1882. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



quence of a happy combination of such ele- 

 ments as have been named. If this is not so. a 

 blow is struck at all ornamenttition, and by the 

 same token a flail is more worthy of admiration 

 and esteem than a threshing machine, or a 

 phial three parts filled with water suspended by 

 a cord attached to the bottom, than an elabor- 

 ately' constructed barometer, with all modern 

 improvements. But this will not be believed ; 

 neither can we believe that the beauty of a 

 flower depends upon simplicity, but upon the 

 harmonious blending of such elements as enter 

 into its composition, no matter whether the 

 petals be many or few, provided they are all 

 perfectly formed, all harmoniously arranged, all 

 delicately smooth, and of whatever color, clear 

 and distinct, or when of different shades, these 

 60 disposed as to produce the most agreeable 

 impressions. 



I do not pretend to give a complete analysis 

 of beauty in flowers, but only to draw attention 

 to some of its principal constituents, and as 

 every family has its own kind of ideal beauty, 

 the criterion for one may not meet the case of 

 another. This is equally applicable to the dif- 

 ference between double and single sorts of the 

 same species. But if the petals of a single rose, 

 for example, come up to the standard of utmost 

 perfection, no difficulty can be felt in recogniz- 

 ing the importance of symmetry and proportion 

 in those that are double. And yet. strange to 

 say, the men who are loudest in their protesta- 

 tions against double flowers stand up in defence 

 of semi-double ones, in the new strain of dahlias, 

 which, if we may judge from wood-cuts, come 

 nearer to being " wisps of petals " than the under- 

 rated dandelion. But they say they are finely 

 colored. Be it so; but color alone, however 

 elegant, cannot make up for a deficiency of 

 form, symmetry and proportion. And, we re- 

 peat, that these principles are of the utmost 

 importance in all flowers either single or double. 

 Without them, they may be gaudy, but they 

 cannot satisfy the judgment which takes cogniz- 

 ance of order and congruity, as well as of 

 color. As well say that a human countenance 

 of fair color is beautiful, when the features are 

 ill-formed, irregular and disproportioned, as that 

 a flower, especially a double flower, is beautiful 

 without these prerequisites. And perhaps it is 

 not too much to say, that greater progress 

 would have been made in floriculture had culti- 

 vators attended more strictly to the principles 

 I have endeavored to set forth. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Ornamental Rhubarb. — We have several 

 times called attention to the great beauty of the 

 large-leaved herbaceous plants, when set out as 

 specimens on the lawn or worked in with 

 shrubs or trees, even in massing. The common 



RHEUM OFFICINALE. 



garden rhubarb is rather coarse as an ornamen- 

 tal plant, though striking when in full flower; 

 but there are some species not used as esculents, 

 that have greater elements of beauty. HaageA 

 Schmidt, of Erfurt, have introduced two that are 

 particularly beautiful, and of which we give 



RHEUM RIBES. 



illustrations here. One, Rheum officinale, has 

 an additional interest in this, that it is 

 the species from which the medicinal rhubarb 

 root is prepared. The Rheum ribes is so called 

 probably from the resemblance of its panicle of 

 fruit to bunches of currants or Ribes, is particu- 



