THE FLORIST. 
—♦— 
OUR ILLUSTRATIONS. 
On the appearance of our Second Number, we wish to say a 
few words respecting the present and former Illustrations. 
They are not the subjects we should have chosen, had we 
made much previous arrangement for our undertaking. The 
proprietors have laid it down as a rule, that no drawing shall 
form an illustration for The Florist which has not been made 
from the plant itself. The plates will he carefully coloured 
from this drawing; and, making an allowance for the difficulty 
always attendant upon this part of the work, our readers may 
accept our Illustrations as fair representations of the flowers 
themselves. 
It will be seen that acting upon this rule brings us 
into a temporary difficulty, as we are obliged, at this season 
of the year, in plain terms, to take what we can get; and 
we are sure that the lovers of the old florists’ flowers, the 
Polyanthus, Auricula, Tulip, Picotee, Carnation, &c., will 
gladly wait, rather than that we should use drawings kindly 
offered, but hitherto declined by us on account of our inability 
to compare them with their originals. 
It must not be understood from the above remarks, that 
we undervalue the subject of our present illustration: very far 
from it; we esteem it highly, as a striking instance of the 
improvement effected by skilful crossing and cultivation, by 
which a plant with small rusty foliage and dingy flowers has 
become the parent of a race the very opposite in every respect. 
Our figure was taken from a small and weakly plant. Culti¬ 
vated in fine specimens, such as w^e lately saw at the Hor¬ 
ticultural Society’s Gardens at Chiswick, it would make a 
beautiful object at this dull season of the jear. 
NO. II. 
c 
