August 10, ISIS 



li i;ti cultuee" 



125 



Lettei^s From an Old to a Young Gardener 



On Hybridizing and Crossing the French Iris 



All Kinds Do Not Make Good Fathers 



The polleu of some kinds Joes not fertilize well, yet 

 if these are used as females the cross may succeed. If 

 a cross seems desirable do not give up until trying it 

 botli ways. Perhaps it may not be well to make many 

 of these crosses, for oftentimes the resulting plants are 

 sterile, ending the line. Emerson said of the Rhodora. 

 "beauty is its own excuse for being." When the flowers 

 of these crosses are lovely they should be saved as they 

 can be increased in the usual way. I sometimes imag- 

 ine the flowers last longer. 



Growth of the Seed Pods 



Here the seed pods are often full grown in twenty- 

 four days after pollination. In ninety days the s.eeds 

 are ripe. Do not wait until the pods are brown and 

 dry and have opened at the top. If you do, some of the 

 seeds will be decayed and others eaten by worms. 

 Writing of the latter I am reminded to say there will 

 often be found on the leaves of the iris in May clusters 

 of yellow eggs, which develop into worms that eat the 

 leaves and later the seed pods. When the latter are 

 forming, go over the rows every day, otherwise you will 

 have valuable seed pods ruined, like those shown in 



Figure 10. You must search for caterpillars, for they 

 never seem to be on the pods in the hours a person is 

 in the garden. 



Time of Picking the Seed Pods 



As soon as a pod is fully grown and the green color 

 faded to a yellow-green, the pod being sHghtly shriveled, 

 pick it. Having the seeds what shall be done with 

 them? They should be planted immediately. This 

 brings us to 



The Seed Bed 



Make it four feet wide and as long as needed. Dig 

 to the depth of six inches and save the soil. Dig sis 

 inciies deeper and reject the soil. Put in three inches 

 of muck, then three inches of dirt, and repeat the work 

 until the bed is more tlian full. 



Sifting 



The muck should have been got out the summer be- 

 fore and mixed with ground limestone in the proportion 

 of a ton to a cord of muck. First a layer of muck, 

 then one of lime until the pile is big enough. Let it 

 stand over winter to get the acids united with the 

 lime. In the spring fork it over and sift through net- 



Mew rjf ,-1 part of iiii Ills iJyliridiziiif; Garden of the Size lulviseil in the text, at the time the seed pods were fnriii 



