d
special attention. Yet the acknowledgment must be made that, brilliant
as their triumphs have been, the methods they practised have in some
instances entailed very severe penalties. Continuous propagation for
many generations, under artificial conditions, so debilitated the
constitution of Hollyhocks, Verbenas, and some other subjects, that the
plants became victims of diseases which at one time threatened their
existence. To save them from annihilation it was necessary to desert the
worn path of propagation, and raise plants possessing the initial vigour
of seedlings. In stamina these seedlings proved eminently satisfactory,
although in other respects they were at first sadly disappointing. It
then became clear that before show flowers could be obtained from
seedlings judgment and skill must be devoted to the art of saving seed.
This was necessarily a work of time, demanding great patience and rare
scientific knowledge. The task was undertaken with enthusiasm in many
directions, and the results have more than justified this labour of
love. Formerly, the universal mode of perpetuating named Hollyhocks was
by the troublesome process of cuttings, or by grafting buds on roots of
seedlings in houses heated to tropical temperature. In many places it
was the custom to lift the old plants, pot them, and keep them through
the winter in pits. All this was found requisite to insure fine flowers.
While the burden of the work was thus rendered heavy, the constitution
of the plant became enfeebled, and at one time the fear was entertained
that its extinction was at hand. But the new system has preserved the
Hollyhock, and at the same time afforded a striking example of the
principle that seed saved scientifically is found to reproduce the
varieties it was taken from. Seedling Hollyhocks now give double flowers
of the finest quality; and the seedling plants are less liable to
disease. So with the Verbena. From suitable seed plants can be raised
that will produce the most resplendent flowers, and instead of
propagating a stock to keep over winter, to be stricken with mildew and
cost no end of care, only to become diseased at last, a pinch of seed is
sown in January or February, and soon there is a stock of healthy plants
possessing the vigour peculiar to seedlings. These, being bedded out at
a proper time, flower far more freely than plants from cuttings, and
produce trusses twice the size.

To illustrate the change of method still