to the influence of such crosses upon the chemical composition of 

 the hybrid plant and will give here the most direct evidence of this fact by one ex- 

 ample. Those who noticed my newest hybrids at the Pan-American Exposition will 

 remember many of the most intense and dark colors ever exhibited. We cannot 

 point to such rich, velvetv, and pansy-like combinations in any of the species, yet the 

 offspring of several distinct types, when blended by judicious selection, have pro- 

 duced flowers of such richness and intensity of coloring, that when their petals are 



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