September 30, 1869. ] JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



257 



SEEDS VERSUS CUTTINGS. 

 RAISING CENTAOREAS, VERBENAS, AND OTHER PLANTS. 



; T a time when public attention is directed to 

 the adulteration of seeds, it is not inappro- 

 priate to notice the advantage of sowing cer- 

 tain seeds, though not generally recognised, 

 owing to supposed difficulties in obtaining 

 them, and. which is of- more consequence, a 

 prejudice against sowing when other modes 

 of propagation are available. This state of 

 opinion by degrees works its own cure, and 

 sooner or later the public learn to know and 

 adopt the most suitable mode of increase, and the use of 

 seeds instead of cuttings is the order of the day. 



There are, nevertheless, certain plants thought not 

 capable of yielding seed in sufficient quantity to meet the 

 requirements of the public, and amongst them is one to 

 wluch I would confidently call attention. Its culture has 

 been long before the gardening community, and its pro- 

 pagation has been often reported as being difficult ; or at 

 all events there often seemed an impossibility to multiply 

 it to the required extent, although others assert that may 

 be done with as much ease as in the case of a Nettle ; I 

 allude to Ceutaurea candidissima. 



This is a plant now indispensable in the flower garden, 

 but somehow it does not take up well in autumn, and if 

 the season has been unfavourable, it does not always fur- 

 nish so many good cuttings as desirable, the consequence 

 being that at the proper planting-out time the stock is 

 often found smaller than it was the year before. This ought 

 not to be, but it has frequently been the case. The plant 

 strikes freely euoiigh from cuttings inserted in spring, but 

 plants to obtain them from are at that time often few, 

 so that any mode of increasing the supply then cannot be 

 otherwise than a boon : and in this case seed oilers the 

 readiest mode of doing so. Some persons, however, will 

 ask. How is seed to be liad ? for although the peculiar 

 formation of the seed renders it unlikely to be adulterated, 

 it does not appear to have been yet obtained in sufficient 

 quantity to meet the requirements of all, but it can easily 

 enough be made to do so. 



The plant is all but hardy ; indeed, it may be said to be 

 hardy in all dry situations, for we have plants at Linton 

 Park which have been three mnters in the same situation, 

 and one of tliese winters was severe enough. Old plants 

 are the only ones to obtain seed from in any considerable 

 quantity. Let those anxious to obtain a good stock of 

 healthy, thrifty plants of this Centaurea put in a few old 

 plants in some dry sheltered place, collect the seed pods as 

 they ripen, and they will find themselves possessed of more 

 seed at the end of the season than they expected. This, 

 gown in heat early in sjiring. in the same way as Lobelia 

 seed, wiU produce abundance of plants, healthy and uni- 

 form in size and appearance. By judiciously pricking out 

 in boxes or pans, the young plants will be ready to turn 

 out in May along with other subjects, and although for 

 a short time, wliile the plants are under glass and in a 

 young state, the foliage may have a greenish grey tint, it is 



No. m.-Toi. SVir., New Series. 



no sooner inured to the open air than it acquires all the 

 whiteness of old plants grown from cuttings. I have some 

 hundreds, obtained from seed this season, which cannot be 

 excelled by plants raised in any other way, and it will be 

 seen at once that all the trouble of wintering is avoided. 



Centaurea gymnocarpa is likewise best obtained from 

 seed, or rather, I should say, the best plants are so raised ; 

 for although this species furnishes cuttings plentifiiUy 

 enough, and these are easily struck and wintered, at plant- 

 ingout time a considerable portion are often fully half run 

 to seed, and refuse to form a single leaf. This unpleasant 

 state of things cannot always be remedied, and ugly gaps 

 are the consequences. Now, seedlings always grov; weU 

 for one year at least, scarcely one flowering, or if they do it 

 is merely a solitary stem or two, in no way disfiguring the 

 plant, and easily removed. As seed is more plentifully 

 ripened by this species than by Centaurea candidissima, I 

 have no hesitation in recommending sowing. An accident 

 first drew my attention to the fact. Some old plants on a 

 mixed border had been allowed to ripen seed, which fell 

 and produced plants ; these were preserved, and there 

 being a deficiency of cuttings, they were planted out, and 

 their uniform growth and not running to seed have ren-^ 

 dered me more careful of seedlings ever since. 



While on the subject of plants which are best raised from 

 seed, I must not omit Verbena venosa, wliich, with the ex- 

 ception of V. pulchella, I grow more abundantly tlian any 

 other. This species deserves more attention than it often 

 receives, for in addition to being quite hardy, it is also one of 

 the prettiest purples we have. One or two large beds near 

 others of Verbena Purple King aflbrded a good opportunity 

 of judging of the respective merits of the two when viewed 

 in a mass from a distance of 20 or more yards off, and 

 everyone gave the palm to Verbena venosa. The brighter 

 and richer tint of its blooms, taken in a body, far exceeded 

 Purple King. It is most easily and securely obtained from 

 seed, which if sown in heat in February, and treated the 

 same as that of the Lobelia, &c., mil produce plants 

 flowering the same season. It may not be impossible to- 

 strike this Verbena from cuttings in autumn, but certainly 

 not more than one cutting in a tliousand will succeed & 

 treated in the same manner as those of Verbenas, and as 

 seed is obtained plentifully enough, it is better to raise 

 plants in that way. To the amateur, however, it may be 

 mentioned that the seed requires a long time to germinate, 

 seldom coming up in less than a month. 



The number of plants wliich are better grown from seed 

 than from cuttings is far from being sufTicifntly aclmow- 

 ledged. We all admit the superiority of a Pinus or other 

 tree or shrub so raised over one obtnined from a cutting, 

 but as regards smaller plants opinion is divided. Petunias, 

 for instance, although making more sturdy plants from 

 seed, and exempt from the fault of dying-otf now and 

 then during the flowing season, are nut ahvnys to be 

 depended on for colour. There is one other plant which 

 has risen into deserved popularity more rapidly than any 

 I remember in the same time, and that is the Golden 

 Feverfew, or Golden Feather Pyretlirum. By far the best 

 plants of this are obtained in any quantity from seed. 



No. 109G.-VOL. XLII., Old Sehxes, . 



