20 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
1870. Of that portion in which Lord I)crhy was used as pollen- 
parent and Leonidas as seed-parent, about one-third resembled in 
all respects their father ; a few produced flowers very considerably 
in advance of Lord Derby in size, in substance, and in colour of 
the flower, and with a superior constitution and habit of plant, 
showing the influence of the mother in combination with the 
father's. (I would instance Sir Charles Napier, which resulted 
from this cross, as an example.) Of the remaining two-thirds, a few 
very nearly resembled Leonidas in flower, except being paler in 
colour, and having a somewhat increased breadth of petal, resulting 
from the father's influence (for instance, lago) ; but a large propor- 
tion were inferior, showing reversion towards an ancestral type. 
Of that portion in which Leonidas was used as pollen and 
Lord Derby as seed parent, nearly half resembled in all respects 
Leonidas, and the rest were much inferior ; not one showed that 
any appreciable amount of influence had been exerted by the 
mother towards improvement. It will be observed that in this 
cross the pollen-parent possessed both the inferior flower and the 
most powerful constitution also. As regards the habit of these 
seedlings, they were all more robust than those of the mother. 
The same season I raised about sixty seedlings from a cross 
between Celestial and Lord Derby. Celestial, which was used as 
pollen-parent, possessed a brilliant magenta-coloured flower, but 
of very bad form and substance, with a weakly constitution. 
From this batch of seedlings a few produced flowers of a colour 
very similar to the father's (but somewhat less brilliant), and with 
a great improvement as regards the form, quality, size, and sub- 
stance of the flower, accompanied, too, with a fair habit and consti- 
tution of plant, showing a marked influence- on the part of the 
mother, which in this cross was decidedly the stronger of the two 
parents. lanthe resulted from this cross. The remainder of this 
batch were mostly of very bad form and quality of flower, and 
weakly constitution ; but there were some very brilliant and novel 
colours. Interesting examples of colour blending, amongst them 
were carmine, rose-crimson, pinks, and vivid scarlets — some in all 
respects resembled Celestial. 
My large seedling nosegay Wellington was the result of a cross 
between Le Grand (nosegay) and Leonidas, Le Grand being used as 
pollen-parent. Here the plants were about equally vigorous. 
Wellington resembles in the character of its flower its father, but 
with an increased breadth of petal derived from its mother ; the 
colour of the flower is nearly that of the father's also, but it is some- 
