58 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



of peas, grown under the direction of 

 the Fruit and Vegetable Committee, 

 in 1860, there proved to be only 

 seventy really distinct varieties, and 

 of these only about thirty were really 

 good. So in the trial culture of 

 cucumbers, 118 reputed varieties were 

 reduced to thirty-four. It will be 

 the same thing when melons, celeries, 

 potatoes, and other important escu- 

 lents are put to the test, and it will 

 be some comfort to sweep away hun- 

 dreds of names that are of use only 

 to deceive. 



This notice of an abuse which has 

 prevailed without check for an almost 

 indefinite period, may cause many of 

 our country readers to pause before 

 investing their cash in seeds dignified 

 with the affix of the local seedsman. 

 We are earnest advocates of the prin- 

 ciple of " dealing with your neigh- 

 bours," but that is on the supposition 

 that your neighbours are honest. 

 Where seedsmen are ever anxious to 

 attach their own names to varieties, a 

 reasonable doubt may generally be 

 entertained of their bona fides, and 

 the purchaser had better incur the 

 expense of carriage to obtain supplies 

 from a noted house, than become a 

 ready victim to conceit and cunning. 



Another and more pernicious fraud 

 is the admixture of dead seeds with a 

 certain proportion of live ones. This 

 is a cruel as well as a dishonest trick ; 

 but unfortunately it is so largely prac- 

 tised that, according to some accounts, 

 huge coppers are always kept in action 

 to kill seeds by the heat of hot water 

 — a process which causes no altera- 

 tion of colour or shape. Why the 

 seeds should be killed is obvious. 

 Suppose a new cauliflower in very 

 great request, and the seed to be sell- 

 ing at half-a- crown a packet, the 

 seedsmen who patronize the copper 

 have only to procure a few packets at 

 wholesale prices, mix with them a 

 considerable bulk of killed rape or 

 cabbage, and they can retail the 

 mixture at the price of genuine seed, 

 without the slightest fear of detection, 

 for dead seeds tell no tales. But the 

 process of killing is sometimes re- 

 garded as over- troublesome, as in the 

 case of that pretty herbaceous plant, 



Zauschneria Calif ornica, of which seed 

 is not to be obtained, though you may 

 obtain instead thereof a common way- 

 side Epilobium labelled Zausch- 

 neria, and which would be a positive 

 benefit to the deluded purchaser if it 

 were first killed according to the or- 

 thodox mode of cheating with seeds. 

 There are certain kinds of seeds that 

 are always dead. For instance, did 

 ever anybody obtain plants by sowing 

 seed of Erianthis Ravennce ? 



There are some frauds that excite 

 in us no sympathy for their victims ; 

 when the language of low puffery is 

 combined with, palpable falsehood, it 

 is clear that those intended to be en- 

 trapped are of a class not likely to 

 be benefited by any kind of warning. 

 But extravagant descriptions mingle 

 so largely with the dealings of traders 

 reputed to be above all suspicion, that 

 we feel bound to reprobate it, and 

 advise our readers to exercise caution 

 in all cases where they are about to 

 enter on untrodden ground. For 

 varieties of unquestionable merit 

 there are so many reliable sources of 

 publicity, that there is no longer any 

 excuse either for vendors to over- 

 praise or for purchasers to believe all 

 that is told them. The greatest mis- 

 chief, after all, will befall the trade 

 itself that indulges in exaggerated 

 descriptions, for a general feeling of 

 distrust must result sooner or later, 

 the consequences of which must be 

 felt by the trade to a greater extent 

 than all previous advantages obtained 

 by such questionable means. 



Happily among the leading houses 

 there is so vigorous and honourable a 

 rivalry, that the smallest abuses seem 

 to carry their own remedy with them; 

 Those who choose to exercise judg- 

 ment need not seek far for unsophis- 

 ticated seeds and varieties true to 

 name and description, and the more 

 we can discourage the practice of 

 misrepresentation, invention of syuo- 

 nymes, and admixture of dead and 

 living seeds, the more shall we aid 

 the advancement of horticulture as 

 an art, and promote the interests of 

 those who honestly cater for the sup- 

 ply of its necessities. 



