re several
varieties which will stand much severer cold than the Walcheren.[787]
Cauliflowers seed more freely in India than cabbages.[788] To give one
instance with flowers: eleven plants raised from a hollyhock, called
the _Queen of the Whites_,[789] were found to be much more tender than
various other seedlings. It may be presumed that all tender varieties
would succeed better under a climate warmer than ours. With
fruit-trees, it is well known that certain varieties, for instance of
the peach, stand forcing in a hot-house better than others; and this
shows {311} either pliability of organisation or some constitutional
difference. The same individual cherry-tree, when forced, has been
observed during successive years gradually to change its period of
vegetation.[790] Few pelargoniums can resist the heat of a stove, but
_Alba multiflora_ will, as a most skilful gardener asserts, "stand
pine-apple top and bottom heat the whole winter, without looking any
more drawn than if it had stood in a common greenhouse; and _Blanche
Fleur_ seems as if it had been made on purpose for growing in winter,
like many bulbs, and to rest all summer."[791] There can hardly be a
doubt that the _Alba multiflora_ pelargonium must have a widely
different constitution from that of most other varieties of this plant;
it would probably withstand even an equatorial climate.

We have seen that according to Labat the vine and wheat require
acclimatisation in order to succeed in the West Indies. Similar facts
have been observed at Madras: "two parcels of mignonette-seed, one
direct from Europe, the other saved at Bangalore (of which the mean
temperature is much below that of Madras) were sown at the same time:
they both vegetated equally favourably, but the former all died off a
few days after they appeared above ground; the latter still survive,
and are vigorous healthy plants." So again, "turnip and carrot seed
saved at Hyderabad are found to answer better at Madras than seed from
Europe or from the Cape of Good Hope."[792] Mr. J. Scott, of the
Calcutta Botanic Gardens, informs me that seeds of the sweet-pea
(_Lathyrus odoratus_) imported from England produce plants, with thick,
rigid stems and small leaves, which rarely blossom and never yield
seed; plants raised from French seed blossom sparingly, but all the