FLORISTS FLOWERS. 
193 
FLORISTS FLOWERS. 
There would seem to be abundance of in- 
struction in the books already published on 
the subject of gardening, and, in a general way, 
the routine of business pointed out, in many 
■works of moderate price, cannot be very much 
improved, so far as ordinary productions are 
concerned; but, if we except the papers which 
appear at intervals in some of the periodicals, 
there is nothing very complete on the culture 
of those subjects which have been wrought up 
to a pitch of excellence far removed from their 
natural state, and which require a degree of 
attention and a system of management totally 
different from the general routine of a garden. 
This especially applies to Florists' Flowers, 
which few writers even pretend to understand, 
and those who have ventured to write upon 
them have theorized, if we may use the term, 
a great deal too much to be relied upon. AVe 
feel, therefore, the necessity of supplying for 
the admirers of these subjects, that which has 
never been attempted before in a tangible 
form — a complete system for the culture of 
Florists' Flowers, for the whole year, upon a 
more enlarged plan than has yet been at- 
tempted, or than we shall entertain with regard 
to the more generally understood subjects. 
The kitchen garden, the stove, conservatory, 
the orchideous house, the orchard and fruit- 
garden, and even the nursery, are well under- 
stood by many gardeners who are altogether 
unacquainted with Florists' Flowers ; not 
because they require more judgment, but that 
they have not, until of late years, formed even 
a subordinate feature in large establishments. 
They owe their origin, that is to say, their 
original departure from their natural state, to 
persons in humble life ; and the more wealthy 
owners of first-rate gardens have felt it 
beneath their notice to countenance such 
47. 
monsters — as the botanists call these splendid 
productions. 
Florists' Flowers now form a distinct, 
though, in too many instances, still a subordi- 
nate feature in most gardens ; and the raising 
of new varieties is no longer confined to the 
humble classes, though they still maintain 
great superiority in the cultivation of most of 
the favourite kinds, as even yet, first-rate 
gardeners are deficient in experience as to that 
branch of their profession. Now, however, 
that its advance, like the tide of a vast river, 
cannot be stemmed, it behoves us to supply 
that which must be acceptable to all classes, — 
complete directions to enable the amateur, as 
well as the professional cultivator, to produce 
these beautiful subjects in perfection ; and that 
will account for our going into the subject at 
much greater length than can be given to any 
other of the numerous plants which occupy 
the British gardens. 
Florists' Flowers may be variously defined ; 
but, unquestionably, they comprise all those 
subjects which are selected by florists to seed 
from, improve, and perpetuate. The following 
points, therefore, must be considered as essen- 
tial to constitute the claim of any flower or 
plant to that distinction : — -first, it must be 
such as can be raised from seed to produce 
new varieties ; and, secondly, it must be one 
that can be propagated so as to perpetuate any 
new variety that is produced. Thus, pe- 
rennials of all kinds may become Florists' 
Flowers, because they can all be raised from 
seed ; they all produce new varieties, and all 
the varieties so raised can be perpetuated to 
almost any extent. Annuals, on the contrary, 
can never be classed as Florists' Flowers, for 
the very reason, that, however much they 
may be improved by cultivation, or whatever 
