188 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



the Jower or outer circle of petals, commonly called the guard leaves; these 

 shonld rise perpcndicnlarly, about half an inch above the calyx, and then 

 turn oft gracefully in a horizontal direction, supporting the interior petals, 

 which should decrease gradual!}' in size as they approach the centre, and with 

 them the centre should be well filled. All the petals should be regularly dis- 

 posed, and lie over each other in such a manner as that their respective and 

 miited" beauties should meet the eye altogether; they should be nearly flat, or 

 with only a small degree of inflection at the broad end; then: edges should 

 be perfectly entire, without notch, fringe, or indenture ; the calyx should be 

 at least an inch, sufficiently strong at the top to keep the bases O'f the petals 

 in a close and circular body. 



3. The middle of the flowers should not rise too high above the other parts. 



4. The coloui-s should be bright and equally marked all over the flower, 

 perfectly distinct, the stripes regular, narrowing gradually to the claw of the 

 petal, and there ending in a fine point. Almost one half of each petal should 

 be of a clear white, and perfectly free from spots. 



5. The flower should be very full of petals, so as to render it, when blown, 

 very thick in the middle, and the outside perfectly round. 



On Pinks, Carnations, Dahlias, &c. — Pinks, in consequence of the hot 

 and dry weather in May, have neither been very large nor very fine this year 

 in the neighbourhood of the Metropolis; and for the same reason, Anemonies 

 and Ranunculuses were a complete failure. Carnations and Picotees, on the 

 contrary, have been particularly fine, and their colours bright and clear; they 

 came into flower a fortnight at least sooner than usual, and owing to the re- 

 freshing showers and cool moist atmosphere, have been of considerable dura- 

 tion. There is likewise every prospect of a good crop of seed since the hot 

 weather has set in, especially with those florists who are at the pains to set the 

 flowers by fecundating the stigma of the pistils or horns that make their ap • 

 pearance above the calyx, taking care to extract the withered and dead petals, 

 which, if left in, are apt to imbibe and retain the wet, and thus rot the base 

 of the seed vessel and render it abortive. Two of the best seedling C'arna- 

 tions that I have seen this year, are two purple flakes ; the one is called Las- 

 celle's Queen of Sheba, raised by a Clergyman near Cambridge; it is of ex- 

 cellent formation, the petals well rounded, the white good, and the purple 

 bright and shining like enamel : the other is a full sized flower of equally 

 good properties, having the petals well flaked with the deepest purple that I 

 have ever seen in any Carnation ; it was raised near Reading three years ago, 

 and is expected to be sold out this Autumn at 10s. a pair, of which notice 

 will be given in your Magazine; it is called AUeway's Wonder of the World. 



Dahlias to all appearance promise an excellent and early bloom, if the 

 weather continue favourable; but if it should remain dry for any length of 

 time, they will require to be watered freely. A most superb Dahlia, raised 

 last year by Mr. Wells, of Bickley, to whom we are indebted for Agrippina, 

 Lutea purpurea, and other fine varieties, is coming out next May, under the 

 name of Lady Ramsden, at 5s. a plant; it is perfectly double, large, and well 

 formed, aud the colour a very bright pinky rose. Permit me also to notice 

 two other seedling Dahlias, in the way of Levick's Coraraander-inChief, that 

 have been shewn this year; the first raised by Mr. Bates, of Oxford, has a 

 broad crimson stripe up the middle of each petal, which is of a reddish 

 purple; the other raised by Mr. Hogg, of Paddington, (the author of the 

 excellent Supplement on Florist's Flowers,^ is marked in the same manner 

 with a bright crimson stripe, only the rest of the petal is of a dark purple.— 

 One of the nearest approaches of variegation in a double Dahlia to that of a 

 flaked Carnation, was seen in a French flower, called the National, exhibited 

 by Mr. Ho-iG, at a meeting of the Horticultural Society in Regent-street, on 

 Tuesday, the 7th of August; the flower was of a dirty white, or rather cream 

 colour, with broad and narrow stripes of clove red, running iiTegularly the 

 whole length of the petals ; it excited much notice, though the flower was not 

 of the best formation. 



London, August \5lli, 1833. Ckito. 



P.S. The Dahlias began to flower early this season, but they seem to sufl'er 

 greatly irom the ravages of earwigs, which do uot Seem fond of entering the 



