170 
THE RAN UN CULL" 
should be quite horizontal, and rather reflexed 
than otherwise, and the inner ones should be 
more than perpendicular, if a cupped petal can 
be so called, for the inner ones ought to meet 
and rather cover each other, turning com- 
pletely inwards so as to conceal the seed- 
vessel entirely ; and it follows as a thing of 
course, that no two rows of petals can be 
alike as regards their relative position. In 
short, this is an attempt to define, which ren- 
ders the conditions contradictory to the result ; 
a hemispherical form can no more be pro- 
duced by petals more of a perpendicular than 
horizontal direction, than sharp corners could 
be made with circular bricks. " The petals," 
it is said, " should be broad, with well- 
rounded edges." The less the edges of a 
petal are rounded the better ; round edged 
petals are by no means desirable; they should 
be almost straight on the edges, like a half- 
open fan, forming two blunt corners to each 
individual petal, and the outer edges forming 
the outline of the flower : well rounded petals 
would make a rosette sort of edge to the 
flower instead of a perfect circle. As to their 
colours being " dark, clear, rich or brilliant," 
the colour is such a pure matter of taste that 
we do not see what it has to do with the cri- 
terion of a fine double ranunculus. 
THE PROPERTIES OF THE RAXCXCULUS. 
The flower should be of the form of two- 
thirds of a ball, two inches in diameter, the 
under part of it square or horizontal. 
The outline of the bloom should therefore 
form a perfect circle. 
The petals should be thick, smooth on the 
edges and gently cupped ; they should lie 
close, so that very little but the edges should 
be seen, and that little only the inside surface. 
The flower should be symmetrical to the 
centre, which should be close, so as to per- 
fectly conceal the seed-vessel, even with the 
surface, and perfect so as to exhibit a com- 
plete finish to the surrounding petals. 
The colour should be very dense, whatever 
be its hue; if an edged flower, the edging should 
be well defined, and the marking even and 
uniform in every petal ; in no case should the 
ground colour break through the edging, but 
spotted flowers with one spot on each petal 
are allowable. 
The stem should be strong, perpendicular, 
and long enough to raise the flower clear six 
inches above the foliage, and no more, but 
this has reference to the plant, rather than to 
the flower, 
Striped flowers are not perfect, nor are 
flowers speckled on the edges ; the colour of 
edged flowers, like those of edged picotees or 
tulips, ought not to exhibit a single break. 
The foregoing remarks were necessary 
before we began to notice the culture and 
management of this favourite flower, for as 
we shall begin by selecting, or rather recom- 
mending the selection, of those flowers only 
which exhibit these properties, or some one of 
them in a marked degree, it could only be 
done after giving the points to be most re- 
garded. From what we have said, the reader 
will observe that all thin petalled flowers, all 
those with serrated or notched edges, all those 
which are rough in the outline, flat or sunk 
in the centre, or confused in the laying of the 
petals, are faulty ; and in choosing from the 
stock while the flowers are in bloom, they are 
to be avoided. The real objection to thin 
petals is, that they do not preserve their form 
so well, nor remain in perfection so long, nor 
give the colour so dense. Shaded flowers are 
allowable, though stripes are not ; but like the 
exhibitors of picotees, the growers will retain 
the speckled edges though they are decidedly 
inferior to those which possess the colour un- 
broken at the extreme edge. The true spotted 
varieties have only one spot on each petal, 
but the spot must be well defined. The rank 
in which these different classes of flowers 
stand, is — first, the edged ; second, the 
spotted ; third, the shaded ; fourth, the self's. 
We do not place the broken edged or speckled 
in any rank at all. The selection of the 
varieties may, .under these instructions, be 
decided upon with but little doubt, even by 
an inexperienced person. 
SOIL. 
The soil proper for the ranunculus is a 
rich hazel loam ; the best mode of pre- 
paring this is to obtain turfs from some 
pasture, cut about three inches thick, and lay 
them to rot. This of course takes time, but 
unless the soil is already prepared this mode 
of providing will be the best. Supposing 
this cannot be got, the next best mode is to 
get the top spit of a meadow, where the soil 
is loam, and lay that by ; but as there will 
not be one-fourth so much vegetable mould 
among it in proportion to the quantity of 
loam, the deficiency would have to be made 
good by leaf-mould — that is, the mould of 
decayed treedeaves — to be added, or by de- 
composed cow-dung. 
With regard to any mixture, the nearer it 
can be brought to the same description of soil 
as the rotted turfs would make, the better it 
would be. If the loam be pure, as it is 
when dug from beneath the sod, and what 
may be called clean, it will require three 
measures of loam, two of leaf-mould, and one 
of thoroughly decayed cow-dung ; this should 
lay together in a heap and be frequently turned 
and picked over to clear it from grubs and 
wire-worms. Many have used new cow-dung, 
but this too frequently attracts a fly which 
