80 pitas OP BLISS: 
2 seeds; Patrician, one seed; Blue bird, one seed, Phyllis Bliss 
from one seed. The only real exception is Samite (— flavescens x 
Mrs Neubronner) of which there were 22 seed. This, though not 
an exceptional flower from a garden point of view, is as remarkable, 
in proportion, as Dominion for the great advance on its parents, in 
substance and breadth of falls. Clematis (— Cordelia X Princess 
Beatrice), which is a sudden departure in form, was from six seed. 
Cretonne (= Assuerus < Maori King), which is certainly remar- 
kable for the amount of colour that pervades the whole plant, came 
from 10 seed; none of the other seedlings showed special colouration. 
Citronella, which is really only exceptional in that it is a new 
combination of colours already in the parents, came from 16 seed. 
Titan, Cardinal and others of the Dominion race though remar- 
kable flowers, are not an advance of the same kind, — their excep- 
tional qualities being simply derived from their parent Dominion. 
In illustration of the diversity of type which may appear from the 
same cross, Du Guesclin, — a rich violet-blue neglecta of Monsi- 
gnor type, — and Sweet lavender came from the same pod of seed 
from a cross of Mme Chereau X Cordelia. The Sweet lavender 
type is the rarer one appearing once to about 12 or 16 of the Monsi- 
gnor type. 
To any one unacquainted with the breeding of mixed hybrids, it 
would also seem surprising that Azure, — a deep violet blue 
neglecta, — and Dusky Maid, — a purplish brown squalens, — 
came from the same pod ofseed of the cross Leonidas x Maori King. 
Knysna (= Maori King  Jacquesiana) illustrates how, probably, 
the plicata factor (in Jacquesiana) keeps the yellow of the stan- 
dards clear, similar crosses of a variegata by a squalens, when no 
plicata is present, generally result in standards of a brassy yellow. | 
Francina (— Assuerus X Mme Chereau) illustrates the possibility | 
of modifying or transfering colour characters by crossing with a 
variety of the desired colour, andthen crossing back again. Assuerus 
is heterozygous for plicala, and by crossing it with a plicata( Mme Che- 
reau) one half of the seedlings will be plicata, and in some of them 
the red colour of Asswerus will come over together with the plicata 
type. squalens-plicata may be produced in a similar way. 
Light or yellow margins in the falls of variegala are common 
enough, but a really defined margin appears to be very difficult to 
obtain. Marsh Marigold (= Maori King X an amena seedling) 
was the only variegata seedling with a really defined yellow margin 
out of several: hundred from various crosses. 
My experience with white Iris has not been very large until quite 
recently. Mrs H. Darwin, on which I relied at first besides being areces- _ 
sive white, gave flowers of such bad form thatall have been destroyed. — 
