May 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
91 
against falling into these quicksands; for, without 
first explaining the terms which I mean to use in 
writing on this fascinating subject, and without 
shewing the reason why T make use of such terms in 
preference to others in current use, I cannot expect 
to make myself so clearly understood as I wish to be, 
in order to be really useful. I may premise, how¬ 
ever, that I do not intend to enter on any of the ab¬ 
struse points connected with the subject, but merely 
the simplest rules pointed out by actual experience; 
and, if 1 am so fortunate as to succeed in raising an 
interest on this very interesting topic among our 
readers, who may not yet have heard of such a pro¬ 
cess, sure 1 am that I shall be adding another strong 
link to that golden chain which already encircles 
their gardening resolves. 
Now, whether we look on Cain and Abel as two va¬ 
rieties from two distinct species of the genus mankind, 
or as two legitimate species, it makes not the slightest 
difference. The world was peopled from this stock; 
and, of all the analogies that have been found to exist 
between plants and animals, none are more clear than 
this, namely, that whether we look on plants of one 
family as distinct species, like Adam and Eve, or as 
varieties, as we may call Cain and Abel, for argument 
sake, makes no difference in the process of cross¬ 
breeding ; for, if they will cross at all, it will only be 
among themselves, for there is no obvious limit be¬ 
tween a species and a variety in as far as cross-breed¬ 
ing is concerned. Here the grand analogy between 
plants and animals ceases. The family mankind has, 
in the lapse of ages, branched out into distinct 
sections, and every section into subordinate forms; 
so much so, that infidels have made a strong handle 
of this to cast discredit on the revealed word of God, 
who, for wise purposes, has so constituted this family 
that the most dissimilar members of the best marked 
sections of it will “increase and multiply” in obe¬ 
dience to His will. Not so plants, however; they, 
too, or, at least, many of them, have branched out 
into well-marked sections from original types, like 
the human race; hut, in the majority of instances, 
plants thus far removed will not interbreed with each 
other, hut only within their respective sections. 
The offspring of a cross union among plants may 
be fertile, half fertile, or altogether quite sterile or 
barren ; and, as far as we yet know, either of these 
conditions are not induced by the near or distant re¬ 
lationship in the parents ; for every degree of rela¬ 
tionship in the parents has been found to produce 
these effects in their offspring; so that any two kinds 
of plants may look as like each other as is possible 
without being absolutely the same plant, and an 
offspring from their union will as likely he barren as 
one produced from two plants which one could hardly 
think belonged to one family; so that we have no 
criterion in the outward aspect of plants by which 
we can pronounce beforehand whether they will cross 
with each other or not; or, if they do, what degree 
of fertility may be expected from their offspring. 
Zoologists, starting from the well-known point of 
the cross between the horse and the ass, and at first 
believing the two parents to belong to different 
families, have admitted the possibility of union 
between the members of two different families, and 
that the offspring from such union woidd, in all 
cases, turn out to be sterile, as in the case of the 
Spanish mule; and, not only that, hut even went so 
far as to call such offspring mules. Botanists, rea¬ 
soning from analogy, unfortunately admitted the 
same views in the vegetable kingdom, and brought 
a world of confusion and uncertainty on themselves 
and their followers in consequence. We are now 
only groping our way out of this darkness and con¬ 
fusion, but every season, and almost every experi¬ 
ment carried out according to natural laws, shews 
clearly that those views of naturalists are either un¬ 
tenable, or, at all events, require reconsideration. 
Therefore, knowing that plants the nearest in affinity 
may produce a barren or sterile offspring, as well as 
those the most distant, I shall give up the word 
mule altogether, as conveying no sensible meaning, 
or a falsehood. Hybrid and cross-breed I shall use 
as synonymous, although the two words have been 
used for two different degrees of crossing by the first 
authority. I shall so use them as meaning the same 
thing, because, after all, the difference is only in the 
words, not in what they represent. The simple, act 
of crossing two plants together, any one, even a 
child, can learn in two minutes; and next week I 
shall begin with that process. D. Beaton. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** Several correspondents are obliged to remain unanswered until 
next week, from want of room. 
Pigeon’s Dung (W. H. A .),—This is one of the richest of fer¬ 
tilizers, being nearly equal to the best guano, and it may be applied 
with advantage to all garden crops. It abounds with ammonia and 
phosphate of lime. If you use it for mailing liquid manure, you may 
employ half as much more than is directed for guano at p. 3 of the 
present volume; all that is there said relative to the employment of 
guano is applicable to pigeon’s dung. 
Agekatum (Ibid). — There is no plant known to us as Ageratum 
grandiflurum. There are but six species— angustifolium, cteruleum, 
conyzoides, laiifolium, mexicanum, and strictum: they are all an¬ 
nuals, all bloom in June and July, and all are white or blue: they 
are from a foot to a foot and a half high. The two first named are 
greenhouse annuals, the others are hardy. All, of course, are propa¬ 
gated by seed, but cuttings from them root freely. We suspect that 
your plant is not an ageratum, but a variety (grandiflora) of Cades - 
tina. ageratoides. If our suspicions are correct, it is a greenhouse 
herbaceous perennial, a native of New Spain ; its flowers are sky-blue, 
and bloom in August; its greatest heighth one foot, and it is propa¬ 
gated by cuttings. 
Names of Plants (J. N. B.). —The white flower we think is 
Arabis alpina, and the yellow flower Alyssum saxatile, but from 
such small specimens it is difficult to be sure of the trivial names. 
(A. I). Z.).—Your plant is Boronia serrulata, a greenhouse ever¬ 
green shrub from New South Wales. It requires the pot to be very 
thoroughly drained, and, consequently, the pot should be larger than 
is usual for a plant of its size ; the soil should be sandy peat, mixed 
with some rubbly charcoal. It is the want of good drainage, and, 
probably, keeping the air of your greenhouse too moist, that makes 
the leaves of your Boronia spotted. (A Subscriber, Surbiton). —The 
plant from the meadows in your neighbourhood is Orchis morio. 
Pit within a Greenhouse ( F . W. H.) — You propose to fill 
with bark or earth a pit along the front within your greenhouse, to 
strike cuttings in, the hot water pipes running within the pit. This 
plan will not answer at all for striking cuttings, nor will it do as a 
sand bed, as the pipes cannot safely be heated but in the dead of 
winter, and merely to exclude frost. Introducing hot bark would 
only spoil your greenhouse plants, and the space is far too narrow to 
hold bark enough to retain sufficient heat for ten days. 
Moving Vines in Pots (Ibid).— Vines in pots may be removed 
and planted any time in the year. From May to Midsummer is the 
best time, and they take no hurt if their stems are 10 inches from the 
pipes. We know of many not farther from the pipes ; those in the 
Queen’s new garden, for instance. 
Greenhouse adjoining a Parlour (T . Picton ).— Your green¬ 
house, six feet wide, has no room for a front shelf, but only for the 
usual one sloping to the wall in the centre. The friend who tells 
you that plants next the glass “ take no harm” is the best gardener 
of the two ; but, after all, your other friend carries the day, as you 
have no room next the glass. 
Barometrical Table (Meteorologicus). — We have the offer of 
more than one, and, at the commencement of our next volume, shall 
probably add it to our table of temperatures. 
Honeysuckle (Mary Marshall). — This planted at the foot of an 
apple-tree certainly will not prevent the latter bearing fruit, This is 
not “ a silly question” to ask, for there are antipathies as well as 
“ Loves of the Plants.” Some plants will not grow well near others, 
and another set will only grow in their company. The corn-flower, 
for instance, is only seen among wheat. This arises, probably, from 
the secretions from the roots or leaves of the latter being favourable 
to the growth of the flower. 
Arbutus (Ibid). — If this is the common sort, by all means turn it 
out into the open ground. An old Pyrus Japonica and Morelia 
cherry-tree had better be merely unnailed from the wall about to be 
rebuilt. 
Corrcea (Ibid). — You do not mention the name of the species, 
but, whatever it is, a cutting of a well-ripened shoot, planted in a pot 
