FLORICULTURAL GLEANINGS. 85 



flower. It is of little consequence whether you impregnate them r 

 not, as it is almost sure to be done by natural means ; and if you 

 want a perfect cross-fertilization, you ought carefully to extract the 

 anthers the first time the tulip opens, and put a gauze bag over it, 

 fastening it to the stem, to prevent the bees and flies from introduc- 

 ing any pollen. After taking this precaution, you may let them stand 

 three or four days ; then with a camel-hair brush take pollen from the 

 flower you have chosen to impregnate with, and apply it to the stigma 

 of those you had before prepared, or you may take the anthers them- 

 selves and apply in the same manner, until the stigma is completely 

 covered with the pollen ; then cover up with gauze, as before. 



I am supposing all the while that your tulips are sheltered from 

 the wet. The general method is, after the beauty of the flowers is 

 over, to throw them open to the weather, and take off the seed 

 vessels. When you do this to the others, remove the gauze from your 

 fertilized ones, and let them be fully exposed to the weather. 

 With respect to the injury done to the bulbs by suffering them to 

 perfect their seeds, I do not find that any material deterioration takes 

 place. I have, however, practised the following methods with some 

 favourite bulbs from which I wished to save seed. As soon as the 

 other tulips (which had the seed-vessels taken off immediately after 

 flowering) appear ready to take up, I cut off those bearing seed within 

 an inch or two of the ground, and directly thrust them six or eight 

 inches into some loose earth, in the open garden, and there let them 

 remain exposed to all weathers, except heavy rains, till the capsules 

 begin to open ; I then take them out of the ground, and, after care- 

 fully drying, put them by till wanted. I do not find this seed vege- 

 tate any worse than that which is left to perfect itself on the parent 

 bulb." 



Solving the Seed. — " About the beginning of November take large 

 pots or boxes, eight or ten inches deep, and fill them one-third of the 

 depth with lime scraps ; then take some of the old soil in which your 

 carnations were grown, and fill them within an inch of the top ; make 

 the surface level, and sow the seed as thick as you think proper ; sift 

 over it half an inch of leaf mould, if you have it, if not, some of the 

 same sort you sowed in. Defend from heavy rains, yet do not let the 

 soil get very dry. 



" After the plants are up, remove them to a situation where they can 



