16 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



•a colony of these Flemish refugees formed a settle- of these meetings, each purchaser pajdng for and 



ment ; and to this day florists' flowers are largely taking home his plants. "With the establishment 



.grown there, and frequent exhibitions held. of a horticultural press came more enlarged oppor- 



Thirty and even fewer years ago, these exhibitions tunities for interchange of o^Dinion on plants, and 



were a necessity, as they were the only means by the best modes of culture; and this new vehicle 



URicuLA (Variety C. E. Brown). 



which florists could interchange views as to the best 

 modes of cultivating their favourite flowers. They 

 were then as much of a social as of a competitive 

 <'haracter, and when the task of awarding prizes 

 had been performed, the florists sat down, and over 

 pipe and glass talked for hours about their floral 

 pets. In those days a new variety of known quality 

 cf any popular flower, when a sufficient number of 

 j)l;ints had been obtained, was "let out" at one 



brought into notice many other plants outside jf 

 those then known as florists' flowers. The Rose, 

 among others, became highly popular ; the "bedding- 

 out system," as it is termed, began to attract public 

 attention ; and the consequence was that some of 

 the most valuable of the best -known florists' 

 flowers declined in public estimation. The improve- 

 ment in the culture of fruits and vegetables, and 

 the introduction of many new varieties of each, also 



