100 On the Production of new varieties 



and other flowers. One advantage the geranium |K)ssesses over 

 tiie camellia is, that while the cultivator has to wait for the result 

 of his experiments, in the latter plant, five or six years, the for- 

 mer may be known in eighteen months, and oftentimes less. Of 

 the English growers, Messrs. Dennis & Co. are the most cele- 

 brated. 



But the dahlia has received, in a short space of time, at the 

 hands of the florist, more attention than any other flower. Re- 

 quiring but little patience to produce new sorts, they have been 

 grown in immense quantities both by the amateur and the nurse- 

 ryman, and the consequence has been the production of a great - 

 number of magnificent varieties. As an instance, however, of 

 the chance of obtaining afine sort, only six have been saved, worthy 

 of naming, out of seven thousand seedlings. Cross fertilization 

 is not so necessary with the dahlia as with most other plants, as 

 the blossoms are produced in the open air in great abundance, 

 and the wind and bees eiFect what, in other plants, could only be 

 done by the hand of the cultivator. The first parti-colored ones 

 were produced by impregnation, and where it is attended to, and 

 the flowers covered with gauze, to protect them from the bees, 

 the chance of success is much greater. 



These are but a few of the plants which have been so won- 

 derfully improved by artificial productions, and are merely men- 

 tioned to show to what extent cross fertilization has been, and 

 still may be, carried. When we reflect that, but a few yeai's 

 since, collections of plants were almost confined to species alone, 

 with but few varieties, and these accidentally obtained, the im- 

 portance of continued experiments with almost any family must 

 be apparent. But unless these experiments are carried on ju- 

 diciously, the new varieties will be less beautiful and desirable. 



But one great value of fertilization is the eflJect it will have up- 

 on the naturalization to our climate of many, what are now term- 

 ed, tender plants; and not only will naturahzation be affected, 

 but the beauty of the plants will generally be greater, as we have 

 seen in the i^hododendron alta clerense, and, for a perhaps more 

 familiar example, the hybrid roses, which partake of the beautiful 

 character and habit of the Chinese, and are yet sufficiently hardy 

 to stand our winters unprotected. 



It is to the /Rhododendron, with which botanists have now 

 united the Azalea, that we would direct the attention of cultiva- 

 tors. We have but two species, the maximum and album, of this 

 family, which are hardy in our climate. But by fertilizing the 

 blossoms of these with the magnificent arboreum of Nepaul, or 

 any of its varieties, or with any of the oriental azaleas, we shall, 

 in all probability, raise intermediate kinds, which will possess 

 part of the beauty of the male parents, and still be sufficiently 

 hardy to stand our winters unprotected. From the Azalea nu- 



