90 APPENDIX 



morning earlier if the weather is hot that the flower has 

 shut up or collapsed, and you may then mark the label (I snip 

 off a corner of it) and consider the cross as "sure." 



In some varieties the evidence of fertilization is given by the 

 pistils rotting away, the flower continuing fresh. 



The seed will be fit to gather in six or seven weeks after 

 fertilization, and each pod as taken from the plant should be 

 placed in a small envelope and marked with the names of the 

 parents. These envelopes should be kept in an airy, dry place 

 until it is time, later in the autumn, when they are perfectly 

 dry, to open them. 



When the petals of the impregnated flower are quite dead, 

 it is well to pull them out of the calyx, as they attract damp, 

 and may lead to the rotting of the seed-pod. In gathering 

 the seed a pod will occasionally appear rotten. Examine it 

 before throwing it away, as it may contain one or two seeds 

 as yet unaffected, and those will germinate. 



The harvested seed may be taken from the pods during the 

 winter months, and stored again in little envelopes endorsed 

 with the names of the parents. It will keep thus indefinitely. 

 I have sown seed three years old which germinated perfectly. 



I sow my seed towards the end of February in shallow 

 pans, and a very sandy soil. In about a month or five weeks 

 they are ready to prick off into shallow wooden boxes, with a 

 better soil, and here they may remain until they are planted 

 out, say, towards the end of May. 



The bed to receive them should be double-trenched, and 

 contain in the bottom of it a liberal dressing of rich cow-dung, 

 care being taken that the roots of the young plants do not 

 come within four or five inches of it. As they grow and make 

 their roots, these reach down into the cow-dung, and take from 

 it the nutriment they require. The same dung, if put in 

 contact with the roots when the young plants are placed 

 in their flowering quarters, would kill the greater part of 

 them. 



The plants may then be left to take care of themselves 

 through the autumn and coming winter. It is well to keep 

 pinched back any premature growth. The following summer 



