THE COTTAGE GARDENER, [May 2. 
thrum) should rise high enough to cover the mouth of ] 
the tube, or hollow part in the middle of the floret, and 
render it what is called thrum-eyed. But when the 
style elevates the stigma above the anthers, the eye of 
the tube generally appears hollow, shewing the stigma 
in the middle, like the head of a pin, the floret is hence 
called join-eyed, and is rejected as an incomplete flower, 
although its other properties be perfect.” 
Maddock and others subsequently wrote upon these 
characters of excellence, and the results of their com¬ 
bined judgments, corrected by his own good taste, have 
been arranged as follows by Mr. Glenny:— 
The Pir.—1. This should be perfectly flat and round, 
slightly scolloped on the edge, and three-quarters of an inch 
diameter. 
2. It should be divided in (five or) six places, apparently 
forming (five or) six flower-leaves, each indented in the 
centre to make it a kind of heart-shaped end ; but the in¬ 
dentations must not reach the yellow eye. 
3. The indenture in the centre of the apparent flower- 
leaves, should be exactly the same depth as the indenture 
formed by the join of these flower-leaves, so that it should 
not be known, by the form of the flower, which is the actual 
division and which is the indenture ; in other words, which 
is the side and which the centre of the flower-leaf; and all 
the indentures should be as slight as possible to preserve 
the character. 
4. The flower should be divided thus—the yellow tube in 
the centre being measured, the yellow eye, round the tube, 
should be the same width as its diameter; and the (/round 
colour of the flower should be the same width : or draw with 
the compasses, opened to a sixteenth of an inch apart, a 
circle for the tube or centre; open them to tliree sixteenths, 
and draw another circle for the eye, then open them further 
to five sixteenths, and draw a third circle for the ground or 
dark colour.* Beyond these circles there is a yellow luciny, 
which should reach round every flower-leaf to the yellow 
eye, and down the 1 centre of every petal to the eye, and so 
much like tire edging that the flower should appear to have 
(ten or) twelve similar petals. The ends of these (ten or) 
twelve should be blunted, aud rounded like so many semi¬ 
circles, so that the outline of the circle should be interrupted 
as little as possible.-)- 
!). The tube (one-fifth the width of the whole flower) 
should be nearly filled up with the six anthers, which are 
technically called the thrum, (have an elevated edge render¬ 
ing it trumpet-eyed), and the flower should not exhibit the 
pistil. { 
0. The edyiny round and down the centre of the petals 
I formed by the divisions, should be of even width all the way, 
and uniformly of the same shade of sulphur, lemon, or yellow 
as the eye, and there must not be two shades of yellow in 
the eye. 
7. The (/round colour should be just, what anybody likes 
best, but clear, well defined, perfectly smooth at the edges 
inside next the eye, to form a circle; and outside, next the 
lacing: a black or a crimson ground, being scarce, is desir¬ 
able ; but the quality of the colour as to clearness, rather 
than the colour itself, constitutes the property. 
The Plant.— 1. The stem should be strong, straight, 
elastic, and from four to six inches in length. 
2. The footstalks of the flowers should be of such length 
as to bring all the flowers well together. 
3. The truss should (rise from the centre of the foliage) 
comprise seven or more flowers, and be neatly arranged to 
be seen all at once.§ 
4. The foliage should be (dark green) short, broad, thick, 
and cover the pot well (but erect and clustering round, though 
lower than the trass). 
The Pair, or Collection. — The pair, or pan of more, 
should comprise flowers of different and distinct colours, 
either the ground colour or the yellow of each being suffi¬ 
ciently different from the rest to be well distinguished. 
The whole should be so near of a height as to range the 
heads of bloom well together. 
The great fault of the polyanthus now, even among the 
best sorts, is that the divisions between the petals we so 
wide as to make the flower look starry, whereas there should 
be no more gap where the division is than is in the indenta¬ 
tion of the petal itself.— Glenny's Properties of Flowers. 
We have received the following from Mr. Payne, and 
recommend his Bee-keeper's Dress to the attention of our 
readers, who ought to he as much obliged to him as we 
are for his gratuitous and kind attention to their wants. 
“ I have a similar account of a swarm of bees now before 
me, on the 7tli of April, in the Hertford Mercury, probably 
the same as that mentioned by your correspondent. When 
bees swarm at this time, and earlier in the season, they are 
driven out of their hive either by famine, damp, mice, or 
something of the kind, but more frequently the former; and 
if the hive from which they came be examined, it will be 
found to be totally forsaken,—not a bee will be left in it- 
I think that I have already sent away three dozen of hives 
since the publication of the last number of The Cottage 
Gardener, and have several now on order. I must, I sup¬ 
pose, line a warehouse, and engage a clerk! I have, how¬ 
ever, much pleasure in doing it. 1 only regret that I did not 
at the same time oft’er to send the bee dress that I mentioned 
in my last calendar with the hives, to those who wish to have 
it ; for no apiarian should be without it; it is so exceedingly J 
pleasant to the wearer, and answers the purpose of defence | 
most effectually. I have induced a person here to procure a j 
* This measure is for a flower only five-eighths of an inch diameter, but 
it is the easiest to explain the proportions. 
t All the passages in parentheses are our own additions. We greatly 
prefer an apparently few-pctaled polyanthus, for where there are twelve 
indentures the edge looks too much crimped.—[E d. C. G.] 
J Some polyanthuses shew the pistil only, and are called pin-eyed; 
these are considered worthless, 
A We prefer them to be slightly convex.— [8d. C.' G.] 
J. ..... .._ ——__7—. 
MJt 
