THE INDIAN PINK. ’ i) 
The Indian pink was introduced about 1713 by a 
French missionary named Bignon, and soon became a 
popular garden Hower. The plant has a singularly frail 
appearance, and yet itis by no means tender in constitu- 
tion. The narrow glaucous leaves, too, seem out of pro- 
portion to its large and richly-coloured flowers, a quality 
which may be termed “alpine,” for the plants of the 
mountains commonly produce tlowers of immense size in 
proportion to the herbage that) sustains them. Any ordi- 
nary good soil will suit this plant, but excessive damp in 
winter is to be carefully avoided by the cultivator, and 
therefore, when grown on a heavy soil, the stock should 
either be wintered in pots and boxes in a frame, or in a 
bed in a pit, or, if in the open, a raised bed should be pre- 
pared for them consisting of good loam with a considerable 
proportion of sand. From this they may be transplanted 
in April to the beds or borders in which they are to Hower. 
But this is beginning at the wrong end, because it pre- 
supposes the possession of plants. The very best way to 
obtain a stock is to sow seed in an open border or cold 
frame in Mayor June. If the plants are required to flower 
as early as possible the same season, sow in February 
or March in pots or pans, and place on a hotbed or in 
a warm house, and as goon as the seedlings have made 
a little progress, prick them out into boxes and nurse 
them with care, and plant out early in May. 
It is singular that the word “ pink ” is so various in its 
meaning, that it may be cited as one of the wonders of 
philology. We talk of the “pink of perfection;” and a 
Hower does not cease to be a pink though its colour may 
be white, purple, or even yellow. Whitsunday is a “pink 
day,” but the term Pentecost does not mean either a 
