286 Hybrid Flowers. 



HYBRID FLOWERS. 



It has been discovered, that if two plants are very near rel 

 tions, the pollen of one will act upon the stigma of the oth 

 just as well as if the pollen was produced by the anther f 

 the plant to which the stigma belongs ; but when the seeds 

 obtained are sown, the plants which they produce are n 

 exactly like either of those from the intermixture of which the 

 sprang, but bear a strong resemblance to both. For instance 

 if the pollen of a plant with blue flowers, be placed upon the 

 stigma of one with red flowers, the result will be a plant with 

 purple flowers ; or if a plant with a very vigorous growth is 

 thus intermixed with another of a very dwarf habit, the plants 

 which spring from seeds thus procured, will be neither very 

 dwarf nor very tall. Flowers produced in this way are called 

 hybrids. This intermixture will only take place between plants 

 closely related to each other. As a general rule, two different spe- 

 cies will not hybridize, but there seems, in many cases, to be no 

 limit to the power of intermixing different varieties of the same 

 species. Toproduce a hybrid, the anthers of the plant which is to 

 afford the seed, must be cut off* as soon as possible after the 

 flower expands, and before they have burst to discharge their 

 pollen. The anthers of the other plant must then be watched 

 and as soon as they burst, the pollen must be collected with the 

 point of a camel's hair pencil, and preserved in a paper till 

 wanted. As soon as the stigmas of the seed-plant are observed 

 to become moist, the pollen must be applied to them by means 

 of the pencil. A very little will be sufficient. The stigmas 

 usually become moist a few days after the flower has expanded; 

 and the pollen should be applied to them in the morning, as the 

 moisture often dries with the heat of the sun, and when the 

 stigma is dry, it cannot suck up the pollen. The pollen will 

 keep a long time ; in some cases two or three years. The 

 plant that is to bear the seed should be planted in good soil, and 

 frequently watered ; and a bit of thread should be tied round 

 the stalk, below the flower, to indicate which seed has been 

 hybridized. The seed should be sown in pots as soon as it is 



