RAISING NEW VARIETIES OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 129 



just when he has the flowers, which means that the battle must 

 be fought in the damp and darkness of the English winter. 

 Abroad, in the districts chiefly famed for the raising of new 

 varieties, the work is carried on at a period when the atmosphere 

 is comparatively dry and sunny, and the ripening of the seed — 

 the chief difficulty in the English winter — is a matter of com- 

 parative ease. Still, there is one item, and a most important 

 one, in favour of the English operator, for, whereas abroad the 

 work of fertilisation is, as a rule, carried on at a season when 

 the insect world is actively assisting in the operation of crossing 

 the varieties, we, in winter, have no such interference, but can 

 carry on our work systematically, and exactly in accordance 

 with our plans. So, intercrossing in England in the winter 

 time is an exact science, and result follows cause so directly 

 that it becomes possible to aim at, and achieve, definite fore- 

 seen conclusions. Indeed, it is scarcely too much to say that we 

 could actually paint the florets of the coming flower. 



The first essential is a structure suitable for the work in 

 hand. The one used in connection with the experiments to 

 be described is 30 feet by 12 feet, but a smaller house, say 

 12 feet by 8 feet, would suffice for limited operations. Every- 

 thing must be done to exclude damp. Let the floor be cemented 

 throughout on an incline, with channels conducting all water 

 quickly away. Ventilators should be so contrived that the air on 

 entering the house can be made to pass over the hot-water 

 pipes, and every means should be employed to maintain a dry 

 and moving atmosphere. Thin tiffany nailed to the rafters 

 inside the roof is very useful as a protection against the deposit 

 of atmospheric moisture at night. 



In selecting plants to operate on, forced and overgrown speci- 

 mens resulting from exhibition culture should not be taken, as 

 the highly stimulating system of cultivation, which is employed 

 in order to produce first-class exhibition blooms, not only tends 

 to prematurely exhaust the plant, but also to the destruction of 

 the organs of fertilisation. Plants which have been grown under 

 ordinary treatment are to be preferred. Medium- sized blooms, 

 having what is called an " open eye," are the easiest to operate 

 on, and towards the end of the flowering season blooms of this 

 character are generally produced even by those varieties which 

 are most double in character. 



