420 
GLENNY ON THE SWEETWILLIAXI. 
hnpa, smooth-edged ; these ought to be marked 
by tying a piece of bas matting round such 
heads as are so impregnated. But there is a 
class of double-flowers of the Sweetwilliam, 
and these are susceptible of improvement in 
the same degree as the single ; that is, -by- 
increasing the size, getting rid of the fringed 
edges and the speckled surfaee, and obtaining 
bright colours. And as the double ones can 
be propagated in the same way, and yield seed 
in the same abundance, there is the same 
opportunity and encouragement. There is one 
character in the marking of the Sweetwilliam 
that renders it inviting as a show flower. It 
comes in various circles of colour, and an 
individual pip is often as strongly marked as 
an auricula. In the double ones it sometimes 
shows an eye like the pink ; but regard should 
be had to the novelty of colour, and mixture 
or contrast of colour, at the same time that 
we recognise improvement of edge and the 
thickening of the petal. The same proceed- 
ing as regards seeding from the best, and 
crossing with the best, as has been recom- 
mended for single ones, should be observed 
with the double ones ; and no pains should be 
spared to propagate such as give any evidence 
of an advance. The seed being saved from 
the best, and being carefully gathered before 
it begins to shed about, the sowing may be 
deferred til! the spring. About the latter end 
of April or the beginning of May, the seed 
may be sown thinly in a bed of tolerably rich 
mould, and be raked in evenly, and there left 
to come up ; but if a very dry period occurred 
after sowing, it would be necessary to give 
water, because, although plenty may come up, 
many of the seeds would perish, and those 
which were destroyed would be just as likely 
to be good as those which come up, and perhaps 
more so, because the higher the breed of any 
thing the more delicate it becomes. When 
the seeds are up they must be kept clear of 
weeds, and be watered in very dry weather, 
but only in very dry weather. As soon as they 
have attained sufficient size to be planted, set 
them out as directed for small plants, raising 
the roots without breaking them, and watering 
them after planting to settle the earth about 
them : here they remain till they bloom, and 
you reject the bad as fast as they open their 
flowers, which will be in the months of June 
and July in the following year. 
PROPERTIES OP THE SWEETWILUAir. 
"With regard to the properties of a Sweet- 
william, the head of bloom should be large ; 
the individual flowers should be round, smooth 
on the edge, flat on the surface, thick in the 
petal, and the edges should touch each other 
without lapping over ; the colour should be 
pure, free from speckles — if marked, the circles 
should be well defined ; the divisions in the 
petals should not show, and the footstalks of 
the individual flowers should be loug enough 
to throw them up above the green of the plant 
itself; there should not be less than nineteen 
pips or flowers in the truss, and disposed as 
under. 
The Sweetwilliam is very apt to throw up a 
stem from every shoot, so that there is a diffi- 
culty occasionally in procuring shoots to strike; 
however, the richer the ground in which they 
are grown, and the more open and airy the 
situation, the more likely are the plants to 
make bottom growth ; and -if it be necessary, 
the entire bloom must be sacrificed of some 
plants, to encourage the increase of grass or 
shoots at the base. The layering of the 
Sweetwilliam is often difficult, from the short- 
ness of the shoots^ but if they are merely 
stripped off at the bottom, they will strike in 
the shade under a glass. The rooting may be 
done on the old plant, by merely pegging down 
the shoots, and earthing them so as to cover 
the stalks; and again, by earthing up tbe plants 
in the rows, so as to reach half up the stems of 
the shoots, you will frequently cause every side 
snoot to be well rooted, and they will only 
require to be detached from the old plants, 
and put out the same distances as seedlings. 
We have been questioned by some whether 
the attempt to convert this tribe into show 
flowers ought not to be by crossing with the 
pink, and so raising a family of mules. We 
deny altogether the propriety of giving up the 
Sweetwilliam as a show flower in behalf of the 
mule pink. The Sweetwilliam is of a very 
distinct and showy character; the noble trusses 
are a feature which cannot be spared ; while 
nothing could be done with a mule, but to 
look at the single pip, for it is not in the 
nature of a pink to throw a truss of flower. 
