SEED -GROWING. 



291 



and I am now working up its counterpart in a pure white by the 

 same process. In some classes of plants there seems to be 

 scarcely any limit to the development that may take place, and 

 sometimes in quite opposite and unexpected directions too. 



It is a remarkable fact that throughout both vegetable and 

 floral life the more highly developed a plant or flower becomes, 

 the power to produce seed generally becomes less and less, and as 

 a rule the seeds that are produced are not of such high ger - 

 minating power as those of their inferior brethren. Plants thus 

 seem to lend themselves to improvement for our benefit, but not 

 for their own good. Take the pansy as an illustration. The 

 poorer varieties are literally covered with seed pods, while 

 many of the high -class florists' flowers hardly ever produce a 

 fertile seed at all, and hence the present high value of genuine 

 fancy pansy seed. In African marigolds and asters of the best 

 types the seed is scarce, and relatively speaking weak, owing, no 

 doubt, to the size of the flowers and the consequent crowded con- 

 dition of the petals. The very finest cockscombs produce very 

 little seed, while those of inferior form are very prolific. 

 Brussels sprouts are good examples in the vegetable department. 

 Where the sprouts are firm and good very few side shoots are 

 formed to produce seed, while the opposite is the case with an 

 inferior variety. Cabbages of high quality and great solidity are 

 poor seeders, for the same reason. It will thus be observed that 

 in choice seed-growing the cost of production is in inverse ratio 

 to the quantity of seed obtained. 



Before concluding I ought, perhaps, just to notice the belief 

 that some people have that seed taken from a particular part of 

 a plant or seed pod will give better results than that taken from 

 another ; for example, they argue that Brussels sprouts seed 

 should be gathered from the shoots originating in the sprouts 

 themselves, and not from the centre stem, and that parsley, to be 

 good, should be taken from the centre stem only. I have been 

 told that to get marigolds quite double the seeds should be saved 

 from the three outermost rows of the seed vessel. I need hardly 

 say that these ideas have been proved to be perfectly unfounded, 

 and that seeds saved from any part of the same plant will give 

 equal results. M. Vilmorin, of Paris, is very emphatic on this 

 point, and no one doubts that gentleman's authority to speak on 

 such a subject. 



