258 THE FLORIST. 



the descriptions of vvhich are given in the catalogue. Now we 

 want the public to demand that all these flowers shall be seen 

 next season in specimen plants. No excuse should be ac- 

 cepted, that the senders out do not exhibit. Perhaps they 

 do not ; but either of those successful cultivators, Mr. Staines 

 or Mr. Cock, are ready to grow and exhibit a plant for the 

 raisers, provided it is considered first-rate. Presuming that 

 all the plants advertised this year for sale were so exhibited, 

 the purchaser, with their descriptions in his hand, would be 

 able to judge for himself how far such descriptions w^ere cor- 

 rect or not ; and he would be guided in his future purchases 

 accordingly. So with coloured illustrations, which appear 

 from time to time (our own in the present month, and that 

 of the same flowers in the Florists' Guide last July) ; let our 

 readers remember to compare them with the varieties they are 

 intended to represent, and judge accordingly how far they 

 can trust us or not for the future. From every ordeal of the 

 kind we should none of us shrink, nor should we from criti- 

 cism ; for criticism, like every thing else, can be tested. Mr. 

 Hoyle's flowers of this season, for instance, are spoken of in 

 the highest terms in several publications, in one of which our 

 own productions, with a little exception, are declared worth- 

 less. Now this criticism, as well as the flowers, can be tested 

 next season, and it should be done. We can afford quietly to 

 wait till June, and then we must stand or fall by their exhibi- 

 tion, which must speak for or against us. 



A Pelargonium, to he perfect, should come up to the 

 received standard in all respects. This we may hope for; 

 and it will form the mark at which we shall all aim for years 

 to come. We have not yet reached it, however ; and until 

 we do so, improvements on the best varieties in cultivation must 

 pass current for new and first-rate varieties. But let us be 

 careful that we do not, in the absence of perfect flowers, set 

 up a lower standard, and give a different value to productions 

 than they deserve. 



The two flowers forming our Plate w^ere raised by Mr. 

 Hoyle of Reading, and possess considerable value as novelties : 

 Ocellatum, for its very peculiar markings upon the lower 

 petals, combined with good habit and the long endurance of 

 its flowers; and May Queen, for the freshness of its colouring. 

 We are not surprised at Mr. Turner's having sold all the 

 stock of them ; for they are the very things for the trade, 

 and cannot fail to give satisfaction. 



But the critical amateur will reject them as wanting in 

 many essential qualities ; and the same may be said of our 

 Major Domo and Tyrian Queen. Our own opinion is, that 



