1 84 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



to crowd, they could be put into small pots, or planted 

 in the garden. The former would be the better, as it 

 is always well to flower seedlings under glass in the 

 first place, and pick from the batch those of which the 

 habit and colour render them most suitable for the 

 garden. 



A collection of seedling Zonals forms a very interest- 

 ing hobby for the amateur gardener. Very few plants 

 that he could take up would reward him better, by 

 cheerful growth and bloom, for the time he devoted 

 to them. One word, however, to the amateur cross- 

 fertiliser : do not start with a poor strain, the trusses 

 of which are loose and gappy, and the "pips" (indi- 

 vidual flowers) ragged. To do this means plodding for 

 years along a path that earlier raisers have already 

 trodden, and to creep lamely behind them for a whole 

 lifetime. Begin with the best strain procurable a 

 strain with smooth, round flowers, and a large, circular 

 truss then there is a real prospect of getting valuable 

 novelties. Before me, as I write on a dull November 

 day, are several plants representing an experiment on 

 the part of the wife of a well-known florist. This 

 energetic lady gardener thought that it ought to be 

 possible to get extra large pips, with flower-heads as big 

 and handsome as those of the well-known Paul Crampel 

 (many, by the way, will tell you that this is the best 

 Geranium in cultivation, and they are not to be contra- 

 dicted hastily), and so she set out to do some cross- 

 fertilising on her own account, her husband surveying 

 her operations with an affectionate tolerance. Here is 

 the result : some of the pips are four inches across, and 

 all are of huge size, splendid form, and perfect colour. 

 They are a genuine advance, and show the advantage 

 of starting at the top with a high ideal. 



