169 



THE CALCEOLARIA. 



Ox reference to our volumes for 1848 and 1850, we find plates 

 giving illustrations of the novelties of the time, and accom- 

 panying them some valuable memoranda furnished by our 

 lamented friend the late Mr. M. Woodhousc and by Mr. 

 Holmes of Sudbury. Much that is there stated is fully appli- 

 cable at the present time ; and nothing more so than the com- 

 plaint of a general want of novelty, which is more and more 

 apparent in all subjects either submitted to or seen by us 

 during the time intervening. We had almost given up any 

 further progress as hopeless, when by mere chance a package, 

 directed to the Secretary of the National Floricultural Society 

 on a late exhibition- day M came to the rescue ;" but this package 

 being received after the meeting had been dissolved, was not 

 taken officially into consideration ; suffice it to say, however, 

 that the contents, Calceolarias, were freely discussed by the 

 members present; and as if to aid in the examination, a box of 

 blooms, duly submitted by another grower, was used to test 

 the quality of the " late comers." The verdict was unanimous; 

 and a " general rush " ensued, to learn by whom the strangers 

 were sent. It proved to be Mr. W. Stones, gardener to W. 

 Irving, Esq., Coltman Street, Hull; and to this cultivator we 

 are indebted, through the zeal of our coadjutor Mr. J. Ed- 

 wards, for a second supply of flowers, from which a selection 

 was made and transmitted to our artist ; and now we have the 

 pleasure of presenting them to our readers in the accompany- 

 ing plate. 



That Mr. Stones has been a painstaking raiser may be 

 gathered from his quaint remarks now before us ; he observes 

 that, as a grower of Calceolarias for six years, he has bought a 

 number of the best sorts, and year by year has not failed to 

 profit by the experience of former trials, made with a view to 

 their improvement. Nil desperandum and Major's Conque- 

 ror, Gaines' Pearl and Holmes' Rosalind, Kinghorn's Ar- 

 dens and Major's Captivation, Kinghorn's Napoleon and 

 Major's Pearl, Kinghorn's Rubini and Gustavus, these, toge- 

 ther with Pennycuik's Baron Eden, have been the parents of 

 the flowers now under consideration. Not only is Mr. Stones, 

 however, fortunate as a raiser, he is eminent as an exhibitor ; 

 for we learn that a first prize was awarded to his skill at the 

 late Hull exhibition held in the Zoological Gardens, and that 

 by the connoisseurs of both Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are 

 these things held in high esteem. 



NEW SERIES, VOL. III. NO. XXXII. Q 



