HYBRIDIZING. 



11 



the other ; repeat this once or twice, that you may 

 not be disappointed of seed, because it is only from 

 experience that you will be able to judge of the 

 effects of the pollen upon the stigma. Many culti- 

 vators are well acquainted with this process ; but as 

 there are also more who are not versed in hybridiz- 

 ing, I would wish to encourage them in the pursuit 

 by directing their attention to the benefits of it in 

 what is effected in some of the most attractive genera 

 of plants, for instance, camellias, rhododendrons, aza- 

 leas, geraniums, amaryllises or eppeastrums, gladio- 

 luses, &c, whose numerous varieties, now far sur- 

 passing their parents in beauty, have been obtained 

 by the unwearied exertions of the lovers of Flora. 

 Not any one should therefore despair of success in 

 this delightful pursuit. Let him commence in good 

 earnest, and time will amply repay his exertions. 

 Flowers, fruits, and vegetables, alike present the 

 most astonishing proofs of what can be effected 

 by this art, and opens a vast field for the in- 

 genuity of man. The different forms in which the 

 sexes of plants present themselves to our view, 

 are all contrived for one grand purpose, the pre- 

 servation of the seed organs. In some plants they 

 are inclosed in a long tube, and to effect a cross 

 upon such plants, it requires the tube to be cut 

 with a sharp penknife in order to remove the pol- 

 len from the mother plant, to which the pollen of 

 the male plant should be applied with a camel-hair 



