4A THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



of kinds suitable for exhibition. It is full twenty-five years since the 

 auricula enjoyed tbe fame it deserves. Siuce tbat time, it lias declined 

 in public estimation ; in many districts has passed out of cultivation, 

 and many once-famous private collections have disappeared, no one 

 knows whither. The Floeal Would has many times raised its voice 

 in vindication of tbe old-fashioned flowers, and has implored its amateur 

 readers not to be so carried away by the mere love of colour in bedding 

 plants, to the utter neglect of the beautiful and interesting subjects 

 which make the history of floriculture worthy of the study of those 

 capable of appreciating what is loveliest in nature and most true in art. 

 The Floral Woeld will not seek to magnify its office by attributing 

 to its advocacy the growth of a new passion for those old favourites 

 which lifted amateur plant-cultivation to the dignity of a science. It 

 will be content to rejoice that everywhere there is an inquiry in pro- 

 gress as to the respective claims and merits and peculiarities of 

 auriculas, polyanthuses, carnations, picotees, pinks, pansies, and the rest 

 of that little charmed circle which used to engage the affections, and 

 attentions, and reflections of thousands of amateur cultivators, who 

 had no ambition to attempt things beyond their reach, and who 

 therefore never made attempts in their small gardens to equal the 

 promenade colouring of such places as the Crystal Palace, Kew, or 

 Battersea Park. 



A quarter of a century has elapsed since the cultivation of these 

 charming subjects began to decline ; hence, many of the most 

 eminent exhibitors of them have passed away; a new generation has 

 succeeded, to wbom the traditions of the past come indirectly and 

 discursively, and as it were by piecemeal ; so that, in some sense, the 

 cultivation and determination of relative merits of varieties have to be 

 begun afresh. Yet, in tbe face of such an impediment, there is taking 

 place on every band a reaction against the meretricious attractions 

 of the bedding system ; and cultivators who want something in 

 which they can take interest, and which will afford them recreation, 

 of a more intellectual kind than they have attained to hitherto, are fit- 

 ting up frames, laying out beds, and collecting and studying the best of 

 the classes of herbaceous plants. The trade foresee the heavy demand 

 for such things that is arising, and many varieties of auriculas, polyan- 

 thuses, pinks, pansies, and other such things, are being bought up, and 

 many who possess stock refuse for the present to sell, because the de- 

 mand is likely soon to exceed the supply, and tbe only safe course is to 

 multiply stock as fast as possible. There are many buyers and few 

 sellers, because auriculas of renown are just now not easy of attainment, 

 and, as they increase but slowly, there must be time allowed to regain 

 for it the position which has been temporarily lost. 



If any reader should think it sWnge that the fashion for these things 

 should revive, perhaps one consideration may alone suffice for an ex- 

 planation. To grow these subjects no expensive appliances are required. 

 They are bardy, and all the shelter they need is against severe frost, 

 heavy rains, and excessive sunshine. They are pre-eminently poor 

 men's flowers — they need constant care, they occupy the mind at all 

 seasons, and, when well grown, their beauty is absolutely indescribable. 

 Let those who doubt the truth of the last sentence take care to visit the 

 Rojal Botanic Society's exhibition in Regent's Park, when the auri- 



