612 
Cultivated Plants of the Future. 
and Empress of Japan. The receptions are in autumn and in the 
spring. That in the autumn, popularly known as the Emperor’s 
reception, has for its floral decorations the myriad forms of the 
national flower, the chrysanthemum ; that which is given in spring, 
the Empress’s reception, comes when the cherry blossoms are at 
their best. One has little idea of the wealth of beauty, in masses of 
flowering shrubs and trees, until he has seen the floral displays in 
the Imperial Gardens and the Temple grounds in Tokio. 
Conclusion. 
It is hardly possible to deal with the questions which attach 
themselves to our main question, especially as to the limits of efiiect 
which cultivation may produce. We cannot touch the problem of 
inheritance of acquired peculiarities, or the manner in which cultiva- 
tion predisposes the plant to innumerable modifications. Two of 
these modifications may be mentioned in passing, because they serve 
to exemplify the practical character of our subject. 
Cultivation brings about in plants very curious morphological 
changes. For example, in the case of a well-known vegetable the 
number of metamorphosed type-leaves forming the ovary is two, and 
yet under cultivation the number increases irregularly until the full 
number of units in the type of the flower is reached. Pi’ofessor 
Bailey has called attention to some further interesting changes in 
the tomato, but the one mentioned suffices to illustrate the direction 
or variation which plants under cultivation are apt to take. Mon- 
strosities are very apt to occur in cultivated plants, and under 
certain conditions may be perpetuated in succeeding generations, 
thus widening the field from which utilisable plants may be taken. 
Another case of change produced by cultivation is likewise as 
yet wholly unexplained, although much studied — namely, the mutual 
interaction of scion and stock in grafting, budding, and the like. It 
is probable that a further investigation of this subject may yet 
throw light on new possibilities in plants. 
It may be premature to allude to the possibilities which have 
been opened up of late years in agriculture and horticulture through 
studies of bacteriology, and the relation of microbes to plant 
nutrition. The vexed problem of the indirect appropriation by plants 
of atmospheric nitrogen has assumed a new phase, and is now being 
solved in what would have been regarded a few years ago as an im- 
possible manner. 
Experiments in so-called “ water-culture ” and in the large field- 
laboratories give promise of extending the sphere of economic botany. 
This means, of course, a vast increase of possibilities in both horti- 
culture and agriculture. 
We have now arrived at the most practical question of all, 
namely : — 
In what way can the range of commercial botany be extended ? 
