The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-01-23
PLANTS AND SEEDS.
INTERESTING INFORMATION ABOUT
/ FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES.

BrecdinE-Certain Colors Not Yet Oh
tained-High Priced secds-Lnrgo Guam
titles of Some Kinds Used Annually.
Tho cultivation of plants for seeds has
assumed such enormous proportions in ro-
cent years that rs practiced under tho in
tense systems of tho present day, the occu-
patton combines both an art and a soionce
\ Tho original individuals of almost every
| garden vegetable and every garden flower
havo boon trained from wild state, i'm.
| proved through cultivation and patient
| selection.
Tho garden cabbage serves as q good IL
lustration in this respect, for here wo hive
tho highest cultivated typo of useless
plant that is still found growing in wild
state upon the Kentish cliffs, and yet, If
this pedigree form were not carefully
guarded while in the hands of tho expert
1t would be only too ready to revert back
to its original condition.
AS an example of tic operation of cross
breeding, which has had so much to do
| with tho Improvement of tho ordinary
species, wo will tako tho garden pea. Tho
| operator, we will say, is anxious to obtain
u varicty with pods MS long as that popular
sort called Telephone" only that ho
wants it two feet shorter in tho hnulm
and to bear its pod three weeks earlier.
His first course is to grow row of two
kinds side by sidc-sorts which, in his
opinion, give the desired result. At this
| proper time he fertilizes tho flowers of ono
| with tho other AS soon rs the pods nro
! ripo and the peas como to be shcllctl out 1t
is sometimes found that they aro composed
OF regular mixture of round seeds in W.
rious shades of blue and white and wrin-
0rit CT, Il:
| actcristics and this in faco of tho fact
that tho seeds of tho parents were almost
| identical.
Tho progeny is sorted and sown the fol-
| lowing season in rows side by side, and
the outcome is astonishing. Ono row will
| perhaps be quite u fortnight earlier than
its neigh5or. Another will only grow ono
foot high. a third will be six feet, and
to such an extent does this variation exist
that it quito negatives tho old saying, LAS
| Ike as peas in pod
| Servings arc repeated each season, al
ways retaining those showing the points
aimed at in tho greatest degree, and it ul-
| tnnatcly occupies six years before the Sc
lcctcd variety is ready for placing Oh tho
market.
| Hybridizing is quite distinct process
from tho aforomoDtioncd-th ono being
the intcrminglins; of two varieties of one
| species; tho Other tho fusion of two dis
tinct species. AS n Very fair example wo
| will tako the hybrid fruit exhibited in
London between IL gooscbcrry and q black
currant. Although the means to bring
about such a curious result woro applied
by tho art of man, the outcome can only
be classed as n freak of nature.
Among flowers there arc many bc:lti-
| full things that have been obtained by this
| means.
| With all tho resources at mans COM
mand thcro arc certain colors in flowers
| that have not yet been obtained, and q
| handsome fortune awaits the first lucky
! raiser OF ~ blue dnhlia, u blue rose, 1. vel
| low gcranium, q blue CarDation or q puro
| white or blue nasturtium.
| 1t will astoniSh many who read this ar
ticlo to know that it requires several tons
of such seeds rs mignonette, sweet peas,
nasturtium, nemophila and candytuft to
| supply tho contents of tho millions Of
| packets that Arc distributed each season
One largo London firm gets through six
| tons of mignoncttc and 9 tons of sweet
| peas, while among vegetables they have
| laid themselves out to distribute so COO
bushels of garden peas.
| When it is stated that each buS,icl scales
about half "a huntlrcdwcight, it will DO
| seen this represents the astounding weight
| of | $50 tons, or sufficient to fill $4,000
| sacks, Or 1856 ordinary railway trucks. or
| turnlp seeds they expect their crops to
| give them several hundred tons, tho grcat-
| est market for this seed just now, being
| New Zealand, whcro tho 1905 is largely
| grown for producing tho mutton SO popu-
lar i'll this country. Glover and grass seeds
are also handled by the hundred tons i'll
| the course of u season.
Tho little canary and other cage birds ro-
Guirc several hundred tons of the canary
grass seed every year. Astonishing as it
may seem, it is nevertheless true that ono
seed firm distributed over 100 tons of this
bird seed in IL months.
| Although certain seeds arc handled in
| such enormous quantities, thcro arc others
that are worth many times their weighs
in gold. These mostly consist of choice
strains of flowers. Take, las instances, tho
| double bcgonia. worth about 5000 an ounce,
| calccolar:a about $50 ard certain sorts O.
! panscs $40.
Some of those seeds are rs minute az
dust, yet the contents Of each tiny packet
ms offered for sale comprise SD many seeds,
| the exact number being counted III by an
| operator skilled ut tho work and who is
obliged TO Weir specially constructed
glasses.
~ flower farm is delightful sight in
summer whcro brcndths of ono to ten
acres of brilliant colors mako an effective
mark in the landscape and produce series
of chromatic hucs Of tho most striking
character. A recent visit to u field garden
of this description calls to mind few of
tho beautiful things wo saw.
Tho first to arrest attention was new
chrysanthcmum, with roscttcliko center
and broad margin of ray norcts of pnlo
peach color and dark brown and claret ut
the base-a singular combination of colors,
attractive and distinct.
From this neutral tint the eye was ire