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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
56» 
remarkable of the white flowered series, both with large solid flowers 
the corollas of great substance, beautifully formed, and pure white. In 
the coloured varieties there are many rich and delicate tints, Reading 
Scarlet being one of the brightest. Improved Chiswick Red is a standard 
variety. Ruby King is of a peculiar handsome ruby crimson shade. Im¬ 
perial Purple is very rich crimson purple. Reading Purple is similar, of 
a fine deep colour. Grand Lilac is a fine type of the mauve tinted 
varieties, and Advance is a soft rose with a large truss, Pearl being, 
as its name implies, a delicate pearl v white. Lastly, there is Reading 
Blue, which is very distinct from the others in its colour, and looks 
well when arranged with them. Besides these there are mixed strains of 
single varieties, comprising the good points of most of the preceding, 
and sometimes yielding promising novelties. 
The double varieties of this section are numerous,and comprise some 
useful plants, as the flowers last so long. The best and most distinct 
only are selected as named varieties, and of these the names Double 
Scarlet, Double Rose, Improved Double Carmine, Double Blue, Double 
White, and Double Carnation Flaked, well indicate the respective tints. 
The Double Blue is a decided acquisition, as the flowers are well 
formed and the colour good. The Carnation Flaked is prettily marked 
or mottled with rose and white, very distinct. The special hybrid strain 
includes semi-double and double varieties of many tints, and the mixed 
double strain is similar. 
Fern-leaved Primulas .—The production of a variety with long instead 
of rounded leaf blades, and more or less cut at the margin, formed a 
peculiarly interesting break amongst the Chinese Primulas, and they 
now constitute a distinct group. It was about I860 when the first of 
this type was brought prominently before the public under the name of 
Filicifolia. Since then many forms have been raised from it, presenting 
almost as much variation as the ordinary plain-leaved type. Of the 
single varieties in Messrs. Sutton’s collection the best are—Rosy Queen, 
Rosy Lilac, a specially beautiful form with neatly fringed flowers ; 
Snowdrift, very pure, and the ordinary Red or White Fern-leaved. 
The doubles are not quite so abundant, but the Double Blue and Double 
White are excellent, with fine substantial flowers and beautiful leaves. 
Ornamental-leaved Primulas .—This is quite a new group, though we 
may look for a considerable extension now it has been commenced. A 
remarkable variety at Reading is Gipsy Queen, which has dark-bronzed 
metallic-like foliage, and white or rose-tinged flowers, a very striking 
contrast. The Moss-curled is, however, the most peculiar, the leaves 
being of a light fresh green, deeply crisped and curled at the margin, 
and the flowers white or lilac, single or semi-double. These make a 
pleasing margin to a group of the other varieties. Variegated or golden¬ 
leaved forms have been obtained, but not thoroughly fixed at present. 
HYBRIDISING AND CROSS FERTILISATION. 
(Cont'nved from page 521 .) 
The discussion following the reading of the paper already given 
brought out several interesting matters, the principal contribution being 
by Mr. Henry Bennett of Shepperton, who was attending the Con¬ 
vention, and was introduced by the President, Mr. Robert Craig, and 
Mr. Peter Henderson in flattering terms, stating that “ his marvellous 
Roses had made his name a household word all over America.” 
Mr. Bennett said—Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : I was 
much interested in Mr. Thorpe’s remarks, though I could not quite 
catch some of them. Hybridisation came in first, as we know, by 
crossing various species, not with a commercial object in view, but 
scientifically. I have not much to say on this subject, and indeed have 
not much voice with which to say anything. But one remark of Mr. 
Thorpe’s leads me to say that I do not think people need be discou¬ 
raged in hybridising because of a fear of insects operating on the 
flowers. My opinion is that you have only to divest what you are 
operating on of the colour or the petals, and that you thus remove 
the source of attraction for the insects. You thereby interfere so with 
Nature that you deceive the insect kingdom. I think that the scent 
may in some instances attract insects. The scent may not be taken 
away when the petals are gone, but I believe that the great attraction 
for insects is the colour of the petals. I took my cue in this from 
Charles Darwin, who contended that the colour of the petals of the 
flowers was the cause of attraction for insects. When you have 
removed the petals you are free from insect interference in my 
opinion. 
In Roses, by the use of a crimson male you can get a crimson colour 
from a white female of the Hybrid Perpetual class, but no one has 
ever yet got the yellow into a Hybrid Perpetual. Whether it will ever 
be done we cannot tell. The yellow in the Polyantha japonica once 
fertilised will produce a yellow almost to a certainty. If you fertilise 
with the yellow variety you will almost certainly get a yellow with it, 
even though you operate on a white flower. One important matter 
in hybridising for commercial purposes is this : you are to pay par¬ 
ticular attention so as to secure a high quality in the male plant. 
There is very little difference between the lines in the plant kingdom 
and those in the animal kingdom. You will get better progeny from 
a moderate female with a good male than you will get from a thoroughly 
good female and only a moderate male. Of course the better the parents 
the better the results. I have had many good results from a bad female, 
but never succeeded in getting good flowers from a bad male. I think 
there is nothing more that I can say about it at present. The matter 
is one that lies within narrow limits, and it must be remembered that 
long time is required to work it up. 
Before returning to my seat, let me say that this is the first time 
have crossed the Atlantic, and I cannot let the opportunity pass without 
thanking you all for the very great kindness I have received in this city. 
It has been more than 1 expected, and I shall hold it in remembrance- 
as long as I live. I thank you all for the attention you have given me. 
(Great applause). 
President Craig.—Ladies and Gentlemen : I am sure that we all feel 
grateful to Mr. Bennett for giving us so freely from the store of his 
knowledge. It was hardly fair to call upon him without any notice- 
whatever, and I certainly feel that I express the sentiments of all 
present when I say that we are extremely grateful to him. 
Mr. D. S. Heffron of Washington Heights, Ill. (after an urgent 
invitation from the Chair for a continuance of the discussion) said r 
What I have to say is testimony in part to what Mr. Bennett has said 
in reference to the selection of parents for fertilisation. I have experi¬ 
mented some in crossing Cannas, Callas, Grapes, and Potatoes. I have 
succeeded better with Potatoes than with the others, as many people 
know. I select first the mother plant, and in doing that, I endeavour to 
get one that has a healthy constitution—one that is a good strong grower, 
and is of the form that I want to have perfected. Then for the male 
plant 1 select one of the requisite colour, and of the other characteristics' 
that I want to reproduce. In crossing the two I could scarcely fail to 
get something better. Not all of them may have been better, but many 
of th-m were better than the parents. I think, from my own limited 
observations, that that is a good rule, and I throw it out for what it is 
worth, that you may think of it for yourselves—viz., in the female- 
parent get the strong, healthy-growing plant of the right height, and 
then in the male plant look to the colour and the form of the - 
flower. 
Mr. Wm. K. Harris of Philadelphia (who was called upon by the 
Chair as one who had done much useful work, particularly in the 
Geranium line), said he could add nothing to what had bean so welL 
said by the gentlemen who had preceded him, as the methods stated by 
them were substantially identical with those which he had adopted, 
with results similar to those just described. The gentlemen had spoken 
of selecting the male and female plants for colour, form, &c. He 
(Mr. Harris) had also been governed in his selections by the apparent- 
strength, health, and other characteristics of the parent stock. As a 
general thing, he had been successful in the results obtained, seldom 
failing to get something superior. Of course he had not been successful 
in every instance. He had found that, by scientific methods, the grower 
was certain to obtain at least a few flowers of superior quality; 
whereas, if Nature was unaided, thousands might be grown without 
the appearance of anything having a quality above the ordinary 
average. 
Mr. John N. May of Summit, N.J. (having been called upon by the 
Chair) said—Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : For some years I 
have been experimenting to some extent on Roses—that is, so far as 
hybridisation goes. I am not an experimenter in the growing of Roses. 
In the hybridisation, to attain a colour, I find that we are obliged to 
select—as the gentlemen who have preceded me have stated—not only 
a good strong constitution, but we have to select very carefully the 
colours which we wish to have perpetuated in our new seedling. I had 
an idea in my head some years ago that I wanted to improve the colour. 
To do this I found to be a more difficult matter than I had anticipated, 
for the reason that while we already had the yellow, we had not the- 
extreme colour that I wanted. As I understand it, we cannot create from 
Nature a primary colour, we can only assist Nature. Scarlet has never 
yet been produced in the Rose. Appreciating this fact, I made it the 
object of my researches to obtain the nearest possible approach to a 
scarlet. To that end I took G6n<5ral Jacqueminot and fertilised it with 
Perle des Jardins. The result is a Rose which is ten shades brighter in. 
colour than any known Rose at the present day. That is simply the 
result of one of the experiments that I have definitely accomplished. 
(Applause). 
A Delegate.—Will Mr. May state which was the male parent ? 
Mr. May.—The male parent was Perle des Jardins. 
President Craig (after an interval of waiting) said : The Chair 
would much prefer that members would take part in the discussion 
voluntarily, so that the distasteful task of calling upon them may not 
be imposed upon the Chair. The modesty of the gentlemen present is 
such as to leave your presiding officer no alternative, and the Chair 
would therefore call upon Mr. Charles T. Starr, of Avondale, Pa. 
(Applause.) That gentleman has given us some varieties of Carnations 
that are standard — some that no florist can afford to do without. 
Now, if he will just tell us how he got those results, or give some idea 
about it, we will feel very grateful to him. 
Mr. Charles T. Starr, of Avondale, Pa., replied : Mr. President, I 
am not accustomed to speaking to an audience of the size of the one. 
before me, and I may therefore encounter some embarrassment in 
stating my ideas in the way that I would like to state them. I 
originated the Buttercup Carnation, as perhaps you all know. That 
has been long years ago, and I may state also that it was done, as I 
might say, with my eyes shut, because I was without any known law to- 
go by. It was produced from the cross of Edwardsii as the female, 
parent and the old Astoria as >the male parent. In the crossing of 
the Edwardsii with the Astoria, I obtained the colour of the young 
plant from the Astoria. The statement has been made here that the 
colour of the male is generally reproduced in the cross fertilisation, and 
