88 
THE FLORIST. 
shire, Davy’s Venus and Countess of Bridgewater, as well as Salter’s 
Lord Nelson, were fine and decided good rose-leaf flowers ; and the 
second-class flowers, the large-leaved ones, then produced, were 
Dakins’s Burdett, Sutton’s Duke of Wellington, Dry’s Earl of Uxbridge, 
and Bexley Hero. Tiiese constituted the gems of the different stands. 
In some sense the kinds have increased in quality, as to Pinks, but not 
in the others; gems are of essential quality, but they can be too small, 
so no flower ought to be classed first-rate unless it can attain to a certain 
size. There are many nice Pinks of a fair size, and large enough, yet 
there is not so much merit in blooming them as in former times, for the 
pods now are so well formed that a Pink can bloom itself without the 
aid of the art of tying, to prevent the pod from bursting. I see no Pink 
nov/ so handsome as Dry’s Earl of Uxbridge. 
As to Carnations, they are exquisite in colour as to flakes and purity 
of white ground, but their size is so diminished that they have lost their 
grandeur in my estimation. The greatest improvement is in Picotees, 
which are as large as they used to be, and some are exquisite in every 
point, as may be seen in the plants exhibited and in the plates of the 
Florist —no specks on the petals, clean edging, clear broad and narrow 
lacing. What Carnation bloom can now be grown to the size of a quart 
mug? The best Carnations are but little larger than first-class Pinks, 
and, like the march of the present day, nothing is now grown that gives 
any trouble. By watching, once I turned a blighted and deformed 
Pink -pod quite straight. Who will do that now, and who can find the 
time, which is a much more sensible argument to use? None but 
amateurs who have spare time can attempt it; but what a reward, to 
see a fine bloom produced from a pod which many w^ould have picked 
off and thrown away as useless. Mr. Turner has exhibited some 
splendid specimens of Pinks, of new kinds, well worthy of cultivation. 
At Winchester, formerly, the' Messrs. Hopkins and Mr, Mann w^ere 
three good cultivators of Pinks, and raised seedlings, some of which w^ere 
useful flowers. Mann’s Village Maid and Duchesse d’Angouleme, 
Corbett’s Leopold, and latterly Mr. Young, of Twyford, has raised good 
seedlings, including Lady IMildmay and Double X, &c., and the best 
bloom of Earl of Uxbridge I ever saw was produced by him ; but, 
unfortunately for that flower, it has so weak a stem and small grass, 
that it requires high cultivation and a peculiar season to bloom it, and 
that is the reason it has been less grown of late, yet it is one of the 
finest Pinks I ever saw. Mr. Keynes also used to exhibit good flowers. 
Norbury Buck is still a great favourite of mine; so are Hector and 
Jupiter. The red and scarlet laced flowers are evidently the most 
tender, and in some positions will not live, especially in wet soils. In 
damp soils the Delphiniums, also, will not enjoy th.emselves; nor will 
Liatris spicata, or Spigelia marylandica ; but where you find those or 
any other delicate plants that cannot live in damp soil, thrive, you 
may grow Pinks and Carnations in perfection, if well managed. 
Beading. An Old Florist. 
[If Earl of Uxbridge was a favourite with our correspondent, surely 
hlaclean’s Miss Nightingale and Napoleon would indeed please him.— 
Editor.] 
