146 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ February 24, 1S63. 



income £31,381 13*. 10d., leaves a profit on the year of 

 £1013 11*. Id. This being the joint property of the Society 

 and the Royal Commissioners, each takes their share of profit, 

 ■which amounts to £506 15s. 9id. 



A correspondent, signing himself " Common Sense," sends a 

 letter to " ODe of our contemporaries," the whole gist of which 

 is, that he regards it as "a ground for satisfaction" tbat the 

 Society has spent so much money ; and that having only £3100 

 in hand, the nature of the works is such it will require so 

 much more to be spent before the whole can be completed. 

 Thai's all. He does not gainsay a single statement we put 

 forward in our last article, the sole intention of which was to 

 show our readers what was the exact condition of the Society, 

 and which really could not be gathered from the statements 

 made at the meeting, and with difficulty from the published 

 accounts. 



ASTEES. 



These is a danger in all reforms that they may become revo- 

 lutions, when people, not contented with a fair modicum of 

 change, ar? for overturning existing institutions altogether ; and 

 as such seems to be the character of a paper on "German 

 Flower Seeds " which appeared in a weekly contemporary, I 

 venture, ere it quite passes away, to say a few words on the 

 other side of the question. I do this with less hesitation, because 

 I have myself strongly condemned this system of "collections," 

 especially in the matter of genuine florists' flowers, where pro- 

 mises are held out that varieties shall come true in. their re- 

 spective classes and preserve the character of their parents — 

 about as likely a thing as that the chameleon will never change 

 its colour, and therefore, as far as the general bearing of 

 the paper is concerned, I am " in accord " with the writer. 

 What 1 object to is the length to which he has carried it, and 

 the manner in which he has laid the whip on the broad shoulders ! 

 of the German seedsmen, when the fault is on our own side of 

 the water quite as much. 



The objections made are — 1, The excessive number of varieties 

 advertised ; and 2, the equally excessive number of colours, 

 and, having enumerated from one of the seed catalogues (and 

 one is a fair specimen of all) , 183 varieties, he recommends us 

 to discard all but twelve, and that eventually all parties will be 

 benefited. 



With regard to the number of varieties. That there are these 

 different — dwarfs, tails, bouquets, hedgehogs, &c, is evident 

 enough ; and it may be that some people admire flowers like 

 a hedgehog ; (can't say I do any more than I admire the beast 

 himself), but to say that there are onlj two kinds worth growing 

 is rather too far a shunt in the other direction. 



The following I believe to be well worth having : —1, Truffaut's 

 Pffiony-flowered ; 2, Perfection Paeony-flowered, or Perfection 

 simply in some catalogues ; 3, Dwarf Chrysanthemum-dowered ; I 

 4, Cocardeau or Crown Asters ; 5, Betteridge's Quilled. Where j 

 exhibitions are in view some would also add the Giant Emperor. 

 The first two sorts differ rather in shape than in anything else, 

 the Perfection being more imbricated, called by the raisers in 

 France " imbrique," while the others are "pivoiae." There is, 

 I know, sometimes confusion in these classes ; but all I wish 

 to imply is, that there are two classes of the Pseony-flowered 

 Asters differing mainly as to their form. With regard to the 

 third cla.'s, it is one of the greatest acquisitions possible for us 

 small gardeners ; its dwarf habit, the freedom with which the 

 flowers are produced, and the size of the blooms, making it 

 quite an autumn gem. Entirely distinct from any of these 

 are the Cocardeau, Cockade, or Crown Asters, having either 

 scarlet or blue guard petals, and the centre filled-up with white. 

 I know of no Asters more distinct than these are, or more 

 pleasing. Then as to Betteridge's. I mention them because 

 they are, as far as I have seen, the very finest of the Quilled 

 varieties. Some of the German Quilled are very good, but I 

 have never seen any that on the whole equalled these, and they 

 invariably take first prize at the great metropolitan exhibitions. 

 Here there are five, or at any rate four, sorts of Asters well 

 worth growing — an opinion in which I think I shall be borne 

 out by the majority of those who have grown tbem. And then 

 with regard to the colours. Indubitably there is need of reform 

 here. The difference between tweedledum and tweedledee was 

 not more imperceptible than the difference of tints that these 

 Asters, Stocks, Zinnias, &c., are made to assume. A rosy car- 



mine and a carmine rose, a pale fleBh and a light pink, do cer- 

 tainly sound very much alike, and, what is more, are very much 

 alike ; but I think the saddle has been hardly put upon the 

 right horse. 



On referring to the schedule of the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 I find that exhibitors are required to show 24 distinct varieties 

 in both, what are called by them, Tasselled and Quilled Asters. 

 Here, then, according to the estimate of what ought to be the 

 highest tribunal in the land for floricultural purposes, there are, 

 instead of 12, 48 varieties worth cultivating ! But I believe this 

 to be a great mistake. It is possible in the Tasselled varieties, 

 by selecting from the Giants, Emperors, Chrysanthemum-flow- 

 ered, &c., to find 24 which may be distinct ; but to do so in the 

 Quilled ones is utterly impossible. I have over and over again 

 gone over the stands as exhibited at Kensington and the Crystal 

 Palace, and never have been able to make out more than a 

 dozen, and even that with some difficulty. It is of no use, then, 

 calling it a " German humbug," while we are ourselves encou- 

 raging them to carry it out and to fleece us. If we are really 

 sincere in our endeavours we must begin at home. Charity is 

 said to begin there, and certainly reformation ought. When 

 exhibitors are expected to do less, then seedsmen will not urge 

 their foreign correspondents to send them over distinct colours 

 when no such distinctness exists. Nor do I see in what other 

 way the difficulty is likely to be abated. It is perfectly true 

 that no advantage is gained by purchasing the smaller-sized 

 packets, as then one only obtains a larger proportion of the indis- 

 tinct varieties ; but il societies would say tbat they do not look 

 for such a large number of colours, we should in that case be 

 likely to see a change. 



I may, perhaps, seem to be laying too great a stress on exhi- 

 bitions as affecting these things, but those who know the progress 

 of horticulture are aware how much they have to do with them. 

 When a flower is thrown into the shade in schedules it very 

 soon ceases to be so extensively grown ; and who does not know 

 that the amazing increase in the popularity of the Rose is due, 

 in no slight degree, to those national exhibitions at which eager 

 competition brings together people from all parts to show their 

 flowers and to take a leaf — a Rose leaf — out of their neighbours' 

 books ? To regard them a show, as only a means of making 

 money, is taking a very low estimate. It does more — it acts as 

 an encouragement on all concerned when properly managed. 

 And when a man finds that his neighbour Tomkins, with only 

 half as much ground as he has, has walked off with a first prize 

 for Roses, he begins to think, " Why shouldn't I do as well as 

 Tomkins ?" And then the desire of doing likewise comes in, and 

 next season sees Smith very close on Tomkins' heels, and the 

 following season perhaps ahead of him : therefore, I say, these 

 reformations must begin here. Do not let them be too sweeping 

 — nothing will be gained by that ; but the good sense of the 

 public will, I should think, prevent that. 



We hare to thank the foreign seed-growers for most of the 

 really good additions to our novelties, and especially in Asters. 

 Do not let us now deal too harshly with those who have so 

 largely benefited our autumn-gardening. — D., Deal. 



OLD EOSES versus NEW EOSES. 



The crafty magician in the " Arabian Nights," cried " new 

 lamps for old;" and "new Roses for old ones" appears the 

 annual cry of our neighbours across the channel. For one, I 

 must confess my self heretic enough to doubt the value or wisdom 

 of the exchange, particularly in the face of many of the im- 

 portations we have received during the past few years ; not that 

 I hold novelty objectionable per se, but only when it is made the 

 cover of unfounded pretension, or the medium for passing off 

 mediocrity as sterling merit. And this holds good With respect 

 to Roses as well as to graver matters. I could point out fifty 

 or sixty floral impostors at least, whose only pretence to a place 

 in the catalogues is their novelty, by virtue of which they exclude 

 older and better kinds, which, consequently drop out of cul- 

 tivation and are lost. It is quite certain that our nurserymen 

 must, of course, repay themselves for their risk and expense in 

 importing novelties. Twenty or twenty-five francs is the usual 

 price for each new kind, without the expense of carriage ; so that 

 two or three plants of forty or fifty varieties, amount to a con- 

 siderable outlay, which takes some getting-back, without reckon- 

 ing any profit upon the enterprise. 



