210 
THE GARDENING WORLD * 
March 7,1903, 
certainty of getting most of the seeds to germinate and grow. 
It would then he possible to get a fairly exact idea of the 
number of true intermediates, and also those which resemble 
one or other parent. We could point to one good instance 
amongst Orchids where the resemblance to the pollen parent 
was so strong that it took several years to make people believe 
that any cross at all had been accomplished. Now we imagine 
that very few seedlings had been raised in this particular in¬ 
stance, and what the lost seedlings might have been like it 
would now be impossible to determine ; but we may reasonably 
presume that there were some intermediates. 
Mr. Hurst’s observations become more interesting when he 
deals with the effects of a fresh species upon a garden hybrid. 
To illustrate the lines upon which he proceeded, we may state 
that he took the well-known Cypripedium leeanum, which was 
the result of crossing C. insigne with the pollen of C. spiceria- 
num. A large number of varieties have been described under 
leeanum, and, quite independently of one another, several 
crosses have been made and a large number of seedlings 
raised by different gardeners, nurserymen, and others. Most 
gardeners, but more particularly those whose speciality is 
Orchids, know the general characteristics of C. leeanum fami¬ 
liarly enough. The interest, we think, is greatly multiplied 
when the author crossed C. leeanum with C. Boxallii. During 
the last four years forty-nine seedlings, the result of crossing 
leeanum with Boxallii, have flowered in his collection out of 
sixty that were raised. He finds that no intrinsic difference 
was joerceptiblei between, the cross and the reverse cross, so 
that cultivators would do well not to multiply names indefi¬ 
nitely, particularly by the use of Latin names, which are 
intended to be a record of the pedigree or otherwise. 
The author’s method of dealing with the theory of Mendel’s 
Law was to take something definite and specific relating to 
the colour of each parent used in the cross, in order to see 
how often those characteristics were represented in the seed¬ 
lings raised. In the first instance he took the ground colour 
of the dorsal sepal. In spicerianum this is white, with a green 
area at the base ; in insigne it is yellowy green, with a, broad 
white apex ; in Boxallii it is dark green, with a narrow white 
margin. Now, in crossing C. leeanum with C. Boxallii one 
would naturally expect a number of seedlings exactly inter¬ 
mediate between the two parents used; and in this case we 
are dealing with a garden hybrid and a wild species, but it 
seems, according to Mr. Hurst’s theory, the characteristics of 
the three original parents were not shown in a combined state 
in the progeny. Out of forty-nine hybrids twenty were refer¬ 
able to C. Calypso (Boxallii x spicerianum), and twenty-nine 
were referable to forms of P. schlesingerianum (Boxallii x 
insigne). These two latter crosses had been obtained pre¬ 
viously and by different people, by using the original parents 
as here mentioned. The effect of using C. Boxallii upon C. 
leeanum was that the latter hybrid was entirely broken up 
by the affinity of Boxallii for one or other of the original 
parents, or, in other words, for the pure and uncombined deter¬ 
minants of their germ cells. A second fact to be noted is that 
amongst the forty-nine hybrids raised by Mr. Hurst, none of 
them, in his estimation, represented insigne x spicerianum x 
Boxallii, nor insigne x spicerianum. 
These facts are very interesting, and they seem to be borne 
out by a study of two other specific characters taken from the 
dorsal sepal. The second character which he relied upon for 
his observations were the markings upon the dorsal sepal, and 
in this respect his analysis of the forty-nine hybrids showed 
that twenty-six of them were referable to C. Calypso and - 
twenty-three to C. schlesingerianum. The third character which 
he took was the median band, bar, or stripe on the dorsal 
sepal. The colours of thirty of them were comparable to 
various forms of Calypso and nineteen to schlesingerianum. 
In counting up a total of all the three sets of characters, his 
findings were that seventy-six of them were referable to forms 
of C. Calypso and seventy-one to forms of C. schlesingerianum. 
From the point of view of the Qrchidist, no advantage would 
seem to have been gained by crossing leeanum with Boxallii, 
seeing that the hybrids had both been obtained previously bv 
separate crossing of the wild species. 
We should like that some experiments of a reliable character 
might be carried out in reference to garden plants, which are 
being and have been improved by seed sowing and selection 
from their original type. Many of the best garden forms of 
florist flowers have thus been brought to great perfection bv 
the crossing and recrossing of varieties through rnanv succes¬ 
sive generations and the raising of fresh seedlings from the 
best types, and it would be interesting to know how Mendel's 
Law would apply in such cases. It would mean not onlv an 
immense amount of work, but work of an exact nature, that 
would eliminate all possibility of mistake in the parents em¬ 
ployed, and be a truthful and exact record of the varieties 
used in the several successive generations. Improvements of 
the kind indicated are and must be of an accumulative charac¬ 
ter, in order to build up a larger and larger flower with, in 
certain cases, a gradual intensification of the colours and in¬ 
creased texture of petals or showy parts of the flower. Mendel's 
Law would no doubt prove serviceable in explaining the beha¬ 
viour of those varieties popularly known as sports. 
The Pansy.* 
A note sent us concerning this book states that it was the 
first treatise ever published on the Pansy. Unfortunately we 
cannot verify the statement on the spur of the moment, as there 
is no date on the title page. On other two pages, however, we 
have the date of 1896, in one case referring to a new fancy Pansy 
named “ Colonel M. It. G. Buchanan,” and in the other case to 
Sidalcea Listen, a beautiful herbaceous plant sent out in the 
same year. Unless the book is now in its second edition it 
cannot, therefore, be very old. We remember another book 
entitled “Pansies, Violas, and Violets,” which dates back to 
1898, so that the little manual under notice is older. We 
should counsel all book writers, however, to put a date to their 
books, which cannot but be of the utmost value for future 
reference. 
In his introductory remarks to the cultivation of the Pansy, 
Mr. Lister says that it owes to the shoemaker, the tailor, and 
amateur more than to the professional gardener. The same 
would apply to various other flowers, possibly such as Auricula, 
Scotch Roses, Carnations, and various other common or popular 
flowers. The amateur engaged in some profession, it may be, 
has yet a penchant for some hobby apart from his daily occu¬ 
pation, so as to take his mind off the more serious aspect of his 
daily occupation, to soften down its asperities, or serve as an 
inducement to draw him more frequently into the open air if 
his occupation is a sedentary one. 
Cultural details commence with propagation from seed, this 
being followed by a chapter on propagation from cuttings. In 
such matters he may be relied upon to give practical, useful, 
and reliable information, for he is an ardent plantsman. In 
taking cuttings from Pansies he recommends the operator to 
choose short and stumpy cuttings as near the root as possible. 
When cuttings are scarce, and it is desired to propagate a new 
variety rapidly, cuttings can be taken from any part of the 
plant, with the hope of getting rooted specimens. Nevertheless 
he shows that the best plants are obtained from cuttings taken 
from near the root-stock ; advice is also given to take them only 
from healthy plants. 
In a chapter on culture he says that the first week of March 
is a good time for planting, but that planting can be accom¬ 
plished any time between February and June, provided the 
weather is favourable. We remember, however, that June 
would be too late for planting Pansies in the south of England, 
as that month frequently proves a dry one in the south ; and 
all of the Pansy tribe have a difficulty in becoming established 
after that period. The climate of Rothesay is always a moist 
and dripping one—a perfect paradise, in fact, for herbaceous 
plants of almost all kinds.- 
Chapters are also devoted to culture and appropriate methods 
of preparing blooms for competition and exhibition, and this 
cannot fail to be serviceable to every beginner. The chapters 
on insects and mildew deal with the remedies against the 
enemies of the gardener and his plants. 
*“The Pansy, How and When to Cultivate It, with Appendix on other Select 
Flowers ; also Vegetables.” By Alex. Lister. All rights reserved. Price Is. 
