68 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[March, 



tained had as much attention heen bestowed 

 upon single as has been upon double varieties. 

 And others, again, regard wild flowers with 

 greater fiivor than they do garden varieties ; 

 thus raising an issue without cause, as each class 

 in its own phice is worthy of all esteem. 



Florists need have no contention with those 

 who prefer flowers in their natural state to cul- 

 tivated varieties, and many of them look upon 

 all natural productions with as much interest as 

 do those who protest against the changes which 

 have been wrought on many by their hands. 

 The clear-sighted among them can see two 

 fields wherein to exercise their faculties, the one 

 wide as the flora of the globe, the other an en- 

 closure wherein are gathered the choicest speci- 

 mens, and such as are best adapted for use and 

 show. In this limited field the mind is less 

 liable to be distracted by a multiplicity of objects 

 than in the other, and is therefore at greater 

 liberty to concentrate its energies upon a few 

 chosen specimens with which to experiment and 

 cultivate up to ideal perfection. In so doing no 

 violence is done to nature, for " The art itself is 

 nature," and as they find her so far yielding to 

 their wishes as to permit changes which, al- 

 though not conducive in every case to the go'od 

 of the individual, adds so much the more to 

 their own and to others enjoyment as to entitle 

 them to a place among puVjlic benefactors. 



A similar course has been pursued in the im- 

 provement of vegetables. While we know not 

 with what esteem Brassica oleracea and cam- 

 pestris were held by primitive man, we do know 

 that those products would make a poor display 

 now, in the garden or on the farm, in their nor- 

 mal state. But since they have "grown great in 

 bulk and succulent of leaf," by cultivation, Ru- 

 tabagas and Drumhead cabbage are justly held 

 in high esteem. So it has been with the dahlia 

 and the rose. In their natural state both are 

 interesting and attractive ; but he who would 

 prefer them in this state to the double forms 

 now so common, and which add so much to the 

 beauty and ^traction of modern gardens, must 

 have a poor conception indeed of elegance with 

 grandeur combined. 



And yet, because of their unassuming elegance 

 and grace, a single wild rose may make a deeper 

 impression upon the mind than could be pro- 

 duced by any one with a fuller compliment of 

 petals. Objects of this nature address themselves 

 directly to the finer feelings of mankind, and 

 excite a sympathy which is ever responsive to 



the calls, or seeming calls of every thing that ia 

 tender and beautiful. Such were the feelings of 

 Robert Burns, when, on that farm of his, he 

 turned a daisy under the sod to bloom in his 

 verse for evermore. Wordsworth, too, was un- 

 der the same inspiration when he said : 



" To me the meanest flower that blows can give 

 Thoughts that too often lie too deep for tears." 



This, in part, might be regarded as the sentimen- 

 tal love of flowers, and is strongest in minds of 

 deep reflection and poetic taste; it stoops not to 

 commercial valuations, but is fully occupied 

 with that beauty in flowers which addresses 

 itself alike to the imagination and the judg- 

 ment. 



But the florist must be true to his calling, 

 which is not so much to hold to the sentimental 

 and severely simple as to make use of every 

 flower at his disposal which may aid in making 

 his flower beds and greenhouses showy and 

 attractive. And few will dispute that garden 

 varieties, in their rounded fullness, are better 

 adapted for this purpose than their representa- 

 tives in a natural state. 



But double varieties are especially obnoxious 

 to a class of writers who claim that the highest 

 types of beauty are to be found amongst those 

 that are single, which claim may be true ; but it 

 is also true that very high types of beauty are to 

 be found amongst double sorts, such as the 

 Marechal Niel rose and double white Camellia 

 fully attest. In setting forth the superior claim 

 of single varieties it has been asked, " Why are 

 the primrose, the wild daisy, or the buttercup so 

 much admired, and the dandelion held in con- 

 tempt? It is gaudy, it is inelegant, it is a wisp of 

 of petals, hence it is a failure, a ' hissing and a by- 

 word,' and— and a model for florists." This is 

 hard on the dandelion and the florist; but, had 

 the writer studied more closely the elements of 

 floral beauty, he would not have so estimated 

 the dandelion, and also have given due credit to 

 the florist, for selecting such a flower for his 

 model. At the same time, the statement is what 

 might be expected from one who believes that 

 the highest beauty consists of simplicity and 

 elegance, combined with delicacy of color. A 

 statement by no means complete, and no state- 

 ment of principles can bes complete which does 

 not give due prominence to form, congruity. or 

 harmony and smoothness, as well as delicacy of 

 color. And, moreover, we do not see how sim- 

 plicity can be regarded as an element of floral 

 beauty, but rather as the outgrowth and so- 



