276 
THE FLORIST. 
cultivation which its merits would give us reason to expect. No green¬ 
house should be without a dozen of them; no plant would repay 
more gratefully the kind attention of its cultivator. To the amateur, 
it W'ould be the source of the greatest pleasure ; to the nurseryman, 
one of profit. In the following Number I will lay down a few simple 
instructions for its more extensive cultivation, so simple, indeed, that 
no one shall mistake them; for the age of mystery in floriculture is 
past, and the time is now come, when he wdio teaches the plainest 
and the best will be most patronised. Alfred Kendall. 
Queen Elizabeth Walk, Stoke Newington. 
THE HOLLYHOCK. 
Of late years the cultivation of the Double Hollyhock has been, 
generally speaking, much neglected. We have seen and heard 
but little of it. In our travels, we miss it on the road-side. Oft 
have we stopped to admire its magnificent and stately stem, sur¬ 
rounded with bright expanded blossoms, adorning the sides of the 
mansion’s porch, or the front of the peasant’s humble cot; but, at 
the present time, such sights are rare. We are not without hope 
that this magnificent plant will soon again be seen as conspicuous as 
ever; for its cultivation has been pursued by some few individuals, 
who, by their perseverance, have produced a number of varieties very 
superior in character to those we have been accustomed to see in 
times past. 
The specimens exhibited at the Royal South London Floricul- 
tural Exhibition last month, and also at Norwich the day prior, have 
gained for these flowers a multitude of admirers, and will continue 
to do so, so often as they are brought into public view. They w^ere 
shewn in spikes of eight or ten blossoms each, beautifully symmetrical. 
The outer, or guard petals, extending about half an inch beyond the 
crown or centre, formed a perfect circle, free from indentation or curl, 
in the major portion of them. The centres were unique : in form, 
half a globe, composed of innumerable smooth-edged petals, closely 
and neatly folded, one within the other. 
It has been intimated to me that a fund will be raised for the 
purpose of offering prizes for collections of these flowers, next season, 
at one or more of the London exhibitions, for amateur growers. This 
information reached me from a respectable quarter, and therefore 
there cannot be a doubt but it will be carried out with some spirit. 
We should advise an early notice, that every one may have a fair 
opportunity of preparing for the contest. J. T. Neville. 
