JOHN SEDEN. 



JOHN SEDEN is probably the best known of all hybridizers, 

 and in connection with his retirement in 1905 the Gardeners 

 Chronicle of December 31st 1904 contains the following 



notice : 



"JOHN SEDEN, V.M.H. 



" To every lover of Orchids the name of Seden is familiar, as 

 probably no other person now living has enriched our collec- 

 tions with so many fine hybrids or practised in so wide a field. 



" John Seden was born at Dedham in Essex, July 6th 1840, 

 and early in life commenced his career as a gardener, working 

 in several private gardens before he came to Chelsea in 

 January 1861. In the autumn of 1861 he was transferred to 

 Exeter, under Dominy, amongst the Orchids and stove plants, 

 and it was here that he was first initiated into the practice of 

 hybridization, which he has since so persistently followed with 

 such good results. The autumn of 1862 saw Seden again at 

 Chelsea in charge of the Orchids, some of the stove plants, and 

 the Nepenthes, and amongst these he commenced experiments 

 in hybridization and cross-fertilization. 



" Caladium X Chelsoni, Alocasia x Sedeni (which received 

 a Gold Medal from the Horticultural Society), A. X Chelsoni, 

 A. X intermedia, Nepenthes X Sedeni, N. X Chelsoni, Ama- 

 ryllis (Hippeastrum) Brilliant, Chelsoni and maculata, the 

 three first seedlings to be raised at Chelsea, are some of the 

 results obtained from his early experiments. 



" About a dozen varieties of Gloxinia, progenitors of the fine 

 strain since developed at Chelsea, were distributed from seed- 

 lings raised by Seden from intercrossing the best existing forms. 



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