572 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 5, 1888. 
themselves in a wild state. This results from their not 
being a survival of the fittest, but purely the proteges of 
man. They are protected against competition from 
weeds, their forms and conditions with regard to fer¬ 
tilisation by insects are often altered, and their natural 
means of distribution are neglected, ignored, or even 
destroyed ; while their primitive constitution is often 
ruined by high-class cultivation, feeding bringing about 
all the evils of luxurious living and a pampered 
appetite. This, no doubt, explains the paucity or 
almost absence of cases of plants having reverted to 
their originally wild condition after having been 
thoroughly domesticated. 
Examples of the kind mentioned are seen in the 
Banana, Bread Fruit, and Pine Apple, which are 
seedless; while certain varieties of Potato are habitually 
so, the flowers dropping off in the bud state, or even 
after expansion. Cucumbers, Tomatos, and Grapes 
occasionally show a partly seedless condition ; while 
there are several varieties—such as Black Monukka 
and Sultana Baisins—that are habitually seedless. 
Other instances of the effects of domestication are 
exhibited by the Kidney Bean, Sweet Pea, and common 
garden Pea, which have been so much altered by culti¬ 
vation, or so far removed from their original home and 
the insects for which they are adapted, that they are 
habitually self-fertilising, and may be grown side by 
side without mixing the strain. Orchids in our hot¬ 
houses remain in bloom for a considerably longer time 
than they do in their native country, because un¬ 
fertilised. 
Variation, Selection and Reversion. 
In the absence of written history we are unable to state 
whether the learned in any of the anciently civilised 
communities of man knew anything of the mysteries 
of cross-breeding and hybridisation with the view of 
improving their vegetable food products ; but on the 
other hand we have little hesitation in asserting that 
selection as a means of improvement is profoundly 
ancient. Virgil, amongst others, knew the value of 
selection with regard to corn, and says, 
“ I’ve seen the largest seeds, though viewed with care, 
Degenerate, unless the industrious hand 
Did yearly cull the largest.” 
The exploration of the lake-dwellings of Switzerland, 
which were much more ancient, reveals the same thing. 
During the Stone period small-eared and grained kinds 
of Wheat and Barley were prevalent, but gave place to 
larger kinds during the time the Romans harassed the 
Helvetii or ancient Swiss. A variety of Poppy now 
extinct, a small-seeded Pea and a Bean also prevailed 
in early times giving place to larger and better later 
on. That the weeds of the corn-field have not become 
modified since those remote periods, also demonstrates 
that they were not subjected to selection, while the 
useful economic subjects were. Linum angustifolium, a 
perennial anciently cultivated, gave place to L. usita- 
tissimum, a more valuable agricultural acquisition 
because an annual giving a quicker return. 
Perhaps no class of cultivated plants requires more 
stringent and careful selection to keep them true than 
the members of the Brassica tribe, a large proportion 
of which are generally believed by the best authorities 
to have originally sprung from the common wild 
Cabbage. Probably the largest collection of varieties 
in this country was that grown last year in the trial 
grounds of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, at Chiswick. 
They included a large variety of Kales grown L>r their 
leaves for food or ornament, including Asparagus, Sea 
Kale, Brussels Sprouts for their buds, Cabbages, Savoys, 
&c., for their large firm heads of leaves, Cauliflower and 
Broccoli for their heads of aborted flowers, Sprouting 
Broccoli for their branches bearing small heads of 
aborted flowers, and Marrow-stemmed Kales for their 
succulent stems. The latter, together with Kohl Rabi 
and the sub-varieties producing underground, enlarged 
and fleshy stems, are from their very nature no better 
than “Kale runts,” or “Custocs,” immortalised in 
Scottish song. 
The principal kinds are, at least, 300 years old, and 
are in all probability the result of careful and continual 
selection from a remote period of sports and variations 
(as Sprouting Broccoli is known to be), presenting 
themselves as valuable food products to man, to whom 
alone they owe their continued existence. Their 
tendency to revert to a more primitive state, useless to 
man, under unfavourable conditions as to climate, soil, 
and bad cultivation, frequently involves seedsmen in 
law suits with their customers on the plea of being 
supplied with bad seed, as in a recent case where Early 
Rainham Cabbage behaved like a wild Cabbage, and 
was described as such. £500 damages were claimed 
for loss accruing upon 50 s. worth of seed. Truly 
“the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft 
agley.” 
The Turnips in their multitudinous forms and their 
allies behave equally as bad. The common, Swedish, 
and other Turnips, Colza and Rape are considered to 
be representatives of one common stock, namely, 
Brassica campestris. The value of the swollen-stemmed 
forms depends upon their remaining true to that state, 
and in being truly biennial. I have known of frequent 
instances of Swedes running to seed the first year, and 
in that respect resembling Rape. Turnips also give 
rise to occasional law suits, from their habit of reversion, 
or from the varieties getting mixed or mongrelised by 
bees, which are extremely fond of the flowers of these 
Crucifers. A more remarkable instance came under 
my notice over twenty years ago, where a farmer sowed 
a field with what he believed to be Swedish Turnip 
seed. More than half of them proved, on germination, 
to be Kale ; but having grown the seed himself, he 
firmly asserted that it was not a case of mixing. The 
Swedes were grown for seed in front of some bee-hives, 
and a short distance off some Kale was also grown for 
seed ; and without knowing anything about the theory 
of cross-breeding or hybridisation, he attributed the 
adulteration of the seed to the bees. Whether it was a 
genuine case of hybridisation I cannot now say ; but 
the Kale that came up amongst the Swedes was of an 
extremely coarse kind, with glaucous leaves, looking as 
if they had been mongrelised. 1 have also had in¬ 
formation elsewhere of a similar occurrence. That all 
the races of the Cabbage proper can be mongrelised in 
this way by the different varieties being grown in 
proximity is an established fact, which shows that 
sexually they are most intimately allied. 
Although there is an immense variation in the stems 
and leaves of the Brassica tribe, there has been no 
corresponding variation in the flowers, fruits, and 
seeds, even with the fact before us that Rape, Colza, 
and Mustard are purposely grown for their seeds. 
That plants do not vary in those parts for which they 
are not selected is amply refuted, however, in the case 
of numerous other cultivated plants—to wit, in the 
leaves and flowers of the garden Pea, the stems, leaves, 
and flowers of the Potato, the stems and leaves of the 
Chinese Chrysanthemum, the stems, leaves, and roots 
of the Dahlia, leaves of Vines, and others. 
Cultivation and selection have worked a marvellous 
change on the form and structure of the stems, under¬ 
ground or otherwise—popularly termed roots—of the 
Carrot, Parsnip, Turnip, Swede, Beet, Radish, Celeriac, 
Finocchio or Turnip-rooted Fennel, and Kohl Rabi. 
The cultivation of all these is comparatively recent, 
showing how readily biennials that lay up a reserve of 
nutriment in the basal parts of their stem can be made 
to develop along that line, producing the esculent and 
nutritious structures as at present cultivated. Still 
more wonderful is it that the numerous varieties nowin 
existence can be perpetuated from seed. Accustomed 
as we are to their present highly improved forms, it is 
difficult to conceive how our ancestors could have been 
induced to eat, far less to cultivate, such stringy and 
hard-rooted subjects as the Carrot, Parsnip and Beet. 
Possibly the first steps in improvement were accidental, 
and might have occurred in the case of specimens 
growing in rich or cultivated soil.— F. 
-~>X<-- 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
♦ 
L/elia harpophvlla. 
Compared with its near relative, L. cinnabarina, this 
is a recent introduction, having been imported from 
Brazil in 1873. Either of them are handsome decorative 
plants, but that under notice is the more attractive on 
account of the beautifully-frilled upper lobe of the lip, 
which is white. This shows itself up in marked con¬ 
trast to the bright orange-scarlet of the rest of the 
flower. The slender upright stems bear from five to 
ten flowers, which expand at various times during 
winter and spring, according to treatment. We noted 
it in Messrs. John Laing & Sons’ collection, at Forest 
Hill. 
Odontoglossum Rossii rubescens. 
Several plants of this distinct and beautiful variety 
are flowering at 191, Park Road, Clapham, in the 
nursery of Messrs. Shuttleworth, Carder & Co. It is 
rather singular that the petals should be so strikingly 
recurved or revolute at the tips in plants of this variety, 
which thus differs from the varieties of O. Rossii in 
general as well as in the colour, -which is rose, beauti¬ 
fully reticulated or marbled with purple veins. The 
whole of the sepals and the base of the petals are richly 
blotched with lively reddish brown markings, which 
add greatly to the beauty of this variety. Besides the 
above, there are other first-class forms of great merit in 
a rich collection now flowering at Clapham. Some are 
characterised by the great size of the individual blooms, 
the purity of the white ground-colour, and the contrast 
made by the intense and frequently lively-coloured 
markings of the sepals and base of the petals. The 
ground-colour is also occasionally reticulated with 
beautiful rose-coloured veins. The crest is also subject 
to an endless variation in the shades of colour. 
Masdevallia Arminii. 
A rare species is that here mentioned, and one of the 
prettiest of the smaller or medium-sized kinds, which 
we should class with M. Estradae, M. ionocharis, and 
M. Shuttleworthi as far as size is concerned. The 
upper sepal is strongly hooded or cucullate, and the 
lateral sepals broader and flat. All are of a beautiful 
rose colour, with two blackish purple spots at the base 
of the sepals, and they terminate in yellow tails about 
1£ ins. long. The petals are yellow, the lip erect and 
transparent, with a black spot at the apex. A solitary 
flower terminates each scape, which is about 3 ins. or 
4 ins. in height, and surmounts the leathery spathulate 
leaves. Every collection of Masdevallias should include 
this gem. as it requires no other treatment than that 
accorded to members of this genus generally. We 
noted it flowering in company with others in Messrs. 
Shuttleworth, Carder & Co’s, nursery. 
Calanthe Sieboldi. 
This fine evergreen species was introduced just half a 
century ago from Japan, and although a dwarf-growing 
subject, requiring a cool temperature only, it does not 
seem to have made much headway in this country. 
The leaves are plaited, as in the other species of this 
popular genus, attaining considerable size under good 
cultivation; nor do they die down before the flowers 
are produced. It has been flowering for some time 
past in the nursery of Messrs. John Laing & Sons, 
Forest Hill. The flowers are large and yellow, with 
the exception of the terminal lobe of the lip, which is 
orange and wrinkled. The stout upright scapes bearing 
them spring from the base of the pseudo-bulbs. 
Cattleya Skinneri. 
At the present time, during the break that often 
happens between the C. Triame and C. Mosske in the 
Cattleya house, this variety is valuable, and is also one 
of the most showy species. A particularly good form 
has been in bloom here for about a fortnight, having 
flowers of a deep rose colour, which looked remarkably 
telling by candle-light. Some forms look far better 
by daylight, the hue of colour looking harsh by candle¬ 
light in comparison to the plant referred to, which is 
small, having two flowering growths, one carrying four 
and the other six flowers on the spike. I find this 
does best at the warm end of the Cattleya house.— 
E. Dumper. 
Strange Behaviour of Odontoglossum crispum. 
A curious freak is exhibited by a specimen of this 
species, which was shown us the other day by Mr. 
H. G. Smyth, 21, Goldsmith Street, Drury Lane, 
~W. C. The piece consisted of one old and two younger 
pseudo-bulbs, from one of which two young growths 
began to develop. The pseudo-bulbs were imported some 
months ago, and after having lain on the moist gravel 
of a bench in the Orchid house for some time, they 
were potted up. Instead of these growths developing 
pseudo-bulbs, and then flowering from the axils of the 
leaves, the pseudo-bulbs remained dormant, while one 
flower was pushed out from one of the growths, and two 
from the other. The column of one expanded flower 
exhibited torsion, and the wing on one side of the 
column was below the stigmatic disc instead of above 
it as it should be. A third growth developed from 
another pseudo-bulb has not, as yet, behaved in the 
above erratic manner. 
A Fine Odontoglossum crispum. 
From Sir C. Tennant’s collection, at The Glen, Inner¬ 
leithen, comes a striking flower of handsome proportions. 
The contrast between the sepals and petals is very 
marked, the former being of such unusual width that 
the lateral ones overlap their bases. They are also of 
great substance, of a beautiful rose colour, and blotched 
in the centre with reddish chocolate. The petals, on 
the contrary, are triangular, cut at the margins, and 
pure white, while the lip is also well formed and beauti¬ 
fully spotted, especially around the margin. As a 
decorative variety it possesses great merits. 
