74 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Salter, in liis day one of the prominent raisers of chrysan- 

 themnms, has stated that he seldom saved as worthy of cultivation 

 more than one out of two thousand seedlings. In the spring of 

 1885 I p hinted about forty hand fertilized seeds, and from their 

 product 1 have saved, as being worthy of cultivation, six and pos- 

 sibly eight varieties. 



This last spring I planted a seed, the only one formed in the 

 flower from which it was picked, and from this seed I obtained 

 one of the most distinct and beautiful varieties we possess. 

 Strange as it may seem, tljls flower had none of the characteristics 

 of the pistillate parent ; but all of those of the staminate, except 

 color. 



As there has been considerable misunderstanding about the 

 operation of hand fertilization, I will give a short explanation. 

 Botanically, the chrysanthemum belongs to the Compositae, an 

 order of plants whose flowers are crowded together in a close 

 head ; this head is what is commonly called the flower, but if we 

 examine it closely we shall find it composed of a multitude of 

 ver^- small, mostly perfect, flowers, often of two forms ; those on 

 the border having long flat petals, and those in the centre being 

 tubular. 



In its normal form the chrysanthemum resembles our common 

 white-weed ; but from long cultivation it has become double ; or in 

 other words the tubular florets have been converted into florets' 

 having the same long flat petals as those in the border. Usually 

 by looking in among the petals a few of the tubular florets will be 

 found still remaining, and these are the ones which bear the seed. 

 In all the seed I ever saved I have never found one adliering to a 

 floret with a ligulate corolla but always to a tubular one. 



Ordinarily each one of these will be found to have a perfect 

 pistil and stamens ; and when the floret first oi)ens the pollen will 

 be found adhering to the outside of the closed stigmas. By tak- 

 ing this pollen on a small soft brush and carrying it to a floret on 

 a plant of another variety, on which the stigma has had time to 

 open, and brushing the pollen upon this open stigma, cross or 

 hand fertilization is etfected. 



By simi)ly placing one i)lant Ity the side of another, cross-fertil- 

 ization is sometimes accomplished through the agency of the wind 

 or insects. But in a very double flower the fertile florets are few 

 in numl)er and nearly inaccessible to insects unless the petals are 



