136 VILLA GAEDEXIXG part i 



character and outline. Who would ever think, for instance, of 

 pinching the flowering growth of the Yucca, or a similar plant 1 

 But the Chrysauthenuim, the Paris Daisy, and many annuals 

 of loose habit, are improved and made more eftective by nipping 

 off the points of straggling shoots before they get away too far. 

 To be of advantage, pinching must be done before the shoots 

 extend much. 



Saving and Gathering Seeds. — There is a good deal of 

 interest excited by raising seedling flowers, especially when they 

 have been fertilised by our own hands with strange pollen, in 

 order to obtain a new and distinct progeny. It is true, dis- 

 appointments are uimierous ; and no man, not even the least 

 sanguine perhaps, ever obtains his ideal ; but success of some kind 

 will sm-ely be given to all who deserve it by holding on to the end. 

 Many of the best Roses and other things have been obtained from 

 flowers which have not been artificially hybridised. A collection 

 of the best-kno-mi varieties has been placed in the same garden 

 near each other, and the seeds from the lot planted and grown 

 on together till they flowered. In many cases the parentage of 

 new flowers can be distinctly traced in their appearance. Apart 

 from the interest attached to the raising of new varieties of plants 

 by hybridising, a good deal of useful work may be done by selection, 

 and in maintaining pmity of stock in any good old-fashioned flowers 

 that everybody grows or woidd like to gi-ow. All seeds should be 

 gathered when dry, and just before they are ripe, but with suflicient 

 sap in the outer covering of all tlie pods to complete the process of 

 ripening. When gathered, the pods should be placed in saucers 

 or in paper-lined boxes in an aiiy room for a week or longer, till 

 the seeds are thoroughly ripened, when they may be rubbed out, 

 cleaned, placed in packets, and stored away in a drawer in a dry 

 cool place till the season for sowing comes round, whether that be 

 in autumn or spring. As a rule, most of the flower and other seeds 

 are sown in spring ; and though that is the custom, it does not 

 follow that in every case it is the most suitable time — in truth, 

 many of what are called hardy annuals make stronger and better 

 plants if sown in autumn as soon as ripe. In the case of most 

 things, new seeds are better than old ones, though nearly all seeds 

 will grow very well the second year. A growth of 75 per cent, 

 even of new seeds, is not a bad percentage, as in all families there 

 are weaklings, and of course every year the percentage decreases ; 

 but in the preservation of the vitality ^ of a seed much depends 

 upon its being kept dry and cool. 



Destroying Weeds. — The old adage, " One year's seeding 

 makes seven years' weeding," is not far from being true, and it 



