HYBRIDIZING. 
this requires some nicety. First, the seed-bear- 
ing plant must be watched, and as soon as the 
flowers open, the stamens, which hold the 
powder called pollen, must be taken out by 
small tweezers before they burst, indeed, as 
soon as they can be got hold off : this secures 
the pistil from being impregnated by the 
flower itself. The next is to observe from 
hour to hour, or from day to day, and as soon 
as the top of the pistil is glutinous, it is ready 
for the operation, and at that time the pollen 
must be applied: consequently provision must 
be made for it, by forcing or retarding 
the other plant, so that the pollen shall be 
ready at the time. One thing is certain, if the 
pollen be not ready, there is no hope; but if it 
be ready beforehand, it is possible to keep it. 
We have carried it a hundred miles, and kept 
it some days, yet it has answered; but how 
long it could be kept has not been yet proved. 
It has been said that it could be carried a long 
voyage, and even then be efficacious. In the 
case of a Rhododendron Maximum, while 
being impregnated with a R. Arboreum, the 
latter was in bloom three weeks before the 
former; yet every stage of the process proved, 
as well as the result did, that the operation 
had perfectly succeeded. The plan we adopted 
was, to cut out the point or end of the pistil 
directly the flower opened, and as the pollen- 
vessels burst we gathered the single flowers 
from the bunch, and placed the stalk in water 
in one of the holes of a pansy-stand, cover- 
ing it with a wine-glass, which completely 
excluded the air as we flooded the surface, that 
the edge might stand in water. This we did 
with each bloom as soon as the pollen appeared, 
so that, before one plant was ready to receive 
impregnation, we had all the flowers of the 
Arborea off the bunch some days. The 
flowers had almost perished, the farina had 
fallen to the bottoms of the cups, and we took 
it out with a camel's-hair pencil, and applied 
it to the pistils of the hardy plant, which had 
been accelerated all we could by protecting 
with glass. This merely proves that the 
pollen might be brought from great distances 
if done with care, and some persons speculate 
on its keeping as well as seed. This may be 
tried : our business is to tell what we know, 
and not to speculate on what may be done; 
but as opportunities of procuring flowers offer 
frequently, they need not be lost; and our 
opinion is, that flowers, picked in the usual way, 
and shut in a book, might be preserved some 
days in sufficient order to perform the operation. 
"We have once in our lives seen rather a curi- 
ous affair, in which a florist, something behind 
his neighbours in a flower which shall be name- 
less, sent to one who had made considerable 
advances for a few flowers to inspect, and 
with these actually impregnated some of the 
best of his own, and made a rapid start in a 
season, much more so than he had made in 
half-a-dozen years previously. From this it 
may be gleaned, that when people send out 
choice flowers for inspection, they will have to 
deprive them of their pollen, or they stand a 
chance of making rivals almost before they 
are ready to send out their own plants. Tlie 
mode of performing the operation having been 
described in part, we have merely to add, that 
some flowers are much more difficult to 
hybridize than others, and that unless they 
are caught at the moment the pistil is glutin- 
ous they will be crossed by some other flower, 
or by themselves. The instances of hybridi- 
zation in various flowers will be recognised 
in many families, but in none more than the 
family we have mentioned; for in that the 
operation has been successfully performed by 
the bright yellow Azalia Sinensis, which is 
deciduous, upon the Rhododendron, which is 
evergreen; and here there is something worth 
trying for. The term has generally been ap- 
plied to the crossing of species; but the cross- 
breeding of flowers for the improvement of 
their properties is carried on to a great extent, 
as is evident from the Pansy, the Rose, the 
Mimilus, Phlox, Verbena, Pink, Carnation, 
Tulip, Auricula, Fuchsia, and many other sub- 
jects; and those who will perform it, instead of 
leaving it to dame Nature, may, generally 
speaking, calculate upon a result with more 
certainty. The first object with a plant is to 
save seed from the best habit. With a flower, 
we should select the best form and texture; 
and it is only when two flowers are dis- 
tinguished for equal, though different, good 
qualities, that we can recommend both to be 
crossed; for here the chances are that both will 
yield improvements; but where the form of a 
flower, or the habit of a plant, is bad, and the 
mere colour or size is the object to obtain seed, 
only the plant of good habit, or the flower 
of good form and texture. In hybridizing 
or breeding the Pansy, seed from a round, 
thick, smooth flower. In Tulips, seed from a 
pure yellow, or pure white ground, with a thick, 
smooth, flat-ended petal, that forms the most 
even-edged cup, and the rounder the better. In 
a Rose, take the thick, well-imbricated petal, 
that opens freely. In a Verbena, take the 
roundest flower, the freest from notch or ser- 
rature, and the most stiff petal. In Petunias, 
seek for the thick round flower with the flattest 
lip. In Auriculas, look for the flattest, round- 
est flower, with the smoothest paste, the 
smallest tube, and the evenest divided colours; 
'for the widths of the white colour and edge 
ought to be alike. In the Ranunculus, which has 
been produced all but, if not quite, perfect, the 
semi-double vai'ieties that are nearest to 
double, with bright, broad, thick, smooth petals, 
