12? THE FLORIST. 
much time and was very successful in raising seedling fruit. Many 
did not fruit till after his death, and it is said the Prince Albert Pear is 
among the number. 
S. POWELL. 
THE AZALEA. 
I am an enthusiastic admirer of this beautiful genus of plants, and grow 
them somewhat extensively, and, if my means could be regulated by 
my desire to possess a large well-grown collection of these, I believe 
mine would not be second to even the largest and best collection in the 
country—for I would have many specimens of each of my favourite 
kinds, and one of every moderately good variety to be procured. 
But while I cannot hope to satisfy my desire as to quantity, 1 am 
anxious to fully occupy my space with such plants of the very best 
varieties in existence, as will leave me nothing to desire in regard to 
those I do possess; and, in order to accomplish this, I have for several 
years past been a diligent buyer of all the new sorts offered, which I 
thought likely to improve my collection ; but, I regret to say, that my 
purchases, at least many of them, have not added much to my grati- 
fication, and I think that those who have bought and grown all, or 
most of the new Azaleas, which have been offered during the last half- 
a-dozen years, will agree with me that too many of them have not 
proved to be great improvements upon older kinds. But what has 
annoyed me most in my experience in buying new kinds has been the 
state of the plants when received; for I consider that when I order a 
plant at the price at which it is offered, I am fairly entitled to expect 
to receive a well got up healthy vigorous plant—one in every respect 
suitable for making an effective specimen in the least possible time ; 
and, if one is justified in expecting to be supplied. with plants of this 
kind, in the case of such things as Ericas and New Holland plants, 
many of which are neither easily nor quickly propagated, but which, 
nevertheless, are readily procured by those who know where to order 
them, in prime condition and at very moderate prices, surely there can 
be nothing approaching to injustice or driving a hard bargain in 
expecting the same in the case of Azaleas, which are both easily and 
quickly propagated, and are not subject to occasion loss to the grower 
by sudden death in any stage of their existence, as Ericas and many 
other things are, at all periods of their growth. Here let me say, how- 
ever, that when I order a plant of a new variety of Azalea, I am not 
inclined to expect a half specimen, and that, provided it is properly 
propagated, healthy and vigorous, I care very little about the size of the 
plant, and I should hardly feel dissatisfied at receiving a grafted plant, 
with the graft only just fairly united, if this was a moderately strong 
shoot, and the stock of the right kind, and young and well rooted, without 
having or ever having had its roots cramped up in a small pot. Nor 
in the case of plants rooted from cuttings do I care about size, and 
would greatly prefer to receive a strong cutting barely established in a 
small pot, to some which I have received with from six to a dozen 
