BRIEF REMARKS. 211 



Perry's ; and he observes, in a communication sent to the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle : On entering the Victoria-house, and seeing the plant in 

 bloom,-— 



" I cannot help stating that I felt rather disappointed on first seeing 

 the flower of the Victoria, after the marvellous display made by its 

 foliage. Such a leaf seemed to promise much ; and measuring the 

 bloom by the proportion that Nymphea flowers bear to their leaves, one 

 might have reasonably expected the Victoria to produce a flower as 

 large as the top of a bushel basket ; and if it had been rich in colour, 

 in addition to this large size, it would have been still more desirable - r 

 however, with all its beauties and all its shortcomings, it is fair indeed ; 

 but its ephemeral life extends only to a day ; the morrow dawns only 

 upon its decline, its work is finished, and the foot-prints of decay are 

 stealing over its loveliness. In colour, too, it suffers by comparison 

 with aquatics of less pretensions, for I need only refer to one well- 

 known genus, the Nymphaeas — plants of the easiest culture, where 

 there is room and warmth afforded them — to show that the tanks erected 

 for the Victoria may be greatly enriched by a margin of Nymphaeas. 

 A square yard or two of space is all that they require ; in fragrance 

 they are not to be surpassed ; in colour, some are of the purest white, 

 others are of the fairest shades of blue, whilst one or two are crimson. 



" On visiting the new Victoria-house at Messrs. Knight and Perry's 

 the other day, I was handsomely rewarded, after the many long 

 miles I had travelled to see the ' lions of London,' with a sight of by 

 far the loveliest flower I had ever set my eyes upon. It grew in a 

 corner of the tank, and might be twenty-five feet from where I stood ; 

 it was a Nymphsea, with a flower about as long as my hand, possessing 

 the colour of Le Geant des Batailles Rose, and, like all other plants or 

 flowers that grow upon the brink of still water, or that float upon its 

 bosom, it was reflected in the ' liquid element,' and consequently counted 

 double ; therefore, if any one is at all disappointed, as I confess I was, 

 in the flower of the Victoria regia, let him try a verge of Nymphaeas, 

 and he will not go unrewarded. I would also just hint to the London 

 sight-seer, that a cab-hire of half-a-crown to Chelsea will not be thrown 

 away in a visit to the nursery in question, where this beauiiful plant is 

 in bloom ; and before I take leave of this subject, I would beg to 

 remark that, as the Victoria Lily has raised the tanks to a dignified 

 standing, as compared with what they were, the same dignity ought to 

 be observed in the plants that are made to associate with tins queenly 

 flower. 



" The Nympheas are worthy of a place in every large tank ; and 

 those who can add Nelumbiums, will find that these three genera, well 

 grown, will form such a selection as cannot be excelled by any aquatics 

 in cultivation. 



" I was led to this remark by seeing in one place the gouty legs of 

 Pontederia crassipes, and the light foliage of Limnocharis Humboldtii, 

 floating under the heavy batteries of the Victoria, which seemed ready 

 to swamp them witli the next leaf that it unfurled." — Alex. Forsyth, 

 St. Mary's Church, June 26. — [Three thousand five hundred pounds 

 have been voted by Parliament, to be expended in the erection of An 



