CHAPTER VI. 



ON HYBRIDIZING. 



Gardening, especially that branch of it termed Floriculture, is acknowledged to 

 be replete with interesting detail ; and if one department is more fascinating than 

 another, it is perhaps that of Hybridizing and Cross-breeding, with the view of 

 raising Seedlings. 



By Hybridizing is understood the bringing together of individuals of different 

 species; by Cross-breeding, individuals of the same species; with the view of 

 raising up new beings, differing from, and superior to, those already existing. 



How different, how far less interesting to us, would be the forms which com- 

 pose the Vegetable Kingdom, had the Creator made them incapable of variation ! 

 Not that we despise the wild flowers scattered over the earth's surface, decking 

 mountain and meadow, met with in every hedge-row and valley wild : their beauty 

 is cheerfully acknowledged. But Nature's plants are prone to improvement : by 

 cultivation they increase in size ; the flowers assume new forms, new tints ; the 

 fruits new flavours. 



" The earth was made so various, that the mind 

 Of desultory man, studious of change, 

 And pleased with novelty, might be indulged." 



And what a kind dispensation of Providence is this ! how it strengthens the 

 inducements to labour! AVhat a charm it throws around the toilsome duties 

 of a rural life, cheering on the labourer with higher prospects than those of mere 

 pecuniary reward ! Compare the present breeds of corn with the wild forms of 

 the cereal plants from which they are descended ; or the Pinks, Pansies, Dahlias, 

 and Roses of our gardens, with their types growing naturally in various countries ; 

 and, while struck with the contrast, we wonder at the inexhaustible treasures of 

 Nature, and admire the improved races, let us award to man his humble due, 

 remembering that these alterations are not the work of Nature unaided and 

 alone, but are in greater part owing to the untiring perseverance and assiduous 

 care of the plant-cultivator. 



The raising of seedling plants is indeed a delightful occupation. The work is 

 varied ; there is such a wide field for speculation and experiment ; and the pleasing 

 state of expectancy in which the operator is kept as to the results of the turn he 

 gives to the workings of Nature surrounds it with more than ordinary interest. 



The improver of plants is, so to speak, moving continually amid ideal scenes ; 



