XVI. 
RAISING NEW VARIETIES. 
swriiEW Roses occasionally come as 
=] sports, but the only method de- 
pended upon for their production 
22. is sowing seed. Roses of the past 
have, for the most part, been the product of 
nature unaided by the hand of man. The 
common practice has been to gather the seed, 
without even keeping the varieties separate, 
and to sowit promiscuously. There are a 
few instances recorded where artificial cross- 
ings have been resorted to, with successful 
results, but the number of such operators has 
been very limited. It is a well-known fact 
that most fruits and flowers seldom reproduce 
themselves with exactness from seed; there 
is often a close resemblance, yet some diver- 
gence from the original. Nature is constantly 
struggling for variation; even though the 
pistils receive pollen from their own flower 
alone, this law holds good; but through the 
agencies of wind, insects, etc., the pollen from 
186 
