July 13. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
273 
night, that old Boreas himself could flap through it in 
a gale; they were under the glass roof which covers 
my back kitchen, the ridge being tweuty feet above the 
stew-pans; the seed pots were then placed high and 
quite close to the front glass of my conservatory, a state 
of things which seems to answer for Geranium seedlings 
remarkably well, and which points to a good south 
window of a living room as the very best place for this 
kind of work, when the eye is practised to notice the 
least turn in a seedling for the worse or for the better. 
In all my experience, I never had a more promising 
set of seedlings than I have this season. My stock is 
more for the purpose of proving the effect of mixing the 
best shades from healthy parents, than for any improve¬ 
ment on the distinct colours we already possess; but 
under this trial, I have a better pink flower already than 
any of the old ones; indeed, with the exception of the 
old pink Ivy leaf, we have not a single real pink 
Geranium after all; the pink Nosegay is too purplish; 
the flower of the plain and variegated Mangle's is too 
small, and the pink in thorn is not a rich colour; 
the Salmon, or Salmon Nosegay, as some call it, is too 
light by far, and Cherry Cheek, with all the shades of 
Cerise, from Lucia rosea up to Lady Middleton, are 
cither of a cherry colour or Geranium colour, as the 
ladies will have it; Judy is too red for a pink, and 
Compaction is neither pink or scarlet; to be sure, we 
have a pink Horse shoe, but what is it to boast of but 
a poor thin flower, with a shade of pink over a red 
ground, aud a light eye; so that a good, broad, soft leaf, 
and a real pink flower, are still in expectation only, and 
nothing worth the name of good shades of pink; but 
pink is a necessary colour in a good flower-garden, and 
good shades of pinks are just as much wanted by those 
who aspire to perfection in the higher style of planting 
first-rate assortments of distinct colours, and their 
shades, as in the “ Fountain Garden,” at Shrubland 
Park, the very best planted garden in all England, in 
that style. 
Knowing this want for many years, and having both 
leisure and materials at hand at present, I hope somo 
of my seedlings of this season will supply the deficiency, 
or, at any rate, a good way towards it, besides other 
fancy shades, which are not without their use to the 
higher planters. A purple Geranium, such as Unique, 
with the flower, truss, and habit of Tom Thumb; a clear 
yellow Geranium, ditto; aud a pure white one, the same, 
are still to be desired and looked for. Perhaps I shall 
be first with that stylo of white myself; my white seed¬ 
lings are still the best in the market. Last autumn 1 did 
think they had a better white-scarlet, so to speak, at 
Shrublaud Park, one called Henderspnii ; I got a cutting 
of it, which is now in bloom by the side of my own 
best white, but there is not a line of difference between 
them. There is another white one at Claremont, which 
Mr. Mellissou imported from France, which is not so 
prolific in bloom as our English seedlings. If there is 
anything better in these from last season’s work, we 
shall most likely see them, or hear about them, at the 
July shows. 
MANAGING SEEDLINGS. 
“ One-half the world do not know how the other half 
lives,” is an old and very true saying. Her Majesty’s 
household does not offer a greater contrast to Hurl’s 
cottage, to which the dust and ashes of Surbiton is 
carried every morning, than that of the man with four 
or five thousand seedling Geraniums in November does 
to the back-kitchen of your humble servant. Still, I 
once had my thousands, as well as the best of them; 
and had to make shifts and elbow-room for them all, 
under passing circumstances, and often under threats of 
being turned adrift with them for occupying room 
intended for better things, or things so-called; and now, 
though in a very humble way, my seedlings al-e not 
“ shiftless,” as aunt Vermont would say; aud knowing 
botli sides of the question—how to abound, and how td 
be hard pinched for room — this is how I sow and 
manage seedling Geraniums, and that is how I shall 
continue to do until I hear of a better plan. First of 
all, I would not sow a seed which was not properly 
crossed—that is, a Geranium seed—for love or money. I 
would not cross two very dissimilar flowers for all the 
world. The first half-dozen of flowers on a truss I 
would cut off before they were quite open; I would 
then stop the shoot down to where the flower-stem 
issued from. In a day or two after that, I would select j 
ten or a dozen of the flower-buds in different stages of 
development; and I would cut away all the rest of the 
buds in that truss with something sharp, as they thin 
out bunches of Grapes. The ten or twelve flower-buds 
left for crossing will open in succession for a week, and 
will give time to try three or four kinds of pollen to one 
truss; and if the thing is done carefully, there are just 
as many chances of getting a good cross from a single 
truss, as would be from one hundred trusses by the 
same pollen, and all the care consists of extracting the 
pollen bags just when the flower is on the point of open¬ 
ing. Open the petals with a long pin, or with the point 
of a small knife ; put the point down below the anthers, 
then draw it gently towards you, and the anthers will 
slip off without any hurt to the style, or female part. 
You must bruise these anthers between your fingers the 
moment they are extracted, else I would not give three 
farthings for your chance, as they will ripen after 
coming out, and the pollen dust will fly about, or be 
carried about by ants, or insects; and if the smallest 
grain of pollen, which could not be seen by the naked 
eye, should reach the five curled tops of the style, or 
any one of them. All the pollen in the kingdom will 
not have the slightest effect upon them after that. 
When the flower opens, the style is like a blunt pin in 
the centre; by-and-by the point begins to separate into 
five divisions, and when these are in the shape of a star 
is the proper time to apply the pollen to them, but it 
will do after the points curl round into hooks. The 
whole inner surface of those five divisions is capable of 
receiving the pollen-dust. The easiest way to put the 
pollen to them is to cut off the pollen-flower, and dis¬ 
carding the petals, apply the powdered anthers all to¬ 
gether to the five divisions. Any time of the day or 
night will do for this if the flowers are quite dry; one 
application is enough, but there is no harm in going 
over them two or three times, if there is no want of 
pollen. All the scarlet breeds of Geraniums, aud two 
sections of the other Geraniums, will reverse the posi¬ 
tion of the flower as soon as the pollen takes effect, and 
come back gradually to the first position as the seeds 
ripen. Watch the beak or long point of the seed-vessel, 
and when you see it streaked with black lines, and the | 
covering of the seed just turning brown, cut it off with : 
a pin, or sharp point; separate each seed gently, and 
the black line on the beak will follow it, like a silky j 
feather ;—now the seed is ready to sow; but I rather i 
plant the seeds, as I shall show presently; and no one, I 
with the least grain of practice and a good window, need , 
fear sowing the most previous crosses till the last day 
in September. 
The reason for sowing bedding Geraniums as soon as 
the ends are ripe, or nearly ripe, is to get them into 
flower the following summer. I never knew, or heard of 
auy one who had ever known, a seedling of this class 
flower the same summer or season when they were sown 
any time after Christmas, the trouble of watching a pot 
of seedlings through the winter is nothing to that of 
finding pot-room for spring seedlings to flower the 
second year. Suppose your seed is ripe on the first of 
August, 1851, if you sow it that day you will see the 
