ON THE CROSS-FERTILISATION OF THE FUCHSIA. 341 
ON THE CROSS-FERTILISATION OF THE FUCHSIA. 
By Mr. James Lye. 
Aut the varieties of Fuchsias I have raised during the past thirty-four © 
years have been from definite crosses, made with a view to improve- 
ment in habit of growth, freedom of bloom, and size and symmetry in 
the individual flowers. What I have kept steadily in view has been the 
production of a variety with a pure white tube and sepals, in combi- 
nation with a deep plum-purple corolla. 
I have been most successful in obtaining fine varieties when the 
act of cross-fertilisation was performed in the month of September. I 
generally make light-coloured varieties the seed-bearing parents, as they 
are more prolific seed-bearers, especially such varieties as ‘ Arabella,’ 
‘ Arabella Improved,’ ‘ Lye’s Favourite,’ ‘Louisa Balfour,’ &c., and use 
the pollen of dark varieties. 
The plants to be operated upon for fertilisation are placed under 
cover, and all the openings through which air is admitted are covered 
with a fine netting or sheets of perforated metal, to prevent bees and 
other insects from entering the house and interfering with the work of 
impregnation. 
The pollen is mature within four or five days after the flower is fairly 
expanded, if the weather be favourable. The best time of the day to 
cross-fertilise is about noon, when the flowers and pollen are both dry. 
I make use of a camel’s-hair brush to convey the pollen to the seed- 
bearing parent, and the two plants employed for the purpose are brought 
ciose together, so that none of the pollen be lost in the act of trans- 
mission. 
When I desire to obtain a quantity of seed, 1 fertilise the flowers, 
using the point of a squirrel’s tail to convey the pollen from one to the 
other. Nothing of the character of a hard substance should be employed 
in the process, in case injury be done to the delicate stigmas of the 
flowers. 
When I have been unable to devote a house wholly to purposes of 
cross-fertilisation, and have had to keep the plants with others where there 
are open ventilators, the particular blossoms operated upon have been 
enclosed in light muslin bags, as they are preferable to those made of thin 
paper. If the sepals are extra long, they are often removed when the 
flower is covered. : 
When the seed pods are sufiiciently ripe for gathering, they are care- 
fully opened by means of a sharp penknife; the seed grains extracted 
and laid upon a piece of paper to dry, when they are placed in a box or 
some receptacle which is perfectly air-tight, and then sown in early spring 
in a temperature of from 60° to 70°. 
The first cross I attempted was by taking the pollen from a dark 
variety named ‘ James Lye,’ fertilising with it the light variety ‘Arabella.’ 
From this I got encouraging results, ‘ Arabella Improved’ being among 
the progeny. | then crossed ‘ Arabella Improved’ with ‘ James Lye,’ which 
