18 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



still hold, that the carnation produced- the picotee, which 

 is the very opposite of the doctrine held by the gentleman 

 named above. Our conviction rests on no hypothesis, but 

 on recorded facts ; still, as there is no finality in such 

 matters, we leave the question to the further considera- 

 tion of the reader. 



Considered etymologically, a picotee is a spotted flower ; 

 and when a number of seedlings flowering for the first 

 time are under inspection, it will be observed that the 

 term is quite appropriate) for a certain number show a dis- 

 position in the colours to pass inward from the edge in 

 dots and dashes. In Parkinson's " Paradisus," page 313, 

 the figure of " Master Tuggie, his Princesse/' will display 

 a showy flower, with frilled edges and conspicuous spots, 

 in respect of which the author describes it as " very beau- 

 tiful, and exceedingly delightsome." The truth must be 

 told that this sort of thing is not now allowed. A picotee 

 must -no longer be spotted, but have a distinct and sharp 

 marginal line of colour, the breadth of which will deter- 

 mine whether it is a light-edged or heavy-edged flower : 

 those that are most prized having a very fine line of colour, 

 which entitles them to be designated wire-edged. 



The rules that now determine the degrees of merit in 

 these flowers may be said to date from July 25, 1850, 

 when a grand trial exhibition of carnations and picotees 

 was held in the Royal Nurseries, Slough, and nearly thirty 

 stands were put up, in addition to the blooms presented for 

 class showing. This was followed, on the 7th of August 

 of the same year, by a similar exhibition at Derby, when 

 there were presented thirty-six stands of six, fifteen of 

 twelve, and upwards of a thousand single specimens. It is 

 a curious fact that at both these brilliant encounters the 



