AN HOUR WITH THE HOLLYHOCK. 299 



impulses to the cultivator, and thus hasten on its civilisa- 

 tion. This state of gradual improvement probably went 

 on for a space of 250 years, and might have continued to 

 this moment, had not one cultivator stepped out of the 

 beaten track, and, working free from professional tram- 

 mels, followed a course of culture dictated by his own 

 observation and experience. This man was Mr Charles 

 Baron, a man unversed in garden literature, unused to 

 move among the skilled in the hidden and mysterious art, 

 and probably knowing little of the vegetable kingdom 

 beyond what existed within the boundary of his own small 

 garden plot. The Hollyhock was his favourite flower ; to 

 attend to it was his recreation ; his labour was a labour of 

 love. And thus a shoemaker of Walden, by concen- 

 trating his attention on a single species of plant, soon 

 distanced all competitors, and originated those flowers 

 which form one of the most striking and gorgeous features 

 of modern flower gardens. To rightly appreciate his 

 labours, we must not compare his seedlings, known as 

 Magnum Bonum, Rosea grandiflora, &c., with those figured 

 in Gerard's Herbal, in which the flowers, sparsedly 

 scattered along the stem, nod and droop at the bidding 

 of every breeze for they had long been numbered with 

 the things that were but with those of other cultivators 

 of the same date. The distinguishing characters of the 

 kinds he originated are their more perfect form, greater 

 substance, closer arrangement of petals, and greater 

 proximity of the flowers on the spike. Hence, they 

 would appear an advance in every important point. But 

 we must not suppose this improvement to have been the 

 offspring of a single effort. From month to month, and 

 from year to year, did this indefatigable cultivator toil, 

 and the result is a monument of perseverance as well as 

 skill. As we look upon this flower in its improved con- 

 dition, we cease to wonder at the rapid increase in the 

 number of amateurs, for what other surpasses it in warmth 

 of colouring, symmetry, and general magnificence? We 



