114 



REMARKS ON HYBRIDISING. 



consists in the obvious fact, that the pollen 

 of a flower has a better opportunity of fall- 

 ing upon the stigma that belongs to it, than 

 pollen brought from any distance ; and we 

 know that if pollen has once taken effect, 

 no after application of other pollen can 

 change the result. In fact, the natural hy- 

 bridising of wild plants will generally take 

 place when, owing to some accidental cause, 

 the proper stamens of the flower prove de- 

 fective. 



But there is a still more effectual obsta- 

 cle to the confusion of races by natural hy- 

 bridising. Although we conceive that the 

 'production of hybrid plants naturally is of 

 more common occurrence than may be sup- 

 posed, it must be remembered that the pre- 

 servation of them is quite an artificial pro- 

 cess. A hybrid tree springs up ; it has no 

 means of multiplying itself, except by seed. 

 That seed has no stable constitution, but has 

 a tendency to return towards the condition of 

 one of its parents ; in this way the hybrid 

 disappears, while the parents remain ; or it 

 may be, and often is, barren ; and then it 

 remains as a solitary, childless individual. 

 Again, a hybrid herb appears ; it is exposed 

 to the same obstacles as the tree in the way 

 of perpetuation. It is barren ; its seeds of 

 themselves tend towards the original stock, 

 which is recovered in a generation or two ; 

 or they are at once fertilised by the pollen 

 of one of the hybrid parents, when the ten- 

 dency to a return to its original stock is in- 

 creased tenfold in strength. It is not, there- 

 fore, likely that natural hybrids will often 

 be long perpetuated, although they may be 

 frequently produced. 



We mention these things by way of vin- 

 dicating the hybridisers, who have been ac- 

 cused of attempting to subvert the whole 

 order of Nature, by monstrous practices. It 

 is clear that they only imitate the practices 

 of Nature. It is equally clear, too, that the 

 occasional formation of natural hybrids is 

 intended as a manifestation to man of one 

 of the sources of power with which he is 

 so largely provided. His reason is to be 

 called upon to turn to profitable account that 

 which, in savage nature, leads to no result. 



Be this as it may, the practice of hybri- 

 dising is, as the politicians say, a great fact, 

 opposition to which would be fruitless, if it 

 were desirable. People have found out how 



much is to be gained by it, and they cannot 

 be checked in its application by the sighs 

 of botanists over the dreaded advent of a 

 chaos of species. All that botanists, afflicted 

 with the heynionophohia can do, is to aban- 

 don gardens, and seek for solace in uncul- 

 tivated lands. 



Hitherto the operation of hybridising has 

 been mainly confined to gardens. But see 

 what advantages have come of it there. 

 What were our roses in 1789, when the first 

 China Rose reached England ? and what 

 are they now ? The China Rose hybridises 

 so freely with almost every other, that there 

 is hardly an ancient species to which it has 

 not lent some part of its rich foliage, gay 

 colours and abundant blooming. Can any- 

 thing be more striking than the effect of hy- 

 bridising upon Pelargoniums, Heaths, Glo- 

 xinias, Verbenas and Gladioli ? By this 

 process we have given to the hardy pears 

 of the north, all the richness and delicacy 

 of those of the south ; to watery grapes the 

 perfume of the Muscat; to the pale-faced 

 but hardy Rhododendrons of Caucasus and 

 America, the rich and glowing colours of 

 their tender brethren of India ; to the gau- 

 dy Azalea of Pontus, the crimson of the 

 small-flowered fragrant species of the Uni- 

 ted States. 



Such striking consequences of the very 

 first operations in hybridising, have excited 

 a universal desire to vary and extend them. 

 Everybody now, who cares for his garden, 

 asks himself, in the first place, what he can 

 do to get new seedlings ; and to hybridising 

 he looks exclusively for assistance. If a 

 fine new species of an ancient family ap- 

 pears, its good points, as a " brood plant," 

 (forgive the innovation,) are among the first 

 things discussed ; and its valueis much de- 

 termined by its fitness for hybridising. Nor 

 is it to be wondered at. Hybridising is a 

 game of chance played between man and 

 plants. It is in some respects a matter of 

 hazard ; and we all know how much more 

 excitement is produced by uncertain than by 

 certain results. What increases the charm 

 of the game is, that although the end of it 

 may be doubtful, yet a good player can 

 judge of the issue with tolerable confidence, 

 and that skill and judgment have in this 

 case all their customary value. 



Though hA'bridising has already led to 



