278 TUE FLORIST. 



being very constant ; a good j^ellow is obtained in Mrs. Seldon, and 

 a fair white in Snow-flake ; Queen of Lilacs is rather coarse, but 

 still good ; Fame is a good acquisition, being a great novelty in 

 colour ; Charles Turner will be much admired as a constant tipped 

 variety, though its outline might be rounder, and it might be a little 

 deeper. Queen of the Isles has not been all that was expected of 

 it from the well-known integrity of its " sender out ;" but it may 

 prove better another season. 



The novelties for next year having been so recently described in 

 your account of the exhibitions, I need say nothing further, except 

 that I think the most popular of them will be George Glenny, Queen 

 of Beauties, and Hon. Mrs. Ashley ; though, as a whole, the results 

 of the season 1850 will not come up to that of 1849. 



Okion. 



A PEEP AT THE PARIS FLOWER-MARKET. 



No lover of flowers who visits the French capital should fail to spend 

 a morning at the Flower-market. Though somewhat different in 

 character from similar exhibitions in our own country, it is certainly 

 in no respect inferior. I was in Paris on the last three days of 

 July — days remarkable in the political history of that city, — and so 

 agreeable was my reminiscence of former visits, that I resolved to 

 spend the early part of one of those fete-days at the Marche aux 

 Fleurs. Accordingly, I arose at the dawn of day, and quitting 

 my hotel in the Rue Rivoli, was soon at the Quai aux Fleurs, 

 where the market is held. Long before I had reached the desired 

 place, I was reminded of my approach by the return of earlier 

 visitors. The thrifty housewife, wdth a Heliotrope under one arm, 

 and a Rose beneath the other, was moving with a brisk step, her 

 affections pro tern, divided between the darlings of her choice, her- 

 self apparently unconscious of the busy scene which surrounded 

 her. Then the workman, who had risen long before the hours 

 of labour, in order that he might present to the sharer of his toils 

 a fresh and sweet token of his affection and esteem, was bearing 

 homeward a less costly offering in the shape of a stock or a pot of 

 musk. How refining and moralising must be the influence of this 

 love of flowers ! I wish it were more general among labourers in 

 our own land. But I was aroused from reflection by my arrival at 

 the market, which indeed presented a busy scene. 



It is a large paved square, planted with rows of Acacia trees, 

 whose soft and elegant foliage trembling in the breeze harmonised 

 with the animated scene they overshadowed. In the centre of this 

 square was the bureau, where I imagined the market-keeper dwelt, 

 with the view of preserving order and taking toll. Near each end 

 was a fountain, surrounded with a basin of water, apparently con- 

 structed for use as well as ornament. Around these and the bureau 

 were lounging men in blouses, with large baskets, flat at one side to 

 fit the back, lying at their feet, waiting to carry off the purchases. 



