1868 . ] 
GERMINATION OF GENTIANA ACAULIS. 
99 
salmon centre, was also good, and must still be considered one of the very best of pale 
Roses. Of other old hinds Francois Lacharme, carmine; Victor Verdier, rose; Anna 
Alexieff, rose; Leopold Hausburg, carmine and purple ; President, rosy salmon; and Comtesse 
de Brassard, a Tea Bose, with large well-formed cupped yellow flowers, were among the best 
Of cut Eoses, of wliich there were ten boxes, Triomphe de Guillot fils, 
a salmon-coloured Tea Eose, was large, pale in colour and finely formed. 
Of other Noisettes and Teas, Celine Forestier, Lamarque, Solfaterre, Cloth 
of Gold, Marechal Niel, Alba rosea, Souvenir d’Elise, Devoniensis, Enfant 
de Lyon, and Gloire de Dijon were shown in fine condition, the unex¬ 
panded buds of the latter as large as swans’ eggs. Among other cut Eoses, 
differing from those already noted as having been shown in pots, Mdlle. 
Tlierese Levet, pink; Princess of Wales, red shaded with bright purple; 
Madame Derrieux Donville, glossy rose ; Comtesse de Jaucourt, rosy flesh 
colour; and Baronne Haussman, carmine, were the most remarkable, 
Waltham Cross, London, N. William Paul,. 
GERMINATION OF GENTIANA ACAULIS. 
'T would be a curious inquiry how many hundreds—shall we say 
thousands ?—of packets of seed of this popular perennial are annually 
sown without yielding a single plant in return. Certain it is that 
failure is the rule, and success the exception; and yet no plant may 
be more readily raised if the requisite conditions are complied with. 
Amateurs are in general too apt to assume that, because many perennials 
are readily and easily raised from seeds, any failure to germinate can only 
arise from defective quality. There are, however, a considerable number 
of plants of this class, the seeds of which appear by keeping to become so 
indurated, that they will never germinate if sown in the ordinary way ; and 
of these the Gentiana acaulis is a notable example. It is true the difficulty 
in question may to a great extent be obviated by sowing the seeds as soon 
as ripe, or very soon after maturity, but in the case of seeds which have 
been kept through the winter for vending in spring, and which constitute 
by far the larger part of the bulk sold, some other procedure is indispensable. 
The remedy I have to suggest is the very old and simple one, of a pre¬ 
liminary steeping in cold or tepid water. In the case of the Gentiana 
acaulis this steeping may be prolonged to two or even three days without 
injury to the seed. The water should then be drained off as much as 
possible, and a pinch of dry silver sand mixed with the seed to absorb 
excess of moisture, the sowing being then completed in the ordinary w r ay. 
During the summer months the seed pan will need the usual routine at¬ 
tention of watering, weeding, and shading ; but the amateur must not 
expect seedlings before the end of the following winter, about which time 
there will be a general upheaving of the soil, indicating the resurrection of 
the seeds. It will often happen that during the autumn and winter the 
