522 
CROSS BREEDING. 
forms one of the great chai'ms of the florist's 
occupation. Many flowers sport of them- 
selves ; a pinch of seed from a yellow flower, 
or a red flower, bringing others of half-a- 
dozen different shades, and of various proper- 
ties. Whether this is the result of cross 
impregnation by the bees and flies that carry 
the powder on their limbs from flower to 
flower, is a problem ; but it is quite certain 
that if the seed-vessel of one flower be fei*- 
tilized by the powder from a diff'erent flower, 
there will be a modification of form and 
colour, and of a number produced from such 
crossing some will be like each parent, and 
some between the two. By this means the 
good properties which are separate in two 
flowers will sometimes be combined in one, 
and the raisers of seedlings should endeavour 
to anticipate the uncertain and often unsatis- 
factory work of bees and flies by performing 
the necessary ofiice themselves. The cases 
in which such impregnation is desirable 
are : — 
First, when a flower has one or more good 
properties, but in some i-espects is faulty. 
Second, when a plant that is hardy is 
greatly inferior in othei: respects to plants 
that are tender. 
In the first case, we will suppose that we 
have a finely coloured hollyhock with petals 
flimsy and bad, and that we have a very thick 
petalled hollyhock whose colour is nothing 
new nor very good ; cross impregnation here 
may produce, among a hundred other varie- 
ties, some one or more with the good colour 
and the thick petals, — the very thing we want. 
In the second case we will look to Rhodo- 
dendron ponticum, or maximum, or cataw- 
biense, all of which are perfectly hardy, but 
none of which have the magnificent crimson 
of the more tender varieties ; by crossing the 
hardy ones with the pollen of the tender ones, 
we may obtain the superb crimson on the 
hardy plant, — the thing of all others to be 
wished. In this way have we possessed our- 
selves of the beautiful variety called Alta-Cle- 
rense, and many others very rich and very 
beautiful. 
Mr. Smith, of Norbiton, succeeded in a 
remarkable manner in producing a cross be- 
tween the splendid Azalea sinensis, bright 
yellow, and the common Rhododendron, 
and the result was Yellow Rhododendrons, 
of which there are now many different 
shades, from sulphur to deep crocus yellow, 
and some of various shades of bronze : this 
may be called the triumph of cross breeding. 
In this way many very superb varieties of' 
Azalea, Amaryllis and other plants have been 
produced, and new families almost created. 
The theory of cross breeding is this : the prin- 
cipal organ attached to the seed-vessel, called 
the pistil, becomes glutinous when ready to 
receive the powder, and unless we are pretty 
quick, the anthers of the flower burst at the 
same time, and enough of the powder will 
attach itself to impregnate all the seed; there- 
fore we ought, as soon as the flower opens, to 
pull or cut away all the anthers ; this at once 
prevents self-impregnation, and we have only to 
watch for the time when the pistil is ready to 
receive the powder, and then take some from 
the flower whose habit we wish to impart to 
the one we operate on. In various flowers 
the mode of operation differs according to cir- 
cumstances ; in some it is exceedingly diffi- 
cult to get at the organs of germination. The 
pansy can only be fertilized by taking the 
powder of one flower on a camel's hair 
pencil and rubbing it into the centre of ano- 
ther flower. The dahlia has the principles of 
fertilization in every petal, and sports so much 
without any trouble, that we never attempt it 
by hand. The rose requires to be opened by 
gentle violence before it opens of itself; and 
many flowers require considerable delicacy in 
the operation, to prevent failui-e on one side 
and injury on the other. Many fruits are 
said to have been produced by actual cross 
breeding, but Ave very much doubt if we could 
do better by hand than nature would do for 
herself. Some splendid cucumbers have been 
raised from seed, and not a few melons ; cer- 
tain it is, that we have some magnificent va- 
rieties of both now, come whence and how 
they may. The Cacti and Epiphyllums have 
been variously crossed to produce novelties, 
but every one has been inferior to the noble 
speciosissimus, and although some are varied, 
they ai'e certainly not improved. It is said, that 
the splendid varieties of brocoli which equal 
the cauliflower in whiteness, and beat it alto- 
gether in the capacity to stand the winter frosts, 
were the result of cross impregnating the bro- 
coli with the cauliflower. It is quite impossible 
to say what lengths we shall stop at in cross- 
breeding vegetables. The pea, the bean, the 
hardy winter greens, all invite us to the trial. 
Some beans are the result of cross breeding ; 
among these Marshall's Prolific is conspicuous; 
but many persons who have raised seedling 
flowers, fruit, and vegetables, have no claim 
to having hybridized them. They have been 
found among ordinary products from seed ; 
a single plant has exhibited some remarkable 
feature that has attracted notice, the seed has 
been treasured as a novelty, and in the course 
of a season or two a stock has been got toge- 
ther. The French people profess to do a 
good deal in this way with roses ; but, for the 
most part, the best way to produce novelties 
is to place together all the varieties that are 
good for anything, and save all the seed with- 
out seeing how they became crossed, for there 
