GLENNY ON THE SWEET/WILLIAM. 
419 
tioned; but even the best of them were small. 
The grower says they were only the lateral 
flowers, and therefore that the plants had 
much larger on«s on the principal shoots. 
This, however, like all other stories of small 
things, cannot be depended on. All we can 
ever believe of florists is, that which we see 
with our own eyes, and not always that, for 
flowers are capable of being altered in ap- 
pearance, and frequently are so, although in 
the two particulars we mention, the smooth- 
ness of edge and the colour of the bloom, 
there can have been nothing artificial. All 
we regret is, that the saver of the seed had 
not discernment enough to pull up and throw 
away every one with a serrated edge. How- 
ever such as they were, the information we 
had was on a label exhibited with the flowers, 
that the seed might be had at one shilling per 
packet, and that plants, if preferred, might be 
purchased for planting out, at five shillings 
per hundred. Beginning, then, with say one 
pound's worth of these plants, and getting 
tlietn put out in good strong soil well dressed, 
a foot apart every way, there may be some 
chance often or a dozen with smooth edges; 
but as any others showed their flowers to be 
notched or 1'ringed, they should be pulled up 
and thrown away. If the procuring of these 
plants is left till the autumn, we are informed 
the price will be doubled, so that it would be 
as well to procure them directly. Get a place 
dug and dressed with some well-rotted dung, 
neatly levelled, and the plants disposed at 
distances of one foot from row to row, 
and six inches in the row. They must be 
watered in, to settle the earth about their 
roots, and if the weather prove fine and warm 
they may require frequent watering for three 
or four weeks. They must be regularly 
weeded and kept clean, and when hoed, a 
little of the earth should be drawn up to the 
stems. In this place they may remain till 
they begin to flower, when they must be ex- 
amined daily, and the instant any one opens 
with no improvement in it, throw it away, or 
cut off the flower stems, that it may not make 
the next year's seed the worse. Those which 
prove to be smooth-edged, or which exhibit 
any marked improvement, should remain in 
the bed to seed from, and all the young in- 
crease in the plant, that is to say, all the shoots 
that have not flower steins, should be cut 
off and struck like pinks, or if long enough, 
layered like carnations and picotees ; because 
it is of the utmost importance, to seed from 
those which have, improved, and by propaga- 
ting these, to keep a large proportion of them 
among the seedlings, that any that have suffi- 
cient novelty to offer a temptation to seed 
from them, may he impregnated with those 
which are evidently advancing towards the 
standard. It may be that the remarkable size, 
or colour, or habit of one, in other respects 
not good, may render it worth seeding from, 
and in this case the more it were surrounded 
by the smooth-edged ones the better. 
Before any of these new varieties will be 
worth naming they must attain the two quali- 
ties of size and smoothness of edge ; all that 
we have seen yet have been rather diminutive 
than otherwise ; as small indeed as the ordi- 
nary flowers would be with the fringe cut 
off. It will, however, be worth while to cut 
out two-thirds of the pips from those principal 
heads that we mean to seed from. Every thing 
that tends to increase the size of the flowers 
should be resorted to : the planting in rich 
ground and in an open space ; reducing the 
heads of the plant to one, by cutting off all 
the rising stems as soon as they spring up; and 
the reducing of the pips or buds on the single 
head to about as many as will touch one 
another, and no more. These are means used 
with the other members of the Dianthus family, 
such as pinks, carnations, and picotees, and 
with the best possible effect. Another means 
of advancing their size, is to pick out from the 
entire collection a few of the largest, almost 
without reference to other properties, except 
desirable colours, if they can be found, because 
it is certain that but little can be done with 
them as show flowers unless the size can be 
considerably increased. "VVe should plant out 
some of the best of the smooth-edged kinds 
by themselves to be treated for seed; and when 
the main body of seedlings bloomed, cut off the 
heads of such as had remarkable colours, or 
were very large, or exhibited any rare quality, 
as soon as they were fully in flower, and taking 
the head in the hand to where the smooth- 
edged ones were, turn it face downwards on 
the flowers of a smooth-edged one, tap gently 
three or four times, or more, so as to shake 
out the dust or pollen from the cut one on the 
flowers of the other, tying has round the head 
so impregnated to mark it, that it might not 
be done twice over: of course the more plenti- 
fully the dust is supplied, the more certain 
will be the results. By carefully looking over 
all the stock, sufficient heads may be cut to 
impregnate all the smooth-edged ones, and 
thus prepare seed from which there will be 
every chance of procuring desirable varieties. 
These great improvements, however, are not 
produced in the early attempts ; all we can 
hope for is novelty anil a trilling advance each 
season. At the same time, however, that we 
impregnate the smooth-edged kinds with others 
that are remarkable for size or colour, we 
should cut some of the heads of the smooth- 
edged varieties grown for the purpose, and 
with them impregnate some of the heads of 
Others which arc promising, though not, per- 
U K 2 
