38 A REMINDER TO PLANT TO HELP 



Pollination can readily be accomplished by the aid of a small 

 brush of camel's hair, with which the pollen can be transferred 

 from the anthers which are directly under the strap-like division 

 of the style to the stigma which is on the upper surface of 

 the style at the rolled-up tip of the same flower, or to the stigma 

 of a different flower if a cross is desired. In the latter case the 

 anthers of the flower to be fertilized should be removed as soon as 

 the flower opens. The pollen should be applied when the upper 

 edge of the stigma drops and exposes the upper surface. 



The seeds should be gathered as soon as ripe they are ripe 

 enough as soon as they turn brown, even if the pods are yet 

 green. Take them from the pod and dry them in the shade in 

 an airy place and then at once sow in any good garden soil, thinly 

 in drills, half an inch deep, firming the soil, as by patting with a 

 block or back of a spade or with the hand, and cover lightly with 

 straw or a screen of some kind to hold the moisture. The seed 

 is usually slow to germinate. Under some conditions it will come 

 up in three weeks, but it will be more likely to lie in the ground 

 until the next spring, and a few may not start for several years. 

 The seedlings should be cared for the same as seedlings in general, 

 and may be transplanted to permanent quarters when two or 

 three inches high, and should be protected in the winter with a 

 light cover, as recommended above under the head of "Subse- 

 quent Care, 7 ' to prevent them from being thrown out by the frost, 

 as they will not then be very strongly rooted. Some, if in rich 

 ground and abundantly watered and well cared for, will bloom 

 the second spring but most of them after the second spring. 



Plants obtained by division will of course bear flowers the 

 same as the parent plant, but there is likely to be a great varia- 

 tion in the colors of the seedlings. 



Persons whose only enjoyment of a flower is in inhaling its per- 

 fume or seeing the beauty of its form and color, should buy Iris 

 plants instead of raising them from seed, for they will get flowers 

 sooner and with less trouble. But the flower lover who has pa- 

 tience and finds pleasure in anticipation, in addition to setting 

 out plants may well sow a few seeds, for he will be quite sure to 

 get from the latter something new and it may be very fine, and 

 the chance and hope will give zest to his garden work. Then, 

 too, the plant will last his lifetime, and the consciousness of 

 having himself originated it will add to his satisfaction. 



