THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



223 



Florists' flowers are for collectors 

 only, and all true florists pursue their 

 hobby in a systematic manner. Pan- 

 sies, phloxes, hollyhocks, dahlias, 

 pinks, carnations, auriculas, poly- 

 anthuses, have their several admirers 

 and devotees. Of late years the zo- 

 nate pelargoniums, or as we usually 

 call them zonale geraniums, have 

 risen in public estimation, and have, 

 perhaps, made more collectors than 

 any class of plants has done since the 

 days of the Tulipomania. And this 

 is not surprising, for the skilful hy- 

 bridizing to which they have been 

 subjected has rendered them almost 

 infinitely various in colours, forms, 

 and habits ; they have been brought 

 to conform to the ideal type of per- 

 fection, the petals broad and over- 

 lapping, the flower large, smooth, and 

 circular, and the colours ranging, not 

 only through all possible shades of 

 scarlet, but white, blush, salmon, pur- 

 ple, lilac, crimson, and varying in one 

 direction to the very borders of the 

 yellow band of the spectrum, and in 

 another direction almost touching the 

 blue. The ease with which they may 

 be kept and multiplied, and the gene- 

 rally brilliant effect of their freely- 

 produced flowers, are qualities that 

 give them a just claim to the increased 

 and increasing attention which ama- 

 teurs are bestowing upon them. 



Of course we might continue to 

 point out tribes, and classes, and fami- 

 lies suitable for the gratification of 

 collectors, and well worthy the be- 

 stowing upon them of some scientific 

 energy, but the object of these re- 

 marks is rather to give, if possible, a 



new turn to the thoughts of our 

 readers than to prescribe any actual 

 courses. We might say a word for 

 the new race of double pyrethrums, 

 which combine the best qualities 

 of asters and chrysanthemums, and 

 bloom profusely twice in the season. 

 There are the sedums, too, a very dif- 

 ferent class indeed, but needing no 

 expensive appliances to gather or keep 

 them. Grasses, Equisetums, the fami- 

 lies of bulbous flowers, as for instance, 

 Ixias, Babianas, Amaryllises, etc., 

 several families of Alpine plants, of 

 which we have named only one above, 

 the Saxifrages, and, though last not 

 least, hardy herbaceous border flowers, 

 including many widely-separated fa- 

 milies representing many geographical 

 areas, yet agreeing in submitting to 

 the peculiarities of our climate, and 

 for the most part needing only the 

 ordinary soil common to English gar- 

 dens. If there be amongst our thou- 

 sands of readers a few who are not 

 quite furnished with employment for 

 heads and hands, we respectfully re- 

 commend them to consider if they 

 might not find some pleasant occu- 

 pation in plant collecting. It is a 

 pursuit without limitations, or rather, 

 it is limited only by the boundaries of 

 the great globe itself ; because when 

 nurseries, gardens, mountains, valleys, 

 plains, and waters at home have all 

 been ransacked, the collector, still 

 hungering after new objects of horti- 

 cultural solicitude, may go forth into 

 any land, and into all lands, and con- 

 tinue to find " something to amuse, 

 something to instruct" as long as life 

 shall last. S. H. 



HEATING SMALL PLANT HOUSES. 



Small houses are more difficult to 

 manage than large ones, not only in 

 winter, but in summer also. A small 

 body of air is quickly heated and 

 quickly cooled, hence plants may be 

 burnt or frozen in a small house, 

 when in a large one they would re- 

 main uninjured. Bat the great 

 difficulty with all small houses is 

 how to heat them, and the diffi- 



culty increases as the houses decrease 

 in size. In former issues of the 

 Floral Wokld various modes of 

 heating hive been described, and the 

 most anxious endeavours made to 

 lessen the difficulties of heating small 

 houses, and those of our readers who 

 are concerned upon this subject now 

 will do well to refer back, and make 

 acquaintance with the particulars that 



