Vol. LIX. 
No. 2615. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 10, 1900 
*1 PER YEAR. 
THE HORTICULTURAL NOVELTIES. 
WHAT THEY ABE ! WHERE THEY COME FROM ! 
What to Buy! How Care for Them! 
PROGRESSIVE PLANTING.—Comparatively few 
planters are really content with varieties of proven 
value—the sorts that are “tried and true.” While the 
experienced and judicious cultivator holds fast to the 
good things that have weathered the crucial test of 
time, nearly all see room for various improvements, 
and most seed and plant buyers eagerly scan the 
novelty pages of the newly-issued catalogues. This 
is entirely commendable. An inborn liking for the 
novel ami progressive is as characteristic of modern 
Americans as of the ancient Greeks. The horticul¬ 
tural novelty, as a special feature, has been in evi¬ 
dence for several decades, and has undoubtedly come 
to stay. The most conservative houses in the trade 
now find it essential to their business to offer many 
new things. The tyro accepts the glittering descrip¬ 
tions of the introducer at 
their face value, and orders 
everything his purse will 
bear, while the more ex¬ 
perienced planter reads 
with amused incredulity, 
but doubtless ends in ex¬ 
tending his trial purchases 
to the utmost justifiable 
limits. He is ready to 
winnow much unprofitable 
chaff to acquire a few 
grains of excellence, and is 
not afraid of getting a col¬ 
lection of bogus “gold 
bricks” in his pursuit of 
the true metal of improve¬ 
ment. 
WHAT ARE THEY?— 
Horticultural n o v e I t ies 
may be conveniently di¬ 
vided into several classes. 
1. Those intentionally de¬ 
veloped by systematic 
plant breeding; the “crea¬ 
tions” of numerous hy¬ 
bridizers, and varieties 
nxed and improved by 
careful selection for many 
succeeding generations for 
the purpose of developing 
special features. 2. Species 
and varieties newly discov¬ 
ered by botanists, and gar¬ 
den varieties of particular 
local excellence, often acci¬ 
dentally discovered. These latter are sometimes 
thought to be hybrids formed by the natural agencies 
of wind and insects. By far the greater proportion 
of our best orchard fruits belong to this section. 3. Old 
or little-known varieties that have dropped out of no¬ 
tice for a considerable time. It is something of a 
Hibernianism to call forgotten plants novelties, but as 
they may possess merits that are available under 
changed conditions, their re-introduction is allowable, 
provided the exploiter does not mask them under a 
newly-coined and deceptive name, which is too often 
the case. It is probable that originators and pro¬ 
moters of horticultural novelties really believe a 
good share of the claims made for their specialties. 
Many varieties are put forward with implicit confi¬ 
dence in their universal excellence, only to prove par¬ 
tial or complete failures. Only at rare intervals is 
it given to horticulturists to secure a grape like 
Concord, an apple like Baldwin, a potato like the 
©riginal Early Rose, or a rose like Marechal Niel, 
and even these chosen ones are soon found to pos¬ 
sess decided limitations in useiulness, but a vast and 
steady gain is being made in adaptation to local and 
special conditions. 
WHERE DO THEY ALL COME FROM?—We have 
now scores of intelligent and enthusiastic plant breed¬ 
ers; persons who are constantly studying the pecu¬ 
liarities of the various useful and ornamental plants, 
and trying to create desirable new features or develop 
those already existing to a higher degree. These 
people are known as originators, and usually dispose 
of their creations to the catalogue houses for intro¬ 
duction. Hybridization, or the intentional cross¬ 
breeding of diverse types, has hitherto been mainly 
useful with plants that can be propagated by some 
form of division, such as cuttings, grafts, buds, 
tubers, etc. Grapes, roses and potatoes belong to 
this group, which is very extensive. Once secured 
the hybrid Type is fixed, and all succeeding plants 
propagated by any of the above means will be iden¬ 
tical with the original plant, of which they are, in 
reality, a part. On the other hand, plants commonly 
grown from seeds, such as corn, tomatoes, melons, 
etc., offer a more difficult task for the hybridizer, as 
each seed produces a new individual, which may, and 
commonly does, differ widely from its immediate 
ancestor until “fixed” by years of most careful se¬ 
lection. The great mass of garden vegetables, an¬ 
nual flowering plants, and field grains are of this 
character, and seed selection has had more to do 
with their improvement, up to this time, than any 
other factor. 
Another class of novelty-producers, or rather dis¬ 
coverers, is composed of busy practical gardeners 
and propagators, who have little time for experi¬ 
mentation, but who know a good thing in their line 
when they see it, and are on the lookout for chance 
variations, “sports,” and seedlings, showing improve¬ 
ments on the general stock of plants they are inter¬ 
ested in. As previously remarked, many of our most 
useful varieties are doubtless natural hybrids or 
sports found growing among regular stock, or in 
waste places, and rescued by expert cultivators. Last, 
but by no means the least frequent, comes the sensa¬ 
tional catalogue man, who thinks he must have a 
string of novelties to exploit every season, and who, 
in default of finding new varieties of real promise, 
will pick up any old thing and plaster it with his own 
name, joined to an assortment of superlative adjec¬ 
tives. The introduction of novelties of even only 
local merit is a legitimate and essential factor in 
horticultural advancement, but the exaggeration of 
unscrupulous dealers often throws a cloud of sus¬ 
picion on varieties of genuine merit. But after all 
. the practical farmer and gardener form the court 
of last resort, and pass final judgment on the in¬ 
flated pretentions of the haughtily-confident novel¬ 
ties of the season. 
CARE OF CHOICE VARIETIES.—When new and 
rare seeds and plants are secured, one naturally wishes 
to make the most of them, 
though it is not always 
the best policy to pet a 
novelty too much, as the 
results are likely to be 
misleading. What we 
Should strive to get is a 
fair average result, in 
comparison with well- 
known kinds, but we must 
at least see that they get 
a good start. It is best to 
grow fine seeds in shal¬ 
low trays or boxes, unless 
of such varieties as will 
not bear transplanting, 
and must of necessity be 
planted where they are to 
stand. Ordinary soap or 
grocer’s boxes, sawed in 
four-inch slices, make ad¬ 
mirable trays when they 
have been fitted witty bot¬ 
toms, and are universally 
used. Bore four or five 
one-inch holes through the 
bottom for drainage. These 
holes can be covered with 
bits of crock, moss, pieces 
of burlap, etc., to keep the 
soil from washing through, 
and the tray filled two- 
thirds full of good light 
soil that has been passed 
through an ordinary coal 
sieve; then with a finer 
sieve, add a half-inch or so of finer siftings. The 
seeds may then be sown in rows two inches apart, 
covering not more than four times the thickness of 
the seeds, and pressing the loose earth firmly over 
them with a piece of board of suitable size and shape. 
They should then be thoroughly watered, which can 
be very conveniently done through a layer of fer¬ 
tilizer sack or other coarse cloth, without washing 
the soil irregularly. The cloth, or a covering of 
paper, may well remain on until the seeds germinate, 
as it keeps the soil moist and well shaded. For those 
who cannot get rotted sods or fine manure to ameli¬ 
orate poor soil, the new Jadoo fiber will be found 
very convenient. It may be had by mail in quanti¬ 
ties of a pound or more, and only needs to be rubbed 
through a coal sieve and mixed with an equal bulk 
of roadside earth to form a most acceptable medium 
to grow plants. It is very retentive of moisture, and 
should be watered cautiously after the seeds are sown. 
If one has a greenhouse or good hotbed, the question 
