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NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



FEBRUARY 6 tK39. 



FLORICULTURE. 



THE PROPERTIES OF FLOWERS. I 

 The advuncernent of floriculture! has always been i 

 an object of tlie tirat importance with ns. We i 

 have taken more pains with it than with nny other ! 

 branch of horticulture or gardening, because itj 

 would be followed with adv:\ntage by a larger class, 

 and by persons in all erades of society. 'l"he Hor- 

 ticultural Journal has paid great attentiim to the 

 properties of flowers, with a view of teaching the 

 amateur what is necessary to render him asucces.s- 

 ful exhibitor, and confirming the more experienced, 

 but perhaps wavering, professional gardener in 

 some fixed principles. It is desirable that all per- 

 sons should be united upon tlie value of fancy 

 flowers, and, of course, upon the standard of per- 

 fection by which such value shall bo estimated. 

 The Metropolitan Society has done more towards 

 filing this standari than all the Horticultural and 

 Floral Societies put together. The rules laid down 

 by that society have been followed, or professed to 

 be followed, by almost every establishment, de- 

 sei^ing the name of Floral or Horticultural, in the 

 kingdom, and it has bean of great service to the 

 science. The properties of flowers were, at one 

 time, valued by no set rules of propriety, by no 

 consistent attribute of beauty. The whims and 

 fancies of particular individuals pronounced par- 

 ticular points estimable, without considering wheth- 

 er such point- increased the splendor of a flower; 

 whereas the points insisted upon by the Metropoli- 

 tan Siciety, without a single exception, increased 

 the beauty of a flower even to ordinary eyes. Thus 

 it was that roundness and flatness in tlie bloom of 

 a pansy were said to be the standard of perfection : 

 place side by side a pausy of the old shape, and 

 one nearly approaching the circle, unbroken through 

 . the petals, overlapping each other and tolerably flat, 

 the ir.osl unpractised eye will see the richness of 

 one compared with the other, and though there are 

 none quite round or quite flat, there are many which 

 approach both, and they are the more valuable in 

 proportion to their near approach. Agaiuj the pro- 

 perties of the dahlia are equally well defined, the 

 nearer the sliape approacli"-" tvc thirds of a hull 

 the better. Everybody can understand this deflni- 

 ,tion of the property of a dahlia. It is true, that 

 to become this form, the petals must be broad, 

 round ended, short, and imbricate well, free from 

 notch, plenty of them, and the centre not over 

 bloomed ; but these are details. If the flower be 

 two-thirds of a ball, the detail is sure to be good, 

 for if the petals be narrow ,or pointed, or long, the 

 flower cannot be well formed. A tulip has been 

 equally as well defined as to property, and very 

 fortunately, for the flowers which were bearing 

 high prizes were perverting the taste of the grow- 

 ers ; and it will take some years to correct it. 

 Neverthi'less, the rule laid down by the Metropoli- 

 tan Society cannot be mistaken. The desired form, 

 when expanded, is from one-third to one-half of a 

 hollow ball, forming, as'a matter of course, a per- 

 fectly round shallow cup ; for, as the beauty of a 

 tulip is in the inside, no other form will so well 

 display it The tulip must, however, possess one 

 quality without which it will bo now set down as 

 valueless. The white or the yellow must be of 

 one uniform shade or tint, without stain, to the very 

 centre. In this case, as in the other, the most 

 ordinary observer, who may know nothing about 

 tulips, shall, nevertheless, in a moment decide that 



the clear round flower is more beautiful than one 

 that is stained or not round. Upon this principle 

 should the value of all such productions be esti- 

 mated. We do not mean that every body should 

 be able to appreciate all the points of a good flow- 

 er ; but that the leiiling ones, especially the form, 

 should be that most likely to please the world. 

 The auricula is a flower equally requiring a proper 

 estimation of properties, and equally yidebted to 

 the Metropolitan Society for published rules by 

 which to regulate them. The chief point here 

 again is form. To be quite round and quite flat, 

 like a counter, would be perfection: but here the 

 color? form a much more important feature than in 

 other flowers, for the auricula will come all green 

 like a calix, or all white and ineal)', without any 

 distinct color. It has been, therefore, necessary 

 to state that theie should be several divisions of 

 color ; the small tube in the cent-e should be bright 

 yellow — the circle round this perfectly white — the 

 next circle should be a distinct color, lilac, violet, 

 purple, blue, brown, or dark approaching to black, 

 and very unbroken — and the outer circle of all 

 green, grey, or white ; and in proportion as all 

 these form distinct circles, and the individual pips 

 are flat, &c. does the value of the flower increase. 

 There is another property estimated in London and 

 its vicinity more than in the country. The Metro- 

 politan Society consider it a leading property that 

 the auricula should form a bold truss of seven pips 

 or flowers at the least ; ii,i the country they do not 

 require more than five. Thus many /lowers will 

 do for tha country that wOuld not do in the metro- 

 polis. 



In roses, novelty seems to have been the leading 

 point, and many growers have discovered novelty 

 where nobody else could ; but there are properties 

 as essential to a good rose, as to any other flower, 

 novelty forming one of them. A rose should be 

 strongly perfumed — the petals should be thick, 

 round, and plentiful ; the color bright, aod the 

 flower double ; the more of these properties pos- 

 sessed by a rose, the better it is. Hundreds, 

 however, are in cultivation so nearly resembling 

 each other, so nearly approaching to single, so 

 weak in their perfume, and so straggling in 

 their growth, as to make every amateur who has 

 purchased largely repent truly that he has been 

 governed by fine names, instead of fine qualities. 

 Geraniums have couie in for their share of atten- 

 tion as to properties. The majority of them have 

 petals so narrow, that, as there are hut five, they 

 divide and form an irregular star ; they ought, like 

 the heart's-ease, to be wide enough to lap over 

 each other, and form a whole and nearly circular 

 flower, rather campanulated tlian otherwise. Tliese 

 ought to'come in trusses, comprising at least six or 

 eight blooms each, and forming good close heads. 

 Bright colors, novel pencilling, and deep dark spots 

 on the upper petals, are in great esteem ; but the 

 best at present, for form and style of growth, is 

 Dennis's Perfection, though the color is deficient. 

 Others asserted to be as well Jormtd and bAler 

 colored, are said to have been raised and coming 

 out, if not out already, and indeed we have observ- 

 ed several bright and good flowers very closely ap- 

 proach it, but we confess we have not seen any 

 fully up to the point ; and though, as we have said 

 before, the coloring is deficient, we have not seen 

 any one so complete in form of flowers, beauty of 

 truss, and general style of growth. The principal 

 object we have in view here is to show that, in the 

 estimate of properties by the Metropolitan Society 



of Florists, regard is had to those points wliic 

 ploase everybody ; that in fact, taken m a genere 

 way, an ordinary flower placed by the side of 

 flower approaching the standard of perfection lai 

 down, shall appear inferior to ordinary observers— 

 tl^at the properties estimated as valuable to th 

 connoisseur shall enlist among its admirers all pei 

 sons of taste, whether florists or not ; and whe 

 we resume this sui)ject to go into details, we sha 

 be able also to show, that there is a good rcast 

 to be made apparent to common observers, forever 

 [loiut esteemed by the society as essfntial to 

 good flower. In tulip growers we have obserie 

 more whimsical notions than among any other claE 

 of florists. But such is the advantage, of settin 

 even the experienced cultivator upon a right coursi 

 with regard to the properties of flowers, that ther 

 are sorts which bore a great price now hardl 

 cared for, and others which bore no price at a 

 gradually becoming favorites. The uncertainty ( 

 the bloom will aflways render the possession of 

 bed of flowers a source of anxious pleasure, b( 

 cause there are varieties usually stained at Ih 

 bottom, and therefore worthless, but which somi 

 times come very clean and fine, and they are the 

 grand beyond description. Nine times out of te 

 a Siam will beat a Louis, but the tenth time tl: 

 Louis may come without its usual stain at the bo 

 torn, and then it is a sight worth travelling mih 

 for. But Louis has never won at the Metropolits 

 Society's shows, and we doubt if it ever will, bi 

 cause, if one does happen to coiae clear, which 

 not twice in a century, we might as well persuac 

 a grower to cut off his own head-as to cut his bloo 

 to exhibit. Pompe funebre, a valuable or rather 

 high-priced flower, is certainly a worse flower the 

 Polyphemus, in every stage, from blight to perfc' 

 tion, and as a single flower in cotnpetition it wi 

 not create a moment's doubt. Tiie Metropolits 

 Society jS rules would enable a man; who never sa 

 flowers, to judge which was the best, and there 

 no small difficulty, when old cultivators are selects 

 forjudges, to keep them from giving the prizes 1 

 dear flowers instead of those of good propertie 

 These, however, are difficulties easily got over, ar 

 we conclude for the present by congratulating tf 

 general cultivator of flowers upon the great ac 

 vantages derived from coming to a general unde, 

 standing upon what are esteemed the real propertit 

 of flowers. — London Horticultural Journal. 



LILIES. 



In a number of last year's Jinnahs dcs Jurdinitii 

 Amuxturs, a description is given of two varietit' 

 of the lily genus, which may prove interesting t 

 some of our horticultural friends. One of then 

 the /)7i'i(m lancifolium punrtalum, a variety of th 

 L. Broussarli. It is described as about six fei 

 high, with leaves about six to eight inches long 

 the flowers exceedingly firm and large ; each 

 the six petals six or seven inshes long; the cole 

 of a snow white with spots of a beautiful ros 

 color for a short space dashed over it; the eurpk 

 j)arl of the lower end of each petal is of a moj 

 lovely snow white, and terminates in a point in tli 

 thorns, which are alternate and large ; in the othe 

 there the summits are a little longer and are turne 

 in a spiral ; the appearance of each flower, to th 

 number of six or seven (and many more when th 

 plant is very strong) presents a vast and super 

 corolla of white, in the centre of which is placet 

 enchased in a circle of swan's down, a large an 

 magnificent green star, whose rays divide d sort c 



