In the different varieties, one, two, or several flowers in a small cluster, are borne on the same peduncle; and this is a difference which is considered of specific value in some of the Leguminosae. In all the varieties the flowers closely resemble each other except in colour and size. They are generally white, sometimes purple, but the colour is inconstant even in the same variety. In WARNER'S EMPEROR, which is a tall kind, the flowers are nearly double the size of the POIS NAIN HATIF; but HAIR'S DWARF MONMOUTH, which has large leaves, likewise has large flowers. The calyx in the VICTORIA MARROW is large, and in BISHOP'S LONG POD the sepals are rather narrow. In no other kind is there any difference in the flower.
The pods and seeds, which with natural species afford such constant characters, differ greatly in the cultivated varieties of the pea; and these are the valuable, and consequently the selected parts. SUGAR PEAS, or POIS SANS PARCHEMIN, are remarkable from their thin pods, which, whilst young, are cooked and eaten whole; and in this group, which, according to Mr. Gordon includes eleven sub-varieties, it is the pod which differs most; thus LEWIS'S NEGRO-PODDED PEA has a straight, broad, smooth, and dark- purple pod, with the husk not so thin as in the other kinds; the pod of another variety is extremely bowed; that of the POIS GEANT is much pointed at the extremity; and in the variety "A GRANDS COSSES" the peas are seen through the husk in so conspicuous a manner that the pod, especially when dry, can hardly at first be recognised as that of a pea.
In the ordinary varieties the pods also differ much in size;—in colour, that of WOODFORD'S GREEN MARROW being bright-green when dry, instead of pale brown, and that of the purple-podded pea being expressed by its name;- -in smoothness, that of DANECROFT being remarkably glossy, whereas that of the NE PLUS ULTRA is rugged; in being either nearly cylindrical, or broad and flat;—in being pointed at the end, as in THURSTON'S RELIANCE, or much truncated, as in the AMERICAN DWARF. In the AUVERGNE PEA the whole end of the pod is bowed upwards. In the QUEEN OF THE DWARFS and in SCIMITAR PEAS the pod is almost elliptic in shape. I here give drawings of the four most distinct pods produced by the plants cultivated by me.
(FIGURE 41. PODS AND PEAS. I. Queen of Dwarfs. II. American Dwarf. III.
Thurston's Reliance. IV. Pois Geant sans parchemin. a. Dan O'Rourke Pea. b.
Queen of Dwarfs Pea. c. Knight's Tall White Marrow. a. Lewis's Negro Pea.)
In the pea itself we have every tint between almost pure white, brown, yellow, and intense green; in the varieties of the SUGAR PEAS we have these same tints, together with red passing through fine purple into a dark chocolate tint. These colours are either uniform or distributed in dots, striae, or moss-like marks; they depend in some cases on the colour of the cotyledons seen through the skin, and in other cases on the outer coats of the pea itself. In the different varieties, the pods contain, according to Mr. Gordon, from eleven or twelve to only four or five peas. The largest peas are nearly twice as much in diameter as the smallest; and the latter are not always borne by the most dwarfed kinds. Peas differ much in shape, being smooth and spherical, smooth and oblong, nearly oval in the QUEEN OF THE DWARFS, and nearly cubical and crumpled in many of the larger kinds.
With respect to the value of the differences between the chief varieties, it cannot be doubted that, if one of the tall SUGAR-PEAS, with purple flowers, thin-skinned pods of an extraordinary shape, including large, dark-purple peas, grew wild by the side of the lowly QUEEN OF THE DWARFS, with white flowers, greyish-green, rounded leaves, scimitar-like pods, containing oblong, smooth, pale-coloured peas, which became mature at a different season: or by the side of one of the gigantic sorts, like the CHAMPION OF ENGLAND, with leaves of great size, pointed pods, and large, green, crumpled, almost cubical peas,—all three kinds would be ranked as distinct species.
Andrew Knight (9/85. 'Phil. Tract.' 1799 page 196.) has observed that the varieties of peas keep very true, because they are not crossed by insects. As far as the fact of keeping true is concerned, I hear from Mr. Masters of Canterbury, well known as the originator of several new kinds, that certain varieties have remained constant for a considerable time,—for instance, KNIGHT'S BLUE DWARF, which came out about the year 1820. (9/86. 'Gardener's Magazine' volume 1 1826 page 153.) But the greater number of varieties have a singularly short existence: thus Loudon remarks (9/87. 'Encyclopaedia of Gardening' page 823.) that "sorts which were highly approved in 1821, are now, in 1833, nowhere to be found;" and on comparing the lists of 1833 with those of 1855, I find that nearly all the varieties have changed. Mr. Masters informs me that the nature of the soil causes some varieties to lose their character. As with other plants, certain varieties can be propagated truly, whilst others show a determined tendency to vary; thus two peas differing in shape, one round and the other wrinkled, were found by Mr. Masters within the same pod, but the plants raised from the wrinkled kind always evinced a strong tendency to produce round peas. Mr. Masters also raised from a plant of another variety four distinct sub-varieties, which bore blue and round, white and round, blue and wrinkled, and white and wrinkled peas; and although he sowed these four varieties separately during several successive years, each kind always reproduced all four kinds mixed together!
With respect to the varieties not naturally intercrossing, I have ascertained that the pea, which in this respect differs from some other Leguminosae, is perfectly fertile without the aid of insects. Yet I have seen humble-bees whilst sucking the nectar depress the keel-petals, and become so thickly dusted with pollen, that it could hardly fail to be left on the stigma of the next flower which was visited. Nevertheless, distinct varieties growing closely together rarely cross; and I have reason to believe that this is due to their stigmas being prematurely fertilised in this country by pollen from the same flower. The horticulturists who raise seed-peas are thus enabled to plant distinct varieties close together without any bad consequences; and it is certain, as I have myself found, that true seed may be saved during at least several generations under these circumstances. (9/88. See Dr. Anderson to the same effect in the 'Bath Soc. Agricultural Papers' volume 4 page 87.) Mr. Fitch raised, as he informs me, one variety for twenty years, and it always came true, though grown close to other varieties. From the analogy of kidney-beans I should have expected (9/89. I have published full details of experiments on this subject in the 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1857 October 25.) that varieties thus circumstanced would have occasionally crossed; and I shall give in the eleventh chapter two cases of this having occurred, as shown (in a manner hereafter to be explained) by the pollen of the one variety having acted directly on the seeds of the other. Whether many of the new varieties which incessantly appear are due to such occasional and accidental crosses, I do not know. Nor do I know whether the short existence of almost all the numerous varieties is the result of mere change of fashion, or of their having a weak constitution, from being the product of long-continued self- fertilisation. It may, however, be noticed that several of Andrew Knight's varieties, which have endured longer than most kinds, were raised towards the close of the last century by artificial crosses; some of them, I believe, were still vigorous in 1860; but now, in 1865, a writer, speaking (9/90. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1865 page 387.) of Knight's four kinds of marrows, says, they have acquired a famous history, but their glory has departed.
With respect to Beans (Faba vulgaris), I will say but little. Dr. Alefield has given (9/91. 'Bonplandia' 10, 1862 s. 348.) short diagnostic characters of forty varieties. Everyone who has seen a collection must have been struck with the great difference in shape, thickness, proportional length and breadth, colour, and size which beans present. What a contrast between a Windsor and Horse-bean! As in the case of the pea, our existing varieties were preceded during the Bronze age in Switzerland (9/92. Heer 'Die Pflanzen der Pfahlbauten' 1866 s. 22.) by a peculiar and now extinct variety producing very small beans. (9/93. Mr. Bentham informs me that in Poitou and the adjoining parts of France, varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris are extremely numerous, and so different that they were described by Savi as distinct species. Mr. Bentham believes that all are descended from an unknown eastern species. Although the varieties differ so greatly in stature and in their seeds, "there is a remarkable sameness in the neglected characters of foliage and flowers, and especially in the bracteoles, an insignificant character in the eyes even of botanists.")
POTATO (Solanum tuberosum).
There is little doubt about the parentage of this plant; for the cultivated varieties differ extremely little in general appearance from the wild species, which can be recognised in its native land at the first glance. (9/94. Darwin 'Journal of Researches' 1845 page 285. Sabine in 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 5 page 249.) The varieties cultivated in Britain are numerous; thus Lawson (9/95. 'Synopsis of the Vegetable Products of Scotland' quoted in Wilson's 'British Farming' page 317.) gives a description of 175 kinds. I planted eighteen kinds in adjoining rows; their stems and leaves differed but little, and in several cases there was as great a difference between the individuals of the same variety as between the different varieties. The flower varied in size, and in colour between white and purple, but in no other respect, except that in one kind the sepals were somewhat elongated. One strange variety has been described which always produces two sorts of flowers, the first double and sterile, the second single and fertile. (9/96. Sir G. Mackenzie, in 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1845 page 790.) The fruit or berries also differ, but only in a slight degree. (9/97. Putsche und Vertuch 'Versuch einer Monographie der Kartoffeln' 1819 s. 9, 15. See also Dr. Anderson 'Recreations in Agriculture' volume 4 page 325.) The varieties are liable in very different degree to the attack of the Colorado potato-beetle. (9/98. Walsh 'The American Entomologist' 1869 page 160. Also S. Tenney 'The American Naturalist' May 1871 page 171.)
The tubers, on the other hand, present a wonderful amount of diversity. This fact accords with the principle that the valuable and selected parts of all cultivated productions present the greatest amount of modification. They differ much in size and shape, being globular, oval, flattened, kidney-like, or cylindrical. One variety from Peru is described (9/99. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1862 page 1052.) as being quite straight, and at least six inches in length, though no thicker than a man's finger. The eyes or buds differ in form, position, and colour. The manner in which the tubers are arranged on the so-called roots or rhizomes is different; thus, in the gurken-kartoffeln they form a pyramid with the apex downwards, and in another variety they bury themselves deep in the ground. The roots themselves run either near the surface or deep in the ground. The tubers also differ in smoothness and colour, being externally white, red, purple, or almost black, and internally white, yellow, or almost black. They differ in flavour and quality, being either waxy or mealy; in their period of maturity, and in their capacity for long preservation.
As with many other plants which have been long propagated by bulbs, tubers, cuttings, etc., by which means the same individual is exposed during a length of time to diversified conditions, seedling potatoes generally display innumerable slight differences. Several varieties, even when propagated by tubers, are far from constant, as will be seen in the chapter on Bud-variation. Dr. Anderson (9/100. 'Bath Society Agricult. Papers' volume 5 page 127. And 'Recreations in Agriculture' volume 5 page 86.) procured seed from an Irish purple potato, which grew far from any other kind, so that it could not at least in this generation have been crossed, yet the many seedlings varied in almost every possible respect, so that "scarcely two plants were exactly alike." Some of the plants which closely resembled each other above ground, produced extremely dissimilar tubers; and some tubers which externally could hardly be distinguished, differed widely in quality when cooked. Even in this case of extreme variability, the parent-stock had some influence on the progeny, for the greater number of the seedlings resembled in some degree the parent Irish potato. Kidney potatoes must be ranked amongst the most highly cultivated and artificial races; nevertheless their peculiarities can often be strictly propagated by seed. A great authority, Mr. Rivers (9/101. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1863 page 643.) states that "seedlings from the ash-leaved kidney always bear a strong resemblance to their parent. Seedlings from the fluke-kidney are still more remarkable for their adherence to their parent stock, for, on closely observing a great number during two seasons, I have not been able to observe the least difference, either in earliness, productiveness, or in the size or shape of their tubers."
CHAPTER 1.X.
PLANTS continued—FRUITS—ORNAMENTAL TREES—FLOWERS.
FRUITS.
GRAPES. VARY IN ODD AND TRIFLING PARTICULARS.
MULBERRY.
THE ORANGE GROUP. SINGULAR RESULTS FROM CROSSING.
PEACH AND NECTARINE. BUD-VARIATION. ANALOGOUS VARIATION. RELATION TO THE ALMOND.
APRICOT.
PLUMS. VARIATION IN THEIR STONES.
CHERRIES. SINGULAR VARIETIES OF.
APPLE.
PEAR.
STRAWBERRY. INTERBLENDING OF THE ORIGINAL FORMS.
GOOSEBERRY. STEADY INCREASE IN SIZE OF THE FRUIT. VARIETIES OF.
WALNUT. NUT.
CUCURBITACEOUS PLANTS. WONDERFUL VARIATION OF.
ORNAMENTAL TREES. THEIR VARIATION IN DEGREE AND KIND. ASH-TREE. SCOTCH-FIR. HAWTHORN.
FLOWERS. MULTIPLE ORIGIN OF MANY KINDS. VARIATION IN CONSTITUTIONAL PECULIARITIES. KIND OF VARIATION. ROSES. SEVERAL SPECIES CULTIVATED. PANSY. DAHLIA. HYACINTH. HISTORY AND VARIATION OF.
[THE VINE (Vitis vinifera) (Grapes).
The best authorities consider all our grapes as the descendants of one species which now grows wild in western Asia, which grew wild during the Bronze age in Italy (10/1. Heer 'Pflanzen der Pfahlbauten' 1866 s. 28.), and which has recently been found fossil in a tufaceous deposit in the south of France. (10/2. Alph. De Candolle 'Geograph. Bot.' page 872; Dr. A. Targioni-Tozzetti in 'Jour. Hort. Soc.' vol 9 page 133. For the fossil vine found by Dr. G. Planchon see 'Nat. Hist. Review' 1865 April page 224. See also the valuable works of M. de Saporta on the 'Tertiary Plants of France.') Some authors, however, entertain much doubt about the single parentage of our cultivated varieties, owing to the number of semi-wild forms found in Southern Europe, especially as described by Clemente (10/3. Godron 'De l'Espece' tome 2 page 100.) in a forest in Spain; but as the grape sows itself freely in Southern Europe, and as several of the chief kinds transmit their characters by seed (10/4. See an account of M. Vibert's experiments by Alex. Jordan in 'Mem. de l'Acad. de Lyon' tome 2 1852 page 108.), whilst others are extremely variable, the existence of many different escaped forms could hardly fail to occur in countries where this plant has been cultivated from the remotest antiquity. That the vine varies much when propagated by seed, we may infer from the largely increased number of varieties since the earlier historical records. New hot-house varieties are produced almost every year; for instance (10/5. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1864 page 488.) a golden-coloured variety has been recently raised in England from a black grape without the aid of a cross. Van Mons (10/6. 'Arbres Fruitiers' 1836 tome 2 page 290.) reared a multitude of varieties from the seed of one vine, which was completely separated from all others, so that there could not, at least in this generation, have been any crossing, and the seedlings presented "les analogues de toutes les sortes," and differed in almost every possible character both in the fruits and foliage.
The cultivated varieties are extremely numerous; Count Odart says that he will not deny that there may exist throughout the world 700 or 800, perhaps even 1000 varieties, but not a third of these have any value. In the catalogue of fruit cultivated in the Horticultural Gardens of London, published in 1842, 99 varieties are enumerated. Wherever the grape is grown many varieties occur: Pallas describes 24 in the Crimea, and Burnes mentions 10 in Cabool. The classification of the varieties has much perplexed writers, and Count Odart is reduced to a geographical system; but I will not enter on this subject, nor on the many and great differences between the varieties. I will merely specify a few curious and trifling peculiarities, all taken from Odart's highly esteemed work (10/7. Odart 'Ampelographie Universelle' 1849.) for the sake of showing the diversified variability of this plant. Simon has classed grapes into two main divisions, those with downy leaves, and those with smooth leaves, but he admits that in one variety, namely the Rebazo, the leaves are either smooth, or downy; and Odart (page 70) states that some varieties have the nerves alone, and other varieties their young leaves, downy, whilst the old ones are smooth. The Pedro-Ximenes grape (Odart page 397) presents a peculiarity by which it can be at once recognised amongst a host of other varieties, namely, that when the fruit is nearly ripe the nerves of the leaves or even the whole surface becomes yellow. The Barbera d'Asti is well marked by several characters (page 426), amongst others, "by some of the leaves, and it is always the lowest on the branches, suddenly becoming of a dark red colour." Several authors in classifying grapes have founded their main divisions on the berries being either round or oblong; and Odart admits the value of this character; yet there is one variety, the Maccabeo (page 71), which often produces small round, and large oblong, berries in the same bunch. Certain grapes called Nebbiolo (page 429) present a constant character, sufficient for their recognition, namely, "the slight adherence of that part of the pulp which surrounds the seeds to the rest of the berry, when cut through transversely." A Rhenish variety is mentioned (page 228) which likes a dry soil; the fruit ripens well, but at the moment of maturity, if much rain falls, the berries are apt to rot; on the other hand, the fruit of a Swiss variety (page 243) is valued for well sustaining prolonged humidity. This latter variety sprouts late in the spring, yet matures its fruit early; other varieties (page 362) have the fault of being too much excited by the April sun, and in consequence suffer from frost. A Styrian variety (page 254) has brittle foot-stalks, so that the clusters of fruit are often blown off; this variety is said to be particularly attractive to wasps and bees. Other varieties have tough stalks, which resist the wind. Many other variable characters could be given, but the foregoing facts are sufficient to show in how many small structural and constitutional details the vine varies. During the vine disease in France certain old groups of varieties (10/8. M. Bouchardat in 'Comptes Rendus' December 1, 1851 quoted in 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1852 page 435. See also C.V. Riley on the manner in which some few of the varieties of the American Labruscan Vine escape the attacks of the Phylloxera: 'Fourth Annual Report on the Insects of Missouri' 1872 page 63 and 'Fifth Report' 1873 page 66.) have suffered far more from mildew than others. Thus "the group of Chasselas, so rich in varieties, did not afford a single fortunate exception;" certain other groups suffered much less; the true old Burgundy, for instance, was comparatively free from disease, and the Carminat likewise resisted the attack. The American vines, which belong to a distinct species, entirely escaped the disease in France; and we thus see that those European varieties which best resist the disease must have acquired in a slight degree the same constitutional peculiarities as the American species.
WHITE MULBERRY (Morus alba).
I mention this plant because it has varied in certain characters, namely, in the texture and quality of the leaves, fitting them to serve as food for the domesticated silkworm, in a manner not observed with other plants; but this has arisen simply from such variations in the mulberry having been attended to, selected, and rendered more or less constant. M. de Quatrefages (10/9. 'Etudes sur les Maladies actuelles du Ver a Soie' 1859 page 321.) briefly describes six kinds cultivated in one valley in France: of these the AMOUROUSO produces excellent leaves, but is rapidly being abandoned because it produces much fruit mingled with the leaves: the ANTOFINO yields deeply cut leaves of the finest quality, but not in great quantity: the CLARO is much sought for because the leaves can be easily collected: lastly, the ROSO bears strong hardy leaves, produced in large quantity, but with the one inconvenience, that they are best adapted for the worms after their fourth moult. MM. Jacquemet-Bonnefont, of Lyon, however, remark in their catalogue (1862) that two sub-varieties have been confounded under the name of the roso, one having leaves too thick for the caterpillars, the other being valuable because the leaves can easily be gathered from the branches without the bark being torn.
In India the mulberry has also given rise to many varieties. The Indian form is thought by many botanists to be a distinct species; but as Royle remarks (10/10. 'Productive Resources of India' page 130.), "so many varieties have been produced by cultivation that it is difficult to ascertain whether they all belong to one species;" they are, as he adds, nearly as numerous as those of the silkworm.
THE ORANGE GROUP.
We here meet with great confusion in the specific distinction and parentage of the several kinds. Gallesio (10/11. 'Traite du Citrus' 1811. 'Teoria della Riproduzione Vegetale' 1816. I quote chiefly from this second work. In 1839 Gallesio published in folio 'Gli Agrumi dei Giard. Bot. di Firenze' in which he gives a curious diagram of the supposed relationship of all the forms.), who almost devoted his life-time to the subject, considers that there are four species, namely, sweet and bitter oranges, lemons, and citrons, each of which has given rise to whole groups of varieties, monsters, and supposed hybrids. One high authority (10/12. Mr. Bentham 'Review of Dr. A. Targioni-Tozzetti, Journal of Hort. Soc.' volume 9 page 133.) believes that these four reputed species are all varieties of the wild Citrus medica, but that the shaddock (Citrus decumana), which is not known in a wild state, is a distinct species; though its distinctness is doubted by another writer "of great authority on such matters," namely, Dr. Buchanan Hamilton. Alph. De Candolle (10/13. 'Geograph. Bot.' page 863.), on the other hand—and there cannot be a more capable judge—advances what he considers sufficient evidence of the orange (he doubts whether the bitter and sweet kinds are specifically distinct), the lemon, and citron, having been found wild, and consequently that they are distinct. He mentions two other forms cultivated in Japan and Java, which he ranks undoubted species; he speaks rather more doubtfully about the shaddock, which varies much, and has not been found wild; and finally he considers some forms, such as Adam's apple and the bergamotte, as probably hybrids.
I have briefly abstracted these opinions for the sake of showing those who have never attended to such subjects, how perplexing they are. It would, therefore, be useless for my purpose to give a sketch of the conspicuous differences between the several forms. Besides the ever-recurrent difficulty of determining whether forms found wild are truly aboriginal or are escaped seedlings, many of the forms, which must be ranked as varieties, transmit their characters almost perfectly by seed. Sweet and bitter oranges differ in no important respect except in the flavour of their fruit, but Gallesio (10/14. 'Teoria della Riproduzione' pages 52-57.) is most emphatic that both kinds can be propagated by seed with absolute certainty. Consequently, in accordance with his simple rule, he classes them as distinct species; as he does sweet and bitter almonds, the peach and nectarine, etc. He admits, however, that the soft-shelled pine-tree produces not only soft-shelled but some hard-shelled seedlings, so that a little greater force in the power of inheritance would, according to this rule, raise a soft-shelled pine-tree into the dignity of an aboriginally created species. The positive assertion made by Macfayden (10/15. Hooker 'Bot. Misc.' volume 1 page 302; volume 2 page 111.) that the pips of sweet oranges produced in Jamaica, according to the nature of the soil in which they are sown, either sweet or bitter oranges, is probably an error; for M. Alph. De Candolle informs me that since the publication of his great work he has received accounts from Guiana, the Antilles, and Mauritius, that in these countries sweet oranges faithfully transmit their character. Gallesio found that the willow-leafed and the Little China oranges reproduced their proper leaves and fruit; but the seedlings were not quite equal in merit to their parents. The red-fleshed orange, on the other hand, fails to reproduce itself. Gallesio also observed that the seeds of several other singular varieties all reproduced trees having a peculiar physiognomy, partly resembling their parent-forms. I can adduce another case: the myrtle leaved orange is ranked by all authors as a variety, but is very distinct in general aspect: in my father's greenhouse, during many years, it rarely yielded any fruit, but at last produced one; and a tree thus raised was identical with the parent-form.
Another and more serious difficulty in determining the rank of the several forms is that, according to Gallesio (10/16. 'Teoria della Riproduzione' page 53.) they largely intercross without artificial aid; thus he positively states that seeds taken from lemon-trees (C. lemonum) growing mingled with the citron (C. medica), which is generally considered as a distinct species, produced a graduated series of varieties between these two forms. Again, an Adam's apple was produced from the seed of a sweet orange, which grew close to lemons and citrons. But such facts hardly aid us in determining whether to rank these forms as species or varieties; for it is now known that undoubted species of Verbascum, Cistus, Primula, Salix, etc., frequently cross in a state of nature. If indeed it were proved that plants of the orange tribe raised from these crosses were even partially sterile, it would be a strong argument in favour of their rank as species. Gallesio asserts that this is the case; but he does not distinguish between sterility from hybridism and from the effects of culture; and he almost destroys the force of this statement by another (10/17. Gallesio 'Teoria della Riproduzione' page 69.) namely, that when he impregnated the flowers of the common orange with the pollen taken from undoubted VARIETIES of the orange, monstrous fruits were produced, which included "little pulp, and had no seeds, or imperfect seeds."
In this tribe of plants we meet with instances of two highly remarkable facts in vegetable physiology: Gallesio (10/18. Ibid page 67.) impregnated an orange with pollen from a lemon, and the fruit borne on the mother tree had a raised stripe of peel like that of a lemon both in colour and taste, but the pulp was like that of an orange and included only imperfect seeds. The possibility of pollen from one variety or species directly affecting the fruit produced by another variety of species, is a subject which I shall fully discuss in the following chapter.
The second remarkable fact is, that two supposed hybrids (10/19. Gallesio 'Teoria della Riproduzione' pages 75, 76.) (for their hybrid nature was not ascertained), between an orange and either a lemon or citron, produced on the same tree leaves, flowers, and fruit of both pure parent-forms, as well as of a mixed or crossed nature. A bud taken from any one of the branches and grafted on another tree produces either one of the pure kinds or a capricious tree reproducing the three kinds. Whether the sweet lemon, which includes within the same fruit segments of differently flavoured pulp (10/20. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1841 page 613.), is an analogous case, I know not. But to this subject I shall have to recur.
I will conclude by giving from A. Risso (10/21. 'Annales du Museum' tome 20 page 188.) a short account of a very singular variety of the common orange. It is the "citrus aurantium fructu variabili," which on the young shoots produces rounded-oval leaves spotted with yellow, borne on petioles with heart-shaped wings; when these leaves fall off, they are succeeded by longer and narrower leaves, with undulated margins, of a pale-green colour embroidered with yellow, borne on footstalks without wings. The fruit whilst young is pear-shaped, yellow, longitudinally striated, and sweet; but as it ripens, it becomes spherical, of a reddish-yellow, and bitter.
PEACH AND NECTARINE (Amygdalus persica).
The best authorities are nearly unanimous that the peach has never been found wild. It was introduced from Persia into Europe a little before the Christian era, and at this period few varieties existed. Alph. De Candolle (10/22. 'Geograph. Bot.' page 882.), from the fact of the peach not having spread from Persia at an earlier period, and from its not having pure Sanscrit or Hebrew names, believes that it is not an aboriginal of Western Asia, but came from the terra incognita of China. The supposition, however, that the peach is a modified almond which acquired its present character at a comparatively late period, would, I presume, account for these facts; on the same principle that the nectarine, the offspring of the peach, has few native names, and became known in Europe at a still later period.
(FIGURE 42.-PEACH AND ALMOND STONES, of natural size, viewed edgeways. 1.
Common English peach. 2. Double, crimson-flowered, Chinese Peach. 3.
Chinese Honey Peach. 4. English Almond. 5. Barcelona Almond. 6. Malaga
Almond. 7. Soft-shelled French Almond. 8. Smyrna Almond.)
Andrew Knight (10/23. 'Transactions of Hort. Soc.' volume 3 page 1 and volume 4 page 396 and note to page 370. A coloured drawing is given of this hybrid.), from finding that a seedling-tree, raised from a sweet almond fertilised by the pollen of a peach, yielded fruit quite like that of a peach, suspected that the peach-tree is a modified almond; and in this he has been followed by various authors. (10/24. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1856 page 532. A writer, it may be presumed Dr. Lindley, remarks on the perfect series which may be formed between the almond and the peach. Another high authority, Mr. Rivers, who has had such wide experience, strongly suspects ('Gardener's Chronicle' 1863 page 27) that peaches, if left to a state of nature, would in the course of time retrograde into thick-fleshed almonds.) A first-rate peach, almost globular in shape, formed of soft and sweet pulp, surrounding a hard, much furrowed, and slightly flattened stone, certainly differs greatly from an almond, with its soft, slightly furrowed, much flattened, and elongated stone, protected by a tough, greenish layer of bitter flesh. Mr. Bentham (10/25. 'Journal of Hort. Soc.' volume 9 page 168.) has particularly called attention to the stone of the almond being so much more flattened than that of the peach. But in the several varieties of the almond, the stone differs greatly in the degree to which it is compressed, in size, shape, strength, and in the depth of the furrows, as may be seen in figure 42 (Nos. 4 to 8) of such kinds as I have been able to collect. With peach-stones also (Nos. 1 to 3) the degree of compression and elongation is seen to vary; so that the stone of the Chinese Honey-peach (No. 3) is much more elongated and compressed than that of the (No. 8) Smyrna almond. Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, to whom I am indebted for some of the specimens above figured, and who has had such great horticultural experience, has called my attention to several varieties which connect the almond and the peach. In France there is a variety called the Peach-Almond, which Mr. Rivers formerly cultivated, and which is correctly described in a French catalogue as being oval and swollen, with the aspect of a peach, including a hard stone surrounded by a fleshy covering, which is sometimes eatable. (10/26. Whether this is the same variety as one lately mentioned ('Gardener's Chronicle' 1865 page 1154) by M. Carriere under the name of persica intermedia, I know not; this variety is said to be intermediate in nearly all its characters between the almond and peach; it produces during successive years very different kinds of fruit.) A remarkable statement by M. Luizet has recently appeared in the 'Revue Horticole' (10/27. Quoted in 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1866 page 800.), namely, that a Peach-almond, grafted on a peach, bore, during 1863 and 1864 almonds alone, but in 1865 bore six peaches and no almonds. M. Carriere, in commenting on this fact, cites the case of a double-flowered almond which, after producing during several years almonds, suddenly bore for two years in succession spherical fleshy peach-like fruits, but in 1865 reverted to its former state and produced large almonds.
Again, as I hear from Mr. Rivers, the double-flowering Chinese peaches resemble almonds in their manner of growth and in their flowers; the fruit is much elongated and flattened, with the flesh both bitter and sweet, but not uneatable, and it is said to be of better quality in China. From this stage one small step leads us to such inferior peaches as are occasionally raised from seed. For instance, Mr. Rivers sowed a number of peach-stones imported from the United States, where they are collected for raising stocks, and some of the trees raised by him produced peaches which were very like almonds in appearance, being small and hard, with the pulp not softening till very late in the autumn. Van Mons (10/28. Quoted in 'Journal de La Soc. Imp. d'Horticulture' 1855 page 238.) also states that he once raised from a peach-stone a peach having the aspect of a wild tree, with fruit like that of the almond. From inferior peaches, such as these just described, we may pass by small transitions, through clingstones of poor quality, to our best and most melting kinds. From this gradation, from the cases of sudden variation above recorded, and from the fact that the peach has not been found wild, it seems to me by far the most probable view, that the peach is the descendant of the almond, improved and modified in a marvellous manner.
One fact, however, is opposed to this conclusion. A hybrid, raised by Knight from the sweet almond by the pollen of the peach, produced flowers with little or no pollen, yet bore fruit, having been apparently fertilised by a neighbouring nectarine. Another hybrid, from a sweet almond by the pollen of a nectarine, produced during the first three years imperfect blossoms, but afterwards perfect flowers with an abundance of pollen. If this slight degree of sterility cannot be accounted for by the youth of the trees (and this often causes lessened fertility), or by the monstrous state of the flowers, or by the conditions to which the trees were exposed, these two cases would afford a good argument against the peach being the descendant of the almond.
Whether or not the peach has proceeded from the almond, it has certainly given rise to nectarines, or smooth peaches, as they are called by the French. Most of the varieties, both of the peach and nectarine, reproduce themselves truly by seed. Gallesio (10/29. 'Teoria della Riproduzione Vegetale' 1816 page 86.) says he has verified this with respect to eight races of the peach. Mr. Rivers (10/30. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1862 page 1195.) has given some striking instances from his own experience, and it is notorious that good peaches are constantly raised in North America from seed. Many of the American sub-varieties come true or nearly true to their kind, such as the white-blossom, several of the yellow-fruited freestone peaches, the blood clingstone, the heath, and the lemon clingstone. On the other hand, a clingstone peach has been known to give rise to a freestone. (10/31. Mr. Rivers 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1859 page 774.) In England it has been noticed that seedlings inherit from their parents flowers of the same size and colour. Some characters, however, contrary to what might have been expected, often are not inherited; such as the presence and form of the glands on the leaves. (10/32. Downing 'The Fruits of America' 1845 pages 475, 489, 492, 494, 496. See also F. Michaux 'Travels in N. America' English translation page 228. For similar cases in France see Godron 'De l'Espece' tome 2 page 97.) With respect to nectarines, both cling and freestones are known in North America to reproduce themselves by seed. (10/33. Brickell 'Nat. Hist. of N. Carolina' page 102 and Downing 'Fruit Trees' page 505.) In England the new white nectarine was a seedling of the old white, and Mr. Rivers (10/34. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1862 page 1196.) has recorded several similar cases. From this strong tendency to inheritance, which both peach and nectarine trees exhibit,—from certain slight constitutional differences (10/35. The peach and nectarine do not succeed equally well in the some soil: see Lindley 'Horticulture' page 351.) in their nature,—and from the great difference in their fruit both in appearance and flavour, it is not surprising, notwithstanding that the trees differ in no other respects and cannot even be distinguished, as I am informed by Mr. Rivers, whilst young, that they have been ranked by some authors as specifically distinct. Gallesio does not doubt that they are distinct; even Alph. De Candolle does not appear perfectly assured of their specific identity: and an eminent botanist has quite recently (10/36. Godron 'De l'Espece' tome 2 1859 page 97.) maintained that the nectarine "probably constitutes a distinct species."
Hence it may be worth while to give all the evidence on the origin of the nectarine. The facts in themselves are curious, and will hereafter have to be referred to when the important subject of bud-variation is discussed. It is asserted (10/37. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 6 page 394.) that the Boston nectarine was produced from a peach-stone, and this nectarine reproduced itself by seed. (10/38. Downing's 'Fruit Trees' page 502.) Mr. Rivers states (10/39. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1862 page 1195.) that from stones of three distinct varieties of the peach he raised three varieties of nectarine; and in one of these cases no nectarine grew near the parent peach-tree. In another instance Mr. Rivers raised a nectarine from a peach, and in the succeeding generation another nectarine from this nectarine. (10/40. 'Journal of Horticulture' February 5, 1866 page 102.) Other such instances have been communicated to me, but they need not be given. Of the converse case, namely, of nectarine-stones yielding peach-trees (both free and clingstones), we have six undoubted instances recorded by Mr. Rivers; and in two of these instances the parent nectarines had been seedlings from other nectarines. (10/41. Mr. Rivers in 'Gardener's 'Chronicle' 1859 page 774, 1862 page 1195; 1865 page 1059; and 'Journal of Hort.' 1866 page 102.)
With respect to the more curious case of full-grown peach-trees suddenly producing nectarines by bud-variation (or sports as they are called by gardeners), the evidence is superabundant; there is also good evidence of the same tree producing both peaches and nectarines, or half-and-half fruit; by this term I mean a fruit with the one-half a perfect peach, and the other half a perfect nectarine.
Peter Collinson in 1741 recorded the first case of a peach-tree producing a nectarine (10/42. 'Correspondence of Linnaeus' 1821 pages 7, 8, 70.) and in 1766 he added two other instances. In the same work, the editor, Sir J.E. Smith, describes the more remarkable case of a tree in Norfolk which usually bore both perfect nectarines and perfect peaches; but during two seasons some of the fruit were half and half in nature.
Mr. Salisbury in 1808 (10/43. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 1 page 103.) records six other cases of peach-trees producing nectarines. Three of the varieties are named; viz., the Alberge, Belle Chevreuse, and Royal George. This latter tree seldom failed to produce both kinds of fruit. He gives another case of a half-and-half fruit.
At Radford in Devonshire (10/44. Loudon's 'Gardener's Mag.' 1826 volume 1. page 471.) a clingstone peach, purchased as the Chancellor, was planted in 1815, and in 1824, after having previously produced peaches alone, bore on one branch twelve nectarines; in 1825 the same branch yielded twenty-six nectarines, and in 1826 thirty-six nectarines, together with eighteen peaches. One of the peaches was almost as smooth on one side as a nectarine. The nectarines were as dark as, but smaller than, the Elruge.
At Beccles a Royal George peach (10/45. Loudon's 'Gardener's Mag.' 1828 page 53.) produced a fruit, "three parts of it being peach and one part nectarine, quite distinct in appearance as well as in flavour." The lines of division were longitudinal, as represented in the woodcut. A nectarine- tree grew five yards from this tree.
Professor Chapman states (10/46. Ibid 1830 page 597.) that he has often seen in Virginia very old peach-trees bearing nectarines.
A writer in the 'Gardener's Chronicle' says that a peach tree planted fifteen years previously (10/47. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1841 page 617.) produced this year a nectarine between two peaches; a nectarine-tree grew close by.
In 1844 (10/48. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1844 page 589.) a Vanguard peach- tree produced, in the midst of its ordinary fruit, a single red Roman nectarine.
Mr. Calver is stated (10/49. 'Phytologist' volume 4 page 299.) to have raised in the United States a seedling peach which produced a mixed crop of both peaches and nectarines.
Near Dorking (10/50. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1856 page 531.) a branch of the Teton de Venus peach, which reproduces itself truly by seed (10/51. Godron, 'De l'Espece' tome 2 page 97.), bore its own fruit "so remarkable for its prominent point, and a nectarine rather smaller but well formed and quite round."
The previous cases all refer to peaches suddenly producing nectarines, but at Carclew (10/52. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1856 page 531.) the unique case occurred, of a nectarine-tree, raised twenty years before from seed and never grafted, producing a fruit half peach and half nectarine; subsequently bore a perfect peach.
To sum up the foregoing facts; we have excellent evidence of peach-stones producing nectarine-trees, and of nectarine-stones producing peach-trees,— of the same tree bearing peaches and nectarines,—of peach-trees suddenly producing by bud-variation nectarines (such nectarines reproducing nectarines by seed), as well as fruit in part nectarine and in part peach,- -and, lastly, of one nectarine-tree first bearing half-and-half fruit, and subsequently true peaches. As the peach came into existence before the nectarine, it might have been expected from the law of reversion that nectarines would have given birth by bud-variation or by seed to peaches, oftener than peaches to nectarines; but this is by no means the case.
Two explanations have been suggested to account for these conversions. First, that the parent trees have been in every case hybrids (10/53. Alph. De Candolle 'Geograph. Bot.' page 886.) between the peach and nectarine, and have reverted by bud-variation or by seed to one of their pure parent forms. This view in itself is not very improbable; for the Mountaineer peach, which was raised by Knight from the red nutmeg-peach by pollen of the violette hative nectarine (10/54. Thompson in Loudon's 'Encyclop. of Gardening' page 911.), produces peaches, but these are said SOMETIMES to partake of the smoothness and flavour of the nectarine. But let it be observed that in the previous list no less than six well-known varieties and several unnamed varieties of the peach have once suddenly produced perfect nectarines by bud variation: and it would be an extremely rash supposition that all these varieties of the peach, which have been cultivated for years in many districts, and which show not a vestige of a mixed parentage, are, nevertheless, hybrids. A second explanation is, that the fruit of the peach has been directly affected by the pollen of the nectarine: although this certainly is possible, it cannot here apply; for we have not a shadow of evidence that a branch which has borne fruit directly affected by foreign pollen is so profoundly modified as afterwards to produce buds which continue to yield fruit of the new and modified form. Now it is known that when a bud on a peach-tree has once borne a nectarine the same branch has in several instances gone on during successive years producing nectarines. The Carclew nectarine, on the other hand, first produced half-and-half fruit, and subsequently pure peaches. Hence we may confidently accept the common view that the nectarine is a variety of the peach, which may be produced either by bud-variation or from seed. In the following chapter many analogous cases of bud-variation will he given.
The varieties of the peach and the nectarine run in parallel lines. In both classes the kinds differ from each other in the flesh of the fruit being white, red, or yellow; in being clingstones or freestones; in the flowers being large or small, with certain other characteristic differences; and in the leaves being serrated without glands, or crenated and furnished with globose or reniform glands. (10/55. 'Catalogue of Fruit in Garden of Hort. Soc.' 1842 page 105.) We can hardly account for this parallelism by supposing that each variety of the nectarine is descended from a corresponding variety of the peach; for though our nectarines are certainly the descendants of several kinds of peaches, yet a large number are the descendants of other nectarines, and they vary so much when thus reproduced that we can scarcely admit the above explanation.
The varieties of the peach have largely increased in number since the Christian era, when from two to five varieties were known (10/56. Dr. A. Targioni-Tozzetti 'Journal Hort. Soc.' volume 9 page 167. Alph. de Candolle 'Geograph. Bot.' page 885.) and the nectarine was unknown. At the present time, besides many varieties said to exist in China, Downing describes, in the United States, seventy-nine native and imported varieties of the peach; and a few years ago Lindley (10/57. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 5 page 554. See also Carriere 'Description et Class. des Varietes de Pechers.') enumerated one hundred and sixty-four varieties of the peach and nectarine grown in England. I have already indicated the chief points of difference between the several varieties. Nectarines, even when produced from distinct kinds of peaches, always possess their own peculiar flavour, and are smooth and small. Clingstone and freestone peaches, which differ in the ripe flesh either firmly adhering to the stone, or easily separating from it, also differ in the character of the stone itself; that of the freestones or melters being more deeply fissured, with the sides of the fissures smoother than in clingstones. In the various kinds the flowers differ not only in size, but in the larger flowers the petals are differently shaped, more imbricated, generally red in the centre and pale towards the margin: whereas in the smaller flowers the margin of the petal is usually more darkly coloured. One variety has nearly white flowers. The leaves are more or less serrated, and are either destitute of glands, or have globose or reniform glands (10/58. Loudon's 'Encyclop. of Gardening' page 907.) and some few peaches, such as the Brugnen, bear on the same tree both globular and kidney-shaped glands. (10/59. M. Carriere in 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1865 page 1154.) According to Robertson (10/60. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 3 page 332. See also 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1865 page 271 to same effect. Also 'Journal of Horticulture' September 26, 1865 page 254.) the trees with glandular leaves are liable to blister, but not in any great degree to mildew; whilst the non-glandular trees are more subject to curl, to mildew, and to the attacks of aphides. The varieties differ in the period of their maturity, in the fruit keeping well, and in hardiness,—the latter circumstance being especially attended to in the United States. Certain varieties, such as the Bellegarde, stand forcing in hot-houses better than other varieties. The flat-peach of China is the most remarkable of all the varieties; it is so much depressed towards the summit, that the stone is here covered only by roughened skin and not by a fleshy layer. (10/61. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 4 page 512.) Another Chinese variety, called the Honey-peach, is remarkable from the fruit terminating in a long sharp point; its leaves are glandless and widely dentate. (10/62. 'Journal of Horticulture' September 8, 1853 page 188.) The Emperor of Russia peach is a third singular variety, having deeply double-serrated leaves; the fruit is deeply cleft with one-half projecting considerably beyond the other: it originated in America, and its seedlings inherit similar leaves. (10/63. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 6 page 412.)
The peach has also produced in China a small class of trees valued for ornament, namely the double-flowered; of these, five varieties are now known in England, varying from pure white, through rose, to intense crimson. (10/64. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1857 page 216.) One of these varieties, called the camellia-flowered, bears flowers above 2 1/4 inches in diameter, whilst those of the fruit-bearing kinds do not at most exceed 1 1/4 inch in diameter. The flowers of the double-flowered peaches have the singular property (10/65. 'Journal of Hort. Soc.' volume 2 page 283.) of frequently producing double or treble fruit. Finally, there is good reason to believe that the peach is an almond profoundly modified; but whatever its origin may have been, there can be no doubt that it has yielded during the last eighteen centuries many varieties, some of them strongly characterised, belonging both to the nectarine and peach form.
APRICOT (Prunus armeniaca).
It is commonly admitted that this tree is descended from a single species, now found wild in the Caucasian region. (10/66. Alph. de Candolle 'Geograph. Bot.' page 879.) On this view the varieties deserve notice, because they illustrate differences supposed by some botanists to be of specific value in the almond and plum. The best monograph on the apricot is by Mr. Thompson (10/67. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' 2nd series volume 1 1835 page 56. See also 'Cat. of Fruit in Garden of Hort. Soc.' 3rd edition 1842.) who describes seventeen varieties. We have seen that peaches and nectarines vary in a strictly parallel manner; and in the apricot, which forms a closely allied genus, we again meet with variations analogous to those of the peach, as well as to those of the plum. The varieties differ considerably in the shape of their leaves, which are either serrated or crenated, sometimes with ear-like appendages at their bases, and sometimes with glands on the petioles. The flowers are generally alike, but are small in the Masculine. The fruit varies much in size, shape, and in having the suture little pronounced or absent; in the skin being smooth, or downy, as in the orange-apricot; and in the flesh clinging to the stone, as in the last-mentioned kind, or in readily separating from it, as in the Turkey- apricot. In all these differences we see the closest analogy with the varieties of the peach and nectarine. In the stone we have more important differences, and these in the case of the plum have been esteemed of specific value: in some apricots the stone is almost spherical, in others much flattened, being either sharp in front or blunt at both ends, sometimes channelled along the back, or with a sharp ridge along both margins. In the Moorpark, and generally in the Hemskirke, the stone presents a singular character in being perforated, with a bundle of fibres passing through the perforation from end to end. The most constant and important character, according to Thompson, is whether the kernel is bitter or sweet: yet in this respect we have a graduated difference, for the kernel is very bitter in Shipley's apricot; in the Hemskirke less bitter than in some other kinds; slightly bitter in the Royal; and "sweet like a hazel-nut" in the Breda, Angoumois, and others. In the case of the almond, bitterness has been thought by some high authorities to indicate specific difference.
In N. America the Roman apricot endures "cold and unfavourable situations, where no other sort, except the Masculine, will succeed; and its blossoms bear quite a severe frost without injury." (10/68. Downing 'The Fruits of America' 1845 page 157: with respect to the Alberge apricot in France see page 153.) According to Mr. Rivers (10/69. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1863 page 364.), seedling apricots deviate but little from the character of their race: in France the Alberge is constantly reproduced from seed with but little variation. In Ladakh, according to Moorcroft (10/70. 'Travels in the Himalayan Provinces' volume 1 1841 page 295.) ten varieties of the apricot, very different from each other, are cultivated, and all are raised from seed, excepting one, which is budded.
PLUMS (Prunus insititia).
(FIGURE 43. PLUM STONES, of natural size, viewed laterally. 1. Bullace
Plum. 2. Shropshire Damson. 3. Blue Gage. 4. Orleans. 5. Elvas. 6. Denyers
Victoria. 7. Diamond.)
Formerly the sloe, P. spinosa, was thought to be the parent of all our plums; but now this honour is very commonly accorded to P. insititia or the bullace, which is found wild in the Caucasus and N.-Western India, and is naturalised in England. (10/71. See an excellent discussion on this subject in Hewett C. Watson 'Cybele Britannica' volume 4 page 80.) It is not at all improbable, in accordance with some observations made by Mr. Rivers (10/72. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1865 page 27.), that both these forms, which some botanists rank as a single species, may be the parents of our domesticated plums. Another supposed parent-form, the P. domestica, is said to be found wild in the region of the Caucasus. Godron remarks (10/73. 'De l'Espece' tome 2 page 94. On the parentage of our plums see also Alph. De Candolle 'Geograph. Bot.' page 878. Also Targioni-Tozzetti 'Journal Hort. Soc.' volume 9 page 164. Also Babington 'Manual of Brit. Botany' 1851 page 87.) that the cultivated varieties may be divided into two main groups, which he supposes to be descended from two aboriginal stocks; namely, those with oblong fruit and stones pointed at both ends, having narrow separate petals and upright branches; and those with rounded fruit, with stones blunt at both ends, with rounded petals and spreading branches. From what we know of the variability of the flowers in the peach and of the diversified manner of growth in our various fruit-trees, it is difficult to lay much weight on these latter characters. With respect to the shape of the fruit, we have conclusive evidence that it is extremely variable: Downing (10/74. 'Fruits of America' pages 276, 278, 284, 310, 314. Mr. Rivers raised ('Gardener's Chronicle' 1863 page 27) from the Prune-peche, which bears large, round, red plums on stout, robust shoots, a seedling which bears oval, smaller fruit on shoots that are so slender as to be almost pendulous.) gives outlines of the plums of two seedlings, namely, the red and imperial gages, raised from the greengage; and the fruit of both is more elongated than that of the greengage. The latter has a very blunt broad stone, whereas the stone of the imperial gage is "oval and pointed at both ends." These trees also differ in their manner of growth: "the greengage is a very short- jointed, slow-growing tree, of spreading and rather dwarfish habit;" whilst its offspring, the imperial gage, "grows freely and rises rapidly, and has long dark shoots." The famous Washington plum bears a globular fruit, but its offspring, the emerald drop, is nearly as much elongated as the most elongated plum figured by Downing, namely, Manning's prune. I have made a small collection of the stones of twenty-five kinds, and they graduate in shape from the bluntest into the sharpest kinds. As characters derived from seeds are generally of high systematic importance, I have thought it worth while to give drawings of the most distinct kinds in my small collection; and they may be seen to differ in a surprising manner in size, outline, thickness, prominence of the ridges, and state of surface. It deserves notice that the shape of the stone is not always strictly correlated with that of the fruit: thus the Washington plum is spherical and depressed at the pole, with a somewhat elongated stone, whilst the fruit of the Goliath is more elongated, but the stone less so, than in the Washington. Again, Denyer's Victoria and Goliath bear fruit closely resembling each other, but their stones are widely different. On the other hand, the Harvest and Black Margate plums are very dissimilar, yet include closely similar stones.
The varieties of the plum are numerous, and differ greatly in size, shape, quality, and colour,—being bright yellow, green, almost white, blue, purple, or red. There are some curious varieties, such as the double or Siamese, and the Stoneless plum: in the latter the kernel lies in a roomy cavity surrounded only by the pulp. The climate of North America appears to be singularly favourable for the production of new and good varieties; Downing describes no less than forty, of which seven of first-rate quality have been recently introduced into England. (10/75. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1855 page 726.) Varieties occasionally arise having an innate adaptation for certain soils, almost as strongly pronounced as with natural species growing on the most distinct geological formations; thus in America the imperial gage, differently from almost all other kinds, "is peculiarly fitted for DRY LIGHT soils where many sorts drop their fruit," whereas on rich heavy soils the fruit is often insipid. (10/76. Downing 'Fruit Trees' page 278.) My father could never succeed in making the Wine-Sour yield even a moderate crop in a sandy orchard near Shrewsbury, whilst in some parts of the same county and in its native Yorkshire it bears abundantly: one of my relations also repeatedly tried in vain to grow this variety in a sandy district in Staffordshire.
Mr. Rivers has given (10/77. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1863 page 27. Sageret in his 'Pomologie Phys.' page 346 enumerates five kinds which can be propagated in France by seed: see also Downing 'Fruit Trees of America' page 305, 312, etc.) a number of interesting facts, showing how truly many varieties can be propagated by seed. He sowed the stones of twenty bushels of the greengage for the sake of raising stocks, and closely observed the seedlings; all had the smooth shoots, the prominent buds, and the glossy leaves of the greengage, but the greater number had smaller leaves and thorns." There are two kinds of damson, one the Shropshire with downy shoots, and the other the Kentish with smooth shoots, and these differ but slightly in any other respect: Mr. Rivers sowed some bushels of the Kentish damson, and all the seedlings had smooth shoots, but in some the fruit was oval, in others round or roundish, and in a few the fruit was small, and, except in being sweet, closely resembled that of the wild sloe. Mr. Rivers gives several other striking instances of inheritance: thus, he raised eighty thousand seedlings from the common German Quetsche plum, and "not one could be found varying in the least, in foliage or habit." Similar facts were observed with the Petite Mirabelle plum, yet this latter kind (as well as the Quetsche) is known to have yielded some well-established varieties; but, as Mr. Rivers remarks, they all belong to the same group with the Mirabelle.
CHERRIES (Prunus cerasus, avium, etc.).
Botanists believe that our cultivated cherries are descended from one, two, four, or even more wild stocks. (10/78. Compare Alph. De Candolle 'Geograph. Bot.' page 877. Bentham and Targioni-Tozzetti in 'Hort. Journal' volume 9 page 163; Godron 'De l'Espece' tome 2 page 92.) That there must be at least two parent species we may infer from the sterility of twenty hybrids raised by Mr. Knight from the morello fertilised by pollen of the Elton cherry; for these hybrids produced in all only five cherries, and one alone of these contained a seed. (10/79. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 5 1824 page 295.) Mr. Thompson (10/80. Ibid second series volume 1 1835 page 248.) has classified the varieties in an apparently natural method in two main groups by characters taken from the flowers, fruit, and leaves; but some varieties which stand widely separate in this classification are quite fertile when crossed; thus Knight's Early Black cherries are the product of a cross between two such kinds.
Mr. Knight states that seedling cherries are more variable than those of any other fruit-tree. (10/81. ) In the Catalogue of the Horticultural Society for 1842 eighty varieties are enumerated. Some varieties present singular characters: thus, the flower of the Cluster cherry includes as many as twelve pistils, of which the majority abort; and they are said generally to produce from two to five or six cherries aggregated together and borne on a single peduncle. In the Ratafia cherry several flower- peduncles arise from a common peduncle, upwards of an inch in length. The fruit of Gascoigne's Heart has its apex produced into a globule or drop; that of the white Hungarian Gean has almost transparent flesh. The Flemish cherry is "a very odd-looking fruit," much flattened at the summit and base, with the latter deeply furrowed, and borne on a stout, very short footstalk. In the Kentish cherry the stone adheres so firmly to the footstalk, that it could be drawn out of the flesh; and this renders the fruit well fitted for drying. The Tobacco-leaved cherry, according to Sageret and Thompson, produces gigantic leaves, more than a foot and sometimes even eighteen inches in length, and half a foot in breadth. The weeping cherry, on the other hand, is valuable only as an ornament, and, according to Downing, is "a charming little tree, with slender, weeping branches, clothed with small, almost myrtle-like foliage." There is also a peach-leaved variety.
Sageret describes a remarkable variety, LE GRIOTTIER DE LA TOUSSAINT, which bears at the same time, even as late as September, flowers and fruit of all degrees of maturity. The fruit, which is of inferior quality, is borne on long, very thin footstalks. But the extraordinary statement is made that all the leaf-bearing shoots spring from old flower-buds. Lastly, there is an important physiological distinction between those kinds of cherries which bear fruit on young or on old wood; but Sageret positively asserts that a Bigarreau in his garden bore fruit on wood of both ages. (10/82. These several statements are taken from the four following works, which may, I believe, be trusted: Thompson in 'Hort. Transact.' see above; Sageret 'Pomologie Phys.' 1830 pages 358, 364, 367, 379; 'Catalogue of the Fruit in the Garden of Hort. Soc.' 1842 pages 57, 60; Downing 'The Fruits of America' 1845 pages 189, 195, 200.)
APPLE (Pyrus malus).
The one source of doubt felt by botanists with respect to the parentage of the apple is whether, besides P. malus, two or three other closely allied wild forms, namely, P. acerba and praecox or paradisiaca, do not deserve to be ranked as distinct species. The P. praecox is supposed by some authors (10/83. Mr. Lowe states in his 'Flora of Madeira' quoted in 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1862 page 215 that the P. malus, with its nearly sessile fruit, ranges farther south than the long-stalked P. acerba, which is entirely absent in Madeira, the Canaries, and apparently in Portugal. This fact supports the belief that these two forms deserve to be called species. But the characters separating them are of slight importance, and of a kind known to vary in other cultivated fruit-trees.) to be the parent of the dwarf paradise stock, which, owing to the fibrous roots not penetrating deeply into the ground, is so largely used for grafting; but the paradise stocks, it is asserted (10/84. See 'Journ. of Hort. Tour, by Deputation of the Caledonian Hort. Soc.' 1823 page 459.) cannot be propagated true by seed. The common wild crab varies considerably in England; but many of the varieties are believed to be escaped seedlings. (10/85. H.C. Watson 'Cybele Britannica' volume 1 page 334.) Every one knows the great difference in the manner of growth, in the foliage, flowers, and especially in the fruit, between the almost innumerable varieties of the apple. The pips or seeds (as I know by comparison) likewise differ considerably in shape, size, and colour. The fruit is adapted for eating or for cooking in various ways, and keeps for only a few weeks or for nearly two years. Some few kinds have the fruit covered with a powdery secretion, called bloom, like that on plums; and "it is extremely remarkable that this occurs almost exclusively among varieties cultivated in Russia." (10/86. Loudon's 'Gardener's Mag.' volume 6 1830 page 83.) Another Russian apple, the white Astracan, possesses the singular property of becoming transparent, when ripe, like some sorts of crabs. The API ETOILE has five prominent ridges, hence its name; the API NOIR is nearly black: the TWIN CLUSTER PIPPIN often bears fruit joined in pairs. (10/87. See 'Catalogue of Fruit in Garden of Hort. Soc.' 1842 and Downing 'American Fruit Trees.') The trees of the several sorts differ greatly in their periods of leafing and flowering; in my orchard the COURT PENDU PLAT produces leaves so late, that during several springs I thought that it was dead. The Tiffin apple scarcely bears a leaf when in full bloom; the Cornish crab, on the other hand, bears so many leaves at this period that the flowers can hardly be seen. (10/88. Loudon's Gardener's Magazine' volume 4 1828 page 112.) In some kinds the fruit ripens in mid- summer; in others, late in the autumn. These several differences in leafing, flowering, and fruiting, are not at all necessarily correlated; for, as Andrew Knight has remarked (10/89. 'The Culture of the Apple' page 43. Van Mons makes the same remark on the pear 'Arbres Fruitiers' tome 2 1836 page 414.), no one can judge from the early flowering of a new seedling, or from the early shedding or change of colour of the leaves, whether it will mature its fruit early in the season.
The varieties differ greatly in constitution. It is notorious that our summers are not hot enough for the Newtown Pippin (10/90. Lindley's 'Horticulture' page 116. See also Knight on the Apple-Tree, in 'Transact. of Hort. Soc.' volume 6 page 229.), which is the glory of the orchards near New York; and so it is with several varieties which we have imported from the Continent. On the other hand, our Court of Wick succeeds well under the severe climate of Canada. The Caville rouge de Micoud occasionally bears two crops during the same year. The Burr Knot is covered with small excrescences, which emit roots so readily that a branch with blossom-buds may be stuck in the ground, and will root and bear a few fruit even during the first year. (10/91. Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 1 1812 page 120.) Mr. Rivers has recently described (10/92. 'Journal of Horticulture' March 13, 1866 page 194.) some seedlings valuable from their roots running near the surface. One of these seedlings was remarkable from its extremely dwarfed size, "forming itself into a bush only a few inches in height." Many varieties are particularly liable to canker in certain soils. But perhaps the strangest constitutional peculiarity is that the Winter Majetin is not attacked by the mealy bug or coccus; Lindley (10/93. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 4 page 68. For Knight's case see volume 6 page 547. When the coccus first appeared in this country it is said (volume 2 page 163) that it was more injurious to crab-stocks than to the apples grafted on them. The Majetin apple has been found equally free of the coccus at Melbourne in Australia ('Gardener's Chronicle' 1871 page 1065). The wood of this tree has been there analysed, and it is said (but the fact seems a strange one) that its ash contained over 50 per cent of lime, while that of the crab exhibited not quite 23 per cent. In Tasmania Mr. Wade ('Transact. New Zealand Institute' volume 4 1871 page 431) raised seedlings of the Siberian Bitter Sweet for stocks, and he found barely one per cent of them attacked by the coccus. Riley shows ('Fifth Report on Insects of Missouri' 1873 page 87) that in the United States some varieties of apples are highly attractive to the coccus and others very little so. Turning to a very different pest, namely, the caterpillar of a moth (Carpocapsa pomonella), Walsh affirms ('The American Entomologist' April 1869 page 160) that the maiden-blush "is entirely exempt from apple-worms." So, it is said, are some few other varieties; whereas others are "peculiarly subject to the attacks of this little pest.") states that in an orchard in Norfolk infested with these insects the Majetin was quite free, though the stock on which it was grafted was affected: Knight makes a similar statement with respect to a cider apple, and adds that he only once saw these insects just above the stock, but that three days afterwards they entirely disappeared; this apple, however, was raised from a cross between the Golden Harvey and the Siberian Crab; and the latter, I believe, is considered by some authors as specifically distinct.
The famous St. Valery apple must not be passed over; the flower has a double calyx with ten divisions, and fourteen styles surmounted by conspicuous oblique stigmas, but is destitute of stamens or corolla. The fruit is constricted round the middle, and is formed of five seed-cells, surmounted by nine other cells. (10/94. 'Mem. de La Soc. Linn. de Paris' tome 3 1825 page 164; and Seringe 'Bulletin Bot.' 1830 page 117.) Not being provided with stamens, the tree requires artificial fertilisation; and the girls of St. Valery annually go to "faire ses pommes," each marking her own fruit with a ribbon; and as different pollen is used the fruit differs, and we here have an instance of the direct action of foreign pollen on the mother plant. These monstrous apples include, as we have seen, fourteen seed-cells; the pigeon-apple (10/95. Gardener's Chronicle' 1849 page 24.) on the other hand, has only four, instead of, as with all common apples, five cells; and this certainly is a remarkable difference.
In the catalogue of apples published in 1842 by the Horticultural Society, 897 varieties are enumerated; but the differences between most of them are of comparatively little interest, as they are not strictly inherited. No one can raise, for instance, from the seed of the Ribston Pippin, a tree of the same kind; and it is said that the "Sister Ribston Pippin" was a white semi-transparent, sour-fleshed apple, or rather large crab. (10/96. R. Thompson, in 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1850 page 788.) Yet it was a mistake to suppose that with most varieties the characters are not to a certain extent inherited. In two lots of seedlings raised from two well-marked kinds, many worthless crab-like seedlings will appear, but it is now known that the two lots not only usually differ from each other, but resemble to a certain extent their parents. We see this indeed in the several sub-groups of Russetts, Sweetings, Codlins, Pearmains, Reinettes, etc. (10/97. Sageret 'Pomologie Physiologique' 1830 page 263. Downing 'Fruit Trees' pages 130, 134, 139, etc. Loudon's 'Gardener's Mag.' volume 8 p. 317. Alexis Jordan 'De l'Origine des diverses Varietes' in 'Mem. de l'Acad. Imp. de Lyon' tome 2 1852 pages 95, 114. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1850 pages 774, 788.), which are all believed, and many are known, to be descended from other varieties bearing the same names.
PEARS (Pyrus communis).
I need say little on this fruit, which varies much in the wild state, and to an extraordinary degree when cultivated, in its fruit, flowers, and foliage. One of the most celebrated botanists in Europe, M. Decaisne, has carefully studied the many varieties (10/98. 'Comptes Rendus' July 6, 1863.); although he formerly believed that they were derived from more than one species, he now thinks that all belong to one. He has arrived at this conclusion from finding in the several varieties a perfect gradation between the most extreme characters; so perfect is this gradation that he maintains it to be impossible to classify the varieties by any natural method. M. Decaisne raised many seedlings from four distinct kinds, and has carefully recorded the variations in each. Notwithstanding this extreme degree of variability, it is now positively known that many kinds reproduce by seed the leading characters of their race. (10/99. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1856 page 804; 1857 page 820; 1862 page 1195.)
STRAWBERRIES (Fragaria).
This fruit is remarkable on account of the number of species which have been cultivated, and from their rapid improvement within the last fifty or sixty years. Let any one compare the fruit of one of the largest varieties exhibited at our Shows with that of the wild wood strawberry, or, which will be a fairer comparison, with the somewhat larger fruit of the wild American Virginian Strawberry, and he will see what prodigies horticulture has effected. (10/100. Most of the largest cultivated strawberries are the descendants of F. grandiflora or chiloensis, and I have seen no account of these forms in their wild state. Methuen's Scarlet (Downing 'Fruits' page 527) has "immense fruit of the largest size," and belongs to the section descended from F. virginiana; and the fruit of this species, as I hear from Prof. A. Gray, is only a little larger than that of F. vesca, or our common wood-strawberry.) The number of varieties has likewise increased in a surprisingly rapid manner. Only three kinds were known in France, in 1746, where this fruit was early cultivated. In 1766 five species had been introduced, the same which are now cultivated, but only five varieties of Fragaria vesca, with some sub-varieties, had been produced. At the present day the varieties of the several species are almost innumerable. The species consist of, firstly, the wood or Alpine cultivated strawberries, descended from F. vesca, a native of Europe and of North America. There are eight wild European varieties, as ranked by Duchesne, of F. vesca, but several of these are considered species by some botanists. Secondly, the green strawberries, descended from the European F. collina, and little cultivated in England. Thirdly, the Hautbois, from the European F. elatior. Fourthly, the Scarlets, descended from F. virginiana, a native of the whole breadth of North America. Fifthly, the Chili, descended from F. chiloensis, an inhabitant of the west coast of the temperate parts both of North and South America. Lastly, the pines or Carolinas (including the old Blacks), which have been ranked by most authors under the name of F. grandiflora as a distinct species, said to inhabit Surinam; but this is a manifest error. This form is considered by the highest authority, M. Gay, to be merely a strongly marked race of F. chiloensis. (10/101. 'Le Fraisier' par le Comte L. de Lambertye 1864 page 50.) These five or six forms have been ranked by most botanists as specifically distinct; but this may be doubted, for Andrew Knight (10/102. 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' volume 3 1820 page 207.) who raised no less than 400 crossed strawberries, asserts that the F. virginiana, chiloensis and grandiflora "may be made to breed together indiscriminately," and he found, in accordance with the principle of analogous variation, "that similar varieties could be obtained from the seeds of any one of them."