1876. 3 
THE STRIPED FRENCH MARIGOLD. 
233 
its best, prevents the striped character from developing itself, it is certain that 
really striped flowers are very seldom seen south of the Tweed. 
Now a perfectly Striped French Marigold possesses in a remarkable degree 
perfection of form and beauty of marking. The florets should be broad and 
smooth, and reflex like those of a Victoria Aster; and there should be a broad 
bar of gold down the centre of the floret, with a stripe or margin of bright maroon 
on either side, as one sees the marginal colouring in a feathered Tulip. A good 
bloom of a Striped Marigold is never very large, having perhaps five or six rows 
of florets, which overlap each other in the most regular manner. No doubt 
something can be done in the way of dressing tho Marigold, but a good strain 
will produce flowers quite fit for the exhibition-table, with but little, if any, 
need for manipulation. 
At Bishop Auckland, on the 1st of September last, the Striped French 
Marigolds were not only extensively, but very finely shown; and to a southern 
florist, unaccustomed to see such flowers, presented a floral spectacle of considerable 
interest. The competition among the various stands was both keen and exciting, 
and the huge flowers of the African Marigolds by their side, large, full, and highly 
coloured, looked quite coarse and unwieldy by the side of the beautiful striped 
forms of the French type. 
It may safely be stated that our finest-striped Marigolds are produced on 
plants of very tall and diffusive growth. In consequence, they are somewhat 
neglected for ordinary garden purposes. It appears difficult to get the beautiful 
stripes of colour on plants of a dwarfer and more compact habit of growth, but 
this style of growth being secured, there is yet hope that the striped form of the 
flowers may be got on to it; it will, however, be a work of time. 
Some of the northern growers hold to the opinion that removing plants of 
French Marigolds from one place to another when they are half-grown will, in 
many cases, change the character of the flowers, and mostly for the better. The 
Marigold is certainly a flower of a very changeable nature, the character of the 
flowers yarying much with the season and with the prevailing weather. Another 
notion held by the northern growers is that in order to secure a good strain of 
fine striped flowers from seed, the seed-blossoms should bo plucked soon after 
they are fully developed, be tied in bunches, and hung up by the stems till they 
are dry and the seed can be rubbed out. One thing is certain, that the seeds at 
that stage are thin, and their growing power is somewhat impaired,-but it is stated 
that those which do grow produce plants remarkable for the beauty of the flowers. 
Marigolds should have a good but not over-rich soil, and the plants need to 
be kept very moist about the roots during hot weather. The finest blooms are 
generally on the outsides of the plants, and as it is in the nature of the Marigold 
to flower with great freedom, disbudding can hardly affect an improvement in 
the individual flowers. 
I have seen some very handsome quilled forms of the French Marigold that 
are large and very full, one being of a maroon colour, the other of a bright 
w 
