THE INDIAN PINK. 75 



'The Indian pink was introduced about 1713 by a 

 French, missionary named Bignon, and soon became a 

 popular garden flower. The plant has a singularly frail 

 appearance, and yet it is by no means tender in constitu- 

 tion. The narrow glaucous leaves, too, seem out of pro- 

 portion to its large and richly-coloured flowers, a quality 

 which may be termed " alpine/' for the plants of the 

 mountains commonly produce flowers of immense size in 

 proportion to the herbage that sustains them. Any ordi- 

 nary good soil will suit this plant, but excessive damp in 

 winter is to be carefully avoided by the cultivator, and 

 therefore, when grown on a heavy soil, the stock should 

 either be wintered in pots and boxes in a frame, or in a 

 bed in a pit, or, if in the open, a raised bed should be pre- 

 pared for them consisting of good loam with a considerable 

 proportion of sand. From this they may be transplanted 

 in April to the beds or borders in which they are to flower. 

 But this is beginning at the wrong end, because it pre- 

 supposes the possession of plants. The very best way to 

 obtain a stock is to sow seed in an open border or cold 

 frame in May or June. If the plants are required to flower 

 as early as possible the same season, sow in February 

 or March in pots or pans, and place on a hotbed or in 

 a warm house, and as soon as the seedlings have made 

 a little progress, prick them out into boxes and nurse 

 them with care, and plant out early in May. 



It is singular that the word " pink " is so various in its 

 meaning, that it may be cited as one of the wonders of 

 philology. We talk of the "pink of perfection;" and a 

 flower does not cease to be a pink though its colour may 

 be white, purple, or even yellow. Whitsunday is a ' ' pink 

 day/' but the term Pentecost does not mean either a 



