noted; of crimson flowers, Ardens , Beacon, Bloomer, and 
Tycoon, are the most remarkable; in scarlet grounds, Illuminator 
and Vesuvius are perhaps the most striking; in rose grounds, 
we may notice Colossus and Boyal Albert, two immense flowers 
of Mr. Hoyle’s,—the latter especially large, though, we are in¬ 
clined to think, apt to crumple its top petals,—-and Oriana , a 
pale peach. In white grounds, Queen of Whites takes the lead, 
and there are besides, Ottavia , Esperance, and Pericles, which 
promise to be useful; of what are called Spotted Pelargoniums, 
Butterfly, Caliban, Landseer , and Monitor, promise to be the 
most effective. 
It is often said that when long wars, as in India, are carried 
on between two apparently unequally-matched antagonists, the 
one teaches the other to fight, and that however inferior at 
first, after a time the difference is not so discernible. We may 
notice the same in the friendly contests of Flora’s battle-ground; 
we remember when Mr. Charles Turner was so far ahead of 
any of his competitors, that it required very little time for the 
judges to decide, Messrs. Dobson and Co., Gaines, Fraser, etc., 
being far behind. It is not so now; the contests continued year 
after year have stirred up the esprit de corps of the others, 
and now not only does Mr. Dobson run him on many occasions 
very close, but has, during the past season, carried off the first 
prize in two instances. This is as it should be ; when we have 
the matter all in our own hands, we are apt to become careless, 
but when we occasionally are discomfited, we are taught then, 
that a little more exertion and watchfulness is needed, the re¬ 
sult of which we shall, no doubt, see in the present instance. 
Besides Queen of Whites , Messrs. Dobson have some other new 
varieties of which they speak highly, Startler , Sanspareil im¬ 
proved, and Commandment, being considered by them as espe¬ 
cially good. 
Monitor (Foster, fig. 1) is a large dark flower, deep shaded 
rose, with large black spots on all the petals, top petals freely 
margined with rose ; it received a first-class certificate at the 
Royal Botanic Society and a certificate at the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society. Queen of Whites (fig. 2) has the lower petals 
silvery paper white, and very glossy; upper petals rich carmine, 
with narrow even margin of silvery-white, a large and round 
flower; the habit of the plant is excellent; received a first-class 
certificate at the Regents Park. 
O 
