September 29, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
67 
WEBBS’ 
EARLY BULBS. 
THE FINEST ROOTS OF THE SEASON. 
ROMAN HYACINTHS. 
EARLY WHITE, extra large bulbs ... 2s. per doz. 
do. do. ... 15s. per 100. 
do. fine bulbs. Is. 9d. per doz. 
do. do.. 12s. per 100. 
do. smaller bulbs ... ... Is. 6d. per doz. 
do. do. . 10s. per 100. 
POLYANTHUS NARCISSUS. 
DOUBLE ROMAN . 3d. each, Is. 6d. per doz- 
PAPER WHITE . 3d. each, Is. 6d. per doz 
DUC VAN THOL TULIPS. 
Single, Scarlet .9d. per doz., 5s. per 100. 
Double, Scarlet and Yellow ... 9d. per doz., 5s. per 100. 
WEBBS' BULB CATALOGUE. j 
Beautifully Illustrated. Post Free, 6d. Gratis to customers 
Seedsmen by Royal Warrants to H.M. the Queen and 
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. 
WORDSLEY, STOURBRIDGE. 
Our extensive collections 
embrace all the best and 
■ newest varieties in the 
various sections of Hardy, Border, Clove, and Yellow Ground 
sorts; also Show Carnations and Picotees, and Show and 
Border Pinks. 
TREE & WINTER-FLOWERING CARNATIONS (including 
the specially fashionable “ Deep Pink ” and other Malmaisons). 
Out handbook , “Carnations and their Culture ,” with full 
Descriptive Catalogue , can be had free on application. 
LAING & MATHER, Nurserymen, Kelso-on-Tweed. 
ORCHIDS. 
Clean Healthy Plants at Low Prices. 
Always worth a visit of inspection. Kindly send for Catalogue. 
JAMES CYPHER, 
Exotic Nurseries, CHELTENHAM. 
SPECIAL CULTURE 
OF 
FRUIT T REES & R OSES. 
A Large and Select Stock is now offered for Sale. 
TheJIllustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits post free. 
The Descriptive Catalogue of Roses post free. 
THOMAS RIVERS ”& SON, 
The Nurseries, SA WBRIDGEWORTH, Herts 
2sa 
HYACINTHS, TULIPS, 
Narcissi, Lillies, 
Snowdrops, 
Crocuses, 
Soil las, 
Irises 
Dicksons 
& 
BEST 
QUALITIES 
AT LOWEST 
RATES. 
Delivered Free by 
Rail or Parcel Post. 
Descriptive Catalogue No. 411 
Post Free on application 
Bulb Growers 
& Importers 
Chester 
For Market and Private Growers. 
Ornamental Trees,Shrubs, t. 
Descriptive CATALOGUES post free, 
MEAL & CONS 
Wl Crawley, Sussex. 
Pansies & Violas. 
FANCY PANSIES. 
I offer i pair cuttiDgs of Miss StirlingandB. Doulton, the best 
var. in cultivation, these have been awarded five special 
prizes for the best new Pansies, and were the leading flowers 
in seven medal stands this season, including Edinburgh 
Glasgow and London, and n pairs of the best 1894 var. for 7s. 6d. 
My 3s. collection of 13 pairs includes one variety of Mr. C 
Kay's new Pansies and 3 pairs for 1894. 
SHOW PANSIES. 
One pair cuttings of a new variety and 12 pairs of the best 
1894 for 6 1 - 
Four pairs of 1894 var. and 9 grand competition sorts for 3/- 
VIOLAS 
(Awarded 4 Medals this season). 
I have 100,000 cuttings now ready for delivery. The follow¬ 
ing are the very best 20 new and old varieties for bedding 
and massing, and include the c'eam of the unrivalled rayless 
Violas. Seven are new 1894 var. and three are 1893 var. Mrs. 
C. F. Gordon, Cecilia, Beautiful Snow, Admiration, Goldfinch, 
Charmer, Commodore, M. Todd, Accushla, Lord Elcho, 
Wm. Niel, Duchess of Fife. Rayless type: Grandee, Border 
Witch, Christiana. Lutea, Queen of the May, Sylvia, Blue 
Gown, Blush Queen. I will substitute other varieties in place 
ofany of the above not wanted. Onepair cuttings of each var. 
for 4/-; 5 each for 7/6; 10 each for 13/6; 20 each for 25/- 
Catalogues Free to any Address. 
S. PYE, 
CATTERALL, GARSTANG LANC. 
For Index to Contents see page 78. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Monday, Oct. ist.—Bulb Sale at Protheroe & Morris' 
Rooms, and every day in the week. 
Continuation of Fruit Show at the Crystal Palace. 
Tuesday, Oct. 2nd.—Trade Sale at the Windlesham Nurseries, 
near Bags'not, by Protheroe & Morris (3 days). 
Orchid Sale at Protheroe & Morris’ Rooms. 
Thursday, Oct. 4th.—Sale of Palms and other Plants at 
Protheroe & Morris’ Rooms. 
Friday, Oct. 5th.—Orchid Sale at Protheroe & Morris' 
Rooms. 
CM TjWd. 
Edited by BRIAN WYNNE, F.R.H.S. 
SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 29 th, 1894. 
P^UBLIC TASTE AND FLORIST’S FLOWERS.— 
The public and the florist, but more 
particularly the specialist, represent two 
distinct schools whose influence bears upon 
the development or evolution of those 
classes of garden flowers which have been 
more or less improved by the agency of 
man, or altered from the wild originals. 
The improvement of wild flowers by selec¬ 
tion has doubtless gone on for ages, slowly 
it may have been at first, and just as 
mankind became more civilised and refined ; 
so that the public at large constitutes the 
oldest school, as it has always been and 
will remain the strongest in point of num¬ 
bers. The florist proper is a specialist 
whose views of refinement in flowers, the 
public cannot always appreciate, and 
sometimes cannot be induced to understand, 
much less to follow out in practice, 
although there are cases where all can 
admire the beauty of his standard of 
perfection. Flis greatest failing is a 
tendency to formality inasmuch as he aims 
at a uniform shape in every class of plants 
which he takes in hand. Single flowers 
such as Pelargoniums and Pansies, must be 
perfectly circular although the original 
wildings are very far from being so. 
Incurved Chrysanthemums and show 
Dahlias constitute another type the outline 
of which may be g’obular or hemispherical, 
or tending in that direction according to 
the variety. 
A good instance of the effect of the 
popular voice may be seen in the grand 
collections of modern Japanese Chrysanthe¬ 
mums. When the flimsy-petalled and 
small-flowered early representatives first 
made their appearance in this country the 
florists railed at them and practically 
laughed them to scorn. Now they can 
only look on and admire or lay aside their 
tenets with regard to the formal and inar¬ 
tistic incurved kinds and proclaim a truce 
to public taste by undertaking their 
cultivation in hearty earnest. The real 
face of an incurved Chrysanthemum is 
hidden, thereby excluding the possibility 
of any great amount of variation. The 
Japanese types admit ot indefinite varia¬ 
tion both in size, shape and colour, hence 
their popularity. 
Dahlias offer another good instance of 
the wisdom of giving rein to the popular 
taste for variety in form as well as colour. 
Show and fancy kinds are still judged, it is 
true, according to the canons of the florist; 
but pompons, and single Dahlias, more 
especially have been brought to great per¬ 
fection to meet the popular demand. More 
recently the original Cactus Dahlia Juarezi 
was singled out as a type on which to 
model a new strain, in direct contravention 
of the rules or notions of the florist. To¬ 
day, we may say without fear of much 
contradiction that Cactus Dahlias are in 
the front rank of popular estimation, not¬ 
withstanding the fact that the florist's kinds 
are still very widely cultivated in private 
establishments. A small starry type has 
been placed before the public, but they 
were too puny to meet with much favour. 
The Dahlia is a gross growing plant with 
large leaves which require large flowers to 
make an effective display. Single Cactus 
Dahlias are now being brought forward and 
show a strong tendency to greater variety in 
form and larger size than the ordinary single 
ones, but whether the public will ultimately 
pronounce in their favour is a question of 
the near future ; but some of them have a 
quaint beauty not to be found in any other 
type. 
Exhibition Pansies seem to have had 
their day, notwithstanding the fact that 
many of them are very pretty in spite of 
their formality. The Belgian or fancy 
strain is receiving a considerable amount 
of attention from the public at present, 
doubtless on account of their greait size, and 
large, showy and attractive blotches which 
constitute their leading characteristics. 
The florists as usual treated them with 
great indifference for some time, but at 
length perceived something in them in 
spite of their large flimsy petals. The 
show varieties though much more refined 
are smaller. The dry climate in the 
southern counties of England militates 
greatly against general success in their 
cultivation. A packet of seed of a good 
strain will, however, afford some good 
flowers for ordinary garden decoration, and 
seedlings are more easily raised than plants 
from cuttings can be preserved. Bedding 
Violas meet the case admirably for border 
decoration, and their habit of throwing up 
numerous suckers renders them more easy 
to preserve. Popular choice has already 
declared greatly in their favour, although 
their flowers in a large number of cases are 
very far from being circular. The appar¬ 
ently illimitable variety of colour, and the 
liberty allowed as to form, as well as the 
clearly defined self colours in many of them 
