186 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



cross. These experiments, however, furnish proof of the possi- 

 bility of crossing tlie Ilautbois with other species, and encourage 

 the hope that I ma}' in time effect the object in view when com- 

 mencing these operations, which was to impart the flavor of the 

 Hautbois to other species of the strawberr3% 



My experiments with the lily tribe have been of the most in- 

 teresting character. About thirty years ago, on the introduction 

 of the Japan lily, just then discovered by Dr. Van Siebold, I 

 commenced hybridizing it with other species. My first experiment 

 was the crossing of the red variety with the tiger lily. From this 

 cross were produced seedlings of different shades, from delicate 

 rose to dark crimson. And here it may be interesting to state, 

 that the pollen of plants may be preserved for some length of time 

 after it has been gathered from the anthers, and still retain its 

 power of fecundation, thus affording great facility for fertilizing 

 flowers which bloom later. When my first Japan lily, the Lilium 

 lancifolium speciosum, was coming into bloom, in the year 1837, 

 I procured from an adjacent garden the pollen from the common 

 tiger lily, and preserved it for several days in my vest pocket. It 

 was then used in impregnating the Japan lily, and from this cross 

 came the first seedlings of this plant. Another curious circum- 

 stance in confirmation of the vitality of pollen grains, when pre- 

 served in a dormant state, was witnessed in the fact that a camel's- 

 hair pencil, which had not been used for several days, was found 

 to contain pollen. This was applied to the stigma of a lily and 

 proved effective in producing impregnation. 



What a wonderful illustration does this afford of the wisdom of 

 that Divine Providence which has instituted the various methods 

 for the continued procreation, improvement, and perpetuation of 

 the various forms of vegetable life, in the more than one hundred 

 thousand species of plants that now adorn the earth ! How mj'S- 

 terious, that an atom of dry pollen, after sleeping for da3's, as it 

 were, in the arms of death, should, when brought in contact with 

 a living germ, burst its cerements, springing into new life, and 

 rising, it may be, to a superior and more l)eautiful form of 

 existence ! 



In this connection, let me allude to the importance of protect- 

 ing flowers that are to be artificially crossed, from impregnation 

 by their own or other pollen. This is a common suggestion, but 

 it is not sufficiently regarded. The pollen grains are so small, 



