THE CANNA AND CALLA 39 



copper), and place them in coarse gravel, taking 

 pains to pour water through the gravel at fre- 

 quent intervals. Under these circumstances, the 

 seed is less likely to decay through attacks of 

 fungous pests than if planted in the soil. In the 

 coarse, clean, sterilized gravel, a high percentage 

 of the seed will come up in a few months. The 

 porosity of the gravel, giving free access to air, 

 is also an element that is advantageous to the seed 

 of the canna. 



Seed treated in this way will germinate at a 

 relatively low temperature; but germination is 

 facilitated if the heat is kept between sixty and 

 seventy degrees. 



As soon as the seedlings appear, they are trans- 

 planted thinly into boxes where they are allowed 

 to stand until May, when they are planted in the 

 field and cultivated like other crops. 



A large proportion of the seedlings will prove 

 worthless. The weeding out of the first year is 

 done readily, but selection in the second year re- 

 quires skill, to judge as to which plants are wor- 

 thy of preservation. Beyond that, of course, the 

 usual process of selection through several years 

 will be carried out along the lines of the desired 

 modification at which the experimenter is aiming. 



The objects that the experimenter may advan- 

 tageously bear in mind in developing new cannas 



