188 



THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



damping sLoulcl Jiave tiaeir green tops cut 

 off at once, and lliese tops should be 

 etniok in rather a brisk heat as preferable 

 to losing them altogether, I'or the tops will 

 often keep green for a week or two after 

 the root lias been utterly dead. 



To raise verbenas from seed is as easy 

 a matter as raising any other ordinary 

 greenhouse plant, but to rtet ike seed i's 

 certainly not a light task. Some seed 

 freely, othei-s want a vast deal of coaxing, 

 and of the new hybrids it is a most difficult 

 matter to get even one ripe pod. But 

 seeds are got, and new sorts raised in im- 

 mense numbers every yeiir, and for the 

 information of those 'who may care to try 

 their hands at the pretty task, a few hints 

 will be quite in place hero. The first difii- 

 eulty as to getting seed is owing to the 

 vigour with which the plants sprout and 

 bloom all the summer long, if in a mode- 

 i-ately rich soil and well supplied with 

 water. If the grower is determined to 

 have seed from a shy variety, the best way 

 will be to secure autumn-struck plants"; 

 get them into fivc-incli pots by the first 

 week in April, using a poor sandy compost, 

 nuxed with potsherds, on the starving 

 principle. They should not be stopped at 

 this potting, but be encouraged to push 

 into bloom, and as soon as one or two 

 runners take the lead, cut away the rest, 

 and give only suflicient water t^o keep the 

 plants in health, but not to promote a 

 luxuriant growth. Keep them poor, but 

 hearty, with plenty of air, and, as soon as 

 the weather permits, plunge the pots in a 

 border of coal-ashes esjiosed to the south, 

 so as to bloom in a full fiood of sunshine. 

 By permitting very few heads of bloom, and 

 thinning these out as soon as the trusses are 

 large enough to enable you to use a small 

 pair of scissors to tiiem, and at the same 

 time keeping the plants as dry as possible, 

 so as not to let them flag all the while the 

 blooms are setting, you will have the best 

 chance of seed ; aud the oliject of gettin:4 

 them forward early is that you may have a 

 double chance of its ripening ; if the first 

 trusses do not seed, the next may, and the 

 more you can prolong the season the more 

 likely are you to meet with your reward. 

 As a rule, seed gathered from any of the 

 florists' varieties will be pretty sure to pro- 

 duce new sorts without artificial crossing; 

 but where a definite object is sought, a pre- 

 cise mode of action is necessary, and the 

 chief point in this precise mode is to effect 

 an actual cross of two chosen kinds by arti- 

 ficial impregnation. The inother plant 

 must be kept out of reach of bees, flies, 

 etc., which might bring pollen to it from 



other verbenas. Before it opens bloom, 

 the trusses should be thinned severely, or 

 you will not have room to operate, for the 

 trick is a a delicate one. 



Just as the flower-buds show colour, and 

 are within a day of opening, take a long 

 thin pin, such as ladies call a " lace pin," 

 and with this split up the tube from the 

 bottom, but without injuring the style. 

 When the tube is thus opened you can re- 

 move the four anthers by means of a pair 

 of tweezers, or with your finger and tliumb 

 if you are clever enough. 



Tlie plants should be kept rather close 

 and shaded till the stigma begins to look 

 varnished, when it is ripe enough to receive 

 the choseu pollen, which should be taken 

 fi'om a flower just in its prime, and dusted 

 on it. Every style so dusted should have 

 a second dose to "make sure," because in 

 the first application it may not take. 

 When once the pods have set, remove all 

 other blooms, and expose the plants to 

 sunshine, to insure a perfect ripening of tlie 

 seed. The result is altogether a lottery ; 

 but if the lottery is fairly worked, there is 

 a honafide chance of a prize, spite of the 

 certainty of many blanks. The prize is 

 worth aiming at, and for those who have 

 time and patience, the verbena is a good 

 subject, because new varieties possessing 

 qualities of real excellence are ahvays in 

 demand, and a man who has added but 

 one new and good flower to our collections, 

 has not lived in vain. 



To gi'ow the seed is simple enough. If 

 yoit have saved a goodly pinch, divide 

 ii, aud sow a part as soon as you get it, 

 saving the ri-maiuder till spring. Sow 

 in pans in powdery peat and sandy loam, 

 and give a gentle bottom heat. When the 

 plants are large enough, prick them out in 

 a similar compost, and as soon as they 

 have made a little progress get them into 

 thumbs, and thereaitcr treat them as you 

 vv'ould a lot of cuttings. In spring the 

 time for sovv ing is from February to April, 

 and as soon as the weather admits, tliey 

 should be turned out into an experimental 

 border to test their merits, and as a mat- 

 ter of course many will bo worthy of anni- 

 hilation — some will be worth keeping, and 

 one or two may prove of real commci'cial 

 value. It should always be remembered 

 that to amateurs we are indebted for nine- 

 tenths of the best flowers we possess ; nur- 

 serymen purchase the stock, aud send them 

 out in tlfeir own names; but in the majo- 

 rity of cases the raisers are non-professional 

 growers, who pursue the chosen task much 

 more for love than money. — Hiblerd's Gar- 

 den Favourites and Hxhibition Flowers. 



