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1 
ON SOME POINTS OF EXCELLENCE IN FLOEISTS' FLOWERS. 
I 
Plants too insignificant to he noticed at all as objects of ornament, having no flowers "worth, look- 
ing at — the Nettles and Docks, for instance. 
But there are other wild-flowers that have been improved, or rather there have been valuable gar- 
den flowers raised from them. The ■wild Pansy, for example, is a most insignificant weed, but has 
given rise to one of the most esteemed races of florists' flowers ; and many others have been cultivated 
with great care and success. Still, we are not vrithout garden flowers that are also wild, but in which 
little or no progress has been made towards improvement. The Digitalis or Fox-glove may be seen wild 
and domesticated at the same time, and without much difference in its qualities. It must be con- 
fessed, too, that hundreds of flowers have been introduced, only to be discarded as soon as they have 
been cultivated, because they do not possess the qualities that we value in garden flowers ; they have 
either had too httle bloom for the quantity of foliage, or the flower has been too short-lived, or narrow- 
petalled, iU-formed, or in some way or other not attractive. Plants, and especially annuals, should 
have a large proportion of flower ; the foliage shoidd not intrude, or rather obtrude ; they should be 
compact, elegant in form, and continue a long time in flower, or they lose by comparison with the best 
of those we ah-eady possess. 
As i-egards individual properties and qualities, perhaps no flower has caused more discussion than 
the Tulip. The form alone has occupied the attention of many who have endeavoured to upset those 
rules which we laid down in 1832, but which stand to this day as the only standard, in despite of all 
that has been written to the contrary, from that time to the present day. Some object to cm' rules 
because they are against natui-e, and argue, on the point of the edges being level, that if the tops of the 
petals be square, the marking' cannot be natui'al. To which we reply, that our model forms are sug- 
gested by a knowledge of what would be the most perfect form for any flower to please the popular 
taste, and to become a lasting favom-ite ; and whether they are Jiatm-al or otherwise, is a matter of 
little moment. Those who look at both sides of the question would know, that the top of a cup- 
formed flower might be level, and yet the ends of the petals which form it may be ch'cular, in the 
same way that a flower with radiating petals can be perfectly circular, though their ends may not be 
enth-ely obtuse. The Ciaeraria has become nearly a perfect circle, by means of the petals overlapping 
each other. The Pansy has become so nearly round, by the same means, that it is the language of 
inexperience which dictates the form of individual petals ; the form of the whole flower is the fii'st con- 
sideration, the petals are secondary, although they must be thick and firm. The writers on the form 
of the Tulip have not dealt fauly by the matter ; and, with long-di-awn arguments about the impro- 
priety of particular forms, they have endeavom'ed to show, that because it is difficult to attain our 
standard, we must be wrong ; but this does not alter the case. We say that a certain form would be 
perfection. It is not a question with us whether the form can be attained. The only question to settle 
is, whether it would or would not be the most beautifid, if it could be attained ; and this being admit- 
ted by common consent, those varieties which approach nearest to the standard must be the best flowers- 
We know that the Tulip cannot very easily be bred to a plain flat edge along the top of the ];)etals, but 
we know, at the same time, that those which are nearest to a level edge are the best in that respect. 
The Pansy and Cineraria are nearly round ; the Verbena is rapidly widening its petals, and becom- 
ing more cu'cular ; and every flower we have touched upon has made an approach that augm-s stiU. 
more favourably of idtimate results. The Hollyhock is comparatively a new introduction among florists' 
flowers ; no flower has made a more rapid progress in the right line ; the worst of aU its faults has 
disappeared from some of the new varieties ; thick petals have assumed the place of the thin flimsy ones 
that always rendered the flower valueless, or nearly so, and, instead of the Poppy-like blooms, which were 
destroyed by a day's sun, we have bold and lasting flowers, full, double, and all but symmetrical. Those 
varieties that have these qualities, have been admired by hundi'eds, perhaps thousands, who do not know 
why they admii-e them ; but we can tell them, it is because they approach to the standard of perfection. 
Let us look to the new varieties of roses : if we quote Mr. Rivers as an authority, we can show, 
that of a hundred imported varieties, not more than a dozen, or thereabouts, are worthy of being sent 
out ; and why ? — Because those which approach the standard, are selected by the public, while those 
which do not, are universally rejected. The roses that would have been sent out with impunity a few 
years ago, are rejected by the dealers themselves, when they try them before seUing. It is the improve- 
ment of the taste of the multitude that does the service. The information that is spread abroad and 
spreading, as to the real quahties that raise the value of a flower, closes the market against bad ones ; 
and, in proportion as the old ones are beaten and thi'own by, so does the value of good varieties become 
enhanced. 
The respective opinions of the northern and southern pink growers have almost become amalgamated ; 
there is, indeed, a point raised by some few, which is only worth noticing because it has been raised 
litfE, 
