36 



round a pistillate variety with a number of starainate sorts as 

 fertilizers. This, of course, would give a great variety of seed- 

 lings, but it would be difficult to tell who was the father of the 

 different children. Plants may be potted, and, when in flower, 

 the crossing performed artificially by transferring the pollen 

 from one flower to the pistil of the other by means of a small 

 camel's-hair brush. This may be done in a green-house or con- 

 servatory, at a season when all plants outside are in a dormant 

 state. The process is exceedingly interesting, as showing how 

 the laws of nature may be made to subserve the purposes of 

 man, when guided by intelligence. 



I have treated this topic more at length, as "the books" 

 usually make but brief allusion to it. On another page, where 

 a description and the origin of the varieties are given, it will be 

 seen how many of our best fruits have been thus produced. 



PLANTS FROM A DISTANCE. 



Plants that have been long packed are often received unex- 

 pectedly, before we are ready to set them out. The land may 

 not have been fully and properly prepared, or, owing to recent 

 heavy rains, or storms still raging, the land may not be in suit- 

 able condition to work. We may be without sufficient help to 

 plant out large lots at once, or other engagements may render 

 it inconvenient or impossible. What is to be done? Shall we 

 douse the plants in water, and let them remain for days in the 

 package ? Not a bit of it : yet this is the most common prac- 

 tice. Carefully unpack at once, being sure that the labels are 

 all right. If the plants were packed in sphagnum, the best of 

 all materials, damp, but not wet, with their leaves exposed to 

 the air, they should be in prime condition though out of the 

 ground for a week. If found quite dry, they may be spread 

 upon the bottom of a cool, damp cellar, and lightly sprinkled 

 with water, and the roots covered by a cloth. But it is usually 

 better to select a damp, shady place, on the north side of a 

 fence, grove, or building, and open a trench sloping to one side, 

 and spread out the plants so that the foliage, when the roots 

 are covered, will be just above the surface. They should m-ver 

 be covered in bundles, as the soil in such case will only come in 

 contact with the outside roots, while it should touch every rootlet. 



