54 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
practice. And it is a fact that, as a class, 
they still despise the whole system of fancy 
flowers, and even carry their prejudices so far 
as to dislike the beauties that have been 
obtained by art. 
“ Here, then, are three formidable classes of 
opponents, to one or other of which I think all 
the objections I have heard raised to the art of 
the florist may be referred. And as my object 
in these papers is to show that they are all and 
severally untenable, it appears better to meet 
them and join issue at once ; after which I will 
endeavour to demonstrate and apply those fixed 
laws of nature, through which have been deve¬ 
loped whatever advances have yet been or will 
hereafter be made in the improvement of cer¬ 
tain flowering plants. 
“I. The first objection is, that what are 
counted excellences in the eyes of amateurs are 
mere matters of taste and caprice; that the 
standards by which they are judged are purely 
arbitrary and conventional; and that no suffi¬ 
cient reason can be given why any other 
standards might not as well be adopted as those 
in use, because taste is most variable and in¬ 
consistent. 
“ Persons who thus reason should be reminded 
that the general amount of consent among those 
who have engaged in the pursuit and paid at¬ 
tention to it,—and those not of one time or one 
place, or among those only who were influenced 
by each other’s opinions, but of all times and 
of various countries, and often bearing no respect 
towards one another,—should suggest a doubt 
■whether facts are not against them. The truth 
is, it is a curious matter of inquiry, and one 
of those which led the writer to think upon 
the subject, how much the facts of the case 
are against them, and tend the other way; 
how constant it is that frequent and atten¬ 
tive examination of many varieties of the 
same species of flower almost in every instance 
leads the cultivator to value certain peculia¬ 
rities, whether pointed out to him or not, 
which constitute the ’properties of that species 
of flower. 
“Not that each would prefer the same 
variety; that would imply that there is no 
place for taste at all, for which I shall show 
that there is a wide, but not an unlimited, 
field. But that in all the varieties that each 
most esteems, there will be found certain 
characteristic points of excellence. This sug¬ 
gests what will be proved to be a fact, that for 
such agreement there is a reason founded in 
nature ; a reason we will afterwards investigate. 
In the meantime, the mere intimation it gives 
that these preferences are not arbitrary, is a 
sufficient answer to the objection as it is usually 
made. 
“ The same appearance of mere arbitrary 
standards of excellence is found in many, per¬ 
haps in most, other objects of pursuit. An 
ordinary person going among the stock of a 
farmer who breeds high, would in all probability 
make the same mistake that you complained of 
in one ignorant of Pelargoniums, and excite a 
smile of pity or contempt through his un¬ 
acquaintance with the technical value of level 
backs, flat loins, wide forelegs, and straight 
sides, or by showing so much want of discern¬ 
ment as actually to praise a good-looking 
animal with a black nose, a fault as inexcus¬ 
able in a cow, and as surely indicative of de¬ 
fective breeding, as the same appearance would 
be at the bottom of the cup of a Tulip. 
“ Now these marks are not arbitrary ; no one 
supposes them to be so in cattle; credit is 
given to the farmer that he has a reason 
founded in nature for the points of his beast, 
though that reason does not lie on the surface, 
to be discerned by every passing beholder. 
They are admitted to be what they really are, 
—an index of its qualifications to fulfil its 
destined functions. 
“ The same thing occurs in judging between 
the relative values of different specimens of 
the same kind, in all articles, whether natural 
productions or works of art. There are always 
some technical marks to judge by, which serve 
to indicate, in short compass, the intrinsic 
qualities of the article. And these marks will 
seem arbitrary to those who do not understand 
them, because their connexion with the quali¬ 
ties is not seen. The merchant judges of 
samples by marks that are meaningless to 
others, but which lead him to a correct result, 
because thev have a real natural connexion 
with the qualities he seeks. And the florist 
has an equal reason for the properties of his 
flower. A novice will sometimes bring a seed¬ 
ling Polyanthus to an older cultivator, expecting 
the same admiration it has excited in himself. 
In size, and shape, and colour, and edging, it is 
perfect; and he is surprised and mortified at 
the coldness of its reception. And when told 
why it must be rejected, he considers the - 
floristic canon as arbitrary and unreasonable 
which condemns an otherwise excellent flower 
for the trifling defect, if defect it is to be called 
at all, that the stigma is visible. Yet con¬ 
demned it would be, and universally, by judges ; 
and they are right, as will be shown in its place. 
A pin-eyed Polyanthus or Auricula has no busi¬ 
ness in a collection, though not out of place in 
a border. 
“ There is no caprice in this. And the real 
agreement that has obtained all along from the 
first among florists in their estimate of fancy 
flowers is greater than is at first discoverable ; 
because they did not set out from a known 
system acknowledged by all, or by any, and 
therefore their differences of taste were greatest 
at first, and diminish continually afterwards. 
