THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
179 
plant’s existence. Do not allow the plant to ripen more 
seed than you will require, and one pod of balsam of any 
desired color will be sufficient for next year’s stock, and 
the same is true of most other flowering plants. If the 
plant is allowed to ripen its seed it will soon cease 
blooming, having accomplished its mission. If not al¬ 
lowed to ripen seed it will continue to flower the whole 
season, to accomplish the work of reproduction. 
The selection of seed is a far more important work than 
is generally supposed. If you want to preserve double 
forms select your seeds from the most double flowers; 
if single forms are desired choose the largest, the most 
vigorous and those having the most decided and pleasing 
colors. It matters not of what variety the plants maybe, 
you will find in the bed some that are superior to the 
average; choose these for your stock. The seed-grower 
who has supplied your seedsman cannot afford to do this, 
he must gather the whole or his industry would not be 
remunerative. The seedsman who best understands his 
business gets his stock seed from amateurs or saves it 
himself, in the same manner as we have just described 
for you. Follow out this plan and you will not only have 
the best strains of flower-seeds, but you will soon find a 
pleasure in your gardening operations far above that 
which you have in looking at your flowers. Developing 
forms from a lower to the highest possible form they are 
capable of reaching is a noble, an interesting work, a 
work that will elevate you in proportion as you elevate 
the objects of your care. 
What is true in the flower garden will apply with equal, 
if not greater force to the vegetable garden. If you have 
a good or superior tomato, set apart one plant for seed, 
cut away all but one or two of the largest, smoothest and 
most perfectly formed tomatoes, and allow these to ripen 
for seed purposes, first choosing the heaviest and more 
solid fruits. Follow up this selection for a few years, and 
you will be the originator of a new variety, which will 
save you the trouble of sending for the latest novelty (?) 
in tomatoes. It is a well-known fact that .while there are 
so-called new varieties sent out annually, there has not 
been the slightest improvement in the tomato in the last 
twenty years. Old forms have deteriorated because proper 
care has not been taken in selection for stock seed, and 
those who have taken the trouble to keep their stock up 
to a high standard are reaping the rewards of their labor by 
selling seeds of “ a new tomato ” at 50 cents per packet. 
Careful selection of all other garden seeds, or at least 
many others, should be made in the same manner, and 
they will in the end give the same results. Watch care¬ 
fully every vegetable and flower for new forms ; “ sports ” 
are constantly occurring, many of which, with proper 
care, will develop new types. Those should be guarded 
tenderly, for whoever aids in the improvement of fruits, 
vegetables or flowers is truly a public benefactor. We are 
of the opinion that the horticulturist is more indebted to 
accidental variations, or sports, for new vegetables, fruits 
and flowers than to any systematic effort at hybridization 
or cross-fertilization. 
CLIMBERS—INDOORS AND OUT. 
I N my last article I notice I inadvertently spoke of the 
smilax as having a bulbous root. This was a mis¬ 
take ; the root is tuberous. The difference between the 
two may be thus described: A bulb is an underground 
bud, resembling a root, and consisting of numerous 
fleshy scales, placed one over the other; a tuber is a 
fleshy, solid, underground stem. The lily may be taken as 
an example of the first class ; the potato of the second. 
In mentioning outdoor climbers, we must distinguish 
between the annuals, which die down each season, and 
the perennials, both evergreen and deciduous. The 
former compensate by rapidity of growth for their want 
of permanence. 
Among evergreen climbers suitable for the United 
States there is none more entirely satisfactory than Akebia 
quinata. It is a native of Chusan and the Japanese 
Islands, where it must experience a rigor of climate equal 
to our own in intensity. It is abundantly clothed with 
dark-green leaves, divided into five ovate lobes. The 
quaintly characteristic tri-lobed flowers are purplish- 
maroon in color, and very fragrant. It is not a rooted 
climber like the ivy, so will not cling to a wall unaided, 
but if given a trellis or support as a base of operations, 
it will twine and wreath itself in every conceivable posi¬ 
tion. One of the handsomest akebia plants I have seen 
was twisted into a compact mass some four feet in diam¬ 
eter, and extended to a height of forty feet, making a 
perfect pillar of leaves and blossoms. The akebia pro¬ 
duces a fruit something like the granadilla; it is a stout 
maroon pod containing transparent pulp, in which the 
seeds are imbedded , and may be likened in flavor and 
appearance to a combination of sago and gum-arabic. 
It does not, however, often mature fruit with us. 
Our common Virginia creeper, Ampelopsis quinque- 
folia, receives its share of appreciation among climbers; 
it seems such an easy-going, contented plant, always 
ready to do the duty assigned it, whether in its native 
thickets or in the garden. I must, however, point out 
one serious fault in its character—a fondness for bad 
company. In the wild state it is nearly always found 
associating with the poison vine {Rhus toxicodendroii). 
In consequence, those who have not learned to distinguish 
clearly between the two are very apt to be poisoned se¬ 
verely, if they are not proof against the toxic property of 
the plant. There is, however, a very great difference be¬ 
tween the plants; the Ampelopsis has digitate irregularly- 
toothed leaves, divided into five distinct lobes ; Rhus toxi¬ 
codendron has either three leaflets, more nearly round 
in form than the Ampelopsis , though pointed, slightly 
downy underneath, or an entirely ovate leaf, this being the 
