43 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
from this admiration ; and if the beauties which a man in common life suc¬ 
ceeds in obtaining, are confined to the admiration of himself and his family, 
and to such friends as may occasionally see them, there is not sufficient sti¬ 
mulus to make him exert himself with the requisite degree of vigour. So 
situated, he not only wants the accommodations of those who grow flowers in 
the way of business, but he also wants a definite object. They have the hope 
of gain, blended with the hope of glory, to spur them on, and make them 
exert themselves to the very utmost; but the individual florist, who cultivates 
with no view to pecuniary reward, and has no hope of praise for his labour 
beyond his own satisfaction, and the commendations of his private friends, is 
without either branch of that stimulus which acts constantly with the profes¬ 
sional florist; and consequently, with equal time devoted to the art, the 
results are necessarily inferior to what they would be had he more definite 
objects to excite him. 
The local society of the district or the village, as it may be, goes a con¬ 
siderable way towards supplying those necessary stimuli. The desire of sur¬ 
passing his neighbours in producing something excellent—the best and most 
wholesome desire, by the way, that any human being can possess—makes 
every one exert himself to the very utmost, in order that he may have a fair 
chance of standing foremost at the show ; and as the prizes contended for at 
those shows are of an honorary nature, rather than a mercenary one, they tend 
to liberality, and not to selfishness, at least in any of the objectionable senses 
of the term. The truth of this is apparent in the very principle ; but were proof 
necessary, it would easily be found in the fact, that the meetings of cultivators 
of flowers, even when they meet to strive, as it were, who has been most suc¬ 
cessful, are remarkable for the perfect harmony with which they are con¬ 
ducted, and the readiness of all to acquiesce in the justice with which the 
prizes have been awarded, and admire that superiority by which they have 
been won. 
It requires no argument to prove that, if this is established in any one 
occupation of men, it will find its way to every other occupation of the same 
men; and the man who strives to excel others at the show of flowers, will also 
endeavour to excel others in the ordinary pursuits and urbanities of life. Con¬ 
vinced of the truth of this, and of the beneficial effects of those exhibitions, it 
is our intention, at the end of moderate periods of time, to give lists of them, 
with as full particulars as our limits will admit; and for this reason we shall be 
most happy to receive information from all parts of the country, as ample 
and as accurate as possible. 
LITERARY NOTICE. 
One of the most important Works to the Horticulturist and Vegetable 
Physiologist, which has, perhaps, ever appeared, is now in preparation. It 
will comprise the Papers and Correspondence of the late President of the 
Horticultural Society, Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., and also letters of 
some of the first Botanists and Naturalists in Europe. • We understand the 
materials are in the hands of George Bentham, Esq., Secretary to the 
Horticultural Society, and Dr. Bindley. 
