90 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
secondary veins yellowish ; the nnder-surface being red. It has received its name 
from the great diversity of its colouring.” We have seen this colouring developed 
in great variety and in great beauty on plants exhibited at the London flower 
shows.—T. M. 
THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE POLYANTHUS. 
HAVE thought for some time how much we need improvement in the 
Polyanthus—a flower which has for so many years been much neglected 
f that I fear most of the fine old varieties have become extinct. At any rate, 
they are very scarce, and are seldom seen at our exhibitions. I saw some 
exhibited a few years ago, and to my astonishment, the first prize was awarded to 
a collection containing several pin-eyed flowers—a pin-eye being considered by the 
florist as a great defect, sufficient to secure the discarding of any varieties in which 
it is to be found. Possibly, from their having been so long neglected, the standard 
of perfection has been forgotten. It is much to be regretted that so beautiful a 
class of early spring flowers should be lost sight of, and I hope that an effort will 
be made to restore them to their former position. The first step would be to 
induce those, if any there be, who possess some really good varieties, to save 
the seed from them. They produce seed in abundance, and are of very easy 
culture. There are thousands of seedlings raised annually, but we seldom hear 
of any good ones, which I attribute to want of care in saving the seed. It is 
better to save seed from eight or ten plants that possess good properties, than from 
a hundred bad ones. Although the pin-eyed flower is imperfect, it is sometimes, 
as regards other points, such as shape, colour, and marking, almost perfection, 
and should any such be found among the seedlings, they should not be destroyed, 
but they should be fertilized with the pollen from perfect thrum-eyed flowers. 
In fact, the pin-eyed flowers offer a better opportunity for hybridizing than the 
thrum-eyed ones. This course, if persevered in, would, I am sure, be attended 
with success, and would be a step towards the improvement of this very 
old favourite. 
Now, as regards perfection in the Polyanthus, the flowers should possess the 
following properties :—The pips should be large, flat, and quite circular ; the tube 
should be well filled with the thrum or anthers ; the eye should be quite round, of a 
bright clear yellow, and perfectly distinct from the ground ; the ground-colour 
should be black, or a beautiful dark crimson, or a bright scarlet, and there 
should be one distinct stripe in the centre of each division of the pip, running 
quite through to the eye; the edging should resemble a bright gold lace, clear 
and distinct, and nearly or quite of the same colour as the eye and stripes, so as 
scarcely to be distinguishable. The truss should be large and compact, similar 
to a fine truss of an Auricula. 
Polyanthuses generally grow much b6tter in the open ground than in pots, 
as they are very impatient of heat and drought, and frequently suffer 
during the dry hot weather if watering is neglected. Some years ago I had about 
