AN HOUR WITH THE HOLLYHOCK. 321 



ten days or a fortnight. In choosing for exhibition, 

 whether spikes or single flowers, we should be guided by 

 the standard previously laid down ; the nearer the flowers 

 approached to that the more perfect should we consider 

 our stand. It may not be necessary for the mere culti- 

 vator for amusement to dive so deep into the science 

 of floriculture ; this of course is a matter of choice ; but 

 the exhibitor should certainly obtain a clear conception of 

 what constitutes a good flower before he enters the field of 

 competition. 



The Hollyhock had, perhaps, scarcely been exhibited 

 in its grandest state until recently, owing to the Dahlia 

 shows at which it had usually figured falling behind the 

 period of its greatest beauty. To those, however, who 

 witnessed the exhibition at the Surrey Zoological Gardens 

 on the 22nd of August last year, nothing need be said in 

 its praise as a stage-flower. The beautiful columns of 

 brilliant and well contrasted colours, relieved by the quiet 

 protrusion of numberless small green leaves, formed a 

 picture which a Baptiste or a Lance might have rejoiced 

 to look upon and longed to copy. And while listening to 

 the opinions of various amateur and professional cultivators 

 as to the result of this first attempt at a "Hollyhock 

 Show," one pronouncing this flower to equal the Tulip in 

 brilliancy and beauty, another extolling the richness, 

 variety, and quantity of colour presented to the eye, all 

 agreed that the attempt was decidedly successful, and that 

 the Hollyhock would henceforth rank as a first-class 

 exhibition plant. 



Let us now consider what is the best description of box 

 for conveying the flowers in. As it will not be required to 

 show them in, but merely to protect them during transi- 

 tion, the more economically this can be contrived the 

 better. It may be made of three-quarter inch deal, the 

 boards closely fitted to exclude dust, rain, &c. The 

 length should not be less than four feet, and a box to hold 

 seven spikes should be three feet wide and fourteen inches 

 u 



