

Chap. XXIII. CONDITIONS OF LIFE. 2G3 



" Woolwich and Birmingham ? Yet in no two of these districts do 

 " the same varieties attain an equal degree of excellence, although 

 " each may he receiving the attention of the most skilful cultivators." 

 The same writer then recommends every cultivator to keep five 

 different kinds of soil and manure, " and to endeavour to suit the 

 " respective appetites of the plants you are dealing with, for without 

 " such attention all hope of general success will be vain." So it is 

 with the Dahlia 3 : the Lady Cooper rarely succeeds near London, but 

 does admirably in other districts; the reverse holds good with other 

 varieties; and again, there are others which succeed equally well 

 in various situations. A skilful gardener 4 states that he procured 

 cuttings of an old and well-known variety (pulchella) of Verbena, 

 which from having been propagated in a different situation presented 

 a slightly different shade of colour ; the two varieties were after- 

 wards multiplied by cuttings, being carefully kept distinct ; but in 

 the second year they could hardly be distinguished, and in the third 

 year no one could distinguish them. 



The nature of the season has an especial influence on certain 

 varieties of the Dahlia: in 1841 two varieties were pre-eminently 

 good, and the next year these same two were pre-eminently bad. 

 A famous amateur 5 asserts that in 1861 many varieties of the Eose 

 came so untrue in character, " that it was hardly possible to recog- 

 " nise them, and the thought was not seldom entertained that the 

 " grower had lost his tally." The same amateur 6 states that in 1862 

 two-thirds of his Auriculas produced central trusses of flowers, and 

 such trusses are liable not to keep true ; and he adds that in some 

 seasons certain varieties of this plant all prove good, and the next 

 season all prove bad; whilst exactly the reverse happens with other 

 varieties. In 1845 the editor of the ' Gardener's Chronicle ' ' remarked 

 how singular it was that this year many Calceolarias tended to 

 assume a tubular form. "With Heartsease s the blotched sorts do not 

 acquire their proper character until hot weather sets in ; whilst, other 

 varieties lose their beautiful marks as soon as this occurs. 



Analogous facts have been observed with leaves: Mr. Beaton 

 asserts 9 that he raised at Shrubland, during six years, twenty thousand 

 seedlings from the Punch Pelargonium, and not one had variegated 

 leaves ; but at Surbiton, in Surrey, one-third, or even a greater pro- 

 portion, of the seedlings from this same variety were more or less 

 variegated. The soil of another district in Surrey has a strong ten- 

 dency to cause variegation, as appears from information given me 

 by Sir F. Pollock. Verlot 10 states that the variegated strawberry 



3 Mr. Wildman, ' Florieultural 6 Ibid., 1862, p. 83. 



Soc.,' Feb. 7, 1843, reported in ' Gard. ' ' Gard. Chron.,' 1845, p. 660. 



Chron.,' 1843, p. 86. 8 Ibid., 1863, p. 628. 



4 Mr. Robson, in' Journal of Ilorti- 9 'Journal of Hort.,' 1861, pp. 64, 

 culture,' Feb. 13th, 1866. p. 122. 309. 



J 'Journal of Horticulture.' 1861, I0 ' Des Varietes,' &c, p. 76. 

 p. 24. 



