9 6 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
The National N urseryman. 
C. L. YATES, Proprietor RALPH T. OLCOTT, Editor. 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 
The National Nurseryman Publishing Co., 
305 Cox Building, Rochester, N. Y. 
The only trade journal issued for Growers and Dealers in Nursery Stock of 
all kinds. It circulates throughout the United States and Canada 
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN. 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 
One year, in advance, - - - - - $1.00 
Six Months, .77 
Foreign Subscriptions, in advance, - - - 1.50 
Six Months, “ “ 1.00 
Advertising rates will be sent upon application. Advertisements 
should reach this office by the 20th of the month previous to the date 
of issue. 
Payment in advance required for foreign advertisements. 
Jgi^Drafts on New York or postal orders, instead of checks, are 
requested. 
Correspondence from all points and articles of interest to nursery¬ 
men and horticulturists are cordially solicited. 
AHER1CAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN. 
President, Wilson J. Peters. Troy, O.; vice-president. D. S. Lake, Shen¬ 
andoah, la.; secretary, George C. Seager, Rochester, N. Y.; treas¬ 
urer, C. L. Yates, Rochester, N. Y. 
Executive Committee—Irving Rouse, Rochester, N. Y.: C. L. Watrous, Des 
Moines, la.; E. Albertson, Bridgeport, Ind. 
Committee on Transportation—Wilson J. Peters, ex-officio, chairman ; William 
Pitkin, Rochester, N. Y.; Peter Youngers, Geneva, Neb.; A. L. Brooke, N. 
Topeka, Kan.; Robert C.Berckmans, Augusta, Ga. 
Committee on Legislation—C. L. Watrous, Des Moines, la.; N. H. Albaugh, 
Tadmor, O.: Silas Wilson, Atlantic, la., Thomas B. Meehan, Germantown, Pa. 
Committee on Tariff—Irving Rouse, Rochester, N. Y.; J. J. Harrison, Paines- 
ville, O.; N. W. Hale, Knoxville, Tenn. 
Annual convention for 1900—Chicago Beach Hotel, June 13-lb 
Entered in the Post Office at Rochester, as second-class mail matter. 
Rochester, N. Y , September, 1899. 
IMPORTANCE Oh’ HYBRIDIZATION. 
In the historic old gardens of the Royal Horticultural 
Society at Chiswick, England, on July 11, two hundred per¬ 
sons from all quarters of Europe gathered to discuss the 
hybridization of plants, a subject of direct interest to nursery¬ 
men. I he proceedings have been but briefly referred to by 
the American journals. Dr. Masters, editor of the Gardener’s 
Chronicle, London, presided and in his address welcomed the 
foreign guests, one of the most prominent of these being 
Herbert J. Webber of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
To appreciate the importance of cross-breeding and 
hybridization,” said Dr. Masters, “we have only to look 
round our gardens and our exhibition-tents, or to scan the 
catalogues of our nurserymen. Selection has done and is 
doing much for the improvement of our plants, but it is cross¬ 
breeding which has furnished us with the materials for selec¬ 
tion. A few years ago by the expression ‘ new plants,’ we meant 
plants newly introduced from other countries, but, with the 
possible exception of orchids, the number of new plants of this 
description is now relatively few. The ‘new plants ’ of the 
present day, like the roses, the chrysanthemums, the fuchias, 
and so many others, are the products of the gardeners’ skill. 
From peaches to potatoes, from peas to plums, from straw¬ 
berries to savoys, the work of the cross-breeder is seen im¬ 
proving the quality and quantity of our products, adapting 
them to different climates and conditions, hastening their 
production in spring, prolonging their duration in autumn.” 
Referring to the work of the early hybridists, Dr. Masters 
continued: “It is curious, however, to note that objections 
and prejudices arose from two sources. Many worthy people 
objected to the production of hybrids, on the ground that it 
was an impious interference with the laws of nature. To such 
an extent was this prejudice carried, that a former firm of 
nurserymen, at Tooting, celebrated in their day for the culture, 
amongst other things, of heaths, in order to avoid wounding 
sensitive susceptibilities, exhibited as new species introduced 
from the Cape of Good Hope, forms which had really been 
originated by cross-breeding in their own nurseries. 
“ The best answer to this prejudice was supplied by'Dean 
Herbert, whose orthodoxy was beyond suspicion. He, like 
Linnaeus before him, had observed the existence of natural 
hybrids, and he set to work experimentally to prove the just¬ 
ness of his opinion. He succeeded in raising, as Englehart 
has done since, many hybrid narcissi, such as he had seen wild 
in the Pyrenees, by means of artificial cross-breeding. If such 
forms exist in nature, there can be no impropriety in produc¬ 
ing them by the art of the gardener.” 
The following papers were read: “ Hybridization and 
cross-breeding as a Method of Scientific Investigation,” W. 
Bateson, Esq., M. A., F. R. S. Cambridge ; “ Hybridization 
as a means of Pangenetic Infection,” Professor Hugo De 
Vries, Amsterdam: “ Hybrization and its Failures,” the Rev. 
Professor Geo. Henslow, M. A., V. M. H., London; “Experi¬ 
ments in Hybridization and Cross-breeding,” C. C. Hurst, 
Esq., F. R. H. S. F. I. S., Burbage, Hinckley. 
At the banquet following the conference, Mr. Webber, the 
American delegate, was accorded the place of honor and re¬ 
sponded to the first toast after the usual loyal toasts. Speak¬ 
ing on “Horticulture” he said he brought the friendly greet¬ 
ing of American horticulturists. It seemed to him, from what 
had been brought out on this occasion, that we are merely on 
the threshold of the matter, and it was a great misfortune that 
no reward awaited the originator of a new plant or variety. 
He considered that more honor was due to him who brought 
out a new plant than to him who but reproduced it afterwaids. 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Once in two years this national organization meets and dis¬ 
cusses horticultural topics upon a broad scale. The twenty- 
sixth biennial session will be held at Horticultural Hall, Phila¬ 
delphia, September 7-8. Representative horticulturists, nur¬ 
serymen and pomologists will be present. A nurseryman, C. 
L. VVatrous, Des Moines, la., prominent in the American Asso¬ 
ciation of Nurserymen, is president of the American Pomologi- 
cal Society, and the programme for the two days session 
contains papers and discussions by prominent nurserymen. 
