42 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



be always valued for posies, as stated by Rea. It was not, 

 however, until well into the nineteenth century that the 

 Pink ranked amongst " Florist's " flowers, with the Auricula, 

 Carnation, Picotee, Ranunculus, and Tulip. But subse- 

 quently, Pink shows were held, and many amateurs took to 

 the raising of seedlings. The leading raisers of Pinks about 

 the middle of the century were Messrs. Norman, Bragg, 

 McLean, Turner, Looker, Hales, Lightbody, Marris, and a 

 few others. There were hundreds of amateur cultivators in 

 Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire ; also in 

 the southern districts of Scotland. The fringed petals of 

 the original species and the earlier garden types had, in the 

 varieties in question, been replaced with smooth-edged petals 

 and well-formed, double flowers. It was found that the 

 Pink possessed a robust constitution, and was not affected 

 in the least by our uncertain winters, which are sometimes 

 so destructive to plant life, not so much on account of 

 severe frost, as from the sudden changes of weather, from 

 heavy rains to frosts and thaws alternately. The standard 

 of excellence in the Pink was not settled satisfactorily until 

 about the middle of the century. As usual, the garden- 

 ing periodicals opened their pages to discuss this question 

 of the standard of excellence. In regard to form, the 

 florists did not approve of the petals with serrated edges, 

 and, after years of careful selection, they obtained smooth, 

 well-formed petals, and flowers as perfect as the best Car- 

 nations. In respect to colour, the flowers had a well-de- 

 fined, dark centre, and the petals were white, with a coloured 

 margin, edged again with white. 



