NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 21503, 30 August 1933, Page 3

NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

SATURDAY'S OUTING The outing on Saturday was held at the Ross Creek Reservoir with the object ot : collecting fungi. Miss H. K. Dalrymple was' leader. The number of fungi found was surprising, at least thirty distinct kinds being gathered. The weather for some time had been so dry that not many fungi were found on the ground, but tree trunks and decaying logs provided many beautiful species. There were nine gilled kinds, one being cup-shaped with the gills inside the cup. The “ jelly ” kind were present in large variety, the prettiest being a bright orange one covering the pine branches. On the ground grew dainty white and lemon clavarias. One orange fungus was interesting in that the spores were borne on spines. Under the pine trees grew puff balls, a red stalkless fungi, and dainty earth stars with a very thin outer covering. On decaying twigs grew the bird’s nest fungus, little brown cups with four flattened eggs inside. PLANT REPRODUCTION. The indoor meeting on Monday was well attended. Before commencing the business of the evening the president (Miss O. R. Cartwright) made mention of the passing away of the club’s patron (Hon. G. M. Thomson). All the members, Miss Cartwright said, knew him as a naturalist, a gentleman, and a friend. He was one of the original members of the club in 1817, and all through its long existence he had been its mainstay. For many years he was president, at one time secretary, in later years he was elected patron, and later still a life member. Of all tho clubs and societies to which Mr Thomson belonged it was doubtful if any held a dearer place in his heart than the Field Club. He always strove to help the young and to inspire them with tho deep, joyous love of God’s creation which lie himself possessed. It was felt that his place in the Field Club could never be filled, but he had left behind a goodly heritage for those who followed after. As a mark of respect the members stood for' a few moments in silence.

The lecture was given by Mr B. P. Mansfield, superintendent of reserves at Invercargill, and was entitled 1 The Secrets of Plant Production.’ In opening his remarks the lecturer stated that .Dickens had said: “ At all times and in all ages gardens have been amongst the objects of tho greatest interest to mankind, and tho gardener’s art lias contributed to the delight of all men in their time,” and amongst all the departments of a well-ordered garden that which deals with the increase and multiplication of plants—or propagation —is the most important, interesting, and fascinating, in addition to calling for the greatest degree of skill, knowledge of particular requirements, method, and precision. The art of propagation is derived from experience extending over centuries, and by its successful application stock is expeditiously raised which could not otherwise be obtained, as many plants under cultivation fail to produce seed. Again, hybrids do not perpetuate the character of the parent plant if grown from seed, and other methods have to be resorted to.

Plants perpetuate themselves and increase their numbers by various methods, by seeds or spores, by vegetative parts (that is, by means of cuttings of stem, root, or leaves), by layering, by offsets, suckers, runners, bulbs, conns, or tubers; while grafting, budding, inarching, and marcotage afford special facilities for the rapid increase of some plants difficult to reproduce by other means. Whatever the means adopted tho object in view is the same, to increase and perpetuate the species and retain its peculiar characteristics. A propagating house under the care of a skilled operator may become a veritable museum, the exhibits in which are varied and interesting eacli in its particular way. Tho form of reproduction by seeds is common to almost all plants in their natural state, and by this means' the most healthy, vigorpus, and robust plants are generally derived. It has been stated that by an admirable provision of Nature the seeds of our largest trees, as the 1 oak, beech, and chestnut, drop before the fall of the leaves, which will then cover them to the depth of some inches. The leaves decay in the course of the winter, and form toward spring a light covering of leaf mould, highly favourable to vegetation. Small seeds, such as those of the lime and ash do not begin to drop till after tho leaves have commenced to fall, and are thus placed at a less depth. However good the seed it must be properly preserved and stored in the interval between collecting and sowing. Otherwise its power of germination may become seriously impaired. Tropical seeds readily lose their vitality owing to tho excess of moisture they contain, and, generally, oily seeds lose their vitality rapidly. Some seeds, such as those of the gourd family, improve by keeping for several years, whereas others require to bo sown immediately they are ripened. A cutting is any rootless portion of a .plant that is selected for the purpose of propagation. Plants produced by means of cuttings reproduce the true vegetative characters of the plant from which they arp taken with no fear of variation. Plants, such as Primula Kewcnsis and Begonia Gloiro de Lorraine, which do not produce fertile seeds, must of necessity be reproduced in this way. The chief advantage of this mode of propagation is that fully developed and often stronger plants nro obtained in considerably shorter time than if seed is sown, Mr Mansfield explained tho various ways of taking stem and leaf cuttings, and made the process very clear by showing examples. The interesting operation of grafting was fully described, along with the benefits that, result. Many different kinds wore demonstrated, among the most interesting being grafting by approach, which is used in the case of very rare plants which can ho propagated by no other means. At the conclusion of his most interesting and instructive address a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the speaker.