46 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
proved to be the best and earliest in cultivation, unless I could make up my 
mind to believe that it is the peculiar care each seedsman paid his pet Pea; 
but, after all, I suppose it is not a very unnatural thing—like mothers, always 
thinking their own babies the prettiest, these worthy members of society, who 
have brought their early Peas into the world, think their own the best. 
But Peas are by no means, according to seed catalogues, the only thing 
that has undergone such a vast improvement—other things have either been 
hybridised or ennobled; and I may go on with a gardener’s catalogue of woes 
to almost any extent. 
There is one thing I, with many of my gardening brethren, heartily wish, and 
it is that seedsmen would have some pity upon us, and stick to brevity in their 
catalogues, and give us the credit of being endowed with common sense. If 
one wants an ounce of Parsley, now-a-days, you have to hunt through their big 
books, and puzzle your few brains which sort you will have, Manchester Match¬ 
less, Reading Garnishing, or some other sort, which always, under my cultiva¬ 
tion, turns out the old-fashioned Curled variety. It may be true that these fat 
catalogues may be sought after by a few, such as elderly ladies and country 
parsons, and suchlike readers; but I am sure no gardener would ever think 
of looking into a seed catalogue to find what soil the Carrot “ loves,” or 
the treatment the Cucumber “ delights” in. And, again, with regard to the 
illustrations the catalogues usually contain. Though I admit the plates of 
knives are useful to enable a man to select his fancy in knives, I believe that 
the other illustrations are of no other use than to give the children to play 
with ; and I am sure that these large catalogues cannot be printed without a 
deal of expense, which must be charged upon the seeds either in price or 
quality. It is no consolation to a gardener to know that a catalogue cost a 
shilling each, or even more, in printing. What he wants is a catalogue with 
a selection of really good and distinct things, with, perhaps, a few brief 
descriptive notes of the seeds offered. Yes, depend upon it, Messrs. Seedsmen, 
if you wish to please gardeners generally you will have to prune your catalogues 
considerably, and let us have a handy book to refer to, and not one easily to be 
lost in. Q. 
EUPHORBIA JACQUINLZEFLORA. 
Euphorbia jacquinih:flora. I consider one of the most ornamental stove 
plants for winter decoration. Producing as it does racemes of bright scarlet 
flowers, at a time of the year when really bright flowers are desirable, it is 
worthy of the best cultivation it is possible to give it, as indeed is any plant 
that is worth growing at all. But then the best cultivation is a point on which 
gardeners are not all agreed, and it is worthy of note that some of the best of 
them differ materially in this matter, and yet arrive at equally successful 
results. 
By simply asserting that a plant is worth cultivating, I would wish to have 
it understood that there are plants which in themselves possess a degree of 
merit quite independent of the kind of treatment it receives. The one above 
named, for instance, may be allowed to stand on one side in any out-of-the-way 
place during the summer, merely receiving a little water occasionally; it will be 
sure to flower in the winter provided it is taken into the stove or is put in a 
temperature of from 60° to 70 Q . In fact, I have known plants apparently 
neglected, and drawn up w r eak and spindling through being huddled together 
all the summer in a vinery, and merely brought into the stove in October, come 
in most valuable for cutting the flowers in winter and spring. The habit of 
