AN HOUR WITH THE HOLLYHOCK. 301 



handsome flowers in Scotland, remarkable for smoothness 

 and brilliancy ; but it must be told that northern and 

 southern florists do not altogether coincide in their ideas 

 of a perfect flower, and each judges according to his own 

 standard. Moreover, the Scotch flowers do not improve 

 in an English climate, and our flowers are probably better 

 here than there. 



Much has been said of the beauty of the French 

 Hollyhocks (Rose tremieres). We have taken considerable 

 pains to visit the principal collections, to ascertain whether 

 they were worthy of introduction to British gardens. 

 Those of MM. Pele and Bacot, both in the neighbourhood 

 of Paris, are the best. They are superior to the old 

 English varieties, but inferior to the modern ones. In 

 conversing with the French growers, it was evident that 

 the Hollyhock had not yet taken a very high standing in 

 their country ; they had not learned to view it critically ; 

 it had not, so to speak, become a Florist's flower ; and 

 hence any variety the tout ensemble of which produced a 

 pleasing effect was cherished, without much regard to the 

 individual points of form, colour, substance, &c. Some of 

 the mottled or variegated kinds were pretty and distinct ; 

 but we could not discover any that would stand the test to 

 which they would be submitted by the English florist. 



It may be some gratification to the lover of this flower, 

 in a utilitarian age like this, to be able to assert a claim for 

 his favourite on the ground of utility. In the " Flora 

 Historica"* we find the following: "The Hollyhock is 

 likely to hold a higher rank in rural economy than that of 

 feeding bees. For some years past it has been known that 

 a good strong cloth may be made from the fibrous bark of 

 the flower-stalks of this plant ; and in the year 1821 about 

 280 acres of land near Flint, in Wales, were planted with 

 the common Hollyhock, with the view of converting the 

 fibres of this plant into thread, similar to that of hemp or 



* Phillip's Flora Historica. London, 1824. 



