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THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



vation in, gardens, they are prone to change ; seedlings from them, the result of cross- 

 fertilisation, change still more ; and these divergencies from the originals are called 

 "varieties " of the species. 



Varieties. — The most numerous of all plant representatives and the most change- 

 ful in their nature. All flowers raised from seeds that differ from those flowers which 

 produced such seeds, either in woodland, field, or garden, are "varieties" and not 

 species. The change is effected mainly by pollen agency — fertilisation.* This is the 

 golden key that opens to us a new paradise of wondrous and illimitable beauty. (See 

 Mr. Burbidge's elucidations and examples, page 21 et seq.) 



Some plants occasionally produce varieties not only from seed but also by what is 

 called " sporting " ; that is to say, the plant, from some unknown cause, quite unex- 

 pectedly puts forth a branch which has flowers unlike all its other and ordinary flowers, 

 and, generally speaking, if buds or cuttings are taken from this branch, the plants 

 secured will fix or perpetuate the variation. These "sports" when "fixed," although 

 really only extensions of the original plant, are nevertheless accorded the same rank as 

 "varieties" from seed. Many beautiful chrysanthemums and some roses have origi- 

 nated from sports. 



Plants raised from seeds or sports are in most cases capable of being perpetuated and 

 increased in their integrity by cuttings, offsets or layers, also some by budding and 

 grafting. Plants produced by any of these means are extensions of the parents and 

 retain all their characteristics ; but plants raised from seeds are new births, and when 

 influenced by the pollen of other varieties, unfold flowers varying in colour, form, 

 and size, to an extent which no one can exactly foresee. 



But, though this is the case, the intelligent florist, who has a definite object in view, 

 can, by the wise selection of flowers for cross-fertilisation, produce others varying in 

 the direction he wishes ; and, having set up an ideal, he can compel, as it were, plants 

 to march towards it, and in the end, if he do not realise it with exactitude, may possibly 

 obtain results which even exceed his expectations. It is by judgment, skill, and per- 

 severance in cross-fertilisation and selection that the most beautiful of the florists' 

 flowers have been obtained, which will be referred to in subsequent pages. 



But, before dealing with them, another word may be said on divisional nomen- 

 clature. For purposes of exhibiting and in common parlance, the words "kinds" and 

 " sorts " are often employed in a way leading to confusion, which ought to be pre- 



* When the pollen is transferred from a flower of the same species, the process is called " cross-fertilisation, " 

 but when from a flower of a different species, it is called " hybridisation." 



