42 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 
be always valued for posies, as stated by Rea. It was not, 
however, until well into the nineteenth century that the 
Pink ranked amongst “ Florist’s’’ flowers, with the Auricula, 
Carnation, Picotee, Ranunculus, and Tulip. But subse- 
quently, Pink shows were held, and many amateurs took to 
the raising of seedlings. The leading raisers of Pinks about 
the middle of the century were Messrs. Norman, Bragg, 
McLean, Turner, Looker, Hales, Lightbody, Marris, and a 
few others. There were hundreds of amateur cultivators in 
Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire ; also in 
the southern districts of Scotland. The fringed petals of 
the original species and the earlier garden types had, in the 
varieties in question, been replaced with smooth-edged petals 
and well-formed, double flowers. It was found that the 
Pink possessed a robust constitution, and was not affected 
in the least by our uncertain winters, which are sometimes 
so destructive to plant life, not so much on account of 
severe frost, as from the sudden changes of weather, from 
heavy rains to frosts and thaws alternately. The standard 
of excellence in the Pink was not settled satisfactorily until 
about the middle of the century. As usual, the garden- 
ing periodicals opened their pages to discuss this question 
of the standard of excellence. In regard to form, the 
florists did not approve of the petals with serrated edges, 
and, after years of careful selection, they obtained smooth, 
well-formed petals, and flowers as perfect as the best Car- 
nations. In respect to colour, the flowers had a well-de- 
fined, dark centre, and the petals were white, with a coloured 
margin, edged again with white. 
