418 
GLENNY ON THE SWEETWILL1AM. 
GLENNY ON THE SVVEETWILLIAM. 
This old favourite of the borders has been 
recently cultivated with some regard to those 
properties which constitute the beauty of 
florists' flowers, and enough has already been 
done to encourage us to attempt more. Our 
readers are aware that the Sweetwilliam 
throws up its flowers on close heads at the 
end of jointed stems, which have leaves at 
each joint, and that these heads of bloom 
are composed of flowers somewhat circular, 
fringed or notched at the edges, variously 
marked with circles, or circular shades, and 
whether dark or light, plain or variegated, 
singularly speckled all over the surface. The 
blooms are too close together in most of the 
sorts to lay well ; they crowd each other 
when in full flower, and the footstalks are 
too short to let them expand into fine heads. 
As now grown — and indeed as always grown, 
for very little attention has been paid, on ac- 
count of its requiring no culture, and having 
therefore always been among the most com- 
mon of the border flowers — the greatest objec- 
tions are the notched or fringed edges ; 
the quantity and smallness of the crowded 
flowers; the speckled surface andflimsy texture, 
and short footstalks ; but, as a border flower, 
its show}' nature and easy culture will always 
secure it a place, and has hitherto prevented 
any one from caring about its improvement. 
Some, however, have been produced with a 
perfectly smooth edge, as smooth as the edge 
of a phlox, and our hopes of improvement 
from these are sanguine ; but those who have 
them, should propagate in the same way as 
pinks are propagated, so as at least to perpe- 
tuate that improvement. In a quantity of 
the deep crimson kind, exhibited during the 
present season, at the Horticultural Agency- 
office in the Strand, there were a number of 
them which had completely lost their serrated 
or fringed edges, and we regretted many times 
to see such constantly mixed with twice the 
number that had not lost those faults. Thi y 
were, shown, too, for the purpose of selling the 
seed, so that whoever buys the packets of 
seed may calculate upon obtaining a rose- 
leaved, or rather smooth-edged, among their 
lot, whereas had they been separated at first, 
by throwing away all but the best, the seed 
would have produced two-thirds, peillaps, 
instead of a tenth or twentieth part of the 
improved kinds, and some still further im- 
proved perhaps from those the seed was saved 
from. This seed was raised at Tottenham, 
and is the only seed we know of saved from 
flowers of which at least a portion were greatly 
improved in those particulars we have men- 
