184 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ Decembek, 
of Nature, as seen in the organisation of the 
petals of the Tulip ; and from the hour of the 
publication of his masterly essay ( Midland 
Florist , 1847, pp. 105, 141), I never heard a 
question raised as to the standard of perfect 
form in the Tulip, at any meeting of the 
National Tulip Society or elsewhere, by any 
one with the least pretension to speak with 
authority. My late most intimate friend, Mr. 
John Frederick Wood, editor of the Midland 
Florist, himself a writer on the Tulip, and 
possessed of an experience inferior to no one of 
his day, and a judge at every meeting of the Na¬ 
tional Tulip Society, from its institution until 
he left England in 1855, was the first to pro¬ 
claim his adhesion to the “ Hardy standard,’’— 
a standard, indeed, so symmetrical, harmonious, 
and consistent with reason and cultivated taste, 
that fault could not be found in, or exception 
taken to it, and everywhere, where the qualifica¬ 
tion I have noted existed, it was adopted with 
acclamation. Summarised, the Hardy standard 
was as follows, viz. :— 
1. “ Every Tulip, when in its greatest per¬ 
fection, should be circular in its outline 
throughout; its depth being equal to half 
its width across from the tip, or highest point, 
of one petal to the tip of the other immediately 
opposite.” 
2. ‘‘ It should be composed of six petals, 
three inner and three outer, which shall all be 
of the same height, and have such a form as 
will enable them to preserve this circular out¬ 
line ; their edges being even, stiff, and smooth ; 
and their surfaces free from shoulder, or in¬ 
equality of every kind.” 
3. “ The breadth of the petals shall be 
amply sufficient to prevent any interstices 
being seen between them, so long as the flower 
retains its freshness.” 
4. “ There should be exact uniformity be* 
tween the outline of the cup and the outline 
of the upper margin of the petal, which should 
form an arc or curve, whose radius is equal to 
half the diameter, or whole depth of the 
flower.” 
In later years Dr. Hardy completed his 
work by contributing papers on the “ Markings 
of the Tulip,” and “ What Constitutes the 
Leading Property of the Tulip,” papers of 
which, at some future day, if health and 
strength admit and I have your permission, I 
will endeavour, in the interest of younger florists, 
to make abstracts, as, like the essays by the 
Rev. George Jeans, recently published by you, 
they demonstrate, in the clearest and most 
simple form, the laws on which the properties 
of florists’ flowers rest, and form a rule and 
guide for the beginner beyond all question or 
mistake.—E. S. Dodwell. 
SUBURBAN GARDENING. 
ECEMBER.—November has proved a 
very changeable month, with alterna¬ 
tions of fog and clear skies, heat and 
cold, keen north winds and warm south-westerly 
gales. The leaves that hung thickly on the 
trees at the beginning of the month are ankle- 
deep in woodland ways ; autumn and winter 
have compounded, the former will soon hand 
over the reins of government to the latter. 
Kitchen Garden. —It appears superfluous to 
advise the gardener to lose no opportunity of 
trenching every spare yard of ground devoted to 
vegetable culture while the weather is favour¬ 
able, but it is very important to do so. Now 
also is the time to plant Seakale , Rhubarb , and 
Asparagus for forcing ; and if beds of these can 
be made in a vinery, providing a gentle bottom- 
heat by means of leaves and a little dung, 
early crops can be secured. Those who have 
Lettuoes , Cauliflower , &c., in frames will need 
to watch for slugs ; while the weather is mild 
they will be very active, and work much harm. 
Advantage should be taken of frosty weather 
to prune Currant and Gooseberry trees, and if 
it be necessary to make new plantations of these, 
the ground should be prepared by trenching it 
fully two feet deep, adding a good dressing of 
suitable manure, or any decayed vegetable mat¬ 
ter that may have accumulated. Those who sow 
Beans in the autumn should use the Seville 
Longpod , and not the Early Mazagan, as is 
sometimes recommended, the latter not being 
so early as is generally supposed; and for a 
Pea , Laxtons William I., instead of Sangster’s 
No. 1. 
Fruit Garden. —Those who have to deal 
with Suburban villa gardens discovered long 
ago that the garden walls are built up with 
mortar of the worst description, and that when 
nails are driven into it it comes away, leaving 
openings in which insects secrete themselves 
and take up their winter quarters. Villa 
gardeners know to their sorrow what a nuisance 
these pests are in summer. At this time of 
the year, it is a good plan to draw all the nails, 
destroy the shreds, and place the nails in boil¬ 
ing water and then in linseed oil, before using 
them again, and to have the walls pointed over 
with good mortar. If it is thought inadvisable to 
do the pruning of Fruit-trees too early, they 
should be gone over, and any cross shoots and 
branches cut out, so that air can circulate 
freely among them. Any fruit-trees infected 
