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EAISING NEW VAEIETIES OF ZONAL GEEANIUMS. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



|N describing the mode of applying the pollen at page 180, 

 the use of a camel's-hair pencil is advised. It was in 

 order to be brief that I stopped there, haviug, as I 

 thought, provided novices in the art with work enough 

 to do. I shall now say that the practice I follow when 

 I can afford the time to be very particular, is to take off a flower 

 from the pollen parent, when the pollen is ripe, pull the petals from 

 it, and then touch the stigmas of the seed parent with it, when 

 quite a cloud of pollen falls where it is required ; and if the stigmas 

 are ripe at the time, a cross may be depended on. This plan has this 

 advantage over the use of the pencil, that it is not attended with the 

 risk of an admixture of pollen, for there may be a few grains left on 

 the pencil that you would gladly be without. But where a large 

 number are to be crossed, the pencil is to be preferred. 



I shall now offer a few rules for operators. They represent many 

 years of observation and experiment, and I hope will not be con- 

 sidered any less valuable because of the small space they occupy. 



To breed for large flowers use pollen from the long stamens ; 

 both parents should be of the best form possible. If any difference, 

 follow the old rule — take pollen from the best-coloured flower, make 

 the best-formed flower the seed parent. Whites and scarlets bred 

 together produce several shades of cerise and pink. 



To breed for bedding plants. — The orthodox method is to take 

 pollen from the short stamens only ; and in selecting the parents to 

 consider habit and colour without respect to form. The orthodox 

 method will secure you plenty of ugly flowers, very few good ones. 

 Better follow my plan of breeding from long stamens always, and 

 take your chance of dwarf plants adapted for bedding. My Thomas 

 Moore is a long-stamened plant ; it is none too vigorous for a 

 bedder, and the flowers are so grand, that no one who has enjoyed its 

 beauty for a season would dream of going back to Tom Thumb again. 

 To breed for Tricolors. — Select for seed parent a vigorous dark- 

 leaved zonal, such as Monsieur Barre, or Madame Vaucher, for 

 example. A flat or slightly convex, thick textured, perfectly round 

 leaf, without lobes, is to be desired. In a batch of seedlings you will 

 always have plenty of good breeders for tricolors. Cross the flowers 

 with pollen taken from tricolors of the finest kinds you can get. 

 Variegates and bicolors may be bred the same way. Never breed 

 tricolors or variegates together, for the progeny will be worthless. 

 Green zonals crossed with gold-edged or self varieties will produce a 

 good proportion of bicolors ; such as Cloth of Gold and Golden 

 Chain make good pollen parents. 



To breed for double flowers. — Cross the finest singles with the 

 pollen of the doubles, and you will get plenty of seed, from which 

 you may expect your share of double flowers. Crossing the other 

 way does not answer, as it is difficult to induce the doubles to form 

 seed, though they have pollen in plenty. S. H. 



