102 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I AagQSt 5, 1800. 



fihoold bare been noted that onr best obserrers ore of opinion that 

 ^hybrids and crosa-brccds derive their form and habit in greater part 

 from the female, the coloars of the flowt-r from the male, while the 

 conBtitntion may be nctjnircd from either parent. 



By hybridising we nnderetand the crossing of two different genera or 

 species, by cross -breeding the intermixtaro of two diHercnt varieties of 

 the same species. IVactically speaking, the work is the same. It 

 iroold be ont of place here to enter into a lengthened description as 

 to how far the different species of plants may be hybridised. Donbt- 

 leas, there are limits : I have tried on varions occasions, and in varions 

 mys, to obtain a liybrid between the Pyma spectabilis and the Cydonia 

 japonica, two different genera, bat wilhont gnccess ; and I annonnce 

 this because to acknowledge a failore is sometimes as nsefal to others 

 as to record a success. On the other hand I have sncceeded in raising 

 hybrids between the Mosa Rose (Rosa centifoUai, and the Alba Rose 

 (Rosa alba), two different species ; alf:o between a hybrid China Rose 

 (K. gallica crossed withK. indica), and Rosamaltiflora. Then, again. 

 I have often tried in vain to obtain crosses between certain varieties. So 

 that it does not seem to be exactly a question between species and species, 

 or between variety and variety, as these are ot present classiiied by 

 Jbotanists. I have found, however, as a rule, that the more nearly 

 allied the varieties the more certain is the cross. The Tea-scented 

 and Noisette Roses are found to cross readily, but then, althongh these 

 form separate fforicultural groups, they belong to the same species, 

 K. indica. Bat the Hybrid Bourbon and Moss Roses also cross readily, 

 and here we have intermixed three different specios according to most 

 Jbotanists — R. indica. K. gallica. and R. ceutifolia. The grandest and 

 tiie most beautiful of all the floral groups of the Rose — the Hybrid 

 Perpetual — has a curious genealogy : R. gallica crossed with R. indica 

 produced the Hybrid China ; the latter crossed with an autumn- flower- 

 ing variety of the R. damascena produced the Hybrid Perpetual. 



My first attempt at crossing the Rose was made in 1843. I crossed 

 three flowers of the Tea-scented Rose known as Goubanlt with the 

 Reurbon Rose Soucbet, with the view of obtaining a dark- coloured Tea- 

 Bcented Rose. Let me call these flowers C, D, and E. C produced a t 

 Tery large pod. which ripened perfectly, and gave ten large seeds. D ! 

 produced a medium-sized pod with nine seeds of very anequal size, one [ 

 l>eing very large, four large, and four small. E produced a small pod, I 

 whioh contained thirteen small seeds. Of these thirty-two seeds four 

 only germinated ! Three of the plants were curious cross-breeds, of no 

 fforal value, and having little in common with either parent ; and one, | 

 in leaf, habit, and flower, was very similar to the wild Dog Rose ! As j 

 the seeds were sown in pots, and placed under glass, I do not think any I 

 stray seed could have found place amoBg them. I was here, no doubt, | 

 nnfortunate in the choice of my parent or parents, and I regard this | 

 issue as an instance of the well-known tendency which the offspring of i 

 fiome cultivated plants have of reverting to the normal form. The same ' 

 year I crossed about forty other flowers, but the crop of seed was in- ! 

 different, and the result nothing worthy of record. This non-success j 

 led me to submit to microscopical examination the flowers of a number | 

 of varieties of the Rose, with the view of ascertaining which were likely j 

 to prove the best seed-beartrs. The result of that examination is given I 

 in the " Rose Garden." second edition, pp. 96, 97. The conclusions I , 

 drew were : — 1st. That certain varieties are sterile, incapable of forming i 

 perfect seeds under any circumstances. Of these I found such kinds 

 predominate as roll the petals inwards, the centre of the flower being 

 quartered in the manner of a crown. In others the pistils were weak 

 or imperfect. 2nd, That many kinds where the pistils are perfect, 

 which in their natural state form seed-pods that wither before arriving 

 at maturity, may be induced to perfect their seeds by artificial fertilisa- 

 tion. This class of Roses is the best for him who intends raising seed- 

 lings to choose his female parents from, because there is little here to 

 interfere with, mar. or counteract his plans. Be it remarked, however, 

 that there are certain kinds which must not be confounded with the 

 above — kinds which, owing to the length of time the seed-vessels are in 

 arriving at maturity, never perfect their seeds in this country. 8rd. 

 That those kinds which we find seeding abundantly in their natural 

 state are self -fertilised, and that their abundant production of seed is 

 dne to this point mainly — the more perfect development of the organs 

 of reproduction, especially the poUeuiferous parts of fructification. 



Thus fortified 1 selected some twenty sorts of Roses, planted them in 

 a separate comer of the nursery, and in the month of June, IS-lt"), 

 crossed nearly a thousand flowers. Success in seeding was complete. 

 On the 30th of September of that year I gathered *2'2B well-ripened pods 

 of seedB, some of them of extraonlinary size. Two successive gather- 

 ings, of about one hundred pod)^ each, were made at intervals of about 

 a month, the whole number of hybridised and crossed pods gathered 

 and stored amounting to 444. The seed was sown the same winter, 

 vegetated during the succeeding spring and summer, and the seedlings 

 bloomed at intervals over the next six years — that is to say. some 

 fcloomed the first year, others were six years old before blooming. The 

 result of the hybridising and cross-breeding was apparent in manv 

 cases, but not in all. Two of the most striking and complete I will 

 describe. 



I had long thought that a dark bright- colonred climbing Rose was a 

 ^sideratum. as at that time nearly all our climbing Roses were white 

 or yellow. To obtain this I hybridised the Rose Athalie {hybrid Bour- 

 fcon) with Russelliana (multifloral Paul's Vivid, a brightcrimson climb- 

 ing Rose, of great repute in its doy, and even now sought after, was 

 raised from this effort. Again, I had conceived that if anything could 



add to the bcanty of the Moss Rose, it voald be to impart to it the 

 exquisite tint of the R. alba or Maiden's Blush. To obtain this I 

 hybridised the Moss Da Luxembourg with an Alba Rose, and among the 

 offspring was a Moss Rose, with flowers like the Maiden's Blujb, after- 

 wards named Princess Alice. 



A few years later I raised from one and the same sowing of English 

 Rose seed, the Roses Beauty of WaltUam. Lord Clyde. Red liover, 

 Globosa, Princess of Wales, i)r. Lindtey. and, I believe. Duke of Edin- 

 burgh. Unfortunately, in these case^ the parentage of the offflpring 

 was not preserved. 



The next flower with which I experimented was the Hollyhock. I 

 crossed numbers of these flowers in the years l8o^-7. A bluah seed- 

 ling crossed with White Globe, with the view of obtaining better bloah 

 flowers, gave, among others, ten seedlings answering to this end. Fire- 

 ball Superb, crossed with Metropolitan, with the view of obtaining a 

 better scarlet Hollyhock, gave one plant of the character sooght. A 

 pink seedling crossed with Lizzie, with the view of combining the 

 bright colour of the former with the quality of spike and flower of the 

 latter, gave a large number of secdlinffs. twenty-three of which were 

 realisations, more or less complete, of the object sought. These are 

 three cases selected from many of similar import. With regard to the 

 results in crossing the Hollyhock. I may add that Mr. Rooke, of Clower, 

 at one time a most successful raiser of seedlings, raised three of his 

 most marked improvements, all differing in colour, from one fertilised 

 pod of seed, whereas with seedlings raised from seed-pods not fertilised, 

 he found the degree of progress slow end uncertain. 



Some of my latest efforts in hybridising and cross-breeding have been 

 directed to Zonal Pelargoniums. Attemps to hybridise the Zonal 

 varieties with the Unique have never succeeded ; and yet Mr. W^illa has 

 obtained hybrids between the Zonal and Ivy-leaved species, probably 

 as distantly removed. He telh me that he hybridised some tbonsande 

 of flowers without success, until he thought of dipping the hybridised 

 flowers into water after applying the pollen, by which means be obtained 

 seeds and seedlings, two of which, evidently hybrids, are now before the 

 public under the names of Willsii and Willsii rosea. My experiments 

 in cross-breeding have been numerous, but baving been pursued chieffy 

 with my own seedlings, which are unknown, I have little that is tangible 

 to place before you. Two or three cases, however, in which the varietiee 

 were afterwards named and sold, may prove interesting, and give a cloe 

 to those who may care to trace them. Mrs. Pollock, crossed with a 

 green-leaved seedling Zonal, produced some green-leaved, some golden- 

 variegated Tricolors, and one golden-edged variety after the character 

 of Golden Fleece. Amy Hogg, crossed with Crusader, gave the result 

 sought after in Evening Star. Governor, crossed with Alexandra, aleo 

 gave the result sought after in Clio. Dr. Hogg, crossed with Rebecca, 

 again gave the result sought after in Ptean. Model, crossed with Fire- 

 fly, gave also a form intermediate between the parents, which was after- 

 wards named Annibal. 



Leaving flowers, let us glance momentarily at fmits. I have now 

 growing in my nurseries a brood of seedling Strawberries, the reanlt d 

 various crosses, the parentage on both sides having been caref ally pre- 

 served. As they are not yet named, I can only speak of them as seed- 

 lings. Two seedlings, raised from Sir Charles Napier crossed with 

 Myatt's Pine, are worthless. Of eight seedlings, between Eleanor and 

 Carolina superba. four are worthless, one is flat and rough in flavour, 

 one resembles Keens' Seedling in appearance, but is of a mnch 

 richer flavour : one bears large fmit, remarkable for its solidity, of 

 the shape of British Queen, with the fine rich flavour of Myatt's Pine; 

 and one is a full-sized handsome fruit, of fine colour and good flavonr, 

 bearing abundantly, and of hardy constitution. Two seedlings be- 

 tween Oscar and Myatt's Pine are deficient in flavour. Of eight seed- 

 lings between Sir C. Napier and Crimson Queen, three are large hand- 

 some fruit, solid, heavy, of good colour and rich flavour ; one is flat and 

 insipid, one is very acid, and three have no prominent character. Of 

 five seedlings between Filbert Pine and Myatt's Pine, one is large, of 

 fine flavour, and very juicy ; one is small, of good colour and flavour, 

 solid — the flesh notwithstanding very tender; and three, one of which 

 is a prodigious bearer, are deficient in flavour. Four seedlings between 

 Oscar and British Queen are all deficient in flavour. Of seven seedlings 

 from British Queen crossed with La Constante. five are worthless from 

 the fmitist's point of view, altbougb one is fo distinct in habit as to be 

 scarcely like a Strawberry, and one so positively nauseous in flavour 

 that it leaves an unpleasant sensation on the p.ilate long after tasting,^ 

 yet from the same fmit and parentage one is of good flavour and 

 another of positively tine flavour. Of eight seedlings raised from 

 Admiral Dundas crossed with Crimson Queen, four arc small and al- 

 most flavourless ; two tire large handsome fmit, of fine colour and fine 

 flavour : one is very late, of pleasant but not rich flavour ; and one is 

 early, the fruit large, of moderate flavonr, and produced in extraordinary 

 quantities. 



I shall now conclude these remarks with a few practical deductions. 

 We have seen that in the improvement of rices much may be accom- 

 plished by mere selection, hut hybridising and cross-breeding, if in 

 some cases and with some experimentalists unsuccessful are in the 

 hands of others a shorter and surer road to the attainment of a given 

 object. We have seen that our best vegetable physiologists are of 

 opinion that hybrids and crossbreds derive their form and habit from 

 the female, the colour of the flowers from the male, while the constitu- 

 tion may be acquired from either parent. This may be generally true, 

 and is sometimes true, but the exceptions are so numerous that they 



