June 15, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
677 
and plants alike. In all your operations let Dame 
Nature be your guide, she will never lead you astray. 
The more closely you follow her so much the better 
you will understand her, and the best means to be 
adopted for coaxing her along the road to that per¬ 
fection of what she is capable of attaining. 
This brings us to another scene in our operations in 
plant culture, and one, perhaps, over which we have 
not so much control as we have over many other 
things, and this is plant disease. You are well 
aware that plant diseases are no new discovery in 
horticultural history. They visited the ancients 
hundreds of years ago, aye, and it visits the moderns 
even to-day. » 
Perhaps there is nothing in a gardener's experi¬ 
ence which brings so much disappointment to him 
as the diseases of plants. When he has done every¬ 
thing for the well-being of his crop, perhaps at the 
very eve of harvest time a visitation from one of 
these mysterious beings puts in its appearance, and 
hence the disappointment which it brings in its 
train. 
Well, perhaps, there Is nothing in human affairs 
where superstition has been so pertinaciously stuck 
to as it has to this plant disease. Yes, and even now 
there are people who believe superstitiously that mil¬ 
dew, blight, and such-like are something very 
mysterious which is beyond man’s duty to try and 
understand. It appears from historical records that 
it was not until the year i860 that any progress was 
made to arrange and classify those diseases and 
place them in anything like categorical order; but 
from that date to 1889 rapid progress was made in 
grouping and classifying those fungoid parasites and 
placing them in the families to which they naturally 
belong. Consequently, through the enormous 
amount of labour which has been spent upon the 
defining of those diseases, and the enormous amount 
of literature which has naturally followed these dis¬ 
coveries, it has placed in the hand of the gardener 
to-day a weapon which cannot fail to be of inestima¬ 
ble benefit in battling with these diseases. 
These are weapons which in former generations 
they did not possess—but, no doubt, they longed for 
it; therefore, I say, live up to your privileges and act 
up to your responsibilities, and with all that science 
and art has done to expedite and facilitate the 
operation of combating with disease, let us see 
whether we cannot obtain the victory, especially 
with garden crops," To-day it is quite a necessity 
for the gardener to be acquainted with all the little 
intricate forms of fungoid life, as it is for the doctor 
to understand anatomy, or the sea captain paviga- 
tion on going to sea. 
Well, then, if all this information is necessary, if 
it is essential that the gardener should be well 
versed in these matters, that he should have a 
knowledge of all these minute plant forms, their 
manner of growth, their means of propagation, and 
their manner of attacking the host plant, where is 
he to go to seek for it ? Can Art teach him ? Then 
to whom has he to appeal ? Why, to Nature, to 
Science. She will tell him, for with Nature there 
are no secrets ; she reveals herself to all who care¬ 
fully seek her. 
Then again, on the other hand, you know we must 
not put all the blame of plant diseases to the visita¬ 
tions of parasitical fuDgi, or to insect agency. There 
are many instances where plant ills aie brought 
about through mismanagement or unsuitable sur¬ 
roundings. It may happen in various ways. Any 
excess carried bej ond the limits of endurance will 
produce disease, and ultimately death. There are 
cases where disease is brought about by frost, even 
to hardy plants, whea standing on ground which is 
too retentive of moisture; the fact is, they have in 
their branches a great excess of water, and by the 
action of frost they are overcome. Rapid changes 
of temperature has also its evil effects. Bad soil, 
poisonous air, and a host of other causes all have a 
great tendency to produce disease. 
Then, what is the gardener’s duty if he is going to 
k ep the plants under his care in health, and not 
only in health, but to keep them productive also? 
Why, he has to study their natural wants, their 
natural environment, and try with all the means in 
his power to produce those conditions in which 
these plants are known to succeed best under. 
But ah, you say, disease will appear under the 
best conditions. Yes, I agree with you that it will. 
But never lose sight of the fact, that disease which 
is caused by disagreeable surroundings can never be 
cured by any specific in the form of chemicals. You 
must go to the root of the matter, and convince 
yourself beyond a doubt that the conditions under 
which your plant or tree is growing are all that its 
nature requires for its healthy development. 
Well, then, if gardening entails all this research 
into the natural conditions under which plants exist 
before they are taken into cultivation, and if all these 
conditions have to be fulfilled by artificial means, 
and often under adverse circumstances ; then if 
gardening is not a science, please give me its real 
definition. Dr. L'.ndley said :—“That every opera¬ 
tion in horticulture depends for success upon a 
correct appreciation of the vitality of plants upon 
which an operation is performed.” 
Then the operations of the gardener has to do with 
plant life. This is science. 
I have chosen these few operations in connection 
with gardening to show how gardening is a science. 
How can it be otherwise? See how intimately con¬ 
nected the whole of gardening operations are with 
the science of physiology. 
Wherefore how often the gardener has disclosed 
scientific problems in the prosecution of his pro¬ 
fession, but has not had the acknowledgment it 
deserves from the scientific schools, simply because 
it has been discovered uoder the nom-de-filume of 
“ gardening.” Therefore, I claim that as this the 
oldest profession of the human race is a profession 
prosecuted upon physiological principles that it is a 
science. — R. W. Hodder, Ponsonby, Torquay. 
-—- 
RECENT DISCOVERIES IN HEREDITY. 
A very interesting lecture on the above subject 
was given by Mr. W. Bateson, M.A., F.R.S., at the 
last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society at 
the Drill Hall, Westminster. He said that a great 
advance had been made in this study during the 
past few years, and there is now a considerable body 
of literature dealing with the subject. The whole 
matter is only just beginning to be made clear, and 
we may be said to be now quickly passing out from 
the vaporous stage. He dwelt strongly on Mendel’s 
Law which has only recently been rediscovered and 
confirmed. Mendel's discoveries were not recog¬ 
nised during his day, and for years his work was 
neglected and forgotten, and was only brought to 
light again during the past year. He was an 
Augustinian Abbot of the House of Bruan, and 
carried out his interesting work in the quiet 
seclusion of his cloistered garden, choosing Peas for 
his subject. 
He discovered that the following law, with very 
few exceptions, worked out perfectly with a large 
quantity of plants. That when two species were 
crossed there was a dominant and recessive form 
and their relations in the progeny were as follows : 
—Green and yellow skinned Peas were used. When 
greens were crossed with yellows the greens proved 
the recessive form, as the result was three yellows 
to one green, thus the yellow was known as the 
dominant form. When the recessive green was 
fertilised with its own pollen it remained true; 
one of every three yellows also remained true, the 
other two, when fertilised by their own pollen, split 
up into the two originals with the proportion of 
three yellows to one green. The third yellow 
remained true. This has been demonstrated 
recently by other men interested in the subject, of 
whom the lecturer was the foremost. Professor de 
Vries, Dr. Correns, and Dr. Tschermak, all inde¬ 
pendent workers, have been, and are still devoting 
considerable attention to the subject. 
Mr. Bateson has worked out carefully the results 
obtained from Maize, Lychnis and Atropa, and 
found that they adhere closely to this law; although 
the figures when large quantities are concerned are 
not exact they are approximately correct. The 
lecturer has not confined bis attention to the 
vegetable kingdom, alone, but has caiefully investi¬ 
gated the results with his fowls and found that the 
same law applies to them. He invited all to take 
up the interesting subject as there was nowhere a 
more unexplored field for investigation. Whoever 
undertook to make observations on the subject he 
advised them to choose simple plants or they 
would never succeed, as the working out and separ¬ 
ating the results would be too intricate. The Rev. 
Professor Henslotv advised all who wished for a 
good subject to work od, to take up the Petunias, as 
when P. nectaginiflora and P. violacea are used 
the parentage can be so easily traced in them. It 
is from these two species that we have obtained the 
majority of our garden hybrids and varieties. 
SWAINSONIAS. 
These beautiful leguminous greenhouse climbers 
ought to be found in every garden, but, strange to 
say, there are many large gardens where they 
cannot be found. It is the same old cause—not 
new, no matter whether it is beautiful or not with 
many fanatical gardeners of the present day, if it is 
not of recent introduction it must go to the wall. 
For grace and beauty there are few climbers to beat 
the Swainsonias. They nearly all hail from 
Australia and New Zealand. Many of them make 
very effective bedding plants for summer work, 
especially if mixed with Plumbago capensis. They 
strike readily from young cuttings or may be raised 
easily from seed. If propagation by cuttings is 
resorted to, they should be inserted in sand and 
placed under a bell glass in a greenhouse and not put 
into heat. 
IXIAS. 
For making an attractive display in the cool houses 
at this time of the year, there are not many bulbous 
plants that can surpass these graceful and beauti¬ 
fully coloured flowers. They are very easy to 
cultivate and last a long time in bloom, even when 
cut. They are either raised from seed or by offsets. 
The latter is preferable, as plants raised from seed 
require several years to develop before they produce 
flowers. They should be potted firmly in a light, 
sandy compost in the autumn, and the pots plunged 
in ashes in a cool frame. They require plenty of 
air and as much light as possible. In very favour¬ 
able positions they may be successfully grown in a 
sunny border. They will not stand forcing as they 
do not like much heat. Ixia viridiflora is 
a unique species having greenish flowers. Green 
flowers are not usually pretty, but this is an 
exception to the rule. It was introduced in 1780 
and figured in the Botanical Magazine 549, under the 
name of I. maculata viridis. 
OLIVIAS 
Belong to the Amaryllideae. In many establish¬ 
ments they are better known under the name of 
Imantophyllums. They are ornamenting many 
conservatories at this time of the year with their 
umbels of brightly coloured flowers. They do not 
require potiing very frequently as the roots are 
large and fleshy and easily damaged. A few crushed 
bones in the soil are a goad manure for them. They 
should be well fed when making their growth, and 
not allowed to seed, as this weakens them con¬ 
siderably. They should be rested in winter by 
diminishing the water supply. 
POISON PLANTS. 
At a recent meeting of the L'.nnean Society of 
London, a report on ihe poisoning of several parrots 
from eating Parsley was presented by Mr. J. E. Hart- 
ing, who took occasion to review other instances of 
plants poisonous to domestic animals and not to 
mao, and vice versa. Larks, starlings, and finches 
eat the berries of the Mountain Ash (Pyrus 
Aucuparia), but they are poisonous to man fwe 
doubt this latter statement.— Ed] ; goats eat CLk 
twigs without any bad results ; while deer and cows 
are fatally poisoned. Goats" appear to be very 
resistsnt against poisonous plants; in a case of 
poisoning from goat milk, investigations showed that 
the animal from which the milk had been taken had 
been feeding on leaves of Colchicum. 
SCUTELLARIA INDICA JAPONICA. 
With few exceptions Scutellariae are hardy her¬ 
baceous perennials and may be grown in any 
ordinary garden soil. The above beautiful variety 
is now making some pretty pictures in various parts 
of the country where plant lovers have recognised its 
good qualities. When once seen in bloom it recom¬ 
mends itself by its free production of beautiful 
racemes of blue flowers which prove very attractive. 
It succeeds well as a rockery plant and may be 
