for the purpose. It is true, of course, that gardeners have to use Latin
names for many of the wild plants that they grow, and equally true,
unfortunately, that the frequent changes in these names are a source of
annoyance to everyone; but that is quite another story, with which we
are not concerned here. At the last International Horticultural Congress
steps were taken which we all hope will result, with the cooperation of
botanists, in the stabilization of widely used Latin names of cultivated
plants.

No, the new Code deals, not with wild species, varieties and hybrids,
but with what are commonly called "garden varieties"--namely, forms
which have been brought into existence by selection, hybridization, or
other similar processes devised by man, and are maintained in
cultivation as clones or pure lines by man's care and skill--such plants
as Rose 'Peace,' Apple 'Beauty of Bath,' and thousands of others. The
distinction between "wild" plants and "garden varieties" is not
absolutely clear cut, and in the Code a closer definition is
attempted--but for our present purpose the difference is obvious enough.

In the Code, it is recommended that "garden varieties" should
technically be called "cultivars." This has been their official name for
many years and it is clearly desirable, if the two categories of "wild"
and "cultivated" varieties are to be recognized, to have a short and
internationally current word for each of them. "Variety" and "cultivar"
serve this purpose admirably, but it is not to be expected that all
gardeners will make the distinction and adopt the word "cultivar" in
ordinary parlance, at any rate immediately. Personally, however, I hope
and believe that eventually "cultivar" will find favour. It is a clear
and easily understood word and will, I think, prove useful to those
gardeners who care for accuracy and precision in their craft, and
especially to those who have dealings with fellow-gardeners in other
countries.

The Code, then, deals with the _names of cultivars_. It may be helpful,
I think, to consider its rules and regulations under three headings:
firstly, those of interest to all gardeners who have occasion to write
the names of cultivars; secondly, those which are concerned with the
coining of new names; and thirdly, those more technical provisions which
are of interest primarily to horticulturists studying a particular group
and trying to establish what are the correct names for its cultivar