17 



establishment of the American Pomological Society, two 

 of whose meetings and exhibitions were held under the 

 auspices of the former in this era. 



In the flower department we have noted the intro- 

 duction of the deutzias, the weigelia, the dielytra, and 

 the Lillum auratum. A period which includes the 

 introduction of such beautiful and popular plants must 

 be deemed a most important one ; yet we might add 

 the names of hundreds more only less conspicuous than 

 these. Among green-house plants perhaps the most 

 extraordinary acquisition Avas the Victoria regia ; and, 

 though not now cultivated here, such is not the case 

 with the multitudes of variegated-leaved plants, the 

 introduction of which took place at about the same 

 time with the flowering of the Victoria, and the taste 

 for which has been continually increasing. Among 

 flowering plants we can only allude to the improvement 

 in the azalea, the fuchsia, the gloxinia and other 

 green-house plants. In the garden we notice the mul- 

 tiplication of beautiful roses, and especially the advent 

 and improvement of the hybrid perpetual class. Next 

 to the rose, the gladiolus showed most advance, but 

 hardly more than that in hardy rhododendrons and aza- 

 leas, in tree and herbaceous pi^eonies, in the phlox, the 

 astor, the petunia, and the hollyhock ; while the taste 

 for the dahlia — once next to the rose in popularity — 

 was on the decline. Nor would we overlook the revival 

 of interest in the exhibition of native plants. In new 

 seedlings originated here, the greatest advance was 

 shown in the gladiolus ; but the phlox continued to be 

 a favorite subject of improvement ; and the hardy rho- 

 dodendrons, Japan lilies, petunias, and many others on 

 a smaller scale, were the subjects of successful experi- 

 ments. 



Closely connected with the cultivation of flowers is the 

 growth of a better taste in regard to their arrangement 



