August 18, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICT7LTCTEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



123 



to New Plants and Flowers — that is, subjects staged as novelties, have 

 been already noted in a paper published in the first volume of the 

 Society's Journal, but in order to present a more complete view of 

 the subject, I will hero briefly recapitulate what I have therein 

 advanced. 



(a). Flowering Plants. — The features which are the most desir- 

 able in a plant cultivated as a decorative object for the sake of its 

 flowers — that is, in an ornamental -flowering plant viewed as a whole, 

 are the following : — 



1. Free and Symmetrical Habit of Growth. — "Whether naturally 

 slender or robust an ornamental plant should at least be free in the 

 development of its parts, and should present something lite regularity 

 in its growth, so far as that can be realised in conjunction with its 

 natural habit. The plant should not be of a stubborn immovable 

 character, resulting in a stunted aspect, nor must it be of a delicate 

 constitution, such as gardeners call " miffy." In a general way it 

 should be compact and bushy, so far as its natural character permits 

 — the opposite of lean and straggling in its mode of growth. Some- 

 times, it is true, a bad habit may be overcome by the skill of the culti- 

 vator, but it is better that a good habit should be inherent. Even in 

 a climber, lanky long-jointed growth is not desirable. 



2. Profusion of Flowers well displayed. — There should not only be 

 an abundance of flowers produced, but they should be so disposed as to 

 be effective ; that is, they must not be hidden amongst the foliage, nor, 

 if their beauty depends upon a view of their face, must they hang about 

 loosely so that the face cannot be seen. If they are pendent, it should 

 be with natural grace. They should not be crowded by foliage, nor 

 crushed among themselves by being over-numerous or disadvautage- 

 ously set on. 



3. Healthy Leaf development. — No plant can be really beautiful 

 which has not well-grown and well-coloured healthy foliage ; but the 

 leaves should generally be subdued in comparison with the flowers, and 

 must not in any case be disproportionately large or numerous. If the 

 foliage is handsome, so much the better, but it must be healthy and 

 wholesome -looking. 



4. Bright, pure, dense, or pleasingly -contrasted Colours. — All dull 

 dingy colours stamp a flower with inferiority, though they may some- 

 times be permitted as curiosities, especially if the flower is of some 

 very remarkable form in its family, or presents some peculiar novelty. 



5. Form and Substanee of Floioers and Endurance. — Unless flowers 

 put on Borne of the best forms which their particular type may be ca- 

 pable of yielding, and are stout and durable in texture, they neither 

 present the highest beauty of which they are capable, nor do their 

 beauties, of whatever order, continue. Flimsy flowers soon perish, and 

 are hence much inferior to those of stout enduring substance. 



6. Succession of Bloom. — It is a greater merit to produce a succession 

 of flowers, in order that the blooming season may be prolonged, pro- 

 vided they are not thereby rendered scanty and scattered, than to give 

 a flush of flowers, the beauty of which is fleeting, and then not to 

 blossom again for a considerable period. Next in merit to a plentiful 

 succession of flowers comes a good head of bloom ; and those plants 

 are of the least value for ornamental purposes which only bear a few 

 scattered blossoms at long intervals of time. 



7. Size of Flowers is an advantage, all other points being equal; but 

 size is apt to degenerate into coarseness, and hence it is not a feature 

 to be estimated too highly. 



8. Distinctness. — If it were not for the development of this character- 

 istic, our flowers would lack half the charms they now have, owing to 

 the almost endless variety they present; and hence this feature of dis- 

 tinctness should be made a sine qua non. A new flower which has not 

 appreciable distinctness has no advantage over the older ones which 

 resemble it. 



9. Grateful Odour. — A pleasant perfume is a great advantage in any 

 flower, and must have its full weight in making any award to a new 

 plant. 



10. Novelty. — A decidedly new character is worth recognition in the 

 absence of any ocher merit ; for if the plant presenting it does not 

 in other respects give us exactly what we desire, the new feature is to be 

 regarded as the first step towards obtaining a new race ; and to produce 

 a new race is equivalent to the addition of a new province to the king- 

 dom of Flora. If the new feature is some manifest improvement so 

 much the better, but a new feature, though not in itself a direct and 

 present advantage, may lead to something which is desirable. When, 

 moreover, it is made an aim to develope, in connection with the novel 

 character, the elements of beauty or utility, in which it may be deficient, 

 this aim will in almost all cases be sooner or later realised, owing to 

 the plasticity of vegetable development. 



(5). Foliage Plants. — In regard to plants grown for the sake of 

 their foliage, many of the points of merit are the same as those sought 

 for in flowering plants. The most desirable features appear to fall 

 under the following heads: — ■ 



1. Free and Symmetrical Habit of Growth. — This feature is even 

 more essential here than in the case of flowering plants, as great part 

 of the beauty of the specimen neccessarily depends upon it. 



2. Healthy Leaf development. — As the beauty of the plant is to be 

 sought in its foliage, the leaves must at least be developed in a healthy 

 and vigorous manner. 



3. Gracefulness or Nobility of Aspect. — Most of the plants grown 

 for foliage alone are prized on account of one or other of these features, 

 Hence a common-looking plant which does not possess either one or 



the other, and does not yield showy flowers as a compensation, must 

 be held to possess little merit from the decorative point of view, how- 

 ever curious or interesting it may be in other respects. 



4. Endurace of Foliage. — When the beauty of the plant depends on 

 the appearance presented by the foliage, it is obvious that the more 

 enduring the character of that foliage, the longer will the plant retain 

 its beauty. Hence endurance in the foliage becomes a very important 

 quality. A deciduous plant is on this ground less valuable per se 

 than an evergreen, although it may be good in its way, or in its 

 season. But, then, evergreens and deciduous plants are not strictly 

 comparable. 



5. Distinctness. — When the beauty of a plant has to be sought in 

 its leafage alone, there is much less scope for variety than when flowers 

 are superadded ; but it becomes all the more essential to avoid the 

 sameness of aspect which must prevail, if distinctness of character is 

 not insisted on. 



6. Pleasing and Well-marlced Colour. — The leaf, that is to say, 

 should, if green, be a good pleasant healthy-looking green, and if of 

 any other colour, it should be of some decided and agreeable tint 

 or tone. 



7. Well-defined Colours or Marhings. — This is an essential part of 

 beauty in the case of variegated leaves, and variegation is a condition 

 commonly presented by what are called ornamental- foliage d plants. 

 A cloudy intermixture of colours in leaves, as in flowers, is seldom or 

 never effective. 



8. Novelty of Character. — Though only to be valued as the ste pping 

 stone to the production of new races, as in the case of flowering plants, 

 yet when combined with other elements of beauty, or as indicating 

 features which may be improved upon and worked up to greater per- 

 fection, this is a property much to be desired. 



It may here be observed that stove plants, greenhouse plants, and 

 hardy plants require to be judged independently of each other. At 

 first sight it might appear needless to estimate separately the merits 

 of these several groups, since it might be said that hardy plants, the 

 lowest in value intrinsically, stand really at an advantage in being 

 suited to the means of a larger number of cultivators than would be 

 able to accommodate hothouse plants, owing to the more costly nature 

 of the conditions necessary to the successful production of the latter ; 

 while to some cultivators, who cannot command any such costly ap- 

 pliances, they would, of course, be all in all. On the whole, however, 

 the several classes may be placed on an equality in so far as concerns 

 the judgment on their merits as new plants ; for whilst an advantage 

 must be admitted in the case of the hardier subject, on the ground of 

 its more general applicability, an advantage must certainly be accorded 

 to the hothouse plant on the ground of intrinsic value. But still I 

 would urge the adoption of this rule, that plants of the classes de- 

 nominated stove, greenhouse, and hardy, should be compared only 

 among themselves. This limitation should indeed be carried further, 

 for annuals, perennials, and shrubs or trees should in the same way 

 only bp compared amongst themselves; and of the latter, deciduous 

 plants and evergreens can only be fairly compared with plants corre- 

 sponding in character. The same may be said in reference to plants 

 of any specially -marked group, such as Agaves or Orchids. To ascer- 

 tain if a hardy Conifer was of first-class merit, it would be useless to 

 compare it with a Fern or a Palm. 



Further than this, plants adapted for blooming in the winter, or 

 spring, or summer, or autumn seasons, must be judged in their rela- 

 tions to those particular seasons, and must not be rigidly compared 

 except with those of their own season, because, in order to avoid a 

 scarcity of flowers at any period, it is necessary to cultivate such as 

 will extend the flowering period throughout the year. A plant may 

 thus be really valuable on account of its blooming in winter, which 

 would be regarded as comparatively worthless in summer, for the mere 

 fact of producing blossoms during winter is sufficient to outweigh a 

 multitude of minor defects. Hence may be deduced another conclu- 

 sion — namely, that the rules by which new plants are judged must be 

 relaxed in inverse proportion to the supply of flowers obtainable at 

 the particular season at which they bloom. These general considera- 

 tions must be allowed their full force in applying any set of rules for 

 the determination of the merits of new plants. 



(c). Florists' Flowers. — Though various in character, these admit 

 of more ready and exact comparison than the subjects of the two pre- 

 ceding groups ; for the number of organs to be adjudicated upon are 

 fewer, and hence the requisite features admit of more exact comparison 

 and definition, which definition has been already well worked out by 

 florists. The features to be specially sought, and their relative value, 

 are these : — 



1. Form. — In most single flowers this should be circular, or, where 

 the circle will not apply, symmetrical. In double flowers there should 

 be a ssmi-globular outline. Compouud flowers follow the same law as 

 double flowers. Tubular flowers, and some others of peculiar forms, 

 offer exceptions, which can only be dealt with individually. 



2. Substance. — The texture of the petals must be stout and dense 

 if the flower is to be durable, for if flimsy it soon gives way, and loses 

 both form and colour. 



3. Smoothness and Flatness of Edge and Surface. — These qualities 

 are eminently necessary to give refinement to the flower. A coarse 

 rough -surfaced flower bears no comparison with one of a velvet-like 

 smoothness and softness, and evenness of margin is equally necessary. 

 A regular series of wart-like spots, as in the case of some Lilies, is ( 



