250 
THE FLORIST AND FOMOLOGIST. 
Nuneham Park and Reading. Messrs. Veitcli & Son showed examples of the 
white and green Broad-leaved Batavian Endive, the latter under the name of 
Fraser’s; Bigs well Prize Endive, a good stock of Green Curled; and examples 
of the White and Green Curled. 
October 16 th .—*A very small.meeting on this occasion. From the gardens 
of the Society came a large group of Zonale Pelargoniums in pots, with good 
heads of bloom, and very effective they were. From Mr. W. Paul came a 
seedling Zonale Pelargonium named Ossian, having plenty of trusses of bright 
scarlet flowers, and a very close dwarf habit; from Mr. Morris, of Deptford, 
came seedling Pelargonium Maid of Kent, a strong-growing Christine, having 
large trusses of deep rose-coloured flowers, with white blotch; and from 
C. Leach, Esq., of Clapham Park, came examples of several varieties of 
Nerine, one of the most show}'' of which was N. corusca major, colour orange 
scarlet, a robust-growing kind; N. rosea and N. kumilis, bearing flowers of 
different shades of pink and rose, were also pretty. 
To the Fruit Committee, from Mr. Turner of Slough, came very fine speci¬ 
mens of British Queen Pears and.Cox’s Orange Pippin Apple. Apples and 
Pears were also shown by Messrs. W. Paul, Yeitch & Sons, Leslie, Reynolds, 
and from the Society’s Gardens; also from the latter came Mill Hill and Dutch 
Hamburgh Grapes, intended for comparison w r itk some expected from Mr. W. 
Hill, of Keele Hall, which, however, did not reach the Committee. Mr. Carr, 
gardener to P. L. Hinds, Esq., of Byfleet, sent fruit of Passiflora laurifolia, or 
Water Lemon; and from Mr. Jonas, of Petworth, came a dish of fine 
Cranberries, which make an excellent preserve. 
R. D. 
REMINISCENCES OF THE PINK. 
The “ old florist”—just such a one as you would picture to yourself as 
you perused a volume of the “ Horticultural Cabinet,” or one of the earlier 
Numbers of the “ Florist,” has not yet quite died out, although the species 
is rapidly becoming extinct. Here and there one can be met with, scarcely 
known without the boundaries of his immediate sphere, and yet a great man 
within it, a “ man of mark ” at the floricultural tournaments at which ho 
occasionaHy‘#gnres, and among the florists of the district in which he resides. 
If he excels in the cultivation of any one particular flower, what an oracle he 
instantly becomes I—a veritable autocrat in matters of opinion respecting his 
“ own” flower. And w T heii a seedling is produced for the first time at a local 
show, how eagerly" and anxiously is his opinion sought aua waited for, and this, 
when once announced, is generally regarded as final. A “ Floral Committee ” 
in himself, his approval is tantamount to a first-class certificate in the judgment 
of the exhibitor, and a flower thus distinguished by him is pretty certain to 
become a “hot favourite ” in contests for the coveted honour of “ first prize.” 
During a country ramble I lighted on one of these worthies in a locality, 
(Somewhat unexpectedly (to me) prolific of them. He was one. of Nature’s 
gentlemen—rough in his exterior, but at the core a kindly, generous, and true 
man ; manly, out-spoken, and sincere ; loving Nature with an unselfish regard, 
and his immediate floral pets with a steady enthusiasm no calamity seemed to 
weaken. Sitting down with him and some of his brother amateurs to spend an 
hour or two, I was forcibly reminded of an illustration that appeared in one of 
the early volumes of the “ Florist,” entitled “ Florists in the Olden Time.” 
We were just such a cosy, comfortable-looking set, hut with more of' younger 
blood infused into our circle than appears in the illustration just referred to. 
