234 THE FLORIST. 



trlbuting Henry and Duke of Wellington, made a vast stride in advance 

 of his cont(2mporaries. 



" Mr. Solomon Hale, of Hillingdon, gave us Queen of England, a 

 flower which for refinement of style and precision of marking was un- 

 rivalled. Mr. E. Stow, of Chiselhurst, gave us Elizabeth, one of the 

 best dark edges of its day, and Mr. Meade, of Lewisham, contributed 

 Blackheath Rival, a James Hogg on a small scale. 



" Mr. Smith gave us Diana, Whipper-in, Goliath, &c. &c., and Mr. 

 Read, a neighbour of Mr. Sharp, of Clop Hill, gave us Jermy Lind 

 (wrongly called Harrison's), which to other good qualities adds that of 

 its prolificacy, as a numerous progeny (among which Kossuth, Ada, 

 Bertha, &c., are worthy of note) fully shows. 



" Dr. Maclean, of Colchester, gave us Narborough Buck, Criterion 

 (aptly named), Narborough Nymph (now I fear lost), and later, New 

 Criterion, and Purity, two of the best Pinks in cultivation ; while Dr. 

 Norman, of the same neighbourhood, has given us Colchester Cardinal 

 (a perfect gem), and I\Irs. Norman, a flower which for breadth of petal 

 is unrivalled — while Messrs. Bragg and Turner, of Slough, and Keynes, 

 of Salisbury, have of late years done the cause good service, the former 

 with Jupiter, Koh-i-noor, James Hogg, Hercules, &c. &c. Mr. Turner 

 with Optima, Esther, Sarah, Perfection, Richard Andrews, &c. &c., 

 and Mr. Keynes with Mrs. Wolfe, Mrs. Lewis, &c. ; nor must we 

 omit, while on the subject of Pink improvers, the name of Mr. Marris, 

 of Leicester, who in giving us Theresa, Theodore, and Geraldine, has 

 insured the knowledge of his name, at least for some years, in our 

 locality. 



" The north has hitherto been singularly backward in producing any 

 worthy Pink novelty — Mrs. Burman, of whom we were promised such 

 <jf7-eat things, proving too liltie for anything useful ; but even the north 

 has at length made a step in the right direction, and in giving us Eli- 

 zabeth Gair, Mr. Lightbody has chronicled himself as another Pink 

 grower's friend. The south has had worthy representatives in the 

 Chatham growers, and while Mr. Eldridge has evinced his predilection 

 for the yacht line of business in naming his seedlings Volante, War 

 Hawk, Alarm, &c. &c., they have by no means disgraced their name- 

 sakes' aqueous reputation. Central Kent was worthily represented by 

 Mr. Hardstone, of St. Mary Cray, whose last contribution was Fanny, 

 a Yery fair specimen of a Pink. (I regret to say icas represented, as 

 I have just heard of his rather sudden death, on the 22nd October. 

 The Pink, Tulip, Carnation, and Picotee world, have sustained a con- 

 siderable loss in the person of this persevering old florist ; may his son 

 follow worthily in his footsteps.) 



" Mr. Looker, of Oxford, must by no means be overlooked in these 

 remarks, for whether we take old flowers, or new ones, he seems 

 equally in the foremost rank. Of the former, Jane Sarah, Glory of . 

 Oxford, and Duchess of Marlborough, were excellent representatives ; 

 while, in novelties, John Stevens, Juliet, Mr. Hoyle, Mr. Hobbs, &c. 

 &c., bear conspicuous places ; and if Mrs. Stevens prove to be only as 

 great a trimmer as report says she is, her possessor may congratulate 

 himself on having added at least an A 1 to the Pink catalogue. 



