66 The Amateur's Book of the Dahlia 



seed parent controls the colour in more or less 

 greater degree. Seedlings from a pale flower 

 bear a majority of pale flowers and vice versa. 

 I have spoiled many an experiment by placing 

 pollen from a peony of fine colour upon a su- 

 perbly formed cactus, hoping to keep the form 

 and change the colour; but when I have turned 

 about and placed the cactus pollen upon the 

 peony, the percentage of good colour has been 

 much higher, with better form and size. This 

 rule is not borne out in other classes of flowers, 

 and in dahlias has been far from infallible; but 

 the large majority of my seed pods during the last 

 fifteen years havebehaved themselves that way. 



The first generation plants from a fine seed par- 

 ent seldom bear flowers equal in form and colour 

 to either parent. Selecting the finest from the 

 first generation and pollinating the flowers of 

 that from some other very fine variety will often 

 bring one or two seedlings surpassing either 

 parent. If the second generation should fail, 

 the third, through careful selection and wise 

 pollinating, rarely does. At least there should be 

 one fine plant. 



These flowers, however, may so closely re- 

 semble a variety already on the market that after 

 all the plant is worthless, and we must begin all 

 over again. 



