NOTES ON FLORIST S FLOWERS. 
S91 
the expenditure. Not only so, but the very- 
act of keeping up gardens entails the greater 
part of the expense in labour, the employ- 
ment of which is itself a national benefit. 
There would doubtless be a great outcry in the 
House of Commons, perhaps, too, in the 
House of Lords, against this enormous expen- 
diture, but why should there be ? If the people 
who have to pass the bills have gardens of 
their own, they represent millions who have 
not, and who go through life without such en- 
joyment, although the health and morals of the 
community would be improved by the money 
thus laid out. And let us remind those who 
dispense the taxes in all sorts of expenses, 
that as a matter of information they should 
look to the enormous amount paid by the 
poor upon all exciseable articles, and in import 
duties on things from abroad ; and then the 
injustice of refusing sufficient to make gar- 
dens for the public, will strike them forcibly. 
There is, in fact, no reason why the royal 
gardens and parks open to the public, should 
be worse kept than Frogmore or Chatsworth ; 
and the cost would not be enormous, for, the 
outlay once made, the annual expense could 
be calculated to a fraction. There may be a 
less choice of subjects and more difficulty in 
keeping up a garden at St. James's Park than at 
Hampton Court, or even Battersea and Hack- 
ney ; but, above all things, the garden of St. 
James's, with the advantage of the ornamental 
water, ought to be as rich in all things that 
will grow as it could be made, seeing that it 
is under the very eyes of royalty, close to the 
regal palace, and every way demanding and de- 
serving attention. The paltry fountain should 
be replaced with a decent one, or, at all events, 
removed from so conspicuous a site. The 
plantation's require to be cleared of a good deal 
of common rubbish, huddled together without 
arrangement, and planted without taste. 
NOTES ON FLORIST'S FLOWERS. 
BY GEORGE GLENNT. 
The most remarkable of the seedlings pro- 
duced at recent shows have been rendered so 
by the distinctions awarded to them ; for in- 
stance, Mr. Miller of Ramsgate has exhibited 
several new Geraniums ; one called Distinc- 
tus, which was the best of them, has been 
rejected as unworthy of a prize ; while 
Grandis, which was in every point inferior, 
and not worth cultivating by a collector of 
taste, was honoured with a certificate. The 
others, Pompona, Queen of Kent, Jenny Lind, 
Brilliant, and Marginata, may be called 
pretty, and, if not in advance, not far behind 
some of the favourites already in cultivation. 
Mr. Beck exhibited several, and among them 
four which had prizes. Purple Aurora did 
not deserve one by any means, it was incon- 
siderate, to say the least, and lessened the value 
of the prizes of those which did deserve them. 
Favonius has a good petal, large flower and 
bx-ight colour. JiEcheon is showy, though the 
back petals are frilled a good deal; and 
Anne is a neat pretty flower. It is impossible, 
however, to overlook the fact that there is a 
great sameness among a number of the so 
called novelties. We have seen a fancy gera- 
nium, fit for bedding out, called Jenny Lind, 
honoured with a prize, while Queen Adelaide, 
a fancy flower of considerable merit and much 
higher qualities, was passed over. Among the 
Pansies there was a flower, called Potentate, 
neither self nor ground, but a struggle between 
both, the eye being a confused mixture of 
blue, white, and black, and the black breaking 
into the colour : it had a prize, but never can 
deserve it, be it grown how it may. Jenny 
Lind was pretty, but the texture bad, and 
ought not to have had a prize ; but the judges 
thought otherwise, and with all its faults it 
will be grown. In Pinks there are two or 
three advances. Wilmer of Sunbury has 
shown three or four that will be grown, but 
one of them is worthy of a place among the 
best. Laura has pleased everybody else as 
well as us, and received a certificate at the 
metropolitan show, which is a warranty in 
general. Harvey is pretty, and will be grown. 
Black Prince and Arthur are faulty ; and 
indeed Laura is the only one that is novel as 
well as good. Two pinks exhibited by Turner 
and Norman are highly promising, the petals 
being very good indeed — Turner's Double X, 
and Norman's X.Y.Z.; both are acquisitions, 
and must be had, though X.Y.Z. is not so 
full as we should like to see it, and probably 
shall see it. Both these flowers advance the 
right way ; the petals are thick, broad and rose- 
edged. Smith has shown a Rosy Verbena, 
Lady Webster, very broad in the lobes, but 
not free from the notch ; one of somebody 
else's, without a single good point, had a prize 
at the Surrey Gardens. Upon the whole we 
never saw worse adjudications than took place 
at the last show of the South London Florists; 
and we can say this the more freely without 
offending the exhibitors, because prizes were 
given to right men if not right flowers. 
At Rosherville Gardens, which are the 
best adapted for a show of any that we have 
seen, the Geranium of Mr. Miller's called 
Distinctus was exhibited in good order, and 
fully maintained the opinion we gave of it at 
the Surrey show. A flower called Rosa 
Mundi is also very pretty, and deserves a 
