CHRYSANTHEMUM SEEDS AND SEEDING. 



163 



being very closely followed by Mr. John Thorpe, and the results 

 are every year becoming in ore and more important. Mr. John 

 Thorpe kindly informs me that, although single and half-double 

 Japanese kinds seed spontaneously in some cases, the 

 progeny is as a rule poor, and that the best of seed is only to 

 be gained by careful pollenisation. " Before attempting to cross 

 the flower-heads I always shear or clip off the florets nearly as 

 low as the protruding styles, and then apply pollen to the 

 stigmas. But few of these perfect seed, but the little obtainable 

 under these conditions generally yields some good varieties. For 

 seeding I generally grow the plants in six-inch pots, each plant 

 bearing only two or three flower-heads." 



Some varieties have been refined so much that when well 

 grown they are sterile and yield no pollen, and such kinds must 

 be starved back into fertility. Seeds from the best forms cross- 

 fertilised with each other may be small in quantity, but the 

 quality of the resultant seedlings is in inverse proportion, and 

 from 50 per cent, to 100 per cent, of really good seedlings 

 may be obtained. Mr. Wm. Falconer has also, at my request, 

 given me the following account of the seeding and the seedlings 

 of this flower in America : — 



Chrysanthemums set seeds very freely in this country, and we have 

 no trouble whatever in getting all the seed we want either with or 

 without artificial pollenation. Indeed, on benches where Chrysanthe- 

 mums have stood and ripened their crop of blooms we often have lots 

 of little seedlings come up from seeds self-dropped from the plants. I 

 grow a large number of Chrysanthemums out of doors altogether, and 

 in long open Novembers, when the flowers open early and mature 

 themselves, we, next spring, find lots of little seedlings come up around 

 the old plants ; but in cold, raw, wet Novembers seeds do not set 

 well and seldom ripen on our outdoor plants. 



Seed- saving is a little business of itself, and several florists find it 

 as profitable to raise seed as sell the flowers. They plant out their 

 plants in the open ground early in May, lift and pot them early in 

 September, and bring them into a light greenhouse. Feeding the 

 plants and thinning the flower-buds are well attended to. When the 

 flowers begin to open, the house is kept cool and airy, and the 

 atmosphere dry. This gains stocky plants, stiff stems, and perfect 

 flowers. As the flowers open wide the petals are clipped off short with 

 a shears. This gives a good chance to the generative organs to perfect 

 themselves, and admits of natural aid, as flies or wind, to disseminate 

 the pollen. But we don't wait for nature all the time ; every fine 



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