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THE FLORIST AND rO.MOLOGIST. 



At the last Spring Show of the Royal Botanic Society, Mr. Bragg, of 

 Slough, produced a seedling, to which I had the honour of standing sponsor, 

 naming it Vesuvius. It had a clear yellow ground with fiery bronze border, 

 and narrow edging of yellow running round the flower, and a small dark eye, 

 instead of the large dark blotch that generally appears in the Fancy kinds. It 

 was a flower of fine form and very showy. 



At the first Exhibition of the Royal Botanic Society, two large collections 

 of named kinds were produced by Messrs. Dean, and Downie, Laird, & Laing, 

 composed of the cream of the named flowers that are in cultivation. In neither 

 case was the lacing of the flowers so clearly defined as if the weather had been 

 genial and sunny. Some seedlings were also present- Mr. Dean had Princess 

 of Wales and Her Majesty, two light flowers with dense dark blotches ; Prince 

 of Wales and Princess Mary of Cambridge, flowers of darker shades, the latter 

 especially being of great promise. There were also Creole, a violet purple 

 with large dark blotch in each segment ; Admiration ; and Princess Louise — 

 all very distinct and promising. Messrs. Downie & Co. again produced H. 0. 

 Nethercote and Earl of Rosslyn ; also Sulphur Queen, Gipsy Queen, Punch, 

 Golden Lion, and Asteroid, flowers that I did not attempt to describe, as Mr. 

 Laing said they would be in better form at the Crystal Palace. 



At Sydenham, on the 23rd of May, Messrs. Downie & Co., had a collection 

 of named kinds in fine form ; and some seedlings, the most distinct and 

 valuable of which were Sulphur Queen, pale yellow, with large blotch, but 

 bottom petal being too small as shown ; Maccaroni, a large purple self with 

 dark blotch; Black Prince, a very dark flower with large crimson purple 

 blotch, rayed with yellow on the upper petals ; and II. O. Nethercote, still 

 small, but having a distinct narrow edging of white round the flower. There 

 were some others, but they were wanting in form, though curiously marked. 

 These were again seen at the Regent's Park on June 3rd, together with Mrs. 

 Nethercote, a very pretty and promising light flower. Mr. E. Shenton, of 

 Henclon, also had a box of named seedlings ; but, excepting Lord Derby, a 

 large bluish-purple self, with small dark blotch, they were unworthy of notice. 



On two recent occasions I have received from Mr. W. Dean, of Shipley, a 

 selection of seedlings that bloomed for the first time in 1862. The first batch 

 contained some thirty blooms, a few of which were named. I was astonished 

 at the large size of the flowers and at the stoutness of the petals ; and yet the 

 sender informed me that " they are not yet in good trim, the weather is so 

 cold, and we can get no rain. It is as cold here as in March." This was 

 about the 29th of May. Under these adverse circumstances, added to the 

 Pansies being planted out of doors on a very bleak position, one of the coldest 

 in England, the lacing of the flowers was much more perfect than I could have 

 expected to have seen it. Mr. Laing has admitted to me that they cannot 

 produce such well-defined blooms at Edinburgh as at Forest Hill. 



I am much struck with a flower named Princess Mary of Cambridge, large 

 and well-formed, yellow ground colour, having a broad margin of maroon 

 crimson with narrow edge of white, and a large black blotch rayed and dashed 

 as with fire. Next were two blooms of Prince of Wales, yellow ground, with 

 bright, bronzy, crimson border, having a distinct edging of yellow, and large 

 dark blotch ; Princess of Wales, a large light ground flower with margin of 

 deep lilac, and a dark blotch rayed with bright purple ; two blooms of Princess 

 Louise, a splendid flower, dark velvety purple margin shaded with violet, and 

 large dark blotch ; Her Majesty, a very novel flower as sent to me, having a 

 rich lilac border, with dark shading to the upper and side petals, the lower 

 petals were of light ground colour, with narrow margin of primrose, and 

 having a dense blotch edged with mauve. Next were three blooms of Hibernia, 



