POLYANTHUS. 259 



from good plants, when they come into flower, grow 

 freely, on being treated in the manner of those 

 taken from carnations. Pinks are divided by flo- 

 rists into classes; namely, damask, cobs, and 

 pheasant's- eye. The first are white, and flower 

 early; the cobs are red, and flower late. The fol- 

 lowing are the characteristics of a good pink; to 

 be very double, and to open freely without bursting, 

 to have the petals round like a rose leaf, not ragged 

 in the edge: to have the body of the flower a clear 

 white, and the lacing, as the colours displayed on 

 the white ground are called, a rich black, shaded 

 towards the centre with red; a scarlet or purple 

 lacing, being more rare, is also more admired. 



Polyanthus. Prom long cultivation and the 

 mixture of pollen the varieties of this fine spec- 

 cies are without number. There is really some- 

 thing in the rules of critics with regard to flowers. 

 For though the inexperienced would judge differ- 

 ently, yet cultivators come generally to esteem the 

 same properties a fact which vindicates the rules 

 of criticism in other departments. In the polyanthus 

 the tube of the corolla above the calyx should be short 

 and well filled with anthers; the circular of a clear 

 yellow and distinct from the ground colour; the 

 ground colour shaded with a light and dark crimson, 

 resembling velvet, with one stripe in the centre of 

 each division of th*e border distinct from the edging, 

 and terminating in a fine point at the eye: the petals 

 large flat and round: the edging, resembling a bright 

 gold lace,shouldbe distinct, not joined to the colours 



