320 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



lers have observed examples of the Rhodorese 

 on the high mountains of the Hawaian group of 

 isles in the Pacific, and in Manilla, Malacca, 

 and other islands of the Indian Ocean, as well as 

 in North-west America, yet unknown to gar- 

 dens. Thirteen species of this family have 

 been observed on one hill in Borneo alone, and 

 at least half that number in Java. Dr Hooker 

 has reclaimed about thirty species from the 

 Sikkim ranges of the Himalaya, and of such 

 varied growth and aspect, that our thymes may 

 represent the one group, and our oaks the other — - 

 one tiny thing (R. nivale) creeping on the ground 

 at 18,000 feet above the sea, and another (R. bar- 

 batum) attaining a stature of 60 feet. 



" All these discoveries have done much to fill 

 up many gaps in this widely-distributed family, 

 and the discoveries of future travellers may fill 

 up many more. 



" But how many tribes, genera, and their spe- 

 cies, are for ever lost ! Man inhabits but the 

 disjecta membra of a former world. With 

 continents, now beneath the ocean, are buried — ■ 

 perhaps for ever lost — genera which, if restored, 

 might supply all those gaps which leave exist- 

 ing races so wide apart. But nature has left 

 materials to work upon, and the art and inge- 

 nuity of man may do much to fill up the blanks. 



"A very eminent nurseryman — the late Mr 

 Cunningham of Comely Bank — so far filled up 

 one link of this order, by hybridising the Phyl- 

 lodoce (Menziesia) cceridea with the Rhodotham- 

 nus chamcecistus, and producing therefrom the 

 beautiful (so-called) Brianthus erectus. But the 

 parents were too far remote, and the progeny — 

 a proper mule — is consequently barren. It is 

 somewhat singular, that while the M. ccerulea 

 will cross with the Rhodothamnus chamcecistus, 

 the latter will not be crossed with it. It was the 

 Menziesia that bore the seed from which the so- 

 called Brianthus was raised. I speak from my 

 own experience in this matter, having, before 

 Mr Cunningham's experiment was known, at- 

 tempted unsuccessfully to cross the Rhodotham- 

 nus with the M . Ccerulea, though I have since 

 succeeded in ripening seeds and raising plants 

 from the cross inverted. These I sowed on 18th 

 June 1850, and on 10th September four young 

 plants had come through. 



" To those who would attempt the hybridising 

 or cross-breeding of plants,. I will now offer some 

 suggestions for their guidance. 



" It is an essential element to success that 

 the operator be possessed of indomitable pa- 

 tience, watchfulness, and perseverance. Having 

 determined on the subjects on which he is to 

 operate, if the plants are in the open ground, he 

 will have them put into pots, and removed under 

 glass, so as toescapethe accidents of variable tem- 

 perature — of wind, rain, and dust, and, above 

 all, of insects. A greenhouse fully exposed to 

 the sun is best adapted for the purpose, at least 

 as regards hardy and proper greenhouse plants. 



" Having got them housed, secure a corner 

 where they are least likely to be visited by bees 

 or other insects. The plants which are to yield 

 the pollen, and the plants which are to bear the 

 seed, should be both kept in the same tempe- 

 rature ; but where this cannot be managed, 



pollen from an outside plant, in genial summer 

 weather, may be used, provided it can be got ; 

 for there is a class of insects which live exclu- 

 sively on pollen, and devour it so fast after the 

 pollen vessels open, that, unless the plant is 

 under a hand-glass (which I would recommend), 

 it is scarcely possible to get any pollen for the 

 required purpose. To secure against chances of 

 this nature, a sprig with opening bloom may be 

 taken and kept in a phial and water inside, where 

 it will get sufficient sun to ripen the pollen. 

 But here, too, insects must be watched, and de- 

 stroyed if they intrude. An insect like, but 

 smaller, than the common hive bee, which flits 

 about by fits and starts, on expanded wings, 

 after the manner of the dragon-fly, is the greatest 

 pest, and seems to feed exclusively on pollen. 

 The hive bee, the humble bee, and wasp give 

 the next greatest annoyance. AH these may be 

 excluded by netting fixed over apertures from 

 open sashes or the like. Too much care cannot 

 be bestowed on excluding these intruders, whose 

 single touch, in many cases, might neutralise the 

 intended result ; for the slightest application of 

 pollen native to the parent plant is said by phy- 

 siologists to supersede all foreign agency, unless, 

 perhaps, in the crossing of mere varieties ; and 

 the truth of this observation consists with my 

 own experience. Without due precaution now, 

 the labour, anxiety, and watchfulness of years 

 may issue in vexation and disappointment. 



" As a further precaution still, and to prevent 

 self-fertilisation, divest the blooms to be operated 

 on not only of their anthers, but also of their 

 corollas. Remove also all contiguous blooms 

 upon the plant, lest the syringe incautiously 

 directed, or some sudden draft of air, convey the 

 native pollen, and anticipate the intended ope- 

 ration. The corolla appears to be the means by 

 which insects are attracted ; and though, when 

 it is removed, the honey on which they feed is 

 still present, they seem puzzled or indifferent 

 about collecting it ; or if, haply, they should 

 alight on the dismantled flower (which I never 

 have detected), the stigma is in most cases saf£ 

 from their contact. 



" It will be some days — probably a week or 

 more, if the weather be not sunny — ere the stigma 

 is in a fit condition for fertilisation. This is indi- 

 cated in many families, such as ericacece, rosacea, 

 scrophularinew, aurantiacece, &c, by a viscous exu- 

 dation in the sutures (where these exist) of 

 the stigma, but generally covering the entire 

 surface of that organ. In this condition the 

 stigma may remain many days, during which 

 fertilisation may be performed ; and this period 

 will be longer or shorter as the weather is sunny, 

 or damp or overcast. 



" In certain families, such as the Mahacece, Ge- 

 raniacece, &c, where the stigma divides itself into 

 feathery parts, and where the viscous process is 

 either absent or inappreciable by the eye, the 

 separation of these parts, the bursting of the 

 pollen, the maturity of the stigma, and all which 

 a little experience will detect, indicate the proper 

 time for the operation, sunny or cloudy weather 

 always affecting the duration of the period dur- 

 ing which it may be successfully performed. 



" As to the proper time and season best adapted 



