98 
FANCY PELARGONIUMS. 
two years, when the first intimation of a change began to be 
dimly apparent; it was hinted that either perfection was reached, 
or, what in effect is even more forcible, that further endeavours 
would be more profitably made in some new direction; last 
season the determination was more plainly expressed, and now 
we believe the leaders of the most fashionable gardening re¬ 
unions are divided in nearly equal force between a return to the 
culture of species, with the presumption of obtaining a new strain 
of hybrids, or the adoption of the particular section represented 
by our plate. An unlooked-for and rather important difficulty 
has arisen in the way of the first suggestion; it is found that a 
very considerable portion of the true species have become extinct 
in our gardens, and are not reproducible otherwise than by send¬ 
ing collectors for them; this places the best of the genus beyond 
the reach of any but the very wealthy for several years to come, and 
in the mean time those who determine for their culture must 
content themselves with the existing deficient list. The limited 
number of species now remaining is, however, a matter of less 
regret than the loss of practical acquaintance with their manage¬ 
ment ; both resulting from the turn of public favour towards the 
seedling offspring, which, though productive of the present race 
of truly splendid flowers universally decorating our greenhouses, 
is still to be deplored for its ultimate exclusiveness. By pursuing 
with such undeviating earnestness the particular line marked out 
at the beginning, we have succeeded in obtaining a race so dis¬ 
tinct, that its parentage can scarcely be traced, and so beautiful as 
to excite the admiration of all; at the same time we have lost 
much of the knowledge by which so great a work was effected, 
and which in our new efforts would have been found most useful. 
The triumph is accompanied by the regret that we have been so 
devoted in the pursuit as to lose the thread that should lead us 
back to the starting-point. A history of the combinations made 
in the earlier days of Pelargonium-growing and their results 
would be most interesting, now that it is seriously contemplated 
to begin anew with the same tribe, as, in the absence of authentic 
information of the kind, it is not only possible but probable that 
for a time the utmost of our success will be the reproduction of 
varieties differing scarcely at all from the old ones that have lain 
neglected for years and been deemed worthless; we repeat, this 
