152 REMARKS ON THE PINK. 



In another communication which I received from a Staffordshire 

 florist, whose opinion I also requested, he states, " I can with confi- 

 dence assert that the article in the Dccemher number of the Cabinet, 

 signed ' Florista,' expresses the opinion and taste of the florists 

 here. We have long since ceased to notice anything said or written 

 by a southern florist about the pink, as their ?wtions and out's are 

 so at variance. 



" You should inquire whether those parties were florists to whom 

 Mr. Ibbett supplied pinks in Yorkshire, Felton, &c, and if so, how 

 it was, none of the south country flowers won a prize at any of the 

 northern exhibitions ; for according to the ' Florist's Register' for 

 the last several years, the Lancashire pinks were generally victorious. 



" I would observe, that the article you have written in the Cabinet, 

 is quite in unison with the ideas of the greatest number of florists 

 it has been my lot to meet with ; and in conclusion, I beg to say, if 

 Mr. Ibbett has ever sold pinks to any dealer in Lancashire, it 

 has been to one who wanted to supply some gentleman's garden with 

 some to make nosegays of." 



In addition to the preceding extracts, I am further corroborated in 

 my assertion, that a difference in opinion does exist between the cul- 

 tivators of the pink, by the remarks of Mr. Dent, and those of Mr. 

 Conolly, inserted in the last number of the Cabinet ; besides which, 

 Mr. Ibbett has unwillingly acknowledged the fact in his very ungene- 

 rous, I may say unjust, observations on Mr. Dent's article, in which, 

 " at one fell swoop," he condemns a host of cultivators without con- 

 sidering the fact of the different criteria of perfection entertained by 

 each grower. 



It is admitted that the Lancashire florists have their standard of 

 perfection for this particular flower, but the same may appear insig- 

 nificant in the estimation of Mr. Ibbett, when opposed to the metro- 

 politan one ; and such observations he has hazarded does not redound 

 much to his credit as a florist. 



I beg to mention that I had some conversation last season with a 

 southern commercial florist, who regularly attends the metropolitan 

 exhibitions, and who had been a tour through the northern provinces 

 for the purpose of inspecting their flowers; and when alluding to the 

 properties of the pink, he candidly admitted there was abundance of 

 room for improvement in the southern varieties, and observed that 



