April 1, 1905 
FLOWERS IN WINDOWS. 
Amongst the various objects which tend 
io brighten up highways, nothing is more 
effective than the flower decked cottage 
windows which are amongst the common 
and delightful features of any country. A 
window gay with flowers is indicative of 
a true gardening spirit prevailing within— 
a spirit which all horticultural authorities 
will do well to foster, for the associations of 
plants and flowers have an uplifting effect 
on all those who can be induced to take 
an interest in them. 
No one turns to look at a flowerless win- 
dow twice, but there are some that are 
a source of general attraction to the passers- 
by through the display they present, not 
now and then, but always. It is a mystery 
to me how some people manage to keep up 
a constant show of bloom in the window 
with the limited facilities they possess, and 
particularly so when one considers that the 
household stock of horticultural knowledge 
is of a self-acquired and very primitive 
character. 
We are wont to look upon the lady gar- 
dener as a modern invention, but she is 
really nothing of the kind, because, for 
years past, women have been responsible 
for the window department in hundreds of 
lowly establishments, and illustrations 
prove whether they have succeeded or not. 
I know of nothing more pleasant than to 
chat with a grandmotherly old dame about 
her window plants or “tree jpots,” as she 
frequently calls them. She treats them 
more as children than plants, and knows 
the history of each specimen by heart. Her 
wrinkled old face beams with pleasure as 
she tells how she obtained her splendidly 
grown Lucy Finnis Fuchsia ag a “slippin’ ” 
from a friend, and “growed” it up to what 
it is now. 
Zonale Pelargoniums are things which 
she does not’ pretend to know anything 
about, but she is well acquainted with these 
plants under the family name of “Ge- 
raneums,” and if any one has goti a variety 
which she does not possess, no greater favor 
can be bestowed on the old lady than to 
present her with a “slippin’.” She evi- 
dently thinks that the plants possess her 
own liking for tea, for the drainings from © 
the pot are religiously put aside and ap- 
plied to them cold, and in the old lady’s 
estimation ne other liquor has the same 
fertilising properties as her favorite beve- 
rage. In no other instance, in fact, is the 
personality of a grower imparted to plants 
more than in the case of an old lady who 
possesses a love for window gardening. 
A glance at: windows here and there in- 
dicates what plants lend themselves most 
readily to this class of culture. First and 
foremost is the populat Geranium, and 
hundreds of specimens grown in cottage 
windows are sources of real pride to their 
owners. The Fuchsia is another plant in- 
separable from windows, and the double 
Petunia is also a prime favorite. More 
than once I have seen specimens of the 
Scarborough Lily growing in cottage 
windows that have struck me with envy, 
and where do the pretty little blue Cam- 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
panula isophylla and its white variety alba 
thrive better than under domestic culture, 
hanging in the light giving aperture? 
They strike me as being little horticul- 
tural worlds, these flower bedecked win- 
dows, peopled with plants, apparently 
happy in the associations around them, and 
lovingly cared for by hands that work 
hard in daily toil. Lessons they undoubt- 
edly teach ; yea, and also preach mute ser- 
mens, one of which points to the charms of 
floriculture that appeal to all sections of 
humanity, both young and old, rich and 
poor. 
VERNON. 
PLANT IMPROVEMENT BY HYBRI- 
DIZATION, 
(By H. H. Grorr.) 
The Darwinian theory as to the natural 
creation of species is none the less true, 
but that such theory was intended to bo 
accepted as an insuperable barried to the 
results of scientific effort could never have 
Leen thought of. It stated what we know 
to be perfectly true in nature—that the 
creation of wild species requires ages of 
time. But as I have recently expressed it: 
“The unfettered mind of man has bridged 
the ages, and in hastening evolution by hy- 
bridization has rushed: into the eons of the 
future, and laid ther treasures at our feet.” 
It would not be possible in a paper like 
this to detail the many points and features 
of this important aspect, resulting in my 
experience from my recognition of domestic 
species among my advanced creations, dur- 
ing years of constant and critical observa- 
tion in the field, from several hundred thou- 
sand new sxedlings of the gladiolus, as such’ 
detail is capable of limitless elaboration 
as to its actual and possible application, in 
scientific and economic plant breeding. 
You will appreciate my statement when 
T say that, although endowed with a fertile 
imagination, and optimistic temperament, 
with the added advantages of a life of busi- 
ness training to perfect my mental balance, 
I confess to a feeling of helplessness ati the 
immensity of the visible field foi practical, 
valuable and useful results arising from my 
limited application of the system, of planti 
breeding advocated by me. 
I used the word “limited” advisedly, for 
the reason that my use of parents bred from: 
vatious wild species has been with the object 
of meeting existing commercial and popu- 
lar demiands, and consequently I have only 
attempted a few of the many lines of pos- 
sible use at my disposal. You will, there- 
fore, understand me when I claim the limit- 
less posstbilities opened up by the few lines 
so selected, as compared with an attempt 
to compass the immensity of the whole of 
the visible field. 
Here again the visible field is found to be 
kut a border of the limitless reaches of 
eternal possibilities, and can you wonder 
that if the human mind palls at the pro- 
spect opened up by a fraction of its revela- 
tions, how may we hope to grapple compre- 
hensively with its immensity, were even a 
9 
portion of the remainder effectively availed 
cf. Then, further experiments in a frac- 
tion of a section of the visible field have 
proved to me that even here the develop- 
ment of new forms and«types promises to 
multiply indefinitely in the sub-section so 
chosen for elaboration ; so that specializa- 
tion becomes imperative, and having chosen 
the best lines apparent to our restricted 
perception, it would not be wise—ii it were 
possible—to return to the centre, and ra- 
diate indefinitely in aimless experiment. 
The practical and general application of 
my system may be cutlined as follows: In 
crder to secure the benefits of existing ma- 
terial, make crosses between every avail- 
able type, regardless of apparent objection- 
able characteristics. Select sires from these 
_and use on every wild species obtainable, on 
ypecial and general lines—crossing and re- 
crossing until desirable types are produced. 
Then bring the selected offspring of all wild 
species together in intercrossing om special 
lines, as each wild species will prove more 
useful than another in some individual fea- 
‘ture valued by us, for, as already indicated 
by me, specialization becomes inperative. 
The result of the foregoing will be the 
creaton of new domestic specific types, valu- 
able as sires for use in revitalising crosses 
on existing varieties of merit, and the pro- 
duction of new forms and types of unex- 
pected quality and value. 
“Selection of varieties and raising natur- 
ally fertilised seedings from such selections 
is only a short step toward an infinitesimal 
fraction of the possible satisfaction open to 
all plant breeders, who must be considered 
as advancing, more or less slowly, the ever- 
rising—but never to be fully risen—sun of 
scientific horticultural achievement. 
“The first’ step should be hybridization 
or cross breeding between such selected 
varieties—irrespective of color or race-— 
to the limit of variation and. stability, with 
2 contemporaneous systematic effort to de- 
velop domestic specific types from. every 
obtainable wild species, by using pollen 
from these advanced. selections. These ef- 
forts should be conducted on many lines, 
with’ the hope of rendering the possibilities 
of each species controllable for the definite 
use planned by the operator. 
“Wor example, if the desire is to produce 
a white section, every effort should be made 
to originate such colors and shades from 
every known wild species, without regard 
to their colors. When fixed types of a de- 
sirable character have been so produced 
these should be used as sires on selections 
from existing varieties as mothers, for the 
creation of new and valuable economic 
types. , ; 
‘While the foregoing operation 1s pro- 
-gressing for the production of commercial 
types, crosses should be made between all 
of these sires on individuals prepared for 
use as mothers by removal of the anthers 
before ripening of the pollen, with the 
object of creating new and distinct domes- 
tic specific types to be used as the progent- 
tors of new forms and races, as well as for 
