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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



Pelopidas, white, purple edge. 



Plato, white. 



Princess Louisa, white, rose edge. 



Prince Albert, dark edge. 



Proeilla, yellow, red edge. 



Quilla Filla, rose mottled. 



Jiose Incomparable, wh. ro. edge. 



Heine de Sheba. 



Rubro magnificans, scarlet. 



Sir "W. Hoste, yellow, red edge. 



Sir R. Sale, white, shaded. 



Sophia, white, rose edge. 



Sabina, pale yellow. 



Sir Philip Broke, ere., pur. edge 



Talisman, cream, purple edge. 



Venus, white spotted. 



Viola la vrai JSToir, dark brown. 



Zebrina, white, crimson edge. 



PLANT COLLECTING. 



I have long been persuaded that, in 

 pursuing the practice of horticulture 

 for the sake of the pleasure to be 

 derived from it, the best course for 

 the amateur is to make collections in 

 a systematic way, and according to 

 the circumstances that govern his or 

 her range of operations. As it is 

 quite possible to give way to a mania 

 for collecting, and so make a bugbear 

 of what should be full of delight, I 

 will here say that, if a garden is to be 

 regarded as an extension of the house, 

 and therefore needing to be suitably 

 embellished, the passion for collecting 

 should never be allowed to mar the 

 beauty of the garden itself, which it 

 might do if the collector chose for 

 his hobby some very unattractive 

 classes of plants. In every garden 

 there should be so much green turf, 

 so much shrub and tree, so much 

 floral colouring, for it is a place of 

 resort for families and friends ; it is 

 in some measure public property, 

 especially if overlooked ; and the pos- 

 sessor is morally bound to make it 

 reasonably pleasing, not only to him- 

 self, but to his kindred, connections, 

 and, in a certain limited sense of the 

 phrase, to all mankind. This doc- 

 trine will no doubt bear thinking 

 over, but the mere mention of it must 

 suffice on the present occasion. How- 

 ever, there may be no harm perhaps 

 in saying that gardens are to some 

 extent subject to the laws which 

 regulate the interiors of houses. If a 

 man chooses to be eccentric, peculiar, 

 may we say also ridiculous, may we 

 even add obnoxious, he will perhaps 

 have his rooms and staircases without 



carpetp, his furniture may be of plain 

 deal or pasteboard, his diet may be 

 black bread and crab apples, he may 

 compel his wife to cut her hair, and 

 forbid his children the use of toys, 

 and require them to talk like sages. 

 We have met with such, especially in 

 our days of vegetarian experience 

 years ago, and the thought has always 

 forced itself upon us that, though 

 there was no law to determine the 

 fashion of a household and the dietary 

 of a family, yet those who treat the 

 established usages of society with 

 contempt commit a great wrong, and 

 if they incur contempt themselves, 

 they heartily deserve it. Of course 

 we should expect to find in the garden 

 of such a one — if a head so awry and 

 a heart so sour could combine in 

 efforts at gardening of any kind — all 

 the obnoxious or ungainly plants that 

 could be found : docks for fine foliage 

 and nettles for flowers. Such would 

 be the extreme case on the one hand ; 

 now let us look for the extreme on 

 the other. Here, then, we find in the 

 household every elegance, and every 

 detail fits into a general plan. Grace 

 and comfort go hand in hand; the 

 useful and the beautiful are both 

 fairly vindicated. In the garden 

 there is, of course, much to entertain 

 and give delight, but it may happen 

 that fashion displaces science there, 

 and that very much of possible inte- 

 rest is sacrificed for the sake of mere 

 colour and temporary effect. It does 

 not follow, of course, that the elegant 

 and well-governed household should 

 be associated with a garden, wherein 

 tinsel is the predominating element, 



