January  2,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE 
AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
11 
conclusion.  In  such  cases  as  the  latter  it  would  appear  that  the 
transformation  stands  in  no  direct  relation  to  the  conditions  of  life. 
Further,  we  Bee  that  bud  variability  is  not  solely  dependent  on  reversion 
or  atavism  to  long-lost  characters  (heredity)  or  to  those  formerly 
acquired  from  a  cross,  but  that  it  is  often  spontaneous.  But  when  we 
ask  ourselves  what  is  the  cause  of  any  particular  bud  variation  we  are 
lost  in  doubt,  being  driven  in  some  cases  to  look  to  the  direct  action  of 
the  external  conditions  of  life  as  sufficient,  and  in  other  cases  to  feel  a 
of  plants  in  support  of  his  general  views  rather  than  the  solving  the 
cause  of  the  mystery  of  bud  variation  itself. 
We  may  therefore  start  where  he  left  off.  To  this  end  every  scrap  of 
reliable  information  bearing  on  the  question  will  be  most  valuable,  not 
forgetting  the  details  of  “  G.  R.’s”  experience  in  the  matter.  A  record  of 
every  sport,  along  with  information  on  its  environment  and  general 
treatment  leading  up  to  the  bud  variation  by  those  interested  would  no 
doubt  eventually  reduce  the  matter  to  practical  ends. — Azoto. 
Fig.  2.— chrysanthemum  mons.  chenon  de  leche. 
profound  conviction  that  these  have  played  a  quite  subordinate  part  of 
not  more  importance  than  the  nature  of  the  spark  which  ignites  a  mass 
of  combustible  matter.” 
We  thus  realise  that  without  Darwin’s  profound  knowledge  on  this 
subject  how  easy  it  would  be  by  generalising  to  run  off  the  line  of  the 
argument  as  to  the  cause  of  sports  in  Chrysanthemums,  yet  because 
Darwin  himself  did  not  locate  the  cause  that  is  no  reason  for  us  to 
despair  of  the  mystery  being  cleared  up.  In  this  matter,  as  in  every 
other,  there  is  no  effect  without  a  cause,  and  we  must  hear  in  mind  that 
Du  win's  primary  object  was  to  establish  his  hypothesis  of  me  variation 
REFLECTIONS. 
The  shows  are  over  ;  exhibitors,  judges,  and  reporters  alike  have  for 
the  moment  a  breathing  space  ;  the  busiest  of  us  feels  iuclined  at  this 
Christmas  season  to  lay  aside  work,  and  the  closing  hours  of  the  old 
year  generally  call  up  to  our  minds  thoughts  and  memories  of  the  past. 
It  is  not  my  intention  to  speak  of  the  immediate  past,  knowing  that  this  is 
a  subject  which  will  be  treated  of  by  far  more  able  hands  than  mine  ; 
but  sitting  by  my  fireside  this  evening  I  spent  a  few  minutes  looking 
through  a  catalogue  of  nursery  stock,  printed  for  my  great-grandfather 
