402 ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN BOTANY 



ture is found in New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New 

 Jersey, in the order named. It is reported that about 

 $25,000,000 are expended for flowers each year, about half 

 of it for cut flowers and the other half for plants. 



The most important commercial flower grown is the rose, 

 the annual sale being at least $6,000,000, which represents 

 about one billion flowers. The second flower in importance 

 is the carnation, the annual sale being about $4,000,000; 

 while the violet is the third. 



A brief account will be given of the cultivation of a few 

 representative flowers, and they will serve to illustrate the 

 cultivation of flowers in general. 



110. Production of new forms. Great attention is given 

 by florists to the production of new forms of flowers which 

 may attract attention. Every year new forms of roses, 

 carnations, chrysanthemums, etc., are announced. Some 

 of these variations are obtained by detecting a chance varia- 

 tion or " sport " occurring among the ordinary plants. Far 

 the greater number, however, are deliberately worked for 

 by hybridizing (p. 338). Two forms are selected and arti- 

 ficial pollination is secured. The hybrid progeny from the 

 seeds are examined in the hope that one or more individuals 

 may show desirable characters, either new characters or a 

 new combination of characters, and these are propagated. 

 Repeated crosses may be made, several varieties being used 

 and hybrids being crossed again, until often very complex 

 mixtures are obtained. It is evident that by making crosses 

 repeatedly and in every direction, a reasonable number of 

 attractive combinations are obtained. It is like stirring up 

 all sorts of food ingredients in all sorts of proportions, in the 

 hope that some one of the mixtures will prove to be a pala- 

 table dish. While this method of securing new forms seems 

 to be largely a matter of chance, if a sufficiently large number 

 of hybrid forms is produced, the chance of securing a desir- 

 able form becomes a practical certainty. 



