190 MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



selected for exhibition do not keep pace with the improvements that have taken 

 place; many of the flowers shown this season should be discarded altogether, 

 such as Beauty of Ware, Touchstone. Lady Murray, and others we could men- 

 tion, as quite unworthy of appearing in a selection, being destitute of the pro- 

 perties which constitute a good flower, and whose only claim to notice consists 

 in the enormous head of bloom they can be produced with; they do not repre- 

 sent the present improved state of this beautiful class, and the preference of 

 such flowers by exhibitors acts as a discouragement to the efforts of those who 

 are engaged in the praiseworthy occupation of improvement. The judges 

 should look to this, and award their prizes to the best sorts it' fairly cultivated, 

 in preference to the comparatively worthless kinds. In the large tent we no- 

 ticed a collection of twenty Pelargoniums from Mr. Catleugh. comprising many 

 of the recently-introduced varieties ; among them we noticed the Nymph, Witch, 

 Medora, Arabella, Duenna, Jubilee, Wonder, &c; and a box of cut blooms of 

 the newer sorts looked very brilliant, and attracted manv admirers. A collec- 

 tion of cut blooms of seedlings, and good varieties, from Mr. Russell, of Batter- 

 sea, was shown, but so injudiciously exhibited as to destroy the effect of the 

 flowers ; there were several good seedlings, but we fear their merits were over- 

 looked from the circumstance'above stated. 



Being early in the season, we did not anticipate so fine a display of Picotees : 

 the numbers collected round the stands showed the interest they excited, and 

 they merited all the encomiums passed upon them. The extreme delicacy and 

 distinctness of the edging in some of the light edged, and the depth and rich- 

 ness in the heavy-edged, formed a most pleasing variety : and the Carnation*, 

 which were also extremely fine, shared with the Picotees the admiration of the 

 visitors. Many fine blooms were exhibited in the amateur collections of Mr. Ed- 

 monds and T. Barnard, Esq. ; and the nurserymen made an admirable display. 

 The Picotees from Messrs. Willmer of Sunbury, Norman of Woolwich, and 

 Dickson of Acre-lane, were in fine condition, and showed us some old favourites 

 and new claimants for patronage ; among others, Willmer's Euphrosyne, Miss 

 Browning and Philomela. Gidden's Susan and Miss Desborough ; and those who 

 are fond of yellow grounds would be pleased with Willmer's Goldfinch, from its 

 clear and brilliant yellow. Wain's Queen Victoria, exhibited in Mr. Norman's 

 stand, is a most beautiful delicate rose Picotee, and one of the best flowers of its 

 class. Gidden : s Diana, both the scarlet and the purple, Sykes's Eliza, Sharp's 

 Nymph, and Hufton's Miss Willery, were shown in great perfection. Among 

 the Carnations, Norman's Lord Bloomfield and Eclipse, Scarlet Bizarre, Ful- 

 hrook's Grenadier, Willmer's Solander, purple flakes, Eason's Elizabeth, Cart- 

 wright's Rainbow r . Willmer's Maria, Strong's Linnscus, Stone's Venus, Maud's 

 Rowten, &c, were particularly deserving attention. The flowers were generally 

 finely dressed, and showed in great perfection. There were also good stands of 

 Pinks and Heartsease, but no novelty particularly deserving notice, except a 

 singular Heartsease called Prince Albert, from Mr. Silverlock of Chichester, 

 much itained, and marked with brown-purple on a yellow ground. 



QUERIES. 



On a Descriptive List of Auriculas. — Having read, with great pleasure, 

 in vour Numbers foi May and June, the elegant little essay on the culture of that 

 beautiful, but, I am sorry to sav, neglected flower, the Auricula, by Mr. William 

 Harrison, I take the liberty, through the medium of your valuable magazine, 

 respectfully to solicit your highly talented correspondent, as a finish to so valu- 

 able an article, to contribute a Descriptive Catalogue of some of the best 

 varieties now in cultivation ; it would be a production I have never seen pub- 

 lished, and would, I am sure, be hailed with delight by all lovers of that beau- 

 tiful flower, even if it embraced a considerable portion of one number of the Ca- 

 kini.t, the value of which would be greatly enhanced if a plate of some first-rate 

 flower were given with it. I know of many who are very fond of floriculture, 

 but who seem to have no idea of an Auricula beyond a shaded Alpine, on which 

 tiny set the greatest store ; this I think is partly owing to the flower not being 



