26 IIIE FLORIST. 



independent of its annual and fluctuating subscriptions, and 

 eventually a permanent institution, with an income derived 

 from property alone sufficient to maintain its efficiency. Had 

 this plan been adopted with the Horticultural Society of Lon- 

 don and the Royal Botanic Society, neither of them would 

 now be struggling against debts, which, though in course of 

 liquidation, are still heavily pressing on their resources. It 

 is true their development would have been delayed, and the 

 impetus they have given to horticultural and botanical science 

 would have been less than it has been ; still we are not sure 

 that there would have been much loss in this respect. 



But it is matter for honest congratulation that our country 

 supports so many flourishing societies, to which in a great 

 measure we owe the almost universal taste for gardening 

 which prevails in the United Kingdom ; and a case in point, 

 shewing how a neighbourhood may become eminently flori- 

 cultural through their means, lies before us in the Highbury 

 and North -London Horticultural Society, which, although 

 only established in 1850, numbers nearly two hundred mem- 

 bers, comprising the elite of the neighbourhood, and expects to 

 double them in the present year. It has distributed 225/. 19^. 

 in prizes at its first two exhibitions ; it has promoted the erec- 

 tion of a considerable number of new greenhouses, and more 

 are in contemplation ; and it has had placed at the disposal 

 of its committee the grounds in the rear of Highbury Cres- 

 cent for the purpose of holding three large exhibitions in 

 1851, to follow the days of the Royal Botanic /e^e*. What 

 a contrast does this present to some localities we could name, 

 where there is neither taste nor money lacking, but a sad want 

 of energy and public spirit upon the question ! 



SELECT ROSES. 



My friend Mr. Rivers has done good service to the cause of Fiori- 

 culture by his pithy article on Roses, which appeared in No. xxxvi. 

 of your last year's volume. It is high time that amateurs should 

 understand the value of selections over collections. At least one half 

 the number propagated for sale by our eminent cultivators might 

 be dispensed with forthwith, and the remaining half considerably 

 reduced, without disadvantage. An enthusiastic admirer of this, 

 the " queen of flowers," I have for some years past devoted the 

 little leisure time at my disposal to its cultivation ; but I am satisfied 

 that, in common with most amateurs, I have crowded my garden 

 with too many so-called varieties. 



My object in troubling you on the present occasion is, that I 

 may be enabled, through the medium of your pages, to assist such of 



