42 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



over, and then as it extends it may be allowed to hang down the 

 sides of the hills as it pleases. As for the rest, nothing more need 

 be said, except that on such an experimental piece there will pro- 

 bably be a far larger produce in the end, for if the bulk of the 

 potatoes is less, they will more than compensate for that in quality. 

 The desire to snatch from the ground more tlian it is capable of 

 giving has been one of the main causes of potato disease. 



Rex. 



WHAT BECOMES OF THE FLOWEES? 



|HEEE do all the flowers go to ? asked the little daughter 

 of a florist of her father a short time since, and it is a 

 question that has puzzled the heads of the uninitiated, 

 who were far more advanced in years. Those who live 

 in or near London, and have seen or heard the market 

 carts go rumbling long after midnight — who have visited the flower 

 market at Co vent Garden in the early morning, and seen the wil- 

 derness of bright flowers and treasures of blooms brought forth 

 from their boxes and baskets — who have sauntered through the 

 Central Avenue at noon, and seen them made up into the most beau- 

 tiful bouquets — who have seen the almost endless ranges of glass 

 structures at the many large nurseries, and have noticed the count- 

 less number of small nurseries and florists that crop up in every 

 suburban highway and byway they pass through — the question must 

 surely sometimes present itself, " Where do they all go to ?" 



Let us, therefore, stand hj our friend the florist in his pretty 

 conservatory and seed-shop, and see if we can discover what becomes 

 of them ; and while he is talking to a visitor, w^e walk round the 

 show-house to see what he has in bloom at Christmas. First we 

 walk up to a group of yellow, and find it to consist of Coronillas, 

 Genistas, Jasminums, etc. ; these are flanked by two large Veronica 

 Andersoni, covered with buds and blossoms ; then Ericas of all sorts, 

 the most showy of w^hich are hyemalis and gracilis ; then on a table 

 near stand a dozen Poinsettias, surrounded with pots of Mignonette ; 

 on the floor is a row of Christmas Eoses, and on the tables Epacris, 

 large and small, of various sorts, from pure white to deep red, sur- 

 rounded by Primulas, single and double, white and pink ; while 

 among the special earlies are Yan Thols, single and double Cine- 

 rarias, and white Eoman Hyacinths ; and the whole are intermixed 

 and surrounded by sweet and Otaheite oranges, Solanum capsicas- 

 trum, Linum tigrinum, and a host of other plants, either in bud, 

 flower, or fruit, while ferns and foliage plants have a corner to 

 themselves. But while we have been looking round the visitor has 

 gone, and after him has gone a basket of Ericas hyemalis and gra- 

 cilis, and Primulas pink and white. It was the Catholic priest, and 

 the flowers are to decorate the altar, for the Bishop of the diocese 

 will pay a visit on the morrow. But before we can moralize, a livery 

 servant comes in, and orders a dozen bunches of flowers for dessert, 

 and cut flowers for the epergne. '' Flowers for dessert ! why they 



