1881.] 
THE NATIONAL CARNATION AND PICOTEE SOCIETY. 
125 
a fine antidote to the proper melancholy of a love¬ 
sick swain. 
“ All the colours we now find in the Carnation were 
known to the older florists, and John Parkinson de¬ 
scants on the beauties of the yellow Carnation in 
such a manner as to suggest that the yellow-ground 
Picotee was not unknown to him, although he gives 
no definite hint of its existence. The true founda¬ 
tions in floriculture laid by him were soon freely 
built upon, for in the year 1676 John Rae had 360 
sorts of Carnations, and from this time the popu¬ 
larity of the flower appears never to have waned in 
any serious degree. 
“The modern history of the flower dates from July 
25th, 1850, when the first proper exhibition in the 
south of England took place in the Royal Nurseries 
at Slough, and the National Carnation and Picotee 
Society was formally founded. It is with unspeak¬ 
able pleasure I find in the records that in the first 
start of this Society the names of Turner and Dod- 
well appear as the leading prize-takers, both at the 
show just referred to and the second show that was 
held at Derby on August 7th in the same year. Thu3 
the year 1850 was a great year in the history of 
floriculture, and it seems scarcely possible, although 
it is perfectly true, that the two masters of the 
Carnation in that day are masters now, apparently 
younger and more enthusiastic, but with an im¬ 
mensity of acquired experience to sustain their zeal 
and constancy. Their presence here to-day may be 
regarded as a delightful commentary on the declara¬ 
tion of Wordsworth, that, ‘ Nature never did betray 
the heart that loved her,* and we may regard each 
of these as favoured by the Fairy Queen, who 
‘ crowns him with flowers, and makes him all her 
joy.’ 
“ It is an interesting and somewhat remarkable 
fact that the Carnation and its several relations, as 
Pinks, Picotees, and the like, endure with patience 
the smoke and dust of great towns. Mr. E, S. Dod- 
well has put the capabilities of the flower in this 
respect to the severest test imaginable, for he 
brings forth from year to year the most perfect 
blooms, taking a fair share of the prizes, as in the 
memorable year 1850; and his garden is favoured 
by a railway company with a perennial shower of 
blacks night and day, the whole year round. In¬ 
deed, the Dianthus family appear to have some¬ 
what of the same sociable temper as the sing¬ 
ing-birds ; they appear to love the habitations of 
man, and hence the prudent botanist who wants a 
specimen of the true typical Dianthus Caryophyllus 
will begin to hunt for it on castle walls, ruins, or on 
the roofs of old sheds and cottages.. I remember 
making a grand find in a hunt of this sort. Being 
on the rampage with a friend, we made discovery of 
a cottage roof all glorious with tufts of wild Pink, 
Houseleek, Stonecrop, Rock Rose, Ragged Robin, 
and Stitchwort, all embedded in cushions of golden 
moss, and wreathed about with garlands of Roses, 
We resolved to derive from this floral roof a grand 
intellectual and aesthetic treat, and were preparing 
to make sketches and draw up a careful catalogue 
of the plants. The owner of the cottage came out 
and smiled approvingly when we told him we had 
found an Eldorado on his roof, and intended to 
make a picture that posterity would rave about, 
and that would turn the heads of all botanists, 
florists, painters, and dadoists, so that probably the 
world would begin to revolve in a new way. But it 
came on to rain, and like a pair of cowards, we fled, 
promising to be on the spot next morning to accom¬ 
plish the task that should renew humanity. And we 
were there next morning, but the scene was changed. 
The worthy man was on the roof, scraping away 
with a hoe. He had cleai’ed off all the vegetation, 
to display the original red tiles, and he said, with 
a pride that to us was deadly, ‘ I thought it a 
pity that you should paint my cottage with all 
that rubbish on it; for them tiles I put on myself, 
for that’s my trade, and I’m proud of it; for I’m a 
tiler, every inch of me.’ What we lost individually 
is as nothing to what the world lost through this 
blundering vandalism. 
“ The mention of vandalism reminds me that I 
just now spoke of msthetic delights. Fifty years 
ago the cultivators of taste in Germany were called 
aesthetics, because they sought and encouraged the 
cultivation of beauty. There are now amongst us, 
even in the bright world of flowers, those who profess 
to be aesthetics, and who coolly propose that we 
should undo and utterly waste the work of centuries 
in floriculture, and allow Nature to assert herself 
according to the original pattern of things, as on the 
third day of Creation. Yes ; they dare to doom our 
double flowers to an ignominious oblivion, and they 
fondly hope we shall destroy our proper garden 
flowers, and plant in their place those that Nature 
cultivates so nicely in the woodlands and on the 
mountains. They really aim at destroying all our 
out-door pleasures, because the wild flowers are far 
more delightful when we have to search for them in 
their own breezy haunts, than they are when we bring 
them into the garden. Thus, if we lose our highly- 
cultivated flowers, and lose also the peculiar and ever 
fresh delight of searching for the wildings in their 
native haunts, there must be an end of gardening 
altogether. To put our beautiful garden flowers 
under a ban is the work of a Caliban. Caliban 
and his dadoistic friends will have their day and 
cease to be, and the good old garden flowers will 
continue to delight mankind and justify the labours 
of the florists. 
“ It is interesting to note that two great authorities 
give the florists full credit for their making of the 
flower that has thus far occupied our attention to¬ 
day. Turner, writing about 1550, says :—‘ The 
gardin gelouers are made so pleasaunt and swete 
with the labours and witt of man, and not by 
Nature.’ And Withering, in the eighteenth century, 
wrote :—* The art of floriculture, sometimes despised 
with a reprehensible degree of fastidiousness, has 
in this instance transformed a plant, comparatively 
obscure, into one of the most delightful charms 
which the lap of Flora contains.’ ” 
THE NATIONAL CARNATION 
AND PICOTEE SOCIETY. 
SOUTHERN SECTION. 
« HE Show of this Section of the National 
Carnation and Picotee Society took 
place on July 19th, in the Garden of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, at South 
Kensington. Considering the extreme heat and 
drought of the last few weeks, the stages were 
much better filled than could have been ex¬ 
pected, and the number of good, well-developed, 
fresh flowers was beyond the average. Several 
new flowers of remarkably high quality were 
produced, chiefly from Mr. Dodwell’s collection. 
Carnations. 
Class A. 24 blooms, 12 distinct. —1st, Mr. E. S. 
Dodwell, Chatham Terrace, Larkhall Rise, Clapham, 
