DISGUISING OF FLOWERS. 
271 
the centres of those flowers which did not close 
up well, so that as the petals towards the 
centre were developed, they filled up the 
vacancy artificially made ; whereas, had that 
part not been cut out, the hard scaly centre 
would have kept the opening petals from 
closing in. This was detected, and we may 
say punished, in early days ; for flowers were 
shown as seedlings, that nobody could grow in 
the same state again, one of the fatal blemishes 
being a hard unbloomed, or a seedy, eye ; and 
to use any contrivance by which a flower of 
this description could be shown at all perfect, 
was to make a flower not worth a sixpence, 
look worth half-a-guinea : the practice was 
repudiated, and if it be done now at all, it is a 
very rare occurrence ; but there is another 
species of disguise which is quite as bad, al- 
though not yet so entirely exposed as to make 
it a fatal transaction. One of the worst faults 
of a dahlia is that of quilling too much, as it is 
called, which is, that the petals not unrolling 
themselves enough to develope the proper form 
of flowers, they are like so many pipes, and 
show only the outside surface. The kind of 
dressing to which we have now such an utter 
objection, is effected by means of a tapering 
piece of ivory, bone, tortoise-shell, or wood, 
which is thrust into the half-bloomed petals, 
and by degrees forced into them sufficiently to 
open the outer ends of the petal. This is done 
slowly, and by degrees ; perhaps the dresser 
is thrust in a dozen times, and a little gentle 
violence used every time this is done, to open 
a reluctant petal. In a general way, the man 
who prides himself upon his dressing, thrusts 
the dresser into every petal ; even the outside 
ones that are most open can be made more 
regular in an irregular flower than they will 
come of themselves. It is a prevailing fault 
with those flowers which have cupped petals, 
that those towards the centre do not open freely, 
and nothing looks worse than to see the backs 
of the petals turned over in front. The only 
question then is this, is it right or proper that 
a man, whose time is comparatively valueless, 
or whose pursuits will enable him to spend the 
time, should, by means of coaxing, and twist- 
ing, and pressing this petal one way, and that 
petal another, so alter the appearance of a 
flower, as to induce people to buy it when it is 
not worth the room it occupies ? Now, last 
summer there were several flowers which 
were exhibited, very pretty as seedlings, and 
passed as fairish, indeed, as very nice flowers, 
among many amateurs, that when they were 
grown, were not even the same form. Miss 
Prettiman was a very taking variety, and 
would have sold by hundreds, but that a cer- 
tain writer who is looked up to, condemned it 
by faint praise. He admitted it was " a beau- 
tiful tipped flower, but showed the backs of 
the petals ;" and said it was " not a compact 
double flower, but fills up ;" as much as to say, 
the flower looks pretty, but cannot do to show; 
but there were those present who thought it 
very beautiful as a show flower. Where is it 
now ? who grows it ? who is there that would 
not sell the dry root for sixpence if he could 
find a customer ? There was a Mrs. Caudle, 
and Magician, much the same ; shown pretty 
well opened, but in the hands of the public not 
worth a turnip paring ; and, unless the dress- 
ing of these things is looked after by judges, 
and some penalty inflicted by rejecting them, 
we shall be always subject to this kind of im- 
position. In short, there is constant evidence 
that, unless the degree of manufacturing a 
flower has undergone be taken into considera- 
tion, at the same time as the appearance of it, the 
flower trade will be as fraudulent as ever, for 
it is lamentable to contemplate, that the very 
worst and most worthless things have been 
sent out by the best judges. 
Let us therefore impress upon the minds of 
judges for the present season, the necessity 
there is to examine very closely the state of the 
flowers presented to them for their decision ; 
to observe narrowly the general character ; 
and to satisfy themselves that no artificial 
means have been applied to give them the ap- 
pearance of being better than they are. There 
are circumstances which ought especially to 
awaken their suspicion ; such for instance as 
meeting with a flower of a particular variety 
better grown, or in better condition than they 
usually see it, or a flower that they do not know 
among a general collection : both of these cir- 
cumstances are suspicious, and require strict 
investigation. If a variety which usually has 
a particular fault is shown without it, there is 
a good reason for close examination. The 
other day a pansy, which usually has the 
under petal too long and indented, was ob- 
served in excellent condition and form ; on 
taking a strong magnifier to it, we found the 
lower petal had been clipped, by which the 
fault was entirely removed. Last season a 
dahlia was shown whose disposition was to 
quill so much as to be hardly showable ; but 
it was shown in a very pretty foi'm, and hardly 
quilled at all ; this had been poked about in 
every petal to force them open, and on taking 
a glass to it, it was seen that many of the 
petals had been split in the operation. Many 
other things equally absurd, but, nevertheless, 
equally fraudulent, call for the especial atten- 
tion of judges ; and as exhibitors who depend 
on these artificial means for their success are 
sure to object to judges who can and will 
detect and disqualify them, we should like to 
see every judge act upon the same principles, 
by which the over cunning people would be 
detected. 
