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A
TREATISE
ON THE
CARNATION,
AND
OTHER FLOWERS.
A
PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTURE
OF THE
CARNATION,
PINK, AURICULA, POLYANTHUS, RANUNCULUS,
TULIP, HYACINTH, ROSE, AND
OTHER FLOWERS:
DISSERTATION ON SOILS AND MANURES, AND CATALOGUES
OF THE MOST ESTEEMED VARIETIES OF EACH FLOWER.
BY THOMAS HOGG, FLORIST,
PADDINGTON GREEN, MIDDLESEX.
The Flower Garden is an endless Source of Pleasure.
' Si quid novisti rectius i^n,,
Candidas imperti, si non, bis atere inecam.'
(Coition.
WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS.
LONDON :
WHITTAKER & CO., AVE-MARIA-LANE.
1839.
LONDON:
Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES, Stamford Street.
Dedication to the First Edition.
TO THE
RIGHT HONOURABLE
DOWAGER LADY DE CLIFFORD.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LADYSHIP,
It is with no small degree of satisfaction that I
here record your Ladyship's permission to introduce this
small and humble work to public notice, under the sanc-
tion of your Ladyship's distinguished name ; believe
me, I am duly sensible of the honour conferred, as well
as of the powerful recommendation which it thereby
receives.
Your Ladyship's name, I may fairly say, is in a man-
ner identified with the science of botany itself; for you
have been its liberal and munificent patroness for years,
and have long pursued it, as a study at once innocent,
248127
VI DEDICATION.
rational, and amusing, with unwearied ardour and suc-
cess.
The various productions of Nature which you have
collected from all parts and all climates of the world,
some requiring the fostering warmth of the stove, others
the more temperate atmosphere of the green-house, — to
say nothing of those that adorn the open garden, — each
distinguished for some striking and peculiar property,
either of elegant and stately growth, curious and remark-
able foliage, or beautiful and odoriferous blossom,
whether tree, shrub, or herb, bespeak alike your Lady-
ship's refined taste and judicious selection.
I am,
With sentiments of profound respect,
Your Ladyship's most obliged,
And most grateful servant,
THOMAS HOGG.
Paddington Green.
PRE FACE
TO THE SECOND EDITION.
THE liberal encouragement which the former Edition
of this little Work has met with from the admirers of
the Flower-garden in general, as well as from the
skilful and experienced Florist, has enabled the Au-
thor to put forth a Second Edition, in which he has
made very considerable additions, and introduced a
variety of new matter connected with the subject,
being the result of two years' additional experience
and information. He has added, under their re-
spective heads, full, yet concise and amended, cata-
logues of each Flower treated of. Those of the
Rose, of the Hyacinth, of Geraniums, of Herba-
ceous Plants, of annual Flowers, are new, and he
hopes will prove acceptable ; all which he has en-
deavoured to compress into as small a compass as
possible, having inserted only what appeared both
essential and needful. Five new Plates have been,
added, to illustrate the properties of a good flower;
Vlll PREFACE.
the expense of which, and the superior manner in
which this Edition has been got up, will, he hopes,
justify the additional charge put upon the book.
He cannot let pass this opportunity of returning
his most grateful thanks to those Ladies and Gentle-
men, who have not only recommended and patro-
nized his small Treatise, but who have still more
essentially served him by the purchase of his flowers;
his Collection of which, he begs to assure them, as long
as his health or circumstances will admit, will always
be found to be choice, curious, and extensive, and
the charge also will be as moderate as that of any
other Florist.
Paddington.
NOTE BY THE PUBLISHERS.
THE Publishers of this Edition of Hogg's Treatise
on Flowers, which has so closely followed the pre-
ceding, beg leave to state that all the additions, cor-
rections, and improvements made by the Author
himself in the last, are carefully retained in this ; so
that they now present it to the Public as complete
in every respect, and worthy of the very liberal
patronage it has already received.
Ave-Maria Lane,
Aug. 1832.
a 5
INTRODUCTION.
As the hand of an all-beneficent Creator
has been graciously pleased to strew and de-
corate the earth with flowers, to gratify the
sight by their beauty, and to refresh the sense
of smelling by their fragrance, as we proceed
from stage to stage along the rugged road of
life ; and as nothing which he has formed for
the benefit of man was ever designed by him
to perish or exist in vain, it is our duty to
receive these pleasing productions of his,
among others, with all thankfulness, and to
render them subservient to the purposes of
health, pleasure, and amusement ; for such
no doubt he first bestowed them. In fact, the
cultivation of flowers has in all parts, as well
Xll INTRODUCTION.
as in all ages of the world, engaged more or
less the care and attention of a great part of
mankind; for the same Being that created
them, created in man also a wish and an
inclination to cultivate and take charge of
them. To spend too much of our time upon
them may be justly deemed folly; yet not to
notice them at all shows a corrupted taste,
and a total want of grateful sensibility.
While they contribute to charm the eye by
their gay external appearance, they furnish at
the same time, to the intelligent mind of man,
matter for study and reflection. The opera-
tions of nature in the vegetable world are
most wonderful, both in the production and
preservation of her numerous progeny, whe-
ther we contemplate their endless diversity,
their curious construction, their varied fo-
liage, their beautiful blossoms, their fra-
grance, their different stages of existence, and
INTRODUCTION. X11I
terms of duration, perennial, biennial, annual.
These, and a hundred other remarkable pro-
tf
perties, cannot fail to engage our study and
excite our curiosity : whether we direct our
attention to the humble Lily of the Valley,
or to the more magnificent blossom of the
Magnolia, still we find something to admire,
something to astonish and delight us.
1 Go mark the workings of the power
That shuts within the seed the future Flower ;
Bids these iu elegance of form excel,
In colour these, and those delight the smell ;
Sends Nature forth, the daughter of the skies,
To dwell on earth, and charm all human eyes.'
CoVvTER.
To take a view for a moment of the larger
productions of nature — and though the fre-
quency of beholding those objects, however
wonderful, never fails to lessen the interest
which we should otherwise feel, if the sight
of them were not so familiar — yet who can
XIV INTRODUCTION.
pass by the stately Elm, the towering Beech,
the lofty Fir, or the sturdy outstretched
branches of the majestic Oak, without having
his astonishment and admiration excited ?
But how would that wonder and astonish-
ment increase, if he had an opportunity of
beholding the immense Cedars growing on
their native mountains of Libanus, the stu-
pendous Icaria on the sides and summits of
the Andes, and the stately Palms of India, to
say nothing of the Norwegian Pines, or the
lofty Poplars that grow along the banks of
the Po in Lombardy !
To enter upon the description here, or to
enumerate the various uses and properties of
those gigantic productions of Nature, those
prodigies of vegetable life, which constitute
the pride and ornament of the forest, would
carry me too far from my subject ; I will
therefore proceed to take a cursory view of
INTRODUCTION. XV
the less noble and majestic, but more beauti-
ful and attractive inhabitants of the Flower
Garden—- enter but which, the restless and
turbulent passions which disturb and agitate
the breasts of men, amidst the busy and active
pursuits of life, subside into a calm, and give
place to the milder and softer emotions of the
soul : everything here is calculated to inspire
serenity and delight ; Nature here offers an
inexhaustible fund of amusement, not con-
fining it to one single day, or week, or month,
but to almost every day, week, and month in
the year, — still increasing, varying, and mul-
tiplying her productions beyond all power of
thought.
But here Art, the handmaid of Nature,
must be called in to her assistance ; and care,
and skill, and study are required to preserve,
cultivate, and display those gifts to advantage,
without which they are liable to perish, and
XVI INTRODUCTION.
without which half their beauty and excel-
lence are lost or unseen.
To the man of leisure and retirement,
horticulture is a pursuit at once rational and
atnusing ; it unites the ' utile dulci, ' and
gives health and recreation alike to the body
and the mind; the spade, the hoe, and the
rake, even in the hands of a gentleman,
degrade not, when used for such beneficial
ends.
To the invalid and valetudinarian, as well
as to the sufferer from mental distress and
agony, it presents a solace and a balm that at
times seem to abate pain, and give to distress
the languid smile of pleasure. Females, both
young and old, derive the highest gratification
from the flower-garden in particular ; and the
more refined the taste, the more exquisite the
gratification. The vernal sun, in the morn-
ings of April and May, emits rays which
INTRODUCTION. XVll"
kindle pleasure in the breast of the youthful
maiden, who rises early, perambulates the
garden, and feasts the eye and sense upon
the varied beauty and refreshing fragrance of
flowers, so enchantingly displayed in the gay
parterre of art and nature. This early exer-
cise paints the rose of health upon her cheek,
and the innocency of the recreation imparts
the odour and the purity of the lily to her
mind : this is a pleasure unknown to those
who live in crowded cities, and listless lie in
bed till noon.
' Sweet is the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds ; pleasant the Sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glitt'ring with dew.' MILTON.
The garden is likewise the private sanctuary
of the pious man's devotions, and the scene
of his meditations : the flower is to him at
once a text and a sermon, which in the morn-
XV111 INTRODUCTION.
ing may be considered the emblem of youth
and beauty, and at night either the drooping
picture of decline, or the withered, lifeless
victim of dissolution. The poet and the
painter are both indebted to the flower-gar-
den. What simple, yet what elegant and
striking metaphors, similes, and apostrophes,
has not the poet drawn from the Rose, the
Tulip, and the Lily ! From these, too, the
painter first learns his expression of nature,
and studies the art of colouring, with which
he afterwards gives seeming life and anima-
tion to the more sublime subjects of his pencil.
' I have neither the Scholar's melancholy, which is emulation;
nor the Musician's, which is fantastical; nor the Courtier's, which
is proud ; nor the Soldier's, which is ambition ; nor the Lawyer's,
which is politic ; nor the Lady's, which is nice ; nor the Lover's,
which is all these.' SHAKSPEARE.
It is true that the fancies and tastes of men
are various and singular. Natural history, in
its several divisions and parts, engages the
INTRODUCTION. XUC
study and attention of many. One is fond of
plants ; another of shells and minerals ; an-
other of birds and beasts ; another of insects.
The arts also furnish objects of pursuit and
amusement. One is a collector of old paint-
ings ; another of old coins and medals ; an-
other of ancient arms and armour; another
of vases and old china ; another of rare and
curious books and manuscripts ; another of
old fiddles and other musical instruments :
some covet jewels and precious stones ; but
all, with very rare exceptions, seem to fix
their fancy upon the precious metals — gold
and silver ; and the reason is, e omne auro
venale,' the alchymist's search after the phi-
losopher's stone having been long given up
as altogether hopeless.
' When gold becomes their object,
Men will break their sleep with thought, their brains
With care, their bones with industry. — What
Can it not do, and undo ? ' SHAKSPEARE.
XX INTRODUCTION.
Antiquated maids and childless matrons not
Unfrequently bestow their affections upon
dogs, cats, and birds. Bantams, pigeons, and
canary-birds have their particular fanciers ;
and many are the strange fancies besides.
Professors of many of the above-recited pur-
suits are styled Antiquaries, Virtuosi, Con-
noisseurs, Amateurs, Dilettanti, Fanciers,
&c. &c. ; and the epithets, sometimes not
inaptly applied to them, are learned, curious,
f skilful, clever — crack-brained, foolish, mad,
&c. &c. ; and many men are such eccentrics
and latitudinists, that, in the course of their
lives, they will embrace the whole circle of
fancies, and frequently become the dupes tea
times over of the knaves, quacks, and varlets
of pretended science in each pursuit. Every
age, it is true, has its hobby or ruling passion
of some sort or other, which varies with our
years, as we pass from childhood to youth,
INTRODUCTION. XXI
from youth to manhood, and from manhood to
old age; and those hobbies or recreations,
call them which you will, are the pleasantest
and best which leave no painful recollections
behind them. Yet some aged and self-disap-
pointed philosopher, or peevish moralist, to
whom such pursuits no longer present either
novelty or gratification, will tell you that the
sum of them all is folly, the substance a time-
amusing shadow, and the end disappointment
and s vexation of spirit ; ' but wre find that few
or none are willing to listen to him, however
famed for his wisdom and experience, whose
present preaching and past practice have
been at variance with each other.
The nature of man still remains the same,
though his mind be ever so much improved
by education, or enlightened by the collective
wisdom and experience of ages ; he is subject
to the same appetites and passions, influenced
by the same tastes and distates, fond of novelty,
XX11 INTRODUCTION.
the slave of custom and fashion; pleased with
a plaything one moment, and tired of it the
next : his objects of pursuit are often, too, as
fleeting and transitory as the vain wish which
first gave birth to it; mere phantoms of the
imagination, bubbles of air, which very often
vanish in the pursuit, or perish in the attain-
ment: hence it follows that the same career
is run, and the same beaten track trodden as
before.
To particularize any two or three flowers
in this place might appear invidious, yet I
trust I shall incur no displeasure from my
readers, while I just place before their eyes
the names of a few well-known favourites,
which want not my aid either to extol their
beauty or to speak their praise.
' Now, my fairest friend,
I would I had some flowers o' the spring ; Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty ; Violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes,
INTRODUCTION. XXU1
Or Cytherea's breath ; pale Primroses,
That die unmarried, ere they can behold
Bright Phoebus in his strength, a malady
Most incident to maids ; bold Oxlips, and
The Crown imperial ; Lilies of all kinds,
The flower-de-lis being one ! O these I lack
To make you garlands of! '
SHAKSPEARE.
Who, that has a garden and a taste for
flowers, would be without the Crocus, the
Snowdrop, the Primrose, the Violet, the
Cyclamen, Hepatica, Hyacinth, Narcissus,
Auricula, Ranunculus, Anemone, Wallflower,
Stock, Pink, Tulip, Carnation, Rose, Iris,
Lily, Lychnis, Lobelia, Delphinium, Verbas-
cum, Rudbeckia, Anthericum, Aconitum, Mo-
narda, Ferraria, Gentiana, ^Enothera, Scilla
peruviana, Pseony, Phlox, Hemerocallis, Co-
reopsis, Campanula, China Aster, Hollyhock,
and a multitude of others, each species con-
sisting of many beautiful varieties, both single
and double — not to enumerate any of the fine
flowering shrubs of almost every description?
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
To proceed to the subject immediately be-
fore me, — which, in fact, is nothing more
than the attempt to describe the mode of
treatment necessary to be pursued in the cul-
tivation of a very small part of the flowers
just named.
Before I enter upon it, it may perhaps be
expected that I should first state some reason
or other why I have been induced to publish
the following concise and practical treatise on
the culture of these flowers (so I have thought
fit to style it), since these flowers and their
mode of treatment are described more or less
in almost every book on gardening. If I
should attempt to give any such reason, most
likely it would appear to many neither suffi-
ciently weighty nor satisfactory, inasmuch as
it would neither prove the necessity of any
such publication, nor show that I, from my
habits of life, not being professionally a gar-
INTRODUCTION. XXV
dener, am competent to the task which I have
professed to undertake : however, with all
due deference, I beg to state, that I have no
where been able to meet with that account of
those flowers, and their management, which
I from my own knowledge and experience
would be induced to adopt and follow, as a
manual or directory — because the directions
given are too vague, general, and defective,
to be reduced to practice ; in many cases, also,
I have found them quite contrary to the nature
and habits of the plants they profess to treat of.
Besides, the work of any writer on the flower-
garden, whose inmates are now almost with-
out number, however skilful and experienced
he might be, if he were to attempt to give
plain, clear, and practical directions for the
culture of each flower separately, that is
worthy of his notice, would be both too ex-
pensive to be obtained generally, as well as
b
XXVI INTRODUCTION.
too voluminous and unwieldy for general or
e very-day use ; and in truth, this objection
applies to most of the books already published
on the subject.
Whatever inclination I might have felt to
communicate at all times the result of my
experience to others, I have been greatly
encouraged in the present instance by the
repeated solicitations of several admirers as
well as growers of flowers, to wiiom I had
already presented in writing, with no small
trouble and inconvenience, the substance of
the remarks contained herein, to print and
publish some short treatise or other on the
Carnation in particular, accompanied with a
catalogue of those flowers which I was in the
habit of growing.
What gave rise in the first instance to
these solicitations was no doubt the fine,
healthy appearance of the plants in my col-
INTRODUCTION. XXV11
lection, and the uncommonly rich and beau-
tiful blossoms which they have produced the
last two or three years ; which circumstance
also served to convince me that the compost
which I had made use of was good, and the
treatment they had received was proper ; and
that in publishing the said Treatise and Cata-
logue, I might render an acceptable service
to the cultivators of flowers in general; the
latter, to direct the young and inexperienced
florist in his choice of good flowers ; and the
former, to assist him in the proper cultivation
of them.
With what clearness and precision I have
executed the same, within the narrow com-
pass prescribed, I leave to the candid and
impartial reader to judge, whose approbation
and patronage I am anxious to obtain.
To say that the design was at last hastily
formed, and as hastily executed, without the
XXV111 INTRODUCTION.
aid of books on the subject to refer to, the
whole having been written, printed, and ^pub-
lished in the course of a few weeks, under
many disadvantages, allowing neither much
time for revision nor correction, will perhaps
afford but a poor apology for any defects that
may appear.
CONTENTS.
Preface . . . . . vii
Introduction ... xj
Horticulture and its Admirers . . xiii
Enumeration of Fancies, &c. . . xviii
Carnation ; Name, and Distinctions . . 1
Kit Nunn, and dressing of Flowers . 8
Primitive Soils . jy
Characteristics of good and bad Florists 25
Green Fly, Ear- wig, Wire- worm . . 29
Manure for the Garden . . 35
Leaf Mould . 43
Podding, Carding, Wiring, &c. . 47
Yellow Picotee . . . .58
Of Piping .... 64
Of Laying 68
XXX CONTENTS.
Page
On Seed and Seedlings . 74
A Stage of Carnations . , .83
Dutch mode of Gardening . . 85
Catalogue of Carnations . . 91
of Picotees . . 105
Of the Pink . . . .108
Catalogue . . . . 116
Of the Auricula . . . - . .120
Matthew Kenny and his Treatment of it 124
€ompost . . . .130
Lancashire System . . . 131
Treatment in November, December, and January 132
in April . . . 134
On Potting . . . .140
On Seed .... 145
Catalogue . . . .156
Of the Primrose and Polyanthus . . 159
Of the Ranunculus » . . .163
Of the Tulip .... 173
Van Oosten . . , . .180
Of the Hyacinth . . .. 188
Catalogue , . . 206
CONTENTS. XXXI
Page
Of the Rose . . . . 212
Catalogue . . . .219
Of Geraniums .... 222
Of the Georgina .... 223
Of the Russian and Danish Stocks . 225
Herbaceous Plants, &c. . , 229
Of Ornamental Trees and Flowering Shrubs 232
The Bower . . . . .238
A Flower Christening . . , 240
Rules of a Florists' Society . . .251
Prizes for Auriculas, Pinks, and Carnations . 258
Prize Gooseberries . . . 261
Notice Extraordinary . , . 274
TREATISE
ON THE
GROWTH AND MANAGEMENT
CARNATION.
ITS NAME AND DISTINCTIONS.
OF all the flowers that adorn the garden, whether
they charm the eye by their beauty, or regale the
sense of smelling by their fragrance, the Carnation
may be justly said to hold the first rank.
PERDITA. The fairest flowers o* the season
Are our Carnations, and streaked Gillyflowers,
Which some call Nature's bastards : of that kind
Our rustic garden 's barren j and I care not
^ To get slips of them.
POLIXINES. Wherefore, gentle maiden,
Do you neglect them ?
Shakspeare's Winter's Tale, Act IF.
The stateliness of its growth, the brilliancy and
diversity of its colours, and the sweetness of its per-
B
2 THE CARNATION.
fume, never fail to attract our regard and admira-
tion. The Tulip, though styled the Queen of the
Garden, cannot boast of more admirers : they may
with propriety be considered the two master-pieces of
nature ; and, though rival beauties, may be said to
share the sovereignty of the garden equally between
them. Yet it must be admitted that the Carnation,
independent of its fragrance, has this advantage over
its rival, that it continues longer in bloom ; and
that when planted in pots, it, can be removed to
decorate the greenhouse, the conservatory, or the
drawing-room.
The Carnation as well as the Pink are said to
have been introduced first into England from Italy,
and have derived their names in the English language
from their colour — Pink, Carnation, or flesh-colour.
The Carnation was also, as well as the Clove, styled
by the old English florists, Clove-Gilliflower, from
its blooming in July. They both belong to the
same class and genus, and are known to the ancient
botanists under the name of Caryophyllum, or Wal-
nut Leaf, Folium Nucis; but why, is uncertain.
THE CARNATION. 3
The Carnation is also called Coronarium, from its
having been used in chaplets and garlands for the
head : Linnaeus has now given it the more appro-
priate appellation of Dianthus, Flos nobilis, fine or
superior flower; and Dianthus Caryophyllus, in
the modern acceptation of the word, denotes the Clove
only. The Carnation is usually divided into three
classes, namely, Flake, Bizarre, and Picotee.
Flake is a term too well known and understood to
require any explanation or definition here ; Bizarre,
the second, is an epithet or adjective borrowed from
the French, implying whimsical or fantastical;
hence Bizarre, applied to a Carnation, means that it
contains a whimsical or fantastical mixture of colours
of not less than three distinct shades: Picotde is
likewise a French word, an adjective feminine, and
signifies pricked or spotted ; hence ' la Carnation
picotee/ means the spotted Carnation.
The English florist is almost inclined to treat the
Picotee as a distinct species like the Pink, and
though he has preserved the right mode of spelling
the word, he gives it an English pronunciation. To
B 2
4 THE CARNATION.
take up the time of the reader in giving a minute
description of all the parts of this flower in the tech-
nical language of a botanist, is neither necessary nor
required here : I will therefore simply describe what
are considered the properties of a good flower among
florists.
The two first classes are further distinguished by
their various colours ; as scarlet flake, pink flake,
purple flake, scarlet bizarre, crimson bizarre, purple
bizarre ; the Picotee is distinguished by the colour
of its spots.
THE DESCRIPTION OF A FINE CARNATION.
THE excellency of a Carnation is judged and esti-
mated by the brightness and distinctness of its va-
rious tints and hues, and by the formation or con-
struction of the flower-leaves or petals : the ground
colour should be of a clear white, as in Walker's
British Beauty and Sharpe's Defiance, and the
flakes or stripes must run longitudinally through the
leaves, as in Fletcher's Duchess of Devonshire and
THE CARNATION. 5
Harley's Enchanter, not breaking off abruptly, as
in Belcher's Lady Spenser. In a perfect flower, or
one that approaches nearest to perfection, every leaf
should be striped according to its class, whether flake
or bizarre : plain or self-coloured leaves are accounted
a great defect. The calix or cup, after the petals
are unfolded, must remain entire and unburst, and
the large external petals or guard leaves must be
without crack or blemish ; and the diameter of a
show-flower should never be less than three inches.
It is also considered a great defect when the corolla
is overcharged with petals, as in Reynolds 's King
and Young's Mount ^Etna, for the blossom in ex-
panding generally bursts the cup ; and it is no less
so when it contains too few, as is the case with
Crump's Rodney, Wood's Comet, and Anne's Prince
of Wales, though possessing the most brilliant and
distinct colours. It is unnecessary, perhaps, to state
here that those flowers which are thin of leaves
produce the most seed, on which account they are
valuable.
The flower must be sufficiently double to form a
O THE CARNATION.
kind of crown in the centre, as in Davey's Tower of
Babel and James's Lord Craven, the petals rising
one above another in regular order ; the guard leaves
in particular should be broad and long, and of a
stout texture, to support the rest, like those of Hum-
phrey's Duke of Clarence, the edges of which must
not be indented or fringed, as unluckily is the case
with Honey's Princess Charlotte, but plain and cir-
cular, like the leaves of a Provins Rose. A flower,
whose corolla or pod is long, generally shoots forth
the finest flower, and occasions the least trouble
in attending it. The flower or foot stalk must be
strong, straight, and elastic, to support the blossoms
firmly and gracefully, notwithstanding the stick
which is applied to sustain it; the height of the
stalk varies from 2 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. 6 in. according to
the habit of their growth.
o
The value of a flower is also greatly enhanced,
when it exhales a sweet and fragrant perfume, as is
the case with Robinson's Britannia, Weltje's Sir
Edward Pellew, Broadbent's Victorious, Bates's
Wellington, &c. All Carnations possess this qua-
THE CARNATION. 7
lity, but in very different degrees; in some it is
scarcely perceptible, while in others it is strikingly
powerful. Odour seems to prevail most in strongly
bizarred scarlets, where there is a frequent recur-
rence of the clove stripe in the petals. The prefer-
ence which one class of flowers, at times, is said to
obtain over another, depends entirely on the taste and
fancy of the person who gives that preference. The
scarlet bizarre is a favourite with one, the crimson
with another, the purple flake with another, and so
on in like manner with the rest. There can be no
certain or fixed rule why one is to be adjudged in this
respect superior to another, where taste is the only
criterion to go by. A flower possessed of all the
properties called for by the rules and regulations
laid down in the Societies, where they are exhibited
for prizes, is seldom or never met with. Art is
called in to the assistance of nature, and the skilful
hand of the florist dexterously extracts the self-
coloured and defective and over-crowded leaves, and
sometimes even will insert others, and arranges and
adjusts the whole with surprising nicety.
8 THE CARNATION.
One Christopher Nunn, of Enfield, Middlesex, a
noted florist in his day, was eminent for his skill and
dexterity in dressing Pinks and Carnations for prize
exhibitions • some will even tell you, that Kit was
the father of the art. Upon such occasions he had
as many applications to dress flowers, as he had to
dress wigs ; for he was a barber and friseur by trade,
and withal a good-natured, facetious, prating bar-
ber, and could both shave and lay a Carnation with
the greatest nicety. The novices of that day, who,
being unacquainted with his secret art, trusted to
Dame Nature to open, expand, and perfect their
flowers, were no match for Nunez : for he began
where she left off, and perfected what she had left
imperfect. — His arrangement and disposition of the
petals were admirable, and astonished those novices.
Kit's art of dressing is still an enviable art, and
attainable only by few.
Kit, as a florist, possessed other merit besides
this : he could mix and temper soils with the same
skill as he did his pomatum ; he was a great experi-
mentalist and compounder of manures; it was all
THE CARNATION. U
the same to him, whether he snuffed up the odour
of roses, or the less inviting fragrance of animal
ordure; it was he that first applied sugar-bakers'
scum as a surface dressing to flowers, having wit-
nessed its surprising effect upon the land of a neigh-
bour of his, a sugar-refiner from Goodman's Fields ;
and he also had the credit of persuading and con-
vincing Sir Somebody Tressilian or Trevannian, a
Cornish Baronet, that old rags and old wigs, which
contained so much grease and human fat, were a
much warmer and richer manure for his land, than
the oily carcasses of his pilchards ; and it is further
said, that Kit, as agent or factor, in one week bought
up more than two thousand wigs in the neighbour-
hood of that celebrated mart Rosemary Lane, which
were sent down to try the experiment. Be not im-
patient, courteous reader, to get rid of poor Nunn ;
remember he was a brother florist, and belonged to
the fancy — wait till you learn the result of one of
his own experiments, and take this moral with it,
though there be no fable here : — ( Other men's mis-
haps should make us wary.'
B 5
10 THE CARNATION.
Ill the early stage of his fancy, Kit, upon
mature reflection., once concluded, that neat and
genuine horse-dung, divested of all extraneous straw;
must be better than much straw and little dung, as
are usually put together. The resolution once taken,
he hastened to the shop of a neighbouring black-
Smith, and agreed for all the droppings that the
horses, which came to be shod, should make in a
twelvemonth, with all the parings of the hoof to
boot. He amassed above two loads of this dung,
and after it had become rotten, he mixed it up with
the mould for his flowers in every way ; he made
use of it for Pinks and Carnations, both in pots and
in beds. His expectations for a fine bloom that
summer were raised to the highest pitch, and yet
ended in disappointment : his plants, towards Mid-
summer, began to look yellowish and sickly, and
turn cankery about, the roots ; his bloom, too, was
very indifferent ; and what could be the cause'?
His loam, he was sure, was sweet and good, and his
dung was nothing but dung. He layered the plants :
the layers also turned sickly, and several of them
THE CARNATION. 11
perished. Kit's lamentations about his flowers were
loud and incessant ; they were heard in all the vil-
lages around him — he repeated them to his cus-
tomers at home and abroad — and the cause — he
could not divine the cause.
It was well for him that all this happened before
Mr. Pitt, prime minister of state, had laid a sump-
tuary tax on heads that wore hair powder; had
these two evils occurred at the same time,, they must
have broken poor Nunn's heart. But to cut the
tale short, in the same way that the said tax cut off
the pig-tails of many of his customers afterwards,
Kit was not aware, till he had been informed by
some chemist, naturalist, or botanist, that the hob-
nails, the filings, the flakes, and the bits of iron, that
had been swept up and mixed with the dung, had
been the cause of all the mischief, and which had
produced that ' salsa rubigo,' rust and canker, which,
liad corrupted and poisoned the juices of the plants,
and nearly destroyed the whole. He never after
could endure the sight of a rusty nail in his com-
post. So much for poor Christopher Nuna !
32 THE CARNATION.
MODE OF DRESSING A FLOWER.
I HARDLY dare attempt to draw an outline even of
this sublime art of dressing a flower, because I have
neither studied nor practised it myself; and there-
fore not being entitled to a diploma, I must neither
assume the title nor degree of A.M., that is, Artis
Magister, by which alone I might be held qualified
to teach it, but must be content to be considered
only as a pretender and quack upon this abstruse
point. However, let us see what sort, of a handle
I shall make of it. In the first place, then, provide
yourselves with proper instruments, namely, a pair
of brass or ivory etui, commonly called tweezers,
and a small ivory bodkin.
As soon as the guard-leaves drop, clap a card on,
and with your bodkin, from time to time, assist the
petals in falling into their places ; then fix a glass
cap over the blossom, to bleach the white, and to
enable the leaves, by the warmth, to expand freely ;
shade the glass, when the sun is out, with a cabbage
leaf or bit of canvas ; take the glass off for an 4iour
THE CARNATION. 13
or two in the evening to expose the blossom to the
air, lest the colours become faint by too much con-
finement,, and lose their lustre.
Not to spin this subject out too fine, we will
suppose that to-morrow the grand exhibition takes
place,, the show-day for honour and prizes ; and
that you have already marched and countermarched
from one end of the stage or garden to the other,
times out of number, and that you have examined
and re-examined all the blooms over and over, and
that you have at length, towards evening, fixed upon
and cut the seven or twelve flowers;, as the number
may be, which are to grace the pan, and contend for
the prize.
Dissolve a little nitre or saltpetre in the water,
before you put your flowers in it ; this will help to
stiffen the leaves. After they have been in water a
couple of hours, take your etui, and pull the guard-
leaves quite round and circular; then place the
second, third, and fourth tier of petals in an imbri-
cated form, that is, like slates upon a roof, or scales
upon a fish, — a leaf covering each division of the
14
THE CARNATION.
leaves in each row or tier, till they are all arranged
in a convex form, like the outside of a dome or
cupola ; place the bizarred and finely-striped leaves
in full sight, pluck out all white or self-coloured,
all pouncy and superfluous dull leaves ; and those
that will not lie, whirl with your bodkin into the
crown of the flower ; let the blooms be set in the
cellar, or coolest part of the house, all night over a
tub of water ; mind that the clefts or fissures down
the sides of the pod do not reach below the bottom
external cup, and that the guard-leaves stand firm
and support themselves without the card. A prac-
tical lesson, after all, upon the flower is worth a
dozen theoretical upon paper : learn this art by
practice, and practise to learn.
The show-day is an anxious day with a young
florist : he is full of hopes and fears, and it is not
less so with an old one, for ' the battle is not always
to the strong, nor the race to the swift ; ' for there
are instances without number where many an old
experienced, good florist has been beat, and obliged
to return home, alas ! without either silver cup, silver
THE CARNATION'. 15
spoons, punch-ladle, copper kettle, or set of china,
to the no small disappointment of a prize-expecting
* cara sposa ' at home, who not unfrequently repays
his ill-luck and empty-handedness.with a good sharp
lecture upon his neglect and want of management.
Nay, nay, blush not, you heroes of Middlesex, nor
you doughty yeomen of Lancashire, Yorkshire, or
other county ; for if a wife has no right to tell a hus-
band of his faults, wrho has ?
SITUATION, SOILS, &c.
To produce blossoms in any degree answering the
description contained in the last chapter, it is requi-
site, in the first place, that the plants should be judi-
ciously selected, and also that they should be in good
health and vigour. How to effect the latter is at all
times the chief aim and study of the experienced
florist.
An open and airy situation is the most proper for
the Carnation, as being most congenial to its growth
16 THE CARNATION.
in all its stages. The florists in the immediate vici-
nity of the metropolis certainly labour under great
disadvantages in this particular, from the atmosphere
being almost always charged with clouds of unwhole-
some smoke, ascending from such an infinity of
chimneys.
The Carnation is found to thrive best in a rich
loamy soil of rather a sandy texture • and unless
some pains be taken to procure such a soil, the florist
can have no right to entertain any great hopes of
success in the cultivation of it; the dissertation on
which, with the account of the different manures
recommended, and which presents itself next to my
consideration, may perhaps appear tedious and too
minute to many, but certainly it is of the greatest
importance to every gardener as well as florist to
understand something of the nature and composition
of the soils most congenial to the plants he has to
cultivate : this is a point, in my opinion, which can
neither be too minutely explained, nor too strongly
inculcated.
THE CARNATION. 17
PRIMITIVE SOILS.
EARTH, in regard to its different qualities, is divided
into four sorts of native or primitive soils, viz. argil-
laceous or loamy, calcareous or chalky, siliceous or
sandy, heathy and boggy or peaty, and these are
further distinguished according to their nature, whe-
ther stiff or light, as clayey, gravelly, marly, &c.
Maiden or vegetable mould, which is formed by
the decay of all vegetable and animal substances,
forms the superficial stratum of all soils, and is con-
sidered the most fertile of all. The grand art in
gardening is to know when there is deficiency or re-
dundancy of any of those primitive soils in the mould
you are going to make use of, and to be able to mix
and regulate it, so as to suit the nature and wants
of the tree, shrub, or plant you intend to set in it.
' There are many people who, from want of
* thought or observation, foolishly imagine, that be-
' cause a plant is set in mould it must thrive in it,
' exposed in all weathers — wret or dry, hot or cold ;
18
THE CARNATION.
* whether it be tender or hardy, indigenous or exotic ;
* whether it be a native of the mountains or an off-
* spring of the valleys ; never considering that dif-
' ferent plants require different soils or earths, as well
e as different aspects and climates. Some require
* strong soils, others light ; some like to bask in the
' sun, others thrive best in the shade ; some will stand
f any flood of rain, while others again require moisture
f only occasionally ; from which it is pretty evident
* that one general system of culture for every plant
' can be neither right nor proper. To mix, temper,
{ and harmonize different soils, so as to form one
' suitable to each plant, to know its peculiar situation
' and proper treatment, its best mode of propagation,
f &c., is what shows and distinguishes the skilful
'and experienced gardener.' — Emmerton on the
Auricula.
DIRECTIONS IN THE CHOICE OF YOUR LOAM.
J HERE recommend to all who have the means or
opportunity of doing it, to lay up a sufficient stock
THE CARNATION. 19
of rich loam or maiden earth to serve them two or
three years, which, by being turned occasionally, will
become pulverised and fit for use at all times and for
all purposes. What you obtain from any waste or
common,, should consist, in the language of a labour-
ing man, of the top spit and crumbs only, to be piled
up with the turf downwards. The common test
whereby to judge of a rich soil is, that when fresh
dug up it shall emit a pleasant smell, and not stick
to the fingers in handling, but when compressed and
rubbed between the thumb and fingers, will feel soft
and oily. Another opinion of its goodness may also
be formed this way; that is, where you see trees
grow freely, or rich and luxuriant crops of corn or
grass appear, you may take it for granted that the
soil they grow in is good. That in which you per-
ceive veins of rust or oxide of iron, called by farmers
till or fox-bent, ought to be avoided, or at least it
ought not to be used till after it has lain some time,
been repeatedly turned, and exposed to all the action
of the weather — rain, sun, and air.
After having made choice of your soil, the next
20 THE CARNATION.
inquiry is, how it may be improved, and made to con-
tribute in a higher degree to vegetation.
I shall now proceed to describe the process which
I have used for its amelioration, and state the differ-
ent component parts or ingredients which I have
mixed and put together as a compost for Carnations,
the same which I have used with success for some
years, and which I now beg to recommend to my
brother florists for trial.
COMPOST, MODE OF PREPARING IT, &c.
IN putting the different soils together for compost,
particular care must be taken to make it of such
consistency, that, when in pots, the water shall neither
pass through it too rapidly, nor lodge too long in it ;
both are hurtful. If the loam be of a strong, stiff
nature, it will require a greater portion of sand to be
added ; if light, it will require less. You will there-
fore, in the first instance, be guided by the nature
THE CARNATION. 21
and quality of your loam or mould : this I hold ex-
tremely essential to be attended to.
Kirwan, in .his Treatise on Manures, expressly
states,, f That the proportion of each ingredient, and
f the general texture of the soil, must be such, as to
' enable it to admit and retain as much water as is
' necessary to vegetation, and no more.'
The simple earths or soils, it is well known, vary
greatly in regard to their retentive powers of pre-
serving moisture. The time that I generally set
about mixing the compost is towards the end of the
summer, when the melons and cucumbers have done
bearing, whose beds furnish me with the dung
proper for my purpose.
Requiring a large quantity of mould, for I mostly
bloom about 500 pots of Carnations, I take in the
following ratios :
1 Load of fresh yellow loam,
\ Ditto of common black earth or garden
mould,
2 Ditto of rotten horse-dung,
4 Large barrows of coarse sand from some
22 THE CARNATION.
wash or pond by the high road side, or
dry road grit in lieu thereof, laid up to
dry, and run through a sieve.
Note 1. The loam in my neighbourhood being
mostly of a stiff quality, requires a large
portion of sand to bring it to a proper
consistency, to enable the water to pass
through in any moderate time.
„ 2. Rotten dung from mushroom beds ought
not to be used in this compost, on account
of the fungous fibres.
For an abridged quantity, say —
5 Barrows of loam, or maiden earth,
8 or 9 Ditto of horse-dung, from the frames,
1 Ditto of coarse sand, or more, according to
the nature of the loam.
Let these be mixed and thrown together in a heap
or ridge, and turned two or three times in the
winter, particularly in frosty weather, that it may be
well incorporated.
On a dry day towards the end of November, I
take a barrow of fresh lime, which, as soon as it is
slacked, I strew it over while hot in turning the
THE CARNATION. 23>
heap ; this accelerates the rotting of the fibrous par-
ticles in the loam, lightens the soil, and destroys the
grubs, worms, and slugs. Lime is too well known
as a manure to say anything further in its praise
here.
APPLICATION OF SALT AS A MANURE.
IF there has been much rain during the winter, so
that the strength of the compost is reduced, and the
salts washed from it, I take about 7 Ibs. of damaged
salt, and add them to it, either dissolved in water,
or strewed over with the hand. This, from an ex-
perience of three years, I have found to be attended
with the most beneficial effect upon the future health
and vigour of the plants.
During very heavy rains, many florists cover their
compost with tarpaulin or double mats, to prevent
the nutritious particles from being washed out ; this
is also an excellent precaution.
If any objection be started, that the quantity of
24 THE CARNATION.
dung is too great in proportion to that of the loam,
I answer, that such an objection might be well-
founded, if the compost were to be used immediately
on its being mixed together ; but as it has to lie six
months before it is used, I am decidedly of opinion
that the quantity is not more than is necessary in
order to insure a luxuriant growth and a generous
bloom.
It is, moreover, indispensably necessary, that the
compost should lie that time ; that the different in-
gredients may be properly incorporated one with
another ; that the loam may be well pulverized, and
the whole duly prepared and sweetened by frequent
turning ; and that the carbonaceous principle of
matter in the dung, according to Hassenfraz, may,
through the medium of the rains, like a leaven, ex-
tend to and pervade the whole mass, so as to render
it fit, wholesome, and nutritious food for the plants
it has to sustain.
THE CARNATION. 25
CONSTITUENT PRINCIPLES OF PLANTS.
IT may perhaps not be thought improper in this
place to state, that all plants, by chemical analysis,
are found to consist of particles of calcareous earth,
oil, water, and air, with a portion of iron.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A BAD AND GOOD
FLORIST, &c.
THE gentleman or lady's gardener, who has no
other motive to incite him, beyond that of perform-
ing what he is ordered to do, will imagine all this
vast preparation of soils, all this extraordinary com-
rnixtion, a very unnecessary and useless trouble, and
will be disposed to slight and neglect it. In fact, I
have nowhere seen flowers so ill-treated and mis-
managed (with few exceptions) as in the gardens of
the nobility and gentry, even when there has been a
collection of fine flowers • I allude not to Carnations
C
26 THE CARNATION.
and Pinks only, but to flowers generally. Yet, on
the other hand, there is a strong apology to he
offered for this neglect in the gardener, as far as it
regards Carnations and Pinks, for I have mostly
noticed them to be of the worst and most common
description, such as I would not give a place to in
my garden. To cultivate a bad flower, which has
neither beauty nor hardly any smell, is attended
with the same trouble as there is in cultivating a
good one ; and, in the present greatly improved state
of both, there is no difficulty to select good ones.
But the thorough-bred florist, who derives pleasure
from the pursuit, and who has always the flower-
fever strong upon him ; \vho has rivals to contend
with ; who is incited by the love of fame, and the
hope of winning the first splendid prize at some
exhibition ; who will walk fifty miles to catch a
glimpse of some new celebrated flower, and who, if
it meets his fancy, will sooner pawn the coat from off
his back, than not obtain it; who will leave his warm
and comfortable bed at midnight, to rise and destroy
the cursed earwigs, that shall dare to attack his
THE CARNATION. 27
favourite blossom; will begrudge no labour, and
neglect no pains, to perform this part well, on which
he knows his chance of success principally depends.
With the latter, especially if he be young in the
fancy, my only fear is, lest he over-do his part. To
such a one, if you give a receipt for any particular
composition, and recommend one peck of soot, most
probably he will put two — if two pounds of salt, he
will put four — if three pails of blood, he will put
six — if four barrows of sugar-baker's scum, he will
put eight — and so on.
REMOVING OF THE PLANTS INTO LARGE POTS
TO BLOOM.
IN our variable climate, the first week in April is
the safest and best time to perform this : the pots
generally made use of for this purpose, are those of
twelve or sixteen to a cast.
A twelve-sized pot will contain three or four
plants, according to their habit of growth — a six-
C 2
28 THE CARNATION.
teen, two or three, according to the same rule. Be
careful to put two or three large bits of tile at the
bottom, or the hollow part of a large oyster-shell,
resting upon a tile, to preserve a secure drainage for
the water. Stagnant water, whether in pots or in
the open fields, is alike prejudicial to all plants,
except aquatics.
The pots to be filled three parts full with com-
post, in its rough or coarse state from the heap,
using fine or sifted mould only at the top, around
the roots of the plants, which must not be planted
deeper than they were before.
The mould to be well shaken down, to prevent its
settling after. The coarse parts, or riddlings, that
would not pass through the sieve, may also be put
at the bottom, filling each pot about three inches
deep with them.
At this season of the year, when they want water,
let it be given in the morning, rather than in the
evening, till about the middle of May, on account of
the frosts which will often recur at that time. When
the plants begin to spindle, or shoot up for bloom,
THE CARNATION. 29
they require to be supported by sticks, about four
feet in length ; some of tall growth, as Humphrey's
Clarence, Snook's Defiance, Fulbrook's Grenadier,
Wood's Ambassador, &c., require sticks five feet long.
THE APHIS, OR GREEN FLY.
IN some seasons, these Aphides, or flies, appear in
astonishing numbers, as was the case last summer,
and attack the Rose and Carnation in particular.
They congregate in countless swarms round the
stems and on the foliage of both, and adhere closely
to the bud of the Rose and the pod of the Carnation,
to the great injury of the health of both.
They should be brushed off from the Carnation
with a soft brush repeatedly ; but if this is found
inefficient to dislodge and disperse them, take some
pungent Scotch snuff and scatter over them, two or
three times, when the plants are moist, or covered
with dew. A weak infusion of tobacco in water may
be applied with a soft brush with effect, and without
THE CARNATION.
injury. A weak infusion of lime-water and sulphur
may also be used in a clarified state.
THE EAR -WIG.
OF all the enemies that the Carnation has to en-
counter, the ear-wig is the most troublesome and
destructive. It attacks that part of the flower which
is called the nectarium, and eats the petals through
just at their root ; if it be not sufficiently open to
admit its descent down the corolla, it will eat its way
to it through the outside of the calix.
There is no entire preventive,, but the most effec-
tual method is, to support your stage upon legs,
placed in cast-iron pans, about six inches deep, filled
with water. Bean-stalks, cut into lengths of six or
eight inches, may be set as traps round the stage,
and close to the stems of the flower, which should be
examined every morning at least, and the ear-wigs
blown out into a bottle of water.
Bowls of tobacco-pipes, or the claws of lobsters,
THE CARNATION. 31
may be placed for the same purpose on the tops of
the sticks ; but, use what precautions you will, you
cannot entirely prevent their ravages.
An experienced florist once informed me that he
usually fixed a small bit of sponge, or cotton dipped
in sweet oil, to the stick that supports the stem ; he
assured me that he had every reason to be satisfied
with this experiment, and that it proved an effectual
barrier to the passage of the ear-wig and other insects.
Nr. Nicol, in his * Gardener's Calendar/ recom-
mends a pencil or small brush to be dipped in oil,
and drawn round the pot, near the bottom, when they
are in flower, every two or three days, to prevent the
ear-wigs and snails from climbing up and doing any
injury. Sweet-oil, or rather linseed-oil as the cheapest,
may be used in this way, I have no doubt, with a
good effect ; for sweet-oil, if it comes in contact with
the bodies of most insects, will occasion their almost
immediate death.
THE CARNATION.
THE GRUB.
THERE is another foe which you must guard against,
a grub, about an inch long, of the caterpillar tribe,
of a green, olive, or brown colour, according to the
food it feeds on : it will ascend the stalk during the
night, and consume part of the petals, eating holes
in the pod, and then descend, and bury itself during
the day, just under the surface of the mould, often
near the foot of the stem ; and so will continue to
renew its attack night after night. When the blos-
som is in a dying state, it will often secrete itself in
the seed-vessel, and devour the whole interior of that
and every other on the stem, if not discovered.
THE WIRE-WORM.
THE wire- worm, of a yellowish cast, with a black
head, and nearly an inch in length when full grown,
is another destructive enemy to the Carnation and
THE CARNATION. 33
Pink. As it works below the surface of the ground,
it is not easily detected; nothing, in fact,, but the
dead or dying state of the plant points out its re-
treat. It attacks the stem just at the root, and will
perforate it through and through. It is introduced
into gardens, for the most part, with the fresh loam,
in the turning of which the eye should always be on
the look-out for this pernicious insect, which, when
met with, never, I believe, escapes destruction.
I met with two a few days ago, and tried what
effect a little quick lime had upon them. I scattered
a little over them, but it seemed to make no other
impression than to induce them to move from it with
more speed than they are generally accustomed to do,
I brought them back to it again, and kept them there
for a couple of minutes ; but they were still able to
crawl from it, apparently not much hurt by it, and
they effected their retreat to a heap of mould hard
by. The only sure way to deal with them, is, f to
catch them and kill them.'
I am very little acquainted with the natural his-
tory of this destructive insect, which breeds with as-
C 5
34 THE CARNATION.
tonishing rapidity : it deposits its eggs in the ground
like the slug, without any particular precaution ; in
turning over lately some horse-dung, which had lain
in the corner of a kitchen-garden two or three years,
I discovered and picked out several of these eggs,
which were of various sizes, from a pin's head to that
of a small sweet-scented pea just beginning to sprout.
I took one of the largest of these bladdery-formed
substances, and with a gentle pressure of the finger
and thumb, forced through a small aperture at the
top of the neck five of these insects, one after another,
completely formed, and able to crawl about. The
rest,, which were in a less forward state, were collected
and put into a saucer, and being exposed to the sun
were soon dried up, the external membrane or bladder
only remaining.
TOP DRESSING IN JUNE.
As frequent watering of the plants in pots, in dry
and hot seasons, must tend to exhaust the vegetative
THE CARNATION. 35
powers of the compost, and weaken its strength, I
generally, about the beginning or middle of June,
top-dress, with about half an inch of rotten horse-
dung passed through a sieve, which I find materially
to assist the plants, and promote the growth of the
layers, on which depends the preservation of your
collection. Many top-dress with some of the hotter
manures of night-soil, sugar-baker's scum, &c., but,
in my opinion, that is not necessary for Carnations,
and is attended with danger ; for, if they are not re-
duced to a perfect mould, they will corrode and burn
the plants.
An immoderate use of strong manures to most
plants, is like the immoderate use of hot spirituous
liquors to the human frame ; they force and excite
for a time, only to weaken and destroy.
HOT MANURES, AND THE APPLICATION
OF THEM.
STRONG compost, in which the chief ingredients are
sugar-baker's scum, soap-boiler's waste, night-soil,
36 THE CARNATION.
the dung of pigeons and poultry in general, of deer
arid sheep, blood, soot, lime, gypsum, &c. &c. should,
in my humble opinion, be used only in surface or
top-dressing of flowers ; as is the case when applied
to land, unless you are disposed to wait two or three
years, till they have lost much of their strength, and
are reduced nearly to mould ; they may then be used
as simple ingredients along with loam.
A few short observations respecting two or three of
which, may, perhaps, not prove unacceptable in this
place.
Blood, as a manure, is considered the strongest
and most lasting of all, and, when mixed up with
mould as a compost, is not fit for use under two com-
plete years. The same is the case with night-soil,
sugar-baker's scum, pigeon-dung, &c. Soot is of
that hot, caustic nature, that it ought always to be
used with caution, and in small quantities. The
dung of sheep I consider the most fertilizing to all
grasses, and I recommend it as an excellent ingre-
dient in all composts for Pinks, Carnations, and Au-
riculas ; because, in all pastures and meadows, where
THE CARNATION. 37
any considerable flock of sheep has been grazing any
length of time, so as to leave behind a tolerable
dressing of dung, after their removal,, you will per-
ceive the grass to shoot up freely, and to assume a
rich verdure and healthy appearance ; not rank and
coarse, yet vigorous and elastic, such as the florist
would wish to see his Pinks and Carnations assume,
previous to their coming into bloom. This dung,
the principal component parts of which are nearly
all soluble in water, will not be fit for use till it has
been incorporated with the mould a twelvemonth.
The ingenious florist has frequent recourse to those
strong manures, and uses them in various ways.
Some he incorporates with his compost, in which he
grows his plants — some he uses separately and un-
mixed, for surface- dressing — others he infuses in
water, and applies in a liquid state — all this he does
from an almost universally received opinion, that
they will increase and heighten the colours of his
flowers, and give them a brilliancy, which he sup-
poses they never could attain without them.
Plants that live all the year round in pots, parti-
38
THE CARNATION.
cularly exotics,, must, no doubt,, be benefited by this
surface- dressing, with the strong manures, which
should be applied a few weeks before they flower ; as
Geraniums, Camelias, Orange-trees, &c.
Towards the end of February, I generally apply
a top-dressing, of about half an inch thick, to the
Double Primrose, Polyanthus, and Auricula, that
are in pots, having first removed the mould at the
top, whose place it has to supply, without injury to
the fibres ; the vegetative and nutritious properties
of which, by watering, long confinement in the frame,
and seclusion from the open air, must be greatly de-
teriorated, if not rendered sour, acrid, and unwhole-
some.
The beneficial effect of such dressing is fully ap-
parent. You need only try the experiment on two
pots, and then compare them with two others, that
you have not meddled with, to be convinced of its
utility.
The improved health and vigour of the plants
will be visible, from their improved verdure and
strength ; their blossoms will be larger and finer, and
THE CARNATION. 39
the texture of the petals firmer and stronger; their
state and condition will be such as to extort from the
enraptured florist,, the following emphatical expres-
sion of delight : —
1 Here's beauty I Here's cloth, colour, and gold for you !c
An expression which once I heard,, with no small
pleasure, acompanied with the most extravagant ges-
ticulation of body.
COMMON GARDEN MANURE.
MANURE for the garden is generally confined to
horse-dung and straw-litter, rotted by frequent turn-
ing and working, which excites fermentation, and
hastens its decay; this operation is too frequently
performed in situations where the juices or fluids that
come from it run away and are lost, by which means
the saline and other nutritious qualities are reduced,
and the strength and efficacy of the whole greatly
impaired. The carbonaceous principle, likewise,
which is produced by fermentation occasioned by the
decomposition and decay of all vegetable substances,
40
THE CARNATION.
lying any length of time in a state of putrefaction ;
as well as by combustion, whether open or hidden ;
and which forms a very essential part in all vegeta-
tive matter, fertilizing the various soils mixed with it,
is in a great degree lost to the manure so situated.
The market-gardener will inform you, that one
load of horse-dung, sufficiently turned, fermented,
and rotted, to enable him to dig it in the ground, is
worth three, in point of effect and service, of that
which has been used in the forcing of melons and
cucumbers.
The best, and in fact the most economicaiemode of
preparing manure, either for the field or garden, and
which is now generally practised by all skilful agri-
culturists as well as horticulturists, is this ; I will
describe the process upon a small scale, as adapted
to the garden.
Take, towards the autumn, two loads of fresh
loam or mould from some common waste or upland
pasture, spread them eighteen inches thick upon the
ground, the spot chosen for which ought to be rather
hollow, that is, sloping a little on all sides towards
THE CARNATION. 4}.
the centre, in the form of a very shallow bowl ; upon
this stratum or bed of mould shoot five or six loads
of horse-dung. This must be turned over and wa-
tered if necessary, till it begins to ferment and heat ;
this is the first stage of decomposition. The turning
and watering will soon occasion it to decay and rot ;
the fermented and strongly impregnated juices pro-
ceeding from the dung, and the ullage occasioned
from time to time by the rains, will all be received
and absorbed in the mould below it, so that none of
the saline particles, which are accounted the grand
fertilizers of the earth, will escape and be lost.
How often emotions of regret, at the folly and ig-
norance of our English farmers, have loeen excited in
the breast of the celebrated agriculturist, Arthur
Young, Esq., while riding through the country, in
seeing heaps of manure lying on eminences by the
road sides, and the black, impregnated juices drain-
ing from it, and running in waste into the ditches ;
which, if they had been preserved in the manner
described, would have served to fertilize their fields ;
the residuum being comparatively a corpus mortuum>
42
THE CARNATION.
deprived of half its virtue, strength, and efficacy.
But to proceed : if you wish to make use of any of
this compost for the choicer vegetables in the kitchen
garden, you have only to mix the whole together,
and apply it in the spring ; but if it be intended as
manure to mix with loam for flowering shrubs, pines,
plants, &c., or for flower borders and beds, it will be
requisite to keep it a twelvemonth longer, making
eighteen months in all, before it will be fit for use,
and sufficiently comminuted and rotten to pass
through a coarse sieve. The addition of this fresh
earth to exhausted and worn-out gardens will be at-
tended with much benefit.
In the beginning of March mix and incorporate
the whole together ; turn it again in April, and again
in May ; then put it together in the form of a ridge,
and let it remain so till Michaelmas. To preserve the
compost from losing its strength, by the powerful
exhalation of its saline properties by the sun in sum-
mer, 'incrustit with mould, or cover it with hurdles of
reeds or writh loose litter.
This rule, however, does not apply to such ma-
THE CARNATION. 43
nures as take a longer time to prepare them, before
they can be used as compost for delicate flowers.
Night-soil requires a constant exposure for two years,
to get rid of its strong sulphuric acid ; soap-boiler's
lye, to neutralize its powerful alkaline salt ; sugar-
baker's scum, to divest it of its predominant saccha-
rine property ; and cow-dung, to correct its crude ace-
tous quality.
Wood-shavings, when rotten and decayed, saw-
dust, tan, the bark and small branches of trees in
general, lying any length of time, acquire this carbo-
naceous principle, and make a good ingredient in
compost for many plants, the Auricula in particular.
It is this coaly property that gives the dark-brown
discolouring to water, and of which soot and ashes
may be said to contain the very essence.
LEAF-MOULD, ITS USES AND MODE OF
PREPARING.
LEAF-MOULD is the finest and most valuable of all
the artificial soils, and is used by the skilful gardener
44 THE CARNATION.
in a variety of ways : with a portion of this, a little
maiden earth, old rotten horse-dung and sand, he
pipes his Pinks, and pipes and lays his Carnations;
in a mixture of this he plants his seedling Auriculas
and young off-sets ; there is hardly any plant, how-
ever delicate and tender, that will not grow and thrive
in it.
Every one that has the means and opportunity of
doing it, ought, towards the end of October, to collect
the leaves when in a moist state, and put them in a
hole made for that purpose, mixing at the same time
with them a little quick-lime to hasten their decay,
and a small portion of earth. They may lie in that
state till spring, when they ought to be turned over,
repeating the same about once in six weeks after-
wards, till they become quite decayed and pulverized.
If there be not a very great body of leaves together,
by this process they generally become fit for use in
twelve months.
THE CARNATION. 45
SALT AS A MANURE CONSIDERED.
THE application of salt, and its utility as a manure,
are yet imperfectly understood. It is a matter of
uncertainty,, whether it acts directly as a manure, or
only as a kind of spice or seasoning, thereby render-
ing the soil a more palatable food for plants. Be
that as it may, if it acts beneficially in any manner,
it ought to be adopted.
The evidence adduced before the late Committee
in the House of Commons was of a contradictory
nature ; yet the preponderance of opinions advanced,
and of experiments detailed, wras greatly in favour of
it. A small pamphlet, published by Mr. Parke on
the subject, may be read with much interest.
The main question as it stands at present is,
What is the proper quantity to be used on arable or
grass lands, and which is the proper time for its ap-
plication ?
I have used it for these three years past in compost
for flowers, and shall continue to do so, from a per-
40 THE CARNATION.
suasion of its beneficial effects. A Scotch gardener,
to whom I related the use of salt as manure, endea-
voured to dissuade me from doing it ; his opinion,
no doubt, was regulated by the account of the expe-
riment of salt-water (sea-water) given by his coun-
tryman, Walter Nicol. ' Ah, man,' said he, ' it will
destroy all your flowers, root and branch, for nothing
will grow where salt is.' I however still persisted to
use it. Five or six years previous to this, I had a
few favourite Cloves growing in the ground, and was
anxious to protect them from the slugs and snails, by
which their foliage had been much injured ; I was
told that salt was an excellent remedy against them ;
accordingly I strewed a handful or two of it close to
the roots and over the foliage of the plants, in order,
as I thought, to preserve them from being eaten up by
them ; but judge of my surprise — in a few days after,
I observed them to turn yellow and sickly ; in fact,
they languished for a while, and died. And such
would have been their fate, if I had put fresh soot,,
quick-lime, night-soil, sugar-baker's scum, or any
other hot manure in a green or rank state ; from
THE CARNATION. 47
which circumstance I was not unaware of the effects
of salt injudiciously applied.
CARE OF CARNATIONS— (continued.)
PODDING, CARDING, AND WIRING.
CARNATIONS require to be watered freely while the
pods are swelling ; and, in fact, during the whole
time they continue in blossom, they ought to be kept
moist, and never be suffered to flag for want of it.
Most flowers require the same treatment.
At this season it is better to water with the pipe
of the garden-pot, in preference to the rose, and to
pour it upon an oyster-shell, placed on the top of the
flower-pot, to receive and break the force of the
water ; this will prevent it from making holes in the
mould, and laying bare the roots. Some sorts seem
to suffer from water, however soft it may be, when
poured all over the layers, in hot weather ; the ends
of the grass very often will turn white and sickly, as
48
THE CARNATION.
if they had been parboiled and scalded. If the
grass appears short and backward for laying, water
once or twice a week, with a weak infusion of horse
or sheep dung, prepared in a tub for that purpose ;
this wash will both promote the growth of the layers,
and give a depth and richness of colouring to such
flowers as are apt to come pale and short of it.
As soon as the side-shoots appear, they should be
stripped off, to give strength to the main stem. To
flowers which you intend to exhibit, if a small or
thinnish one, leave only two pods on a stem ; to a
large or full one, leave three ; there are many excep-
tions ; some require nearly the whole to be left on.
In order to prevent the pods from bursting, or
opening irregularly, a small piece of bass-mat dipt
in water should be carefully tied round the middle of
each pod, but not before it is nearly full-formed ; it
will also require easing from time to time, as the pod
continues to increase and grow.
If you perceive the pod inclined to burst on one
side, give ease to it on the other also, by slitting the
cup with a sharp knife, or with a thin bit of ivory,
THE CARNATION. 49
generally fixed to the end of the etui, made use of
for dressing the flower : in a crowded pod it is always
best to ease it in time, by cutting the cup in the
several indentures or scallops marked at the top ; the
guard-leaves will then fall in regular order all round.
As soon as the large external petals of the flower
or guard-leaves begin to expand, drop, and fall back,
a paper collar should be placed round the bottom of
the blossom to support it. These collars are made
of white thin card paper, in the form of a circle of
three or four inches in diameter, with a hole in the
centre just large enough to admit the calix or pod,
without much compressing, and with a cut extending
from the centre to the outside or circumference, like
the radius of a circle. On these cards the flower is
preserved in shape and form a long time ; on these
the petals also are finely disposed, and the beauty of
the Carnation displayed to great advantage.
To support the blossoms when carded, and to
keep them from being blown about by the wind, as
well as to sustain the additional weight of the cards,
a small thin brass wire, about three inches long,
D
50 THE CARNATION.
though different lengths are required, in the shape
of a common wire skewer, is usually fixed to the
stick ; one end, which is twisted into the form of a
hook or head of a shepherd's crook, is placed round
the bottom of the pod ; and the other end, which is
sharpened, is forced with a pair of wire nippers into
the stick. This may be easily effected after a trial
or two.
Wire, proper for this use, may be had at any of
the wire-shops ; there are three or four shops of this
description near the Monument, in the city of Lon-
don, where they manufacture them ready for use, at
so much a hundred.
PROTECTION OF THE BLOSSOMS FROM
RAIN, &c.
THE moment the Carnations begin to unfold their
blossoms, they should be covered from the rain and
scorching sun; they should either be covered with
small glasses or with paper caps, in the shape of an
umbrella, with a tube in the centre, to be fixed on
THE CARNATION. 51
the tops of the sticks. If you would preserve the
beauty of a Carnation untarnished,, it should not be
suffered to have a single drop of rain. Those caps
and glasses may be put over the Carnations for ten
or twelve days before they are placed on the stage.
Several ladies and gentlemen that do not use
stages, are in the habit of placing them in the front
of their green-houses, in the absence of their cus-
tomary plants, which at this season are set in the
open air. This appears to me an excellent situation,
if they are allowed air enough, not only because
they are sheltered from the rain and sun, but be-
cause they are more out of the reach of the grubs,
snails, and ear-wigs, provided they do not put them
there sooner, nor keep them longer, than is neces-
sary. The same remark applies with no less force
to the stage. Do not, then, let the general health
of your plants be endangered or injured, for the sake
of preserving the blossoms unhurt.
When placed on the stage, they should have the
benefit of the morning sun till about nine or ten
o'clock, according to the intense heat of its rays—
D 2
52 THE CARNATION.
the same in the evening", with as much open ex-
posure to the air at all times as you can give them,
without injury to the bloom.
RUN FLOWERS CONSIDERED.
THERE is one subject arising out of the present, to
which I wish to call the reader's attention — a sub-
ject which, I frankly confess, I can neither compre-
hend nor explain ; and the opinions that I have
ventured to offer, whether my own or borrowed, are
founded altogether on hypothesis, conjecture, and
uncertainty. What I allude to are, in the language
of a florist, the "Run-flowers."
Any one conversant with Carnations must have
remarked, in some sorts, a singular tendency to run
from their distinct and regularly-disposed colours.
For instance, a Scarlet Bizarre, that is strongly
marked with stripes of clove colour, will frequently
change into a self-coloured flower, like the common
clove j a Purple Bizarre, in like manner, will change
THE CARNATION. 53
to a plain purple ; a Scarlet Flake to a plain scarlet,
and so on through all their varieties. A flower so
run loses all its estimation in the eyes of a florist,
and occasions him frequent regret and disappoint-
ment: for the chance of its returning to its true
' O
colour is as one to one hundred. In fact, it may be
considered to him as lost.
" So it falls out,
That what we have we prize not to the worth,
While we enjoy it ; but, being lack'd and lost,
Why then we reck the value ; then we find
The virtue, that possession would not shew us^
While it was ours."
What is it, then, that causes this changeable dis-
position and suffusion of colour ? Sir Humphry
Davy, perhaps, could have given a correct solution to
the question, and suggested the proper means of pre-
vention. Many attribute it to an over-richness of
the compost ; that is, when too great a proportion of
dung is mixt with the loam, I am inclined to think
that there is a great degree of truth in the observa-
tion, but I am far from imagining that this is the
only cause ; for I have remarked, that Carnations,
54 THE CARNATION.
planted in the open ground in ordinary soil, will
often sport, though not so frequently.
An old florist, who had grown Carnations for
more than thirty years, and who had often tried
them in poor soil, as well as in rich, assured me that
he had found them to sport in both, but oftener in
the rich; but that every season was not alike, for
they would change some years more than they would
in others. He concluded with this remark, that
the gout would attack the poor liver as well as the
rich, if there was a disposition in the body to have
it • such was the case, he conceived, with the Car-
nation.
Some again affirm, without being able to explain
the process, that it is owing to the fixed alkalis not
being properly neutralized by the vegetable and
vitriolic acids, that the natural colours are dis-
charged. I confess that I am not chemist enough
to understand such an operation of nature.
The summer of 1818, it will be remembered, was
a very hot and dry summer, and there was a general
complaint among the florists that their flowers had
THE CARNATION. 55
sported, and run from their colours, in an extraordi-
nary degree. A neighbour of mine, who had also
his share of run-flowers that summer, attributed it
to his having neglected mixing slacked lime with
his compost, the doing which he had not omitted,
he said, for several years before.
In discoursing also with an experienced gardener
the same summer on the subject, he attributed it to
the powerful influence of the sun acting upon the
corolla, or flower-leaves, whilst in embryo, which, he
said, would start the strongest or most predominant
colour, and make it suffuse and overrun the whole ;
for that evidently no change could take place in the
plant to produce that alteration in the colour, previ-
ous to the formation of the pod, notwithstanding all
the boasted prognostications about run-flowers, from
redness on the joints of the stalk, and red strokes on
the pod, before it opens.
After all this discussion on the subject, I believe
I must leave it as I found it, uncertain and unde-
termined .
56 THE CARNATION.
COMPOST FOR FLOWERS THAT ARE APT TO
SPORT IN COLOUR.
As, however, it is always best and safest to be on
the right side, and to adopt a system of caution in
all matters where there is a degree of danger and
risk to encounter, I beg to recommend a plan, which
prudence suggests, and which I mean in future to
adopt myself, with respect to a few sorts of the
two classes of Scarlet and Crimson Bizarres, which,
from their high colouring, I have found to sport
more than others ; — that is, to lower the compost.
I here subjoin the names of a few flowers, be-
cause they rank among the finest and best we have,
viz. : —
Humphrey's Duke of Clarence,
James's Lord Craven,
Hoyle's General Washington,
Weltje's Sir Edward Pellew,
Sharpe's Defiance,
Plummer's Lord Manners,
Gabell's Hero,
THE CARNATION.
57
Cartwright's Rainbow,
Davey's Rainbow,
Phillip's Lord Harrington,
Tale's Waterloo,
Berryman's Jubilee,
Chaplain's Lord Duncan,
Cope's Suwarrow,
Stone's Venus.
R. — 3 Barrows of sound staple loam,
1 Do. old rotten cow-dung,
2 Do. do. horse-dung,
J Do. sand,
J Do. lime rubbish, or old plaster.
To be prepared, and well incorporated, as before.
It is nearly in the same proportions, and of the
same component parts, as that used by the late in-
genious Mr. Homes, of Clapham Common, a gentle-
man noted for his fine collection of tulips, and his
successful cultivation of flowers in general.
D 5
58 THE CARNATION.
THE YELLOW PICOTEE.
THE Yellow Picotee is, at all times, a difficult flower
to grow well in this country, on account of our moist
atmosphere and long winters. The Dutch florists
have bad success with it likewise, for the same
reason. The best situation for it is the front shelf
in a green-house, while in bloom, and the same
place is best for it in the winter months of January
and February, when it requires to be kept mode-
rately dry ; indeed it never likes to be over-saturated
with water at any time. If kept in frames, during
the winter, it ought to be allowed to occupy the
front rows, at the back part, as being the driest and
most airy. If placed in a damp situation, and over-
watered, if it does not perish, it will become unsound
and unhealthy, and consequently unable to carry its
bloom.
It is generally scarce, for there is never any great
stock of it in the country, though it is so constantly
imported from the Continent, particularly by the
¥ !K )L LOW PI C O TK
THE CARNATION. 59
families of the nobility and gentry, in their excur-
sions thither, and with whom it seems to be a very
great favourite. It is to be met with in many parts
of Italy, Germany, Prussia, and Flanders, in the
neighbourhood of Lausanne, in Switzerland, and of
Grenoble and Lyons, in the province of Dauphiny,
and other parts of France.
The Empress Josephine, distinguished among
other things for her great taste and fondness for
flowers, had, among an endless variety of elegant
and curious shrubs, plants, and flowers, an admir-
able collection of Yellow Picotees, at Malmaison.
Her gardens were then under the superintendence
of the celebrated botanist, Bonpland, who subse-
quently went to South America to prosecute his
favourite study under the patronage of the late Pre-
sident Bolivar.
The late Queen Charlotte and the Princesses, a
few years ago, had a very superb collection of yellow
Picotees at Frogmore, which were obtained principally
from Germany ; they wrere the delight of all who saw
them.
60 THE CARNATION.
A gentleman,, some time a resident in Ftmchal in
the island of Madeira., which lies off the north-west
coast of Africa, nearly opposite to Mogadore in the
kingdom of Morocco, informed me, that Picotees,
with yellow grounds, grew in great profusion in
most of the gardens in the island, and that the
varieties were beautiful; some were plain, others
again were marked with red or black spots, and others
curiously mottled.
This flower consists of many varieties :
Of yellow and purple, both light and dark ;
Ditto and dark red, or claret, colour ;
Ditto and scarlet ;
Ditto and pink, and plain yellow of various
shades.
Die Koeniginn Von Eng-
land,
Cupidon,
Pactolus,
Napoleon,
El Dorado,
Maximilian,
Louis Seize,
Le Dauphin de France,
Prince de Conde,
Count de Grasse,
Prince of Orange,
La Rose d'Or,
Flammula,
Goldfinch,
Maid of Magdeburg,
THE CARNATION. 61
Maid of Orleans, | Le Cocu en colere,
Le Cocu content. | Princessinn Esterhazij,
&c. &c. &c.
I confess I am at a loss to say what compost is
proper to grow it in, and yet, after all, the fault per-
haps does not rest with the soil, but the climate,
which, take it the year round, is too harsh and moist
for this delicate exotic — yet I recommend the fol-
lowing :
2 barrows of light loam,
1 do. leaf-mould,
1 do. old frame dung,
J do. old cow dung,
do. river sand.
MODE OF PRESERVING THE SEED.
To any one having an opportunity of collecting any
Yellow Picotee seed, which he may be desirous to
bring or send to England, I recommend him to put it
into a small phial or glass bottle, corked so as to
exclude the air. In this state, it will keep good for a
couple of years.
62 THE CARNATION.
I have been often gratified with the sight of new
yellow Picotees from the south of Germany : their
colours were rich and vivid, unicolor, bicolor, and
tricolor ; the shape of the blossoms finely formed,
and the petals large and regular. The Bizarrerie
or mixture of tints in many of them was to me
quite new : I have seen chocolate and yellow ; pink
and yellow; sulphur and crimson; buff, scarlet,
and grey; yellow, purple, and white; yellow, crim-
son, and chocolate ; yellow, slate, and grey ; some
with scarlet stripes upon lilac grounds; and the
reverse, presenting the glossy appearance of satin.
Though the colours upon the whole were very dis-
tinct, and finely traced, yet in some they were most
strangely confused and oddly mixed, like a painter's
delineation of fire, or rather his representation of fire
and smoke, consisting of red, yellow, and ash colour,
both dark and light, as in the flowers named ' Phce-
nix inter flammas ;' Newton and Ippersill.
Any person desirous of viewing some of these new
and curious varieties, may have their desire gratified
by visiting my small garden in July next, (God
THE CARNATION.
63
granting,) for the tenure of human life is very un-
certain in the most robust and healthful.
Their names run as follows :
Kaysernoon Russland,
Prinz Eugene,
Clemens,
Rodolpho,
Bernhaid,
Adam,
Fiirst Liechtenstein,
General Kleist,
« Bellegarde,
• Frimont,
Pauline Von Russland,
Landgravine,
Belle Bergere,
Amelia,
Agnes,
Bertha,
Maria,
Phyllis,
and many names of individuals sounding uncouthly
in an English ear, with their official titles of Amtman,
Heptman, Rittmeister, &c. &c. prefixed.
Sophia,
Arthur,
Heinrich,
Plinius,
Juno,
Apollo,
Phcenix,
Venus,
Luna,
Doernberg,
Villeda,
Retzau,
Welden,
Gracieuse,
Gloriosa,
La Magnifique,
Leibgardist,
64 THE CARNATION.
THE OPERATION AND TIME OF PIPING.
THE propagation by piping, or cuttings, is more dif-
ficult with the Carnation than with either the Picotee
or Pink, and ought to commence as soon as the shoots
or grass are ready.
If you defer it till the bloom is nearly over, the
chance of success is still more precarious, as the
shoots get too hard and woody, and do not strike
root so readily as they do when taken sooner, and in
a more tender state.
The operation of piping, then, ought to com-
mence, for the reason above stated, about the first of
July. I am aware that the usual mode is to wait
until the flowers are in bloom, that you may see
whether they are in their right colours or not. But,
surely, it is no very difficult task to guard against
this, by keeping the cuttings of every plant separate.
Suppose you have three plants in one pot : you can
easily affix three separate tallies, or number-sticks,
with 1, 2, 3, on them, and also three other corre-
THE CARNATION. 65
spending tallies to the pipings. By adopting this
simple method, and paying a little attention while
you are about it, it will be impossible not to keep a
tolerably correct account, But if you find too much
trouble or difficulty in keeping such an account as I
here point out, you may wait a fortnight or three
weeks longer, till the flowers are in bloom — you will
still be in time ; but remember this, your chance of
success will be less, and your plants less also. Plants
raised from cuttings are, in general, preferable to
those from layers, because they are sounder, and will
encounter the rigours of a sharp winter better. I do
not infer from this that you should pipe all the shoots,
and by so great mutilation damage and disfigure the
plants just coming into bloom. On the contrary,
then, I recommend you to select and take the shoots
only where they appear crowded or too short, or too
high up the stalk to be laid easily, leaving the rest
to the more certain method of laying. Carnation
pipings succeed best upon a little dung-heap of blood
warmth, on a bed raised two or three feet above the
surface of the earth ; for, should the season be wet,
66 THE CARNATION.
they are more out of the reach of the dampness of
the ground,, and also more exposed to the air.
Compost for piping should consist of —
•J. Maiden earth,
•J Leaf mould,
^ Rotten horse-dung,
$ Sand.
To be well mixed together, and passed through a
fine sieve, that the ends of the cuttings, when stuck
in, may enter easily and without injury.
The piping should be cut with a sharp pen or
budding knife, at the second or third joint, according
to the condition of the grass ; but the shorter the
better. The cut must take place horizontally, close
below the joint, and the sheath or part that covers
the joint must be carefully removed and peeled off.
When the pipings are cut, the surface of the bed
made flat and level, and gently watered through a
fine rose, they may be stuck in, three-quarters of an
inch deep, in rows, not too near together. Then let
them be watered again, which will help to fix the
earth close round them ; the glasses on no account
THE CARNATIOX. 67
are to be shut down close till they are dry, or they
will inevitably fog, rot, and perish. The best glasses
for piping are those made of the common window-
glass, eight inches square and six inches deep, and
the less air they contain, the sooner will the cuttings
strike root. The striking-glasses in common use,
which are blown for the purpose, too often contain
such a thick body of glass, as to concentrate the sun's
rays, and scorch the pipings. They require shading
only when the sun is out, and then with a net or old
mat, to admit the glimmering of his rays. If the
weather continues dry and hot, they will require to
be watered occasionally, with a fine rose, early in a
morning, over the glasses ; which, for one fortnight
at least, need not be removed, if they are doing well.
After, you may take them off from time to time as
you see occasion, for half an hour or so in a morning,
or evening, to dry the glasses ; and, if any of the
pipings appear mildewed or rotten, pull them up.
At the end of six weeks they will be sufficiently
rooted to be transplanted into small pots, or a pre-
pared bed, over which it would be advisable to place
00 THE CARNATION.
a frame and lights for a week or ten days, till they
take root again. There they may be allowed to re-
main till the middle or so of September.
In taking them up, if you find any of them not
rooted, but sound, and their ends hard and callow,
do not let them remain on the same spot, but remove
them to another bed, with a little temporary heat,
and cover them with glasses as before ; this will not
fail to start them, and hasten their fibring.
If this method be adopted and pursued through all
the minuteness of detail with which I have endea-
voured to lay it down, I am confident it will succeed.
OF LAYING.
ABOUT the 21st of July your flowers will be suffi-
ciently expanded to show which are in colour, and
which not. I would then have you to prepare for
laying, and to continue it as opportunity serves, till
the whole be completed. They may be done with
safety any time between the 21st of July and the
THE CARNATION. 69
21st of August : but as some are more difficult and
slower in striking root than others, I advise you to
begin with them. I here present you with the names
of a few that I have found some difficulty with ; viz.
Davey's Sovereign,
Davey's Duchess of Devonshire,
Hoyle's Magnificent,
Lacey's Marquis of Wellesley,
Lee's Apollo,
Crump's Lord Rodney,
Lacey's Lady Wellington,
Wood's Comet,
Harley's Wonderful,
Sharpe's Defiance,
Turner's Alexander,
Turner's Hannibal.
The plants should receive a good watering the
day previous to laying, because they can receive it
only, for some time after, through the fine rose of
the water-pot, on account of the layers.
The first step is to trim them, by cutting off with
a pair of sharp scissors the leaves next the root, and
about an inch in length of those at the end, moving
at the same time the surface-mould in the pots, and
70 THE CARNATION.
adding to it about half an inch in thickness of your
finely-sifted compost,, as directed under the head of
piping.
They will then be ready for the incision,, which
must be made with a sharp knife longitudinally, on
the under side, a little below the second or third
joint from the top : the knife must pass completely
through the joint, and extend a quarter of an inch
beyond it, forming altogether an incision of nearly
an inch long, and dividing the stem of the layer
in half lengthwise, as far as it goes.
The nib, or extreme end of the tongue, as it is
called, must be carefully cut off, immediately below
the joint ; if left on, it is apt to decay, and prevent
the end from becoming callow, which process must
take place before the layer can form, or throw out
any fibres. The tongue must be fixed downwards
in the mould, and secured in that position, with a
fern or wooden peg made for the purpose, and the
joint where the cut took place covered about three-
quarters of an inch deep with the fine mould.
Should the part that is pegged down be washed bare
THE CARNATION. 71
at any time by watering, it must be again covered
with a little more mould.
If the weather prove in any degree favourable^
they will be fit to take off in seven or eight weeks;
when they may be planted, two or three in an up-
right 48 pot, or two in a 60, according to their size.
Let them be set upon tiles, slates, or boards, to pre-
vent the worms getting into the pots, in which situa-
tion they may be suffered to remain till the middle
or end of October, according to the state of the
weather, which is about the usual period of putting
them in their winter quarters, where they are to
remain till spring. As soon as the layers are rooted
and fit to take off, they should be potted, to enable
the fibres to get established before the cold weather
sets in ; the removal, if possible, should not be de-
ferred later than Michaelmas.
Observe not to plant the layers too deep or low
down in the pots, for whatever part of the side foliage
is buried or covered will decay and rot, to the no
small injury of the whole.
72 THE CARNATION.
WINTER SITUATION.
IT may, perhaps, be considered not improper to give
a few cautionary hints respecting their treatment
during their inactive state in the winter.
It is usual to put about four inches deep of coal-
ashes at the bottom of the frames, for the pots to
stand upon ; this keeps out the worms, and at the
same time protects the fibres during very severe
weather : they should be placed also pretty near the
glass. Let them have all the benefit of the air you
can, by drawing the lights quite off in dry weather,
and by giving air behind in wet. In frosty weather,
which is not very severe, they should be exposed to
the air, especially a few hours in the middle of the
day.
It is also an excellent plan to rest the frames upon
bricks, to let in a free circulation of air below, among
the pots; the frames in some seasons may remain
raised in this manner even till Christmas : for it is
quite time enough to remove the bricks, and let the
THE CARNATION. 73
frames down close to the ground, when the frost
appears to set in.
The safest method, perhaps, is to keep them
moderately dry in the months of December and
January ; and when they require water, give it them
through the narrow pipe of a small water-pot, in-
stead of the rose. If watered with the rose, unless
there be a brisk air and a little sun to dry the plants,
the drops will hang upon them for several days to-
gether, and spot and mildew the leaves ; indeed it is
never right to shut them down close when wet.
About once in six weeks, as you see occasion, take a
small pointed stick, and lightly stir the mould on
the surface, to prevent any green and sour incrusta-
tion taking place. Many cover the tops of the pots
with a little fine sand. The decayed leaves should
also be taken off from time to time. Should the
wreather be temperate and mild, with any gentle
rains from the south or south-west, they should be
permitted to receive the benefit of them for half an
hour or so, five or six times during the winter ; this
will greatly refresh them, taking care to have their
E
74
THE CARNATION.
leaves dried again as soon as you can. If kept too
dry any length of time together, I have observed
that the stem loses its pith, and becomes like a dry
hollow reed: steer between the two extremes, and
you will do right.
ON SEED AND SEEDLINGS.
I HAVE already transgressed the limits which I had
prescribed to myself in setting out ; I will therefore
close the subject with a few cursory remarks on
Seed and Seedlings.
The Carnation is not a prolific seed-bearer: it
often happens, that out of two hundred blooming
plants, you will not be able to get even two pods of
perfect seed. The reason may be accounted for in
this way : first, because it is a flower that blows late
in the summer, and has not time always to ripen its
seed, especially in a wet one ; secondly, because the
Carnations that are usually cultivated are so very
double, as to preclude in a great measure the ex*
THE CARNATION. 75
pectancy of much seed ; it is the semi-double flowers
that yield the most. In the year 1818, more seed,
I believe, was saved that summer than in any seven
preceding put together ; it was excessively hot, and
the heat continued till the autumn. There is hardly
a Carnation-grower in the country that has not
raised seedling-plants from seed saved that summer ;
but as it is two years before they bloom, he will have
to wait till the ensuing summer before he can have
an opportunity of ascertaining their worth.
The Carnation is a variable flower, and the incon-
stancy of its seed is equal only to the variety pro-
duced from it. It is said, but I know not with what
truth, that seed out of the same pod will produce
flowers of all the different varieties — flakes, bizarres,
&c., both single, semi-double, and double. Several
superior flowers have been produced from seed saved
from Gregory's King Alfred, Lacey's Marquis of
Wellesley, Crump's Lord Rodney, Butts 's Lord
Rodney, Stoniard's Britannia, Bearliss's Sir G.
Osborn, Onion's Trafalgar, &c.
If you perceive the pericarpium or seed vessel to
E 2
76 THE CARNATION.
swell and grow hard, so as to give hopes of seed,
which it will not do till the flower is fading, and the
leaves of it withering, then pluck the petals one by
one out of the corolla or cup, taking great care not
to injure the styles, or two horns, which if you do,
all chance of seed is lost. By letting the flower-
leaves remain in the cup, they are apt to hold the
dew and wet, which frequently occasions the whole
to rot. As the seed vessel fills up, you may with a
pair of scissors cut off the ends of the cup all round,
and make a slight incision down it, to keep the wet
from resting in it. It will ripen towards the end of
September ; but do not gather it till it is fully ripe,
when it will be of a dark brown or black colour. It
is the safest way to let it remain in the seed-pod, in
some dry place, till after Christmas, when it may be
cleaned, and put into a paper bag, or small bottle.
It may be sown in wide pans, or 24-sized pots,
about the second week in April, which is quite early
enough, and covered a quarter of an inch thick with
fine mould, the surface to be made smooth and level,
both before and after sowing. Hand-glasses may be
THE CARNATION. 77
placed over them till it comes up, which will also
prevent the heavy rains from washing it out of the
ground. If the plants are in too forward a state,
and their growth too much accelerated by watering
during the summer, they are apt to spindle, that is,
every shoot nearly will run up to flower, scarcely
leaving one to propagate from.
I do not wish to discourage the young florist in
his attempts to raise Seedling Carnations ; but
he will find the production cf fine flowers to be a
work of time, patience, and uncertainty. If I set
a ratio as one to one hundred, I fear the calculation
will be too extravagant, and that I shall not be
borne out in it by the fact ; but let him look upon
the whole as a lottery, and if fortune favours him,
he may perhaps win two capital prizes, or more.
The production of one superior flower — it is folly
to keep an inferior one in the present highly im-
proved breed of Carnations — will no doubt afford
him much pleasure and gratification ; but if he
should be fortunate enough to raise six during the
whole course of his life, he must consider his labours
78 THE CARNATION.
to have been crowned with success ; and as vanity
and self-conceit,, which spring from ignorance, are
apt to blind and mislead the judgment in all matters
that concern ourselves, I caution the florist who has
raised any Seedling Carnations, not to be too hasty
in pronouncing upon their excellence, but submit
them to the inspection and criticism of another as
well as himself, lest while he fancies he is breeding
up a swan, it should prove at last to be nothing but
a goose. A bad florist is nearly in the same situa-
9
tion as a bad poet, — he becomes the butt of ridicule,
and his productions the subject of derision and
contempt.
THE PICOTEE, AND THE REASON OF ITS PARTIAL
EXCLUSION FROM THE STAGE.
ONE thing respecting Seedlings had nearly escaped
my recollection, which is this: — Most florists, whose
views are principally directed to the raising of fine
flowers from seed, exclude the Picotee, with its
THE CARNATION. 79
spotted leaves and indented edges, from the society
of the Carnation altogether, lest the farina or pollen
of the Picotee should become impregnated with that
of the Carnation, and so spoil its breed. This opi-
nion seems generally to prevail, and I am not pre-
pared with any argument that can counteract it.
For my part, however, no such consideration shall
ever induce me to exclude from the garden, or to
forego the pleasure of beholding, the varied, the
fanciful, and beautiful blossom of the Picote'e, which
presents itself in all the delicate and softer tints of
the Carnation, not indeed disposed with that precise-
ness and regularity, but pencilled and marked by the
inimitable hand of Nature in her more sportive
mood : at one time, on a snow-white ground, a vast
profusion of small, irregular spots appear — red,
black, or purple ; at another, a few straight lines or
dashes of the pencil only are seen on some of the
larger petals; then a fanciful mixture of both to-
gether, most beautifully blended ; at another time,
the edges or extremity only of the flower-leaves shall
be tinged and laced all round, or the whole covered
80 THE CARNATION.
with a netted and motley mixture of shining co-
lours.
I have often remarked the preference given to
Picotees by most ladies : after being tired with
gazing at the gaudy and more dazzling beauties of
the Carnation, they have turned, with apparently
greater satisfaction, to examine and admire the soft
and delicate graces of their favourite Picotee.
ON THE PLAGIARISM, &c. OF FLORISTS.
THERE is another topic connected with the present
subject which in a manner forces itself upon me,
yet it is with some degree of reluctance that I enter
upon it.
The florists, no doubt, are a race of men subject
to the same passions as other men are ; and these
passions, even in the florist, if they are suffered, like
weeds, to run riot, and are not properly pruned and
restrained, will sometimes prompt him to commit
actions, which are not strictly compatible with the
innocent and pleasing avocation which he pursues.
THE CARNATION. 81
Gentle reader, be not alarmed ; I am not going
to charge him with the dreadful crimes of murder
or manslaughter, notwithstanding the deep scarlet
and crimson hues with which those flowers are
stained that he often holds in his hands. No ; I
charge him only, as a lawyer might express it, if he
belonged to that learned body, with certain malprac-
tices in his profession, which I think it my duty to
mention, that they may be exposed, and the authors
of them, when detected, held up to ridicule and con-
tempt.
What I mean by all this preamble is neither more
nor less than this — that a florist will sometimes,
either with a view to raise his reputation, or from
the more sordid motive of gain, procure from some
distant part of the country the favourite and admired
flower of another, under its true name ; he will then
christen it afresh, and palm it upon the public as a
seedling Carnation of his own.
He will not unfrequently also substitute, in the
way of trade, one flower for another, seldom a better
for a worse, to the great disappointment and vexation
E 5
82 THE CARNATION.
of the person so receiving it. This is the reason why
we so often find the same flower under different
names, of whieh I could point out instances not a
few. Thus we have two Rainbows, as two may some-
times be seen in the heavens at the same time ; but
then the one is only the faint shadow and reflection
of the other. So we have two James's Lord Craven,
two Castle's Mrs. Harrington, two Sharpe's Defi-
ance, two or three Weltje's Pellew, two or three
Young's Mount ./Etna, &c. &c.
But, what is worse than all, it is also said that he
will sometimes not hesitate to sell and deliver a run
flower, instead of one in colour, knowing it to be so.
Such unfair practices as these must, however, in the
end, defeat themselves ; and let us hope that they
are confined but to a few, and do not apply to the
body of florists in general.
THE CARNATION. 83
A STAGE OF CARNATIONS.
A STAGE of Carnations is a splendid and beautiful
sight, of which no one can form any just idea,
unless he has had the opportunity of beholding two
or three hundred blossoms at one time.
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, was extremely
partial to Carnations, and had every year about two
hundred pots of them : she was frequently heard to
say, that nothing gave her so much pleasure as the
sight of her Carnations in full bloom, and which she
preferred to all the green-house plants in her pos-
session.
Sir John Hill, also, in some of his works, speaks
in praise of the Carnation, whose fragrance, he says,
led him to enjoy it frequently. There is not the
least doubt but that it has been the distinguished
favourite of thousands, in all ages and in all coun-
tries, wherever it could be met with, from the earliest
times down to the present ; and a singular predilec-
tion in its favour at the present day seems to be
84
THE CARNATION.
manifested among all ranks throughout the king-
dom, by whom it is equally cherished and cultivated.
Hear what that political Proteus, yet clever writer,
Mr. Cobbett, says of a Carnation, to which he attri-
butes beauty and fragrance in the highest degree.
' Some persons may think that flowers are things of
( no use — that they are nonsensical things ; the same
* may be, and perhaps with more reason, said of
' pictures. An Italian, while he gives his fortune
' for a picture, will laugh to scorn a Hollander, who
* leaves a tulip-root as a fortune to his son. For my
' part, as a thing to keep, and not to sell, — as a thing,
* the possession of which is to give me pleasure, — I
' hesitate not a moment to prefer the plant of a fine
' Carnation to a gold watch set with diamonds.'
And he continues, f Those who have once seen a
' bed of beautiful Tulips, Carnations, or Auriculas,
' enjoy during life the delightful sight in recollection.'
The effect produced by a number of Carnations
together is undoubtedly striking ; and it is beauty in
masses only that can produce such an effect.
The Clove Gilliflower, or the true Old Clove, a&
THE CARNATION. 85
it is called, and of which we hear so much mention
made, if we may credit the testimony of very old
gardeners, is now lost to the country. One flower,
they will tell you, would scent the whole garden, the
perfume was so strong and powerful. It may be so;
I have not the means of contradicting it.
THE DUTCH MODE OF GARDENING.
WE are apt to ridicule the Dutchman, as well as the
imitators of him here at home, who divide their gar-
dens into small beds, or compartments, planting each
with separate and distinct flowers. We ridicule the
plan, because it exhibits too great a sameness and
formality j like unto the nosegay that is composed
of one sort of flowers only, however sweet and beau-
tiful they may be, they lose the power to please,
because they want variety. It must undoubtedly be
acknowledged, that a parterre, no matter in what
form — whether circular or square, elliptical or oblong
86 THE CARNATION.
— where all the shrubs, plants, and flowers in it, like
the flowers of a tastefully-arranged bouquet, are va-
riously disposed in neat and regular order, according
to their height and colour, is a delightful spectacle,
and worthy of general imitation. Yet still in some
particular cases I am disposed to copy the Dutch-
man, and I would have my bed of Hyacinths dis-
tinct, my Tulips distinct, my Anemonies, my Ra-
nunculuses, my Pinks, my Carnations distinct, and
even my beds of Double Blue Violets and Dwarf
Larkspurs distinct, to say nothing of hedge-rows of
different sorts of Roses : independent of the less
trouble you have in cultivating them when kept se-
parate, you have, as I said before, beauty in masses,
and you have likewise their fragrance and perfume
so concentrated, that they are not lost in air, but
powerfully inhaled when you approach them.
In support of the above argument, I beg to quote
an authority of no small consideration.
Mrs. Siddons, the celebrated tragic actress, was a
great admirer of this mode of planting, and fond of
contemplating this ' beauty in masses.' She adopted
THE CARNATION. 87
this style of gardening at her late residence on the
Harrow-road. One favourite flower with her was
the Viola Amcena, the Pansy*, or Common Purple
Heart's-ease, and this she set with unsparing pro-
fusion all around her garden. Her great and con-
stant call for this flower every spring, to keep the
purple bordering complete and perfect, induced the
gardeners in the neighbourhood to give the name of
Miss Heart's-ease to her managing handmaid, who
used to chaffer for it in the true spirit of hard and
thrifty dealing. Her garden was remarkable in an-
other respect, and might with great propriety be
styled a garden of evergreens, which, together with
a few deciduous shrubs, were of the most sombre,
sable, and tragical cast — such as Box- trees, Fir,
Privet, Phillyrea, Arbor Vitse, Holly, Cypress, the
Red Cedar, Laurel, Irish Ivy, Bay-tree, Arbutus
Daphne, or Spurge Laurel, Cneorum Tricoccum, or
the c Widow- Wail,' the branches and flowers of
* Pansy, Panacea, derived from the Greek, signifying Heal-all.
THE CARNATION.
which, according to Pliny, were carried by the Ro-
man matrons in their funeral processions : —
' Purpureos spargam flores.' — VIRGIL.
The only part of the year in which it could be
viewed with any degree of satisfaction was the winter,
as giving rise to a pleasing association of ideas, in
beholding these retain their green verdure and cloth-
ing at a time when the rest of the surrounding trees
were stripped naked and bare.
In addition to what I have already stated, I can-
not help making mention of a large bed of Holly-
hocks (the Alcea Rosea, a native of China), which I
noticed some few years ago in the gardens of Messrs.
Lee and Kennedy, of Hammersmith. I think I
counted in the bed fourteen distinct varieties of this
beautiful species, of tall and short growth; the flowers
were all double, and the effect produced by them was
grand beyond description.
The immense number of rose-shaped blossoms,
and the strong contrast of their shades and colours
— white, yellow, red, crimson, brown, black, &c., ar-
THE CARNATION. 89
rested my attention ; I thought this group of flowers
at the time one of the finest and most magnificent
sights I had ever witnessed.
CARNATION BED.
FLORISTS in general have a greater stock of Carna-
tions than they find convenient to blow in pots, and
these they plant out in the ground towards the latter
end of March. There is no doubt but that they
might do equally as well, if they were planted in the
open ground about the beginning of October, and
would stand through the winter unhurt, provided a
slight protection could be afforded them by mats, or
a piece of sail-cloth thrown over them, resting on
hoops, during continued rains, heavy falls of snow,
or other severe weather; but they who have the
means of wintering them in frames seldom run that
o
risk, and prefer planting them out in the spring.
The pains which they bestow in preparing and
90
THE CARNATION.
making the bed for them, depend in a great measure
on the value they set on the plants ; if they are some
of their choice sorts, and they are anxious to have
fine blooms,, they will form a fresh bed altogether.
In this case, they first remove a foot in depth of the
old earth, and then dig over what remains to the
depth of a foot more, provided there be that depth
before they come to the subsoil ; they will then cover
the surface with a stratum of rotten horse-dung, three
inches deep, not too much exhausted — that which
comes directly from the cucumber-bed is to be pre-
ferred ; they will then replace the mould which they
removed in the first instance, with the same sort qf
compost as is intended for the Carnations in pots,
raising the bed about four inches above the surface
of the ground, and rounding the top a little in a
convex form, just enough to give the water a gentle
descent each way. If the bed is four feet wide, it
will contain four rows, if the plants are set singly,
but only three if set in pairs, as turned out of the
pots, allowing sufficient room for laying.
I need scarcely repeat here that they will require
THE CARNATION.
91
a plentiful supply of water, as they come into flower,
to swell the pod, and to increase the blossom.
The following Catalogue of Carnations and Pico-
tees comprehends the greatest part of the choicest
flowers in England.
CARNATIONS.
SCARLET BIZARUES.
Astin's Lord Exmouth
Bray's Defiance
Broadbent's Victorious
Brown's Lord Hood
• Lord Nelson
Barefield's Lord Nelson
Bigg's Don Cossack
• Defiance
Bate's Regent
• Nelson
Brady's Bravo
Barker's Sovereign
Cartwriglit's Abercrombie
Clarke's Regent
Costin's Monarch
Craddock's Sir SidneySmith
Crump's Lord Rodney
Colcutt's Emperor
Cook's Wellington
Davey's Caesar Augustus
. Sovereign
Honourable Thos.
Brand
Gabell's Hero
Hall's Champion
Hoyle's General Washing-
ton
Barley's Waterloo
• Generalissimo
Earl of Oxford
92
THE CARNATION.
Humphrey's Duke of Cla-
rence
Handy's Regent
Hine's Duke of Wellington
Lord Exmouth
Hogg's Lord Sydney
Duke of Montrose
Epaminondas
Houghton's Duke of New-
castle
James's Lord Craven
Lee's British Beauty
Lord Byron
Emperor Alexander
Leigh's Wellington
Lisset's Seedling
Mason's Sovereign
• • Lord Compton
Martin's Matchless
• Macbeth
Notcutt's Lord Mansfield
• Lord St. Vincent
Onion's Hero of Trafalgar
Plummer's Lord Manners
Pope's Lord Hood
Pearson's Chiiwell Hero
• Blucher
• ' - Lord Bagot
Reynold's King
Smalley's Foxhunter
Sharpe's Defiance
Smedmore's Regent
Snook's Charles Fox
Paragon
Defiance
John Bull
Strong's Victorious
Smith's Emperor
Stourb ridge Regulator
Tallis's Prince William
Henry
Turner's Alexander
Blucher
Sir Francis Burdett
Taylor's Lord Nelson
Waterhouse's Rising Sun
Weltje's Buonaparte
Sir Edward Pellew
• No. 23
Sir Sidney Smith
Walker's Defiance
Hero
Monarch
• Pageant
Webb'sDuke of Wellington
Wurman's Captain Wise
THE CARNATION.
93
Wood's Lord Nelson
Waters' Prince of Wales
Young's Mount y£tna
Young's British Hero .
Yeomanson's Eclipse
Triumphant
CRIMSON BIZARRES.
Astin's Marquis of Anglesea
Bate's Magnificent
Bugbird's Sir F. Burdett
Bond's Agenora
Brown's Defiance
Lord Nelson
Barker's Sir Robert Wilson
Brook's Adonis
Bailey's Wellington
Berriman's Jubilee
Cartwright's Rainbow
Crook's Marquis
Chaplin's Admiral Duncan
Cope's Suwarrow
Christian's Superb
Davey's King David
Rainbow
Fletcher's Staffordshire
Hero
Gregory's King Alfred
Patriot
Gabell's Esquire Garle
Hopkin's King Solomon
Horrock's Collingwood
Prince Leopold
Hoyle's Magnificent
Howarth's Grenadier
Harley's Diana
Lord Lough -
borough
Cockade
Hogg's Hamlet
Adventurer
John Goldham,
Esq.
• King George IV.
Lacey's Marquis of Wel-
lesley
Lacy's Waterloo
Lee's Duke of Bridgewater
Apollo
Duke of Kent
King George
94
THE CARNATION.
Martin's King Arthur
Earl Grey
— '• Duke of Grafton
Marquis of Bath
Glory, four distinct
colours
British Farmer
Lord Erskine
• Dundee Beauty
Miller's Champion
Joe Miller
• St. George
Phillip's Lord Harrington
Pearson's Lord Middleton
Superb
, No. 3
Quarterman's Oxford Hero
Steed's Yorkshire Hero
Snook's Emperor
Smedmore's Lord Nelson
Stretch's King
Toule's Sir John Leicester
Terry's King
Troup's Beauty
Tate's Waterloo
Yorkshire Lad
Walker's Marquis
Baron
Wallace's Sir Wm. Wallace
Yeomanson's Coburg
Magnificent
• General Pic-
ton
Lord Hill
PURPLE BIZARRES.
Hine's British Farmer j Hogg's Sir Joseph Banks
PINK AND PURPLE BIZARRES.
Astin's Victory
Bowstead's Queen
Hero
Bate's Duchess of York
Bearless's Sir Geo. Osborne
Church's Seedling
Davey's Duchess of Devon-
shire
THE CARNATION.
95
Davey's Lady Grey
Davis's Regent
French's Duke of Kent
Fryer's King
Gill's Bristol Hero
Harcourt's Prince of Wales
Hogg's Dulce Decus
Kenny's Patriot
Mason's Seedling
Pephall's Oldenburgh
Pearson's Eminent
Troup's Hero
Duke of Gloucester
, Duke of Welling-
ton
Tucker's Duchess of De-
vonshire
Weltje's Maid of Honour
Walker's Buckingham
Pilgrim
Wallace's Lady Duncan
SCARLET FLAKES.
Astin's Seedling
Brook's Colonel Tarleton
Belcher's Lady Spenser
Barker's Mrs. Clarke
Barr's Waterloo
Barnes's Lord Nelson
Cart Wright's Commander
Pirate
Davis's Sir William Curtis
Eagleton's Marquis of Ta-
vistock
Fulbrook's Lord Nelson
Harley's Enchanter
— — — Regent
Harley's Wonderful
Hogg's Sirius
Mount Hecla
Hill's Marquis of Anglesea
Incomparable Dutch Flake
James's Prince of Wales
Lee's Queen
Lyford's Regent
Lacey's Queen
Lady Wellington
Mason's Duke of Welling-
ton
Duke of Devon-
shire
96
THE CARNATION.
Martin's Morning Star
— Earl of Leven
Page's Queen Caroline
Pearson's Juno
• Rising Sun
Snook's No. 12
Lord John Russell
Strong's Lady Romilly
Stoinard's Britannia
Thornicroft's Blucher
Britannia
Superb
Brilliant
• Victory
— Venus
Tagg's Glory of Oxford
Walker's Emerald
Ruby
Wood's Comet
Wilson's Lord Nelson
Winter's Berkshire Fla-
mingo
Waterhouse's Queen Caro-
line
— Duke of Nor-
folk
Earl Fitzwil-
liam
Yeomanson's Blucher
• Commander
PURPLE FLAKES.
Adw in's Princess Royal '
Barker's Top Sawyer
Butt's Lord Rodney
Brown's British Beauty
Bates' Wellington
Boyle's Lord Ashbrook
Cartwright's Seedling
Castle's Mrs. Barring-ton
Cornfield's Sir George Ro-
binson
Crook's Royal Purple
Cope's Miss Plato ff
Dickson's Mary Queen of
Scots
Fame
Fulbrook's Grenadier
Gardiner's Trimmer
Houghton's Miss Saville
Hoyle and Boad's Queen
Hardman's Lord Exmouth
THE CARNATION.
97
Honey's Princess Charlotte
Hogg's Mrs. Siddons
Pilot
Harley's Smuggler
James's Queen
Lester's Purple Flake
Page's Seedling
Porter's Queen
Palmer's Defiance
— — Duchess of Dorset
Patson's Marlborough
Phillip's Defiance
• Britannia
Redfern's Derby Hero
Stable's Queen
Strong's Eliza
Turner's Hannibal
Taylor's Waterloo
Williams's Duchess of York
Walker's British Beauty
Columbine
Wright's Duchess of Man-
chester
Wood's Ambassador
Aid-de-camp
Princess Charlotte
Commander
Waterhouse'slncomparable
Wilde's Mary Ann
ROSE AND PINK FLAKES.
Astiu's Lady Faget
Barr's Rose Flake
Brook's Rosy Bacchus
Crooke's Duchess of Wel-
lington
• Lady Mildmay
Roi des Roses
Cartvvri ght's Rosa
Juliet
Davey's Lady Shannon
Davey's Tower of Babel
Davis's Princess Charlotte
Princess of Wales
Duchess of York
Fletcher's Duchess of De-
vonshire
Gab ell's Islington Beauty
Harley's Mrs. Clarke
Hine's Queen
Hogg's Paddington Beauty
98
THE CARNATION.
Hogg's Queen
Miss Cockerill
Lady Burgoyne
— — Galatea
Hoyle's Beauty
Honey's General Elliot
Lacey's Princess of Wales
• Marchioness of
Wellesley
Metcalf s Miss Saunders
Martin's Lady Exmouth
Meesom's Invincible
Mason's Queen Caroline
Duchess of Glou-
cester
Martin's Isabella Martin
— Lady Grey
Newland's Beauty
Plummer's Lord Keith
Pearson's Lady Loudon
Piannon's Lord Norris
Rivers' Incomparable
Snook's Queen Caroline
Smedmore's Duchess of
Devonshire
Lady Derby
Tate's Jubilee
Taylor's Staffordshire Lass
Thornicroft's Lady North-
ampton
Walker's Fairy Queen
Rosamond
Warman's Miss Ormond
WTild's Cottage Girl
Wood's Aurora
Yeomanson's Duchess of
Rutland
Helen
FRENCH CARNATIONS.
Due d'Angoul£me
Flora
| Violet de Metz
I Henri de Prusse
&c. &c.
THE CARNATION.
99
Additional Catalogue of some few new varieties of
Carnations, which may justly be classed among the
first-rate flowers.
SCARLET BIZARRES.
Finmore's Rising Sun
Hogg's Sheriff Whittaker
Hufton's 'Squire Mundy
Landon's Falstaff
Lee's King Alfred
Mason's Achilles
Lord Harrington
Sir George Crewe
Plant's Sir John Bough ey
CRIMSON
Booth's Justice Trafford
Franklin's Queen
Hattersley's Freedom
Hufton's Miss Mundy
Ive's Leopold
Medwin's Lord Eldon
Mason's Favourite
Pearson's Competitor
Pyke's Champion
Gladiator
Strong's King
Duke of York
Thompson's Ralph Cart-
wright, Esq.
Roby's Salamander
BIZARRES.
Mason's Cam Hobhouse
Pittman's Rising Sun
Strong's Prince of Den-
mark
Linnaeus
Thompson's Sir J. Miller
Yeomanson's G. Rex IV.
PURPLE BIZARRES.
Hines's Duchess of Kent
— Lady Macclesfield
Strong's Dr. Franklin
Pyke's Eminent
F 2
100 THE CARNATION.
SCARLET FLAKES,
Cartwriglit's Duke of Sussex
Hufton's Miss Barwell
Mason's Eclipse
Strong's Emperor
Thomson's Warrior
Wharton's Phoenix
PURPLE FLAKES.
Archer's Union
Mason's Lady Harrington
Fyke's Cato
Harley's Commodore
Strong's Esther
The Worcester Violet
Timmis's Lord Byron
ROSE FLAKES.
Hale's Miss Cox
Houghton's Duchess of
Newcastle
Mason's Lady Scarsdale
Thomson's Maria
It gives me pleasure to add my small tribute of
praise here in behalf of Finmore's Rising Sun,
Mason's Achilles, Strong's Prince of Denmark, and
his Esther, Pittman's Rising Sun, Mason's Eclipse,
and Whartori's Phoenix. Though this may appear
somewhat invidious, where the whole are so fine, yet
these last are, in my opinion, most excellent, and not
to be surpassed.
THE CARNATION. 101
BRANCH AND BLOSSOM.
' PRAY, Master Blossom, are you not rather lavish
of your praise ? What can you know yet of these
new flowers ? — have you proved them sufficiently,
that you speak in such good round set terms of their
excellence ? If you wish the world to believe that
you possess some little taste and judgment, I advise
you to express your sentiments with more caution
and reserve, lest they should be called in question
hereafter.'
f Why, Branch, have they not proved themselves
already ? But I know your fond partiality to your
old favourites, and your great reluctance to admit of
any excellence in any of the new ones. There's your
favourite Pellew, if you get him good once in seven
years it is as much as you do ; as for old Washing-
ton, with all his reputation, if the summer proves
wet, does he not then come pouncy as brickdust ?
See the trouble there is with Clarence, fine as he is,
to keep him in health : I may say the same with
102 THE CARNATION.
respect to Sharpe's Defiance ; and as for Sovereign,
he was never half a good one. '
' Bless me, Master Blossom ! do I hear such lan-
guage from you ? There's treason and treachery in
the very sound of it : I cannot listen with patience ;
for have not I heard you praise those old flowers as
much as I have ever done ? *
' And so you may again; but surely I may have
the liberty to express what I think of these new seed-
lings, which deservedly claim admiration. What
proof can you want ?
' Has not this modern Achilles bravely fought his
way into notice, and beat his opponents with ease ?
Has not Finmore's Rising Sun exalted himself by
his splendour and magnitude, and outshone all his
competitors ? and has not Pittman's Rising Sun also
been the envy and admiration of all that came within
the view of his broad illumined disk for three years
past ? Has not Strong's Prince of Denmark con-
ducted himself like a true and valiant prince, and
carried off, more than once, the palm of victory ?
and has not his lovely Esther, arrayed in pure white
THE CARNATION. 103
and shining purple, with her goodly figure and at-
tractive graces, won universal admiration ? As for
Mason's Eclipse, mind if he does not put the extin-
guisher over a good many; and lovely Phoenix, I
have no doubt, will prove herself a complete " rara
avis" and find admirers in plenty ; to say nothing
of Strong's Linnaeus, Pyke's Champion, Thompson's
'Squire Cartwright, Hufton's Miss Mundy, Schole's
Delight, &c., which are all first-rate flowers.'
' Well, well, neighbour Blossom, remember the
old saying, "the least said the soonest mended:" it
will be well if you are not obliged to retract some
part of your opinion in this instance, as you have
done in others ; for I have heard you say, that you
could not credit the evidence even of your own senses
in respect to flowers, they present such different ap-
pearances at different seasons, and that you have
been sadly deceived thereby.'
' Branch, I admit it, and moreover confess, not-
withstanding all you can urge, that I would not part
with Pittman's Rising Sun, though I could get in its
stead the far-famed " Cravo do Duque" of Portugal,
104 THE CARNATION.
the great favourite of the Cardinal Patriarch — a
flower worthy, as he says, of being presented to the
Queen of Heaven. How many have sought after it
in vain, his Eminence having interdicted its going
among heretics ! and, what is also equally strange,
his gardener having had the virtue to reject the
pressing offer of a handful of crusadoes and milreas
for it.'
' Tis very well that something new turns up every
season, to keep the votaries of Flora and her fancy
alive. Last year, Cartwright's Rainbow, Houghton's
Duchess of Newcastle, Queen Caroline, the Smug-
gler, and the Foxhunter took the lead ; this year you
have other favourites. May I ask, Mr. Blossom,
what price you set on Pittman's flower, which, in
your opinion, is so complete an ultra, or, as I would
express it, quite an out-and-outer — a chef-d'oeuvre
of Nature?'
( That of a sovereign, at least : know, Branch,
that in my impatience to obtain it, I last year offered
two for it.'
* Aye, aye, money and wit seldom go together.
THE CARNATION. 105
though I have heard it said that it is a general rule
in Paddington to measure a man's intellects by the
depth and weight of his purse.'
< Pooh, pooh ! let us close this parley ; for our
hearers are, I dare say, pretty well tired.'
' With all my heart ; only tell me, Master Blos-
som, is it true that a London tradesman has no con-
science ? Excuse me, I don't mean a London florist.*
' Why, Branch, as for that, a tradesman's con-
science, and the consciences of his customers, are too
often nearly upon a par : the one thinks he never
can charge enough, and the other thinks it never
time to pay.'
PICOTEES.
MY COLLECTION OF PICOTEES IS UNRIVALLED FOR BEAUTY
AND VARIETY.
Archbishop of York
of Canterbury
Brown's Wonderful
Bartlett's Beauty
Barclay's Lady Dundas
Baron's Miss Neville
Brook's Seedling
Bambury's Duchess of
Beaufort
Bailey's Beauty
F 5
106
THE CARNATION.
Blaize's Blazing Star
Cartwright's Circassian
Douglas's Lady Pierpont
lotte
Cornfield's Mr. Ponsonby
.- T.oflv' TYTillrr
Gloucester
Duborg's Elegant
Furze's Superb
Hall's Morning Star
Lady Crewe
Hogg's Arab
Duke of Sussex
• Stella
Bath
T idv IVnrtli
ampton
Great Favourite
Emma
Sophia of Glou-
cester
Princess Augusta
ford
Dlll-r nf "Ra/1 f/vrj-1
Davey's Eclipse
• True Briton
Lady Craven
Douglas's Duchess of Kent
Corinthian
Belvedere
Hufton's Magnum Bonum
THE CARNATION.
107
Kenny's Superb
— Queen
• Incomparable
Lacey's Queen
Lawrence's Hampton Beauty
Lee's Robin Hood
Splendid
Little John
• Colonel Stanton
Zebra
Montford's Hero
Mason's Wellington
Black Prince
• Exmouth
Regent
Princess Charlotte
Princess of Wales
Favourite
Beauty
Martin's Hero
. Ruby
Waterloo
Coburg
. Magnificent
Miss Bouverie
Queen
Martin's Triumphant
Veteran
Miller's Perfect Beauty
True Blue
True Briton
Pemberton's Georgina
Pearson's Maria
Chill well Beauty
Fair Play
Pyke's Beauty
Rouce's Lady Warren
Sandael's Litchfield Hero
Syrett's Lady Effingham
Lady Howard
Princess of Wales
• Mars
Steed's Artaxerxes
Stone's Sparkler
Brilliant
General Picton
Spratt's Lord Effingham
Sm alley's Cynthia
Woodford's Queen
Wollard's Waterloo
Yeomanson's Beauty
Invincible
OF THE PINK.
LET your Pink bed be constructed upon the same
principle as that for Carnations ; for to give instruc-
tions for the growth of one is to give instructions
for the growth of the others — their nature and habits
are alike ; they require the same open situation, and
the same richness of soil, and these you must let
them have, if you mean to grow them in any per-
fection.
The Pinks must also be shaded when in bloom, if
you wish their beauty to continue any length of time
untarnished : either rain or sun will alike sully and
fade their colour. The pods should be tied round
after the manner of Carnations, with a little bass-
mat, to prevent their bursting, and their number
reduced, to increase the size of those you leave on.
As the Pink is earlier than the Carnation, of
course the time of propagating it will be earlier also,,
which is generally performed by pipings or cuttings
any time about the 21st of June.
THE PINK. 109
When the pipings have taken root, they must be
pricked out into a kind of nursery-bed, to get strength
and grow, till about the middle of September, which
is the customary time of planting them out in a bed,
where they are to remain to flower.
It has been very frequently remarked that Pinks
moved and transplanted in the spring never do well,
nor show half the beauty which those do that were
planted in September ; the laced Pinks, in particular,
appear almost plain, and without their distinguish-
ing character. They should likewise never be suf-
fered to remain longer than two years in the same
spot and ground, without either change of soil or
situation. To say more concerning Pinks I conceive
wholly unnecessary ; for if you have attended with
any care to the directions given for the management
of the Carnations, you will be at no loss how to treat
them.
110
THE PINK.
OF SEED.
To save seed from Pinks, you must extract tHe
flower-leaves when they begin to wither, and pursue
the same plan as is recommended with respect to
Carnation seed.
Davey's Venus and Incomparable, Dakin's Bur-
dett, Turner's Regent, and Brown's Beauty, are fine
flowers to save seed from.
To the above short account I beg leave to add a
letter on the culture of Pinks, which, in the year
1821, I had the honour of addressing to Joseph
Sabine, Esq., Secretary to the London Horticultural
Society : it was approved by the Council, and or-
dered to be printed in their Transactions of that year.
' Sir : — I feel obliged to you for the favourable
* opinion you were pleased to express of the few spe-
4 cimens of Pink Blooms (for which I received the
* Banksian medal), which I had the honour to
* exhibit at a late meeting of the Horticultural So-
' ciety. The health of the plants, and the beauty of
THE PINK. Ill
f the blossoms, I attribute mainly to the mode of culti-
v vation which I pursued with respect to them ; a brief
* account of which I now subjoin, hoping, though
* the subject-matter be trifling and unimportant in
* itself, that it will afford some gratification to those
* members of the Society who are fond of flowers,
* and who feel pleasure in the admiration, at least,
' if not in the cultivation of them.
( I formed my Pink beds and planted them about
' the middle of October ; they were raised six inches
( above the alleys, to enable the heavy rains to pass
' off during the winter. The soil consisted of a
( sandy loam, or, more correctly speaking, of a com-
' mixture of yellowish loam, common black garden-
f mould, road grit taken from the entrance to the
* Paddington pond, which might not improperly be
' called sand, having been washed by the water ;
' and a good portion of rotten horse-dung, well in-
' corporated, with a good bottom of dung from the
c cucumber pits : added to which, I top-dressed the
' beds in the beginning of May, after weeding and
4 lightly hoeing the surface, with nearly an inch
112 THE PINK.
' thick of rotten dung passed through a coarse sieve,
' in which was a small quantity of one-year old
' sheep-dung, the sweepings of the St. John's Wood
' Lane sheep-pens.
( I watered them freely with the pipe of the water-
' pot between the rows, when the pods were swelling
' and showing bloom ; for if the plants lack moisture
' at this stage of their growth, when the weather is
' generally hot and the ground dry, the flowers seem
* to languish, and never attain that degree of perfec-
' tion they would do if the beds were kept moist and
' cool. The top-dressing prevents the ground from
' cracking, and the rains and water given from the
' pot passing through it, convey gradually a whole-
f some nourishment to the plants.
' The effect of careful, over careless cultivation, was
' never perhaps more clearly evinced than in an in-
( stance in my own neighbourhood in this season.
( A friend of mine, who had received from me all the
f superior varieties of Pinks, planted them in a bed
' in the common way ; and though they were pretty
' healthy, and sent forth sufficient blooms., they pre-
THE PINK. 113
' sented only a sort of uniform sameness, undistin-
< guished by that pleasing variety of bright colouring
' and beautiful lacing peculiar to each, which were
' so manifest in mine : a common observer would
' have said that they were Pinks altogether different
' from mine.
' Florists contending for a prize, and anxious to
{ get their flowTers large, leave three pods only upon
' each stem, and four or five stems to a large plant,
' two or three to a small one, cutting off the rest as
' they spindle up to flower : as soon as the pods are
' full formed they tie a slip of wet bass round them,
f to prevent their bursting irregularly, and place a
( glass or other covering over them when in bloom, to
c protect them from the sun and rain, thereby pre-
' serving their colours from being soon faded and
' tarnished.
( If there has been much frost during the winter,
' and the earth is consequently rendered light and
' loose when it thaws, the roots, by such an extension
( of ground, will sometimes be raised almost out of it:
' in that case it will be necessary, any time about the
' beginning of April, to tread the mould down lightly
114 THE PINK.
' with the foot,, or at least to compress it firmly round
( the plants with the hand.
' A Pink bed will continue, and flower very well
< for two years in succession, though most florists
( renew their plants every year by piping the grass,
' in order to have them young, healthy, and vigorous ;
' and if they are confined to the same plot of ground,
' they take care to add a little fresh loam and rotten
* dung to it, every time they make up a fresh bed.
' In preparing compost for the Dianthus tribe of
* plants, particularly for those which I flower in pots,
'•I always bear in mind what Virgil says in his1
* second Georgic about soil : —
" Pinguis item quse sit tellus, hoc denique pacto
" Discimus ; hand unquara manibus jactata fatiscit
" Sed picis in morem ad digitos lentescit habendo.' '
' Columella and Pliny, also, in their works on Agri-'
{ culture, have given directions for the selection of
( good soil, which cannot be amended at the present'
e day. The following are some of the tests whereby
* they distinguish it: — "That it is of a blackish
' colour : glutinous when wet, and easily crumbled
* when dry; has an agreeable smell; imbibes water,
THE PINK. 115
retains a proper quantity, and discharges a super-
fluity/' &c. Gardeners who cannot meet with such
soil ought to use artificial means to form it, by
bringing together different kinds: sand and stiff
loam being the principal ingredients required., the
one for strong soils, the other for light.
' Before I use fresh dung loam, I always take the
precaution to strew over it a little quick lime, well
slacked, and in a hot state, to correct any acidity, or
decompose any injurious saline compounds. Lime
also is an excellent application for the destruction of
slugs, snails, worms, and other injurious insects, as
well as for the dissolution of inert vegetable matter.
e You will excuse the minute detail, which I have
entered into more fully than I intended when I sat
down; but as I took the pains to make the experi-
ment, I give it you because I have every reason to
be satisfied with the success of it.
< Before I conclude, I beg to call to your recollection
' that I am neither gardener nor florist professionally,
'• but that I commenced the cultivation of flowers, in
' the first instance, with a view to amuse a depressed
' state of mind, and reinvigorate a still more sickly
116 THE PINK.
' state of body : I therefore solicit your utmost indul-
' gence towards the remarks which I have made on
' the cultivation of that pleasing little flower the Pink.
' I am, Sir,, with great respect,
c Your most obedient, humble Servant,
« THOMAS HOGG.
< Paddington, July 30, 1821.'
CATALOGUE OF THE PINKS.
IN the following catalogue I have taken the liberty
to discard the names of many of the old Pinks, and
which I mean in future to discard from the garden
also, because their places can now be much better
supplied with new ones ; and if I have not published
a numerous list, let it be remembered that quality,
in respect to flowers, is always preferable to quantity
Archer's Seedling
Ambrose's Lady Hill
King
Eclipse
Austin's Lady Hill
Fair Ellen
No. 12.
Scarlett
THE PINK,
117
Baker's King
Bennett's Woodstock Hero
Bray's Waterloo
Bond's Nelson
— - Stranger
Maid of Kent
Barnard's Bexley Hero
Mother Bunch
• Curate
Miss O'Neil
Brooks' Superb
Barnes' Trafalgar
Berkshire Buffalo, or
Beauty of Ugliness
Carpenter's Wellington
Blucher
Clay's Lady Nelson
Cheese's Miss Cheese
Champion
— Caroline
Clarke's Smolensko
Leopold
Captain
Adonis
Cambray's Gibraltar
Colville's Eliza
Collin's Cornwallis
Corbett's Leopold
Chamberlaine's Bensonian
Chinn's Queen Caroline
Curson's Seedling
Coulston's Britannia
Collier's Kentish Hero
Davey's Britannia
— Devonshire
Daveyana
Queen
Lady Shannon
Venus
Lady Durham
Eclipse
Agrippina
Lady Albemarle
Lady Bridgewater
Standard
Nonpareil
Hero
Incomparable
Miss Shutz
Dry's Earl of Uxbridge
Dakin's Burdett
East's Waterloo
Eclipse
Eggleston's Sovereign
Ford's King
Lady Hamilton
Queen Caroline
Mountain of Snow
118
THE PINK.
Golding's Seedling
Green's Princess of Wales
Gould's Beauty
Windsor Hero
Greenwood's Britannia
Beauty
Hopkins's Scarecrow
Comet
FarmerPickering
Blucher
Ruby
Harcourt's King George
Hine's Queen
Comet
Seedling 2
Hill's King
Hoare's Maid of Kent
Haslam's Parson Morris
Ruler of England
Imber's Wellington
Jeeve's Glorioso
— — Lady Dacre
Jeoffrey's Nelson
Knight's Wellington
Keen's Oldenburgh
Kilner's Cricketer
Langford's Burdett
, Countess of
Pembroke
Looker's Oxonian
Lock's Glory of Newport
Lovegrove's Duchess of
Gloucester
Maltby's Apollo
-- Adonis
Man's Duchess of Angou-
Metcalfs Blucher
Maynard's Rose-leafed
Moor's Seedling
Pope's Royal Purple
Pittman's Louisa
Picton's Ensign
Penning's Queen
Pottecary's Eclipse
-- Queen
Perryn's Bright Scarlet
Rees* Eclipse
Button's Wellington
Sawyer's Archduke Charles
Style's Hero
- Queen Caroline
Stevens' Fine Rose
-- Waterloo
Spencer's Maria
Somerset Hero
Studwick's Blucher
-- Duke of York
THE PINK.
119
Smith's Windsor Castle
Thompson's Regent
Tagg's Wellington
Taylor's Lord Nelson
Turner's Regent
Princess Charlotte
Townshend's Trafalgar
Wollard's King George IV.
Wiltshire's Seedling
AVales's Beauty
Webb and Smith's Wel-
lington
Willmer's Quiz
Little Henry
Illustrious
— — Coronation
Eclipse
King George IV.
Esquire Ricketts
Gamester
Watt's Sir William Watts
Weedon's Matchless
Williams' Queen Caroline
SCOTCH PINKS.
Buchanan's Caledonia
Dickson's Pomona
Finlayson's Bonny Lass
Henderson's Duchess of
Athol
Johnson's Ossian
Martin's Isabella
Miln's Flora
Robertson's Gentle Shep-
herd
Stewart's Sir William Wal-
lace
Sparke's Highlander
Wallace's Coat of Mail
Queen
( 120 )
OF THE AURICULA.
THE Primula Auricula is a flower of great beauty,
and in general estimation : it is not less remarkable
for the great variety of its colours, than for their
peculiar brightness. Its smooth broad leaf, of an
oblong shape and glossy green, with an indented
edge, sets off its polyanthus, or many- flowered blos-
som, to great advantage; each floret of which is
supported by a small foot-stalk, rising from the top
of the main stalk, the whole forming a magnifi-
cent bunch or truss, and exhibiting an appearance
of grandeur but little suited to the size of the plant,
or indeed expected from it ; it flowrers early in spring,
and is, indeed, one of its greatest ornaments. Having
but few rivals to contend with at that early period,
it attracts our admiration the more, and seems to
engross, in fact, our undivided attention. The scent
which it diffuses is not powerful, but, like that of the
Wild Primrose, is yet sweet and agreeable.
THE AURICULA; 121
It is called an alpine or mountainous plant, be-
cause it is not only a native of the mountains, but
because it grows and thrives best in airy and elevated
situations. In low places, surrounded with damps
and fogs, it is difficult to keep it in any tolerable
health long together, or to get from it any very fine
bloom; whoever, therefore, attempts to grow Auri-
culas, living in such a situation, should keep them
during the winter in frames, raised at least two or
three feet above the level of the ground, and allow
them all the air possible, but a very scanty supply
of water during the three winter months. I am
induced to give this caution, because I know the
flower is so universally admired, that it is cultivated
in all places ; and though art and culture may effect
a great deal, they cannot altogether change its nature
and habits.
The most prevailing colours of Auriculas are
brown and purple, of different shades, red, crimson,
rosy, violet, blue, yellow, &c. with white and yellow
eyes. They are divided into two classes — plain, or
self-coloured, and painted, or variegated; this last
G
122 THE AURICULA.
consists of three sorts of varieties, which are distin-
guished from each other by the colour of the edges
or margins of the petals, which is green, grey, and
white.
The flowers are covered, more or less, with a spe-
cies of farina or powder, which has a curious and
pleasing effect, and serves, in some degree, to defend
them against the rain and sun. This farina is not
confined to the blossom only, but is scattered over
the leaves of some plants, though not of all.
A fine green-edged Auricula may be briefly and
simply described thus : — Every part must be in
exact proportion one to another ; the stalk must be
proportionate to the leaves, and the pedicles and
truss to them both ; the prevailing or ground colour
must be bright and distinct; the eye circular, and
of a clear white; the border or edging round the
petal of a lively green, and all the petals or pips
nearly of a size, perfectly level, and disposed in
regular order ; the eye, the tube, and the rim, must
correspond one with another, showing an exact sym-
metry throughout.
THE AURICULA. 123
After this short account of the Auricula and its
properties, I shall next proceed to point out the par-
ticular soil or compost in which it is found to thrive
best.
In doing this, I am aware of the difficulty of
giving any receipt, however excellent it may be, that
will be generally approved or generally adopted ; for
the different composts used by florists in growing
this flower are as numerous, I might say, as the
florists themselves.
Almost all pride themselves in this, that they are
in possession of some infallible nostrum, and some
particular system, which are unknown to any but
themselves ; yet, after all this mystery and boasting,
the state and condition of their plants too often belie
their pretended skill, and expose their vain boasting,
by showing that there is still great room for improve-
ment.
Simple and easy methods of cultivation have
always appeared to me most successful. I have
often witnessed persons taking extraordinary pains,
and incurring unnecessary expense, to injure, if not
G 2
124 THE AURICULA.
destroy, their flowers, which they were so anxious
to preserve. Weak minds are soon misled by
quackery and novelty, having no sound judgment of
their own; and quackery, even in the growing of
flowers, has as many followers as in any other line.
By having recourse to hot manures, with the nature
and strength of which they are unacquainted, they
very often burn and poison, as it were, their plants
beyond all recovery, and learn experience only by
nearly the total destruction of their whole collec-
tion.
The late Matthew Kenney, gardener by pro-
fession, was, perhaps, one of the most successful and
eminent growers of Auriculas in his day, and won
as many prizes as most men, during the course of
ten or twelve years that he lived at Totteridge, in
Middlesex. He certainly had all the benefit of air,
situation, and soil, which, coupled with his fondness
for the flower, and his skilful treatment of it, to say
nothing of his being almost constantly in the garden,
gave him a decided superiority over many of his
competitors, and ensured, as it were, his chance of
THE AURICULA. 125
success. He always kept by him a quantity of
sound staple loam, of rather a sandy nature ; this
he sweetened by frequent turning. His next prin-
cipal ingredient, was sheep-dung and hay litter, well
rotted,, by being turned, mixed, and fermented in
the same manner as the gardener does horse-dung
and straw litter. This he never made use of under
twelve or eighteen months, when it had the appear-
ance of leaf or fine vegetable mould ; sometimes
he put to it a small portion of cow-dung, but this
very seldom ; a little clean coarse sand was generally
added. These formed his compost for growing them
in : but he had another of a richer quality, if I may
so term it, with which he used to top-dress his plants,
and this he would do sometimes twice in the year.
When they killed any sheep, he always reserved
the blood, and mixed it with the dung of poultry.
These two ingredients he added to his loam and
sheep-dung, and these constituted his compost for
surface- dressing.
In fresh potting every year he trimmed and
shortened the fibres, and reduced the roots with the
126 THE AURICULA.
mould adhering to them to the bigness of a mode-
rate-sized ball, but never shook the mould com-
pletely from the roots, if they were sound and going
on well, until the third year ; he then would wash
the roots in water, examine them closely, shorten
the tap or main root, and cut away any decayed
or unsound parts ; but if any plant appeared
sickly at any time, he always served it in the same
manner.
He was particularly careful in making the holes
at the bottom of the pots larger, and putting in
three or four pieces of broken tile to drain the water
off, and prevent it from becoming stagnant at the
bottom of the pots : this, though apparently a trifling
circumstance, ought always to be well attended to.
The proportions he used, if I remember rightly,
(I speak only from memory,) were
-| Loam,
§ Sheep-dung and hay litter,
-£••§ Coarse sand.
This sheep manure may be easily obtained from any
of the farmers about Finchley, or any other quarter,
THE AURICULA. 127
who are in the habit of breeding and rearing house-
lambs. Neat sheep-dung and loam only, would, I
conceive, be of too close and heavy a nature for the
Auricula.
Mr. Kennedy, the late partner of Mr. Lee, used
this compost for their Auriculas, to whom Matthew
Kenney disclosed its parts and mode of preparing it,
and it was greatly approved of by him. Mr. Ken-
nedy used to say that he did wonders with it, and
that his flowers used to surprise everybody. He
added, I understand, a small portion of leaf-mould,
most likely from not always having the sheep-dung
and litter in the proportions he wished. Sheep-dung
is apt to breed a multitude of small white worms,
which may easily be got rid of at any time by scat-
tering over it a little quick-lime.
The compost in general use is as follows, and
this I mostly make use of myself: —
-J- Fresh yellow loam, or maiden mould,
% Cow-dung, well rotten,
^ Night-soil, two years old,
•J Leaf-mould,
<fy Sea or river sand.
To be well prepared and incorporated.
128 THE AURICULA.
Auriculas grow very well in this mixture, which I
conceive, upon the whole, a very good one ; but they
should be top-dressed about six weeks before they
come into bloom, with compost of a stronger and
more active manure. Emmerton's compost, of goose-
dung and blood, night-soil, loam and sugar-bakers*
scum, of each one-third, is well calculated for top-
dressing in February.
Whoever grows Auriculas in low situations, will
perhaps do well to use old frame-dung instead of
cow-dung, because it dries sooner than cow-dung,
which is better calculated for elevated situations.
The circulation of air is always brisker on the hills
than in vales ; and, besides, I am inclined to attri-
bute the rot, which in moist summers and autumns
very frequently attacks the Auricula, to too great a
portion of cow-dung in the compost.
Where a large stud of Auriculas (to use a York-
shire term) is kept, it seldom happens that the
same sort of compost precisely is made use of two
years together ; this is very often my case. I fre-
quently, as opportunities occur, deposit in the same
heap the dung of sheep, horses, cows, poultry,
THE AURICULA. 129
pigeons, night-soil, and blood from the slaughter-
house, and turn and mix the whole up together.
The following compost is also excellent for strong
blooming plants, and will retain its virtue for a length
of time :
1 Barrow of sound staple loam,
1 Do. of dried night-soil,
2 Do. of the dung of sheep, cows, and poultry,
mixed in blood from the slaughter-house, in equal
quantities.
J Do. of sea, or river sand, which will be fit for
use in no case under two years.
HADDOCK'S AURICULA MOULD.
THE present edition of Haddock's Flower Directory,
' much improved,' published by Mr. Harding, St.
James's Street, in which he has been assisted by a
Mr. Samuel Curtis, lecturer on botany, contains the
two following prescriptions, neither of which are ever
likely to be made up by any experienced practical
130
THE AURICULA.
florists. The first, namely by Maddock, is too
complex and difficult to be prepared by any one who
is not conversant with fractional parts ; it contains
too much cow-dung by half.
J Rotten cow-dung, two years old,
£ Sound earth of an open texture,
^ Earth of rotten leaves,
•jL Coarse sea or river sand,
^L Soft decayed willow wood,
•£; Peaty or moory earth,
JL. Of the whole, ashes of burnt vegetables.
The second by S. Curtis, a theoretical florist, who
considers loam unnecessary.
-| Rotten dung from hot-beds, reduced to mould,
% Peat or bog-earth and sand in equal quantities.
It is well known to all the old florists, now living,
that Mr. Maddock neither excelled in the culture of
the Auricula, nor of the Carnation ; but he managed
Tulips and Ranunculuses well.
The ' much improved ' in this edition, consists in
a very extensive complement of pirated extracts
from Justice, Emmerton, and Hogg ; and from the
published Transactions of the London Horticultural
Society, given by way of notes.
THE AURICULA. 131
THE LANCASHIRE SYSTEM.
I HAVE had some conversation lately with a Lan-
cashire florist concerning their mode of growing
them. He told me that they were not half so parti-
cular as the London florists were, or at least as they
pretended to be. It must be admitted that they are
entitled to great credit for the improvement they have
made in this class of flowers, as well as in that of the
Polyanthus ; they have undoubtedly in this respect
evinced much radical knowledge on the subject ; we
are also chiefly indebted to them for most of our
finest gooseberries. They use horse-dung and cow-
dung indiscriminately, sometimes mixed, sometimes
apart, the dung of poultry most frequently, and old
decayed willow wood, when they can get it, with the
mould cast up by moles, taking care that the same
be properly mixed, sweetened, and pulverized.
In winter they throw it up in narrow ridges, and
when the top of it is frozen, they take it off, and
so continue to do, till the whole of it has been frozen :
132 THE AURICULA.
this is their principal preparation. Very few of
them, especially the weavers, have frames and
lights, but they make use of weather-boarding with
hinges, fixed against some wall or fence, in a south
aspect, to defend them against the rain and snow,
resting, when shut close, upon a board nine inches
high ; but this is never done except in very severe
weather : the pots are plunged up to the rim in sand,
or coal-ashes ; in blooming time they set their large
show plants under hand-glasses, in an east aspect,
to receive the morning sun only. The plants are
perhaps not so early in bloom as those wintered in
frames, but then their stems are not drawn, and they
are able to support the trusses firmly ; the mildew
and rot do not take them so readily as when in closer
situations.
NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, AND JANUARY.
As my intention was, when I first set about this
small work, npt to enter into all the minute history
THE AURICULA. 133
of the Auricula, nor to follow it through every stage
of its growth, and to state every trifling incident re-
lative thereto, I will not depart now from such deter-
mination, but will proceed to give, in a summary
way, a few general directions on all the points that
appear to me most material and important.
I will resume the subject, then, with the com-
mencement of the autumnal rains, which fall more
or less towards the middle or end of October, and
from which it is absolutely necessary to protect the
Auricula, by placing it under cover. A temporary
shelter for a few weeks longer \vould be infinitely
preferable to placing them in their winter-quarters in
the frames ; but if you have no means of affording
them this temporary shelter, put them at once into
the frames, where they will have to remain till the
spring. Let your frames be raised on a few bricks,
to admit a free current of air under them, and so let
them continue as long as the weather is open and
temperate, which in some seasons is often the case
till near Christmas. As soon as the frost sets in,
remove the bricks, and let the frame rest on the
134 THE AURICULA.
ground. The plants will require, in all dry and tem-
perate weather, to be exposed to the open air through-
out the winter. Let them be* set on four inches deep
of coal-ashes, and be kept rather dry than otherwise
till February, receiving the water you give them
through the small pipe of a water-pot ; be careful
also not to let the water run into the heart of the
plant, and contrive to give it them when the air is
mild, and the wind southward. If the surface mould
in the pots becomes incrusted from damp and stag-
nated air, the effect of too close confinement, take a
small skewer, and stir the surface lightly, taking off
at the same time any decayed leaves.
FEBRUARY AND MARCH.
WE will now suppose that we have reached the first
or second week in February, and that the weather is
open, with gentle rains occasionally ; if that be the
case, let the plants have the benefit of them for an
THE AURICULA. 135
hour or so, and this two or three times a week ; and
observe the same rule throughout March.
Any time in February when the weather permits,,
begin to top-dress your plants with some of your
richest and strongest compost, as recommended
before, removing first the mould from the top, with-
out disturbing or injuring the fibres.
At the beginning of March, you may shift such
of the plants as require it into larger pots to bloom ;
and as they begin to shoot up for bloom, reduce all
the flowering stems to one, draw the lights off the
greater part of the day, and give them all the air
possible, to prevent the stems being drawn up weak,
and let them receive all the gentle rains that fall
from the middle to the end of this month, to en-
courage and promote their growth ; but shut them
close at nights, to prevent the opening blossoms
being nipped by the frost, which will still frequently
recur at this season.
It must be admitted that florists are indebted to
Mr. Emmerton for the suggestion of extra covering
by night, when the pips begin to open, to prevent
136 THE AURICULA.
their receiving any sudden check or injury from
frost ; and I hesitate not to say, that I have adopted
the use of a thick blanket, which I put next to the
glass, with a couple of stout -mats over it, about the
20th of March, and continue it for three weeks or a
month, according as the weather may be; for it is
certain, that whatever petals are touched by frost
never become level nor show their right colours.
APRIL.
IN this month the blossoms begin to expand and
display their rich and brilliant colours, and it is
then necessary to keep the lights over them night
and day, to preserve their beauty unimpaired, and
to admit air into the frame behind. The blossoms
must not only be protected from the rains, but also
from the mid-day sun, (which often begins about
this time to dart his fierce rays,) by a net or old
thin mat thrown over them. Notwithstanding this,
you must still shut them up close at night, and even
THE AURICULA. 137
cover them with an additional mat, to prevent the
blossoms being checked or injured by the frost.
This is the very crisis of time that requires your
most particular care.
As this flower produces more pips and blossoms
than can expand at one time, it is necessary, at the
beginning or so of this month, to cut out with great
care the interior or middle pips, reserving not fewer
than seven, nor more than thirteen : they should be
taken out two or three at a time, and it requires
sonie taste, nicety, and art, to perform this operation
well, that the blossoms which are left may grow
in a regular equidistant form, so that any common,
spectator might suppose that no such thinning of
the pips had taken place, but that they had grown
exactly in that form, and with that number, from
the first.
By thus timely reducing the quantity of the pips,
the rest are enabled to grow and increase greatly in
size as well as beauty, and to give room to one
another to expand, and become flat and level, which
is a property required in all flowers that are exhi-
bited for prizes.
138
THE AURICULA.
To do this well, and bring the pips level, is a
piece of art that the florist prides himself upon, and
for which, as in the dressing of a Pink or Carna-
tion, he takes to himself great praise.
Towards the end of this month, your flowers will
have attained their greatest beauty and splendour :
they should then be removed to the stage fronting
the east, to catch the morning sun, which sun is all
they require from this time till October.
I shall now leave you for a wrhile to enjoy their
smiles, contemplate their charms, and partake of
their fragrance, with this strict injunction, that you
do not keep them too long upon the stage, to the
injury of their future health and well doing.
When you remove them from the stage, you must
still continue them in a north-east aspect, to avoid
the scorching rays of the summer's sun ; they should
be set upon thin boards or thin slates, lying on a
bed of coal-ashes. Now they are out of bloom, they
will require very frequent/ almost daily watering,
through the pipe of the water-pot, and occasionally
with a fine rose, over the leaves. It is best to do
this frequently and moderately, and not to saturate
THE AURICULA. 139
them with too much water at one time. The de-
cayed leaves should be taken off from time to time,
and the pots kept clear of weeds.
Owing to the continued rains that have fallen during
the last two autumns, (1818 and 1819,) and which
were too lasting and heavy for the plants to receive
and discharge without injury, I have been under the
necessity of erecting a covering of thin feather-edged
boards, which I fasten back or let down according to
the state of the weather ; and I now place the plants
under it as soon as they are out of bloom, upon a
platform raised six inches above the ground, made
of deal, similar to those in green-houses ; I have
found this a very convenient and appropriate situa-
tion ; two hours of gentle rain are as much as they
ought to receive at any one time.
To encourage the growing of the seed, pluck the
withered blossoms from the seed-vessels ; for if left
on, they are apt to retain the wet, and often injure
and prevent its ripening.
140 THE AURICULA.
THE BEST TIME FOR FRESH POTTING
CONSIDERED.
I AM now arrived at that part of my subject on
which a great difference of opinion prevails amongst
florists ; namely, as to the proper time for fresh
potting the plants. Many affirm, that as soon as
the plants have performed their duty and flowered,
and have relapsed into a state of comparative rest
and inactivity, that is the only proper season to
transplant and fresh pot them, which is towards the
end of May. The off-sets are then to be taken off
also. This is the season recommended both by
Maddock and Emmerton. I, however, do not
coincide in opinion with them, but approve of a
later season for doing this, in which I am borne out
by the practice of several, who do not perform this
part of the business before the first week in August.
The reasons which I have to offer are these : if you
put your plants at this early period of the summer
into pots, in which they are to remain till they
flower again next spring, the space of nearly twelve
THE AURICULA. 141
months, the strength of the compost must be greatly
reduced before that time, particularly as they re-
quire so much watering during the hot months of
June and July : this must tend, beyond all doubt,
to exhaust the nutriment contained in so small a
body of earth as is in the pots; by which means
they will be less able to throw out strong fibres, or
to produce you strong blooms in the spring.
This early potting is attended with another evil
consequence ; for, the plants being removed into
fresh and more vegetative earth, accompanied with
daily waterings, forces them prematurely into a state
of active vegetation, and causes them to flower late
in the autumn, a circumstance which the florist
always views with regret, as it in a great measure
destroys his hopes of a fine bloom at their natural
and expected season, towards the latter end of April :
this last argument of itself appears to me quite con-
clusive in favour of late potting.
The slips or off-sets will also have acquired more
strength and better roots, by being suffered to adhere
to the parent plant till the beginning of August, and
142 THE AURICULA.
will occasion you less trouble in protecting and
shading them.
From the beginning of August to the beginning
of November, is a period quite long enough for the
plants to strike fresh fibres, and to get well esta-
blished in the pots, before winter; and, with the
return of spring, you may expect a vigorous growth
of the plant in all its parts.
The customary mode is, to shake the mould com-
pletely from the roots every second year ; but, in
doing this, you must be guided by the state and
condition of your plants. Kenney, as I remarked
before, lets his remain very frequently until the third
year, reducing the ball of earth only, trimming the
fibres, and examining the main root.
Transplanting should be done in a cloudy sky
and a moist atmosphere.
In the former edition I gave a decided preference
for late potting : I now beg to submit a few modifi-
cations of the above rule, which subsequent expe-
rience has suggested as necessary to be attended to.
Whenever you perceive fresh roots issuing from the
THE AURICULA. 143
neck of a plant above the mould, as is very often
the case during1 their quick growth in the spring,
such plant beyond a doubt ought to be fresh potted
the moment it has done flowering. I have no ob-
jection either to your fresh potting in May or June
such plants as you mean to shake completely from
the mould, for I have found plants so treated to take
twelve months to establish themselves again in the
pots; but those plants that you mean to remove
with a ball of earth to them, had better be deferred,
for the reasons above given, till the beginning of
August.
MODE OF TREATING FLOWERS WHICH ARE
APT TO CUP.
SOME flowers, whose petals are of thick, firm tex-
ture, are generally inclined to cup, as Kenyon's
Ringleader, Bearlis's Superb, and several others;
when this is the case, they should be exposed a few
hours for two or three days in the very face of the
sun, under a hand-glass, shaded with a piece of
144 THE AURICULA.
mat or gardener's blue apron. This warm confine-
ment under the glass has the effect of gradually
producing a greater expansion of the petal, and of
making them pliable, so *hat with a little care and
nicety, and a thin piece of smooth wood, you will
be enabled to lock the edges of the pips under one
another and bring them level.
A piece of smooth ivory with a hole in it, nearly
the size of the pip, if pressed lightly upon the pip,
will also help to bring it level.
Plants that are in a forward state of bloom are
usually set under large hand-glasses upon bricks
during the day ; and if they are not replaced in the
frames during the night, the bricks must be taken
away arid a thick mat thrown over them. Great
benefit also arises from very lightly watering the
leaves of the Auricula when in flower, through a
very fine engine-turned brass rose, about the size of
half-a-crown, with a crane neck to prevent any water
falling on the blossom ; this done about four o'clock
in the afternoon gives the leaves a lively and healthy
verdure in the morning: for it is well ascertained,
THE AURICULA. 145
that plants not only draw through their leaves part
of their nourishment, but that the leaves perform
the necessary work of converting the water received
at their roots into the nature and juices of the plants;
hence it is that the lives of plants depend so imme-
diately on their leaves.
RAISING OF PLANTS FROM SEED.
1 HAVE already extended the subject of Auriculas
farther than I intended : I will, therefore, conclude
it with an observation or two respecting the raising
of plants from seed.
Whatever seed you collect during the summer,
keep it in a dry state till the time of sowing, which,
if in the front part of a greenhouse, the best of
all situations, should not be later than the 1st of
February : by sowing then, you will be enabled to
get your seedling plants into a forward state during
summer, and may reckon on their blooming the
following spring.
H
146 THE AURICULA.
The seed should be sown in wide-topped 24-cast
pots ; the surface mould finely sifted, and made flat
and even, and the seed not covered deeper than
about the thickness of a crown-piece. Let the top
be made level, and batted down after sowing with a
smooth, flat board, or the bottom of a garden-pot.
As soon as the seed break ground, and the plants
make their appearance, they should receive, almost
daily, but at the same time very gentle, waterings,
from a garden syringe or fine rose, to forward and
encourage their growth.
If the seed is to be sown in the open air, let it be
done in pans about the 1st of March, and a hand-
glass kept over it to protect and forward it, and keep
the rains from washing it bare. As soon as the
plants will bear transplanting, remove them into
wide-mouthed 48ths, and place them round the side
of the pots, sheltering them from the hot rays of the
sun. In the spring, shift them again into small pots
of 60 to a cast, to bloom.
All pin-eyed flowers are accounted of no value,
and may therefore be thrown away, as not worth the
trouble of growing.
THE AURICULA. 147
Considering the number of years that the Auricula
has been cultivated in this country, the varieties are
comparatively few ; yet, ,from the increasing esta-
blishment of Flower Societies, not only in England,
but in Scotland and Ireland also, — in which Socie-
ties silver cups and other prizes are yearly awarded
to those members who exhibit the finest and most
perfect flowers, — and from the great pains and atten-
tion now paid to raising of seedlings, we may very
fairly expect, in the course of a few years more, a
very considerable accession of new flowers : indeed,
at this moment I know of several very superior seed-
lings in the hands of different florists ; but it will be
some time before they can propagate such a stock of
each as shall induce them to put those new flowrers
into circulation. They have also the ordeal of trial
to go through : they must win the first or second
prize at some exhibition or other, and have stood the
contest with some first-rate flowers. No common,
indifferent flower will be accepted. At no period, I
believe, has this flower been cultivated with so much
ardour as at present • and what will not perseverance
H 2
148 THE AURICULA.
in any favourite pursuit accomplish ? Some for their
amusement and gratification, some from motives of
gain, others again from a spirit of rivalship, and
many from a desire of fame, even in this pursuit,
and a wish to have their names registered in the
fancy-flower calendar, are anxious to produce new
varieties from seed, and, in truth, spare neither pains
nor expense to accomplish their desired object.
I have always found that young, vigorously grow-
ing plants of two or three years old, with only one
stem rising from the side, produce the roundest and
most perfect seed. Plants, then, of this age, and
possessed of good properties, both in respect to colour
and symmetry, ought to be selected for this purpose;
they should neither be kept too long in the frame nor
confined on the stage, but should have a full expo-
sure to the air in a shady situation, yet receive the
morning rays of the sun ; they, of course, must be
protected from hail-storms and very heavy rains :
growing in this hardy state, they will undoubtedly
be more likely to ripen and perfect their seed.
The Auricula, like many other flowers, in its pro-
THE AURICULA. 149
ductions from seed is inconstant, variable,, changeful.
If you sow the seed of a green-edged flower, you
must not expect them to come all green-edged ; nor
of a white-edged, all white-edged ; indeed, you have
no right to expect they should come so, if the seed
has been saved from plants growing in the company
of all the sorts, for in that case the breed will un-
doubtedly be a mixed breed. To have a pure un-
mixed breed of clear, green-edged flowers, for in-
stance,— as pure, at least, as the inconstancy of this
flower will admit, — it is necessary to remove two or
three plants of any one fine sort from the general
collection in the spring, before they come into flower,
to a distance, I would say, if it were possible, of a
mile, at least, from any other Auriculas : by doing
this, you will take all the reasonable pains, and use
all the feasible means, to ensure an unmixed breed ;
you will prevent any impregnation ; and if there be
a chance of the parent plant breeding an offspring
anything like itself, that chance will be yours.
I particularly press this upon the youthful florist ;
as for the old humdrum, ignorant, conceited, blind
H 3
150 THE AURICULA.
doodles, who do little, and noodles, who know little,
— why, let them pursue their own headstrong way.
e Viam monstrare erranti,' with such conjurors, is
time thrown away.
Pollit has lately raised a fine green-edged seedling
from his Highland Laddie upon this very principle,
which is now selling out under the name of Ruler of
England, and considered an excellent flower.
I am principally indebted to the ingenious Mr.
Warris, of Sheffield, a name well known among
florists, for the following minutely detailed method
of raising seedlings.
Every one who has made the experiment will, I
believe, admit with me, the difficulty which attends
the raising of Auriculas from seed.
The Auricula being among the earliest flowers of
the spring, it is requisite that its seed should be
sown almost with the commencement of the year, to
enable it to germ, vegetate, and grow precisely at
that season which Nature has assigned for the prin-
cipal growth of this plant. If you defer sowing till
the middle of March, or beginning of April, the
THE AURICULA. 151
young plants will hardly make their appearance be-
fore May, when the Auricula has nearly done both
growing and flowering, and is relapsing into a state
of inactivity; thus they will lose that particular
impulse of nature, which would so materially pro-
mote their growth and progress. If great care be
not taken in watering and shading at this late season,
it is very great chance indeed but they are scorched
and burnt up by the sun. Let your seed be sown
early in January, at any rate not later than the first
of February, in pots adapted to the size of your
striking or bell glasses, no matter whether in 32 or
24-sized pots, which are to be filled one inch and a
half deep at. the bottom with broken oyster-shells,
tiles, or small cinders, to ensure a good drainage ;
then fill the pots with finely-sifted compost, and
smooth the top of it with a flat smooth board, made
round to fit the inside of the pot ; let the compost be
fullest in the middle, gradually falling to the sides
of the pot. Then sow your seed as regularly as you
possibly can, and cover it, as near as you can guess,
with fine mould passed through a sieve to the thick-
152 THE AURICULA,
ness of a shilling : take a clothes or other soft brush
and dip it into soft water, giving it a shake to throw
off the heavy weight of the water, then either shake
it over the seed, or draw your hand along the hair,
and it will fall like a dew upon it ; repeat this till you
perceive the compost to be well moistened. By
watering in this manner you will not be liable to dis-
turb or wash out the seed.
You may then put on the bell-glasses, or if you
have not these, you may cover the seed with squares
of window-glass, resting on the tops of the pots,
which, in the opinion of many, answer full as well,
if not better. Place the pots in pans or saucers in
the front of a greenhouse, or the window of a dwell-
ing-house close to the glass, where they will have
the benefit of the sun, and keep the saucers well
supplied with water, so as to render top-watering
less frequent and necessary. If you perceive at any
time a little mouldiness on the surface of the mould,
arising from the confined damp, take off' the glasses
for a day, and let them be wiped and dry before you
replace them.
THE AURICULA. 153
The seed, if good, and kept moist, and the wea-
ther prove favorable, will strike root and make its
appearance in a month, but sometimes not under
six weeks. When the seed is up, I then recommend
you to take away the striking glasses, and place
squares of window-glass over the pots in their stead,
for you must be careful not to confine them too long,
and so draw them up weak, as you would mustard
and cress. Give air gradually, and harden them to
it by degrees. The young plants, when beginning
to sprout, will sometimes throw their roots out of
ground, which must be carefully put in again, by
making a small cleft, in the earth, and closing the
soil round them ; this may be done with a long flat
bit of ivory or smooth wood, thin at the end, and
about one-eighth of an inch broad, or they will come
to nothing.
As soon as the plants are fit to handle, transplant
them carefully into store pans or pots, an inch apart,
filled with proper compost, which ought to be raised
in a convex form, one inch and a half higher in the
middle than at the sides ; water with the brush as
H 5
154
THE AURICULA,
before, and place the flat window-glass over the tops
of the pots, for a week or two longer, shading them
from the sun in the middle of the day. Water as
often as you see occasion. If your plants thrive and
do well, in a month or five weeks more you may
transplant them a second time into fresh compost,
which will very much encourage their growth, where
they may remain till August, when you may plant
them singly in 60-cast pots, or put three round the
edge of a 48, for next spring bloom.
1 Non omnia possumus omnes.'— VIUGIL.
Yet I am satisfied if you pursue the mode which
I have laid down, you will succeed, and there is cer-
tainly more pleasure in rearing and nursing a hand-
some bantling of your own, than in adopting that of
another, even though it should be gifted with supe-
rior charms.
THE AURICULA. 155
SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE IN AURICULAS.
ANY time in the year when you perceive an Auri-
cula grow crooked, and throw its top or head on one
side, like a hen with the pip, as an old gardener
once observed, it is evident disease has commenced :
the plant must be taken up immediately if you wish
to save it, and be carefully examined. The roots
ought to be washed, and every unsound part cut
away. Cracks in the side are indicative of decay.
A purplish hue at the bottom of the leaves and
round the neck, denotes danger of mortification.
When plants have been removed into fresh compost
for some time, and begin to look sulky and sickly,
and make no progress, you may take it for granted
that they dislike their food : remove them again into
a simple compost of fresh sweet loam, sand, and leaf
mould, till they recover their verdure.
Incautious watering in the heart or cup formed by
the leaves will often occasion decay, particularly in
winter, when there is neither wind to dry, nor sun
156
THE AURICULA.
to exhale ; it will remain for two or three days be-
fore it be all imbibed. Any pot that does not dry
readily like the rest will soon become sickly from the
stagnation of water; proper drainage is wanting.
Sick plants should be removed and set by themselves.
The diseases among Auriculas are said to be often
infectious, and will sweep off a whole collection in the
course of a few weeks ; this shows that care and at-
tention are always required.
Archer's Champion
Ashworth's Rule All
Barlow's Morning Star
Bearless's Superb
Booth's Freedom
Butter worth's Lord Hood
Duchess of
Wellington
Brown's Mrs. Clarke
Barlow's King
Buckley's Jolly Tar
Clegg's Lady of Honour
' Black and Green
• Blucher
dough's Do-little
*. "• Defiance
Cox's British Hero
Chilcott's King
Brilliant
Crompton's Adm1. Gardner
Coldham's Blucher
Dean's Smoker
Regulator
Dyson's Queen
Eaton's Volunteer
Eggleton's Alexander
Foden's Victory
Rosamond
Grimes's Privateer
Hyder AH
Gorton's Champion
Golclham's Vertiminus
THE AURICULA.
157
Hayley's Prince of Wales
Key's Lovely Ann
Hoffley's or Howard's Lord
Nelson
Hughes's Pillar of Beauty
Kenyon's Ringleader
Leigh's Colonel Taylor
Talavera
Lee's Venus
Sir William Wallace
Lawrie's Glory of Cheshunt
Field Marshal
Metcalf's Hero -
Moore's Jubilee
Marchioness of Sa-
lisbury
Ogden's Sir Rowland Hill
Owen's Princess of Wales
Pollit's Highland Boy
Ruler of England
Page's Oldenburgh
Champion
— — Waterloo
Pott's Regulator
— — Delegate
Pearson's Badajoz
Partington's Sir Solomon
Trafalgar
Pendleton's Violet
Popplewell's Conqueror
Rider's Waterloo
Scholes's Mrs. Clarke
Snook's Beauty
Regulator
Slater's Cheshire Hero
Stretch's Alexander
Waterloo
Smith's Emperor
Duke of Sussex
Waterloo
Simpson's Marquis of
Granby
Tomlinson's Commander-
in-chief
Thompson's Bang-up
Revenge
Tranter's Constellation
Thornicroft's Invincible
Taylor's Ploughboy
Glory
Incomparable
• Victory
• Alexander
Warris's Blucher
Union
_ Colossus
158
THE AURICULA.
Whitehead's Reform
Waterhouse's Seedling
Wrigley's Nortliern Hero
Wild's Colonel Anson
Lord Cochrane
Wild's Lord Bridport
Highland Lass
Black and Clear
Y/ood's Lord Lascelles
Yates's Collingwood
PLAIN OR SELF-COLOURED OF VARIOUS SHADES.
Redman's Metropolitan
Key's Apollo
Bury's Lord Primate
Schole's Ned Ludd
Whittaker's True Blue
Howe's Venus
Hogg's Urania
Webb's Caroline
Howe's Cupid
Flora's Flag
Lee's Mrs. Munday
Ancient Lady
Grand Turk,
&c. &c.
Ftii>
.4 DaMtij /.itAey*70 S'
( 159 )
OF THE
PRIMROSE AND POLYANTHUS.
THE Polyanthus, in its culture, bears the same rela-
tion to the Auricula as the Pink does to the Carna-
tion; differing, however, in this respect, like the
Pink, that it is hardier in its nature, and more
easily cultivated.
Though all plants appear to grow in nearly the
same manner, and the same sort of earth or soil to
suit the same kind and species, and though their
common parts and constituent principles are proved
by a chemical analysis to consist of similar materials,
yet their colours, tastes, and scents, are as various as
their forms, and bear no analogy or resemblance to
each other.
The Primrose and Polyanthus require a much
greater portion of sandy loam than the auricula, a
very small quantity of rotten cow-dung, and a little
leaf-mould or heath or peat earth, mixed with them :
160 THE PRIMROSE AND POLYANTHUS.
in this they are found to grow extremely well. The
double paper-white Primrose requires no dung at all,
indeed dung is hurtful to it.
The Double Primrose is truly a beautiful flower ;
the different coloured sorts of which are : —
White, Pink,
Yellow, Crimson,
Lilac, Purple.
It is propagated by off-sets from the root, which may
be parted as soon as it is done flowering.
The Polyanthus consists of many different tints
and shades ; but the most esteemed are, a bright red
or scarlet, and a very dark crimson, and chocolate
with brimstone or lemon-coloured eyes, and the
edging of the same.
Let it be remembered, that those flowers, if planted
in the ground, and which indeed is the only success-
ful way of growing them, should be in a situation
exposed to the morning rays of the sun, and ex-
i
eluded from them the rest of the day. It is folly,
and a waste both of time and plants, to keep them
all the year round in pots, especially in the near
THE PRIMROSE AND POLYANTHUS.
161
vicinity of London : I have found it so; others may,
perhaps, be more successful. I admit it is conve-
nient to have them in pots in the spring, both for
exhibition and sale : in this case, the moment the
pips begin to fade, turn them into the ground, and
let them remain there till near Michaelmas, when
you may again remove them into pots. Keep slugs
and snails from them. The Polyanthus in coming
into flower should be set under a hand-glass raised
upon bricks, and shaded ; constant exposure to the
air soon tans the bright lemon-coloured eye and
lacing.
Bray's Wellington
Buck's Traveller
Billington's Beauty of Over
Brown's King
Cox's Regent
Crownsliaw's Invincible
Darlington's Defiance
Fletcher's Defiance
Fillingham's Tantararara
Hattersley's Invincible
Harley's Sceptre
• — Defiance
Heapey's Smiler
Hopkins' King
Johnson's Miss Mitford
Lombard's Highlander
Lee's Magnificent
Superb
Harlequin
Mason's Black Prince
Massey's Venus
Martin's Prince William
Moore's King
Parke's Lord Nelson
162
THE PRIMROSE AND POLYANTHUS.
Pearson's Alexander
• Blackguard
• Defiance
RadclifFs Waterloo
Steed's Telegraph
Stretch's Traveller
Thomas's Invincible
Waterloo
Turner's Buonaparte
Prince of Wales
Princess
Marquis of Titch-
field
Tandy's Blucher
— Regent
Thomas's Ruler of Eng-
land
Thompson's Lord Nelson
Thorpe's Golden Ball
Wilde's Gleaner
Waterhouse's Incompa-
rable
— • Princess
Charlotte
Warris's Alderman Wood
Yorkshire Regent
Note. — Mason's Black Prince and Turner's Marquis
of Titchfiekl, lately raised from seed, are both fine
flowers.
( 163 )
OF THE RANUNCULUS.
THE Ranunculus Asiaticus, or Garden Ranunculus,
is a flower very generally,, but at the same time very
unsuccessfully cultivated : it is very seldom indeed
that you have an opportunity of beholding this flower
in any great perfection; but if you are fortunate
enough to meet with a bed of the choicest sorts,
growing in full health and vigour, and bearing a
profusion of splendid blossoms of all colours, plain
and variegated, you will be forced to admit that it is
an admirable sight, and one of the grandest displays
of nature in vegetable life. A bed of fine Ranun-
culuses is esteemed by many in no degree inferior to
a bed of the richest Tulips.
Here yellow globular blossoms present themselves
in all shades, from the pale straw to the golden
crocus; red of all tints — pink, rose, and flame
colour; purple and crimson of every dye; black,
brown, olive, and violet, of every hue. Besides
164 THE RANUNCULUS.
these, there are yellow-spotted flowers, brown-spotted,
and white-spotted, red and purple streaked, red and
white striped, red and yellow striped, besides mottled
and brindled in countless varieties.
I have had occasion to remark more than once,
when purchasing Ranunculus roots of a very eminent
seedsman and florist in Fleet-street, that when I in-
quired of him what kind of soil was best calculated
for them, he answered, a strong loamy soil without
dung. I have proved the fallacy of such an obser-
vation. That they will grow in it is true, but in a
very stunted, starved, and imperfect state, with stems
weak and short, and blossoms small and insignificant.
That fresh loamy soil is proper I admit, but then it
is necessary to add a considerable portion of rotten
horse or cow dung.
Your choice Ranunculus roots should never be
planted in our variable climate before the middle of
February, or the beginning of March, as the wea-
ther may be.
It is true, they will live in the ground through a
tolerably mild winter without much covering, and
THE RANUNCULUS. 165
sustain no injury, and most likely will blossom
earlier by being planted in October : but is it worth
the while to run that risk, or endanger the safety of
a rare and valuable collection, that has required
no small trouble and expense to get together ?
Prudence forbids it.
Treading the ground close round the plants, as
soon as they have made their appearance in the
spring, to keep the cold winds from cracking the
ground and injuring the roots, is, I conceive, a very
unwise and improper step, for the fibres must be
bruised and injured by it. The better mode is to
top-dress the bed with an inch thick of old cow-
dung : this will protect them, and at the same time
keep the bed moist and cool afterwards, when the
sun shall have acquired greater power, and rendered
watering necessary.
An old book has just been put into my hand,
called the s Complete Florist,' written above a
hundred years ago, by Henry Van Oosten, a Dutch
gardener at Leyden. In treating of the Ranun-
culus, he writes thus : —
166 THE RANUNCULUS.
( This flower is admired for its beautiful and
' lively colours, which dazzle the sight when the sun
' shines upon them. It must be planted the latter
' end of October, in good loamy soil, that has been
f well dunged before. Dig the ground above a spit
( deep where you intend to make the bed, and throw
' it out on each side, then put in near a foot thick of
' horse-dung, half rotten, that has not yet lost all its
6 strength ; upon this lay the earth you had taken
( out before, but let it be well worked and broken to
( pieces first : it should be often turned in the sum-
' mer. Plant the roots two inches deep, and four
' inches apart every way ; when this is done, lay on
' the top of the bed night-soil an inch thick, quite
' reduced to mould. He that has none, may use
< horse-dung in the same manner.'
The making of your bed I would recommend to
be done in this way : let the depth of your mould
be nearly two feet, and the whole of that depth
turned and dug. The calculation, I believe, is
pretty accurate, when I say, that the length of the
roots or fibres of any tree or plant is in proportion to
THE RANUNCULUS. 167
their height, and therefore the small stringy fibres
of the Ranunculus will nearly reach to that depth.
If your loam is fresh and without manure, after
having dug it, put towards the autumn all over the
surface of the bed six or eight inches deep of rotten
dung from some cucumber pits, and there let it re-
main for two months, after which, dig or trench it
in a foot deep; your bed will then be ready for
planting in the spring ; and if your loam is not
well worked, throw the surface mould into small
ridges in the winter, so that the frost may have
greater power to act upon it ; for frost, after all, is
one of Nature's best workmen in preparing soils for
vegetation, crumbling the hardest clods to powder.
In a bed so constructed, you may plant your
Ranunculus roots for three successive years, giving
it every autumn a similar dressing of manure : after
that time you must give them a fresh situation, or
some fresh soil in the garden.
Almost all flowers confined too long to the same
earth and same spot, I was going to say, and to the
same air, degenerate and dwindle away : a change
1G8
THE RANUNCULUS.
in all three respects is often requisite,, to renovate,
as it were, their crescive faculties, and to ensure
their return to their pristine health and condition.
Should it be found inconvenient to prepare a bed of
fresh soil, and you are under the necessity of plant-
ing them in the common garden mould, in this
case, if the mould be light and porous, it will then
be requisite that you put a stratum of loamy soil six
inches deep, to set the roots in. This will help to
retain a greater degree of moisture, and serve also
to protect them from the searching rays of the sun ;
for they ought never to be planted deeper in the
ground than an inch and a half; if set deeper, they
exhaust their strength in forming a fresh root exactly
at that depth, and of course neither flower well, nor
yield any good increase.
The readiest and most certain mode of planting
is by drawing drills along the bed, exactly two
inches in depth, and then scattering a little coarse
sea or river sand along them : in these set the roots,
with the claws downwards, and press them gently
into the sand. If the breadth of your bed be four
THE RANUNCULUS. 169
feet, and the roots large and good, you may divide
it into six rows, and set the roots four inches apart.
In covering, be careful not to displace them, and let
them be buried as near an inch and a half as pos-
sible : you may then take the flat side of the spade,
and beat down the surface level : this will in some
measure prevent the worms from casting them out.
Let it be remembered, that the bed is to be per-
fectly level and even, that it may receive all the rain
or water in an equal proportion.
As soon as they shoot up for bloom, if the weather
should be dry, they will require an abundant supply
of soft water, to encourage a quick growth. I am
at a loss to know why the ancients have given to this
flower the name of Ranunculus, or Frog-plant, unless
it be meant to imply that during the time of its
flowering it delights in a plentiful supply of water,
which must be given between the rows, and not over
the blossoms. The tints of those flowers, particularly
the darker sorts, are so fine and delicate, that they
soon get tarnished and fade, if they are not sheltered
from the scorching rays of the sun. The duration
I
170 THE RANUNCULUS.
of this flower is nearly a month, if you take but the
pains to shade them.
By the middle of July the stems will have become
withered and decayed, which points out the time for
their being taken up : this should be done on a dry
day. The stems may be shortened, but not cut close
to the roots yet • and the roots should be parted be-
fore they get dry and hard, or else they are apt to
break in parting. Let them be dried gradually in
a shady room, open to a free circulation of air.
The Anemone may be treated in every respect as
the Ranunculus, with this slight difference, that it
requires to be planted a little deeper in the ground :
to say more would only be an unnecessary repetition
of the same directions.
Many persons are fond of buying Dutch Ranun-
culuses and Tulips, which now come over every
autumn, under the impression of not only getting
them very cheap, (which, of course, they sometimes
are enabled to do, as it would not answer the im-
porter's purpose to send them back again to Holland
unsold,) but also of getting them very fine. In thia
THE RANUNCULUS.
171
they are not very seldom disappointed; for the
Dutchman is something like the Jew in his dealing.
You must not expect great bargains for little money :
he is very seldom charged, I believe, with sending
us any of his best flowers among his common mix-
tures ; his Pell-mells, as the florist calls them, are,
upon the whole, very indifferent, and not worth the
amateur's notice.
This tribe of named flowers is so very numerous,
that to give a list of their names would occupy more
space than I can allow them in this short treatise ; I
will therefore only add the names of a few of them.
Catalogue of Ranunculuses.
Abbe* St. AndrtJ
Bon Chretien
Ajax
Agloe
Arcadia
Berenice
La Chabonniere
Cassandra
Arlequin
Aurora
Cedo nulli
Clorinde
Beaute des Dames
— Parfaite
Daphne
Diana
Beau Regard
Bishop of Lima
Belle Capuchine
Doris
Don Quivedo
Diademe Pourpre
I 2
172
THE RANUNCULUS.
Drusilla
Diagoras
Emma
Euphrates
Eveque de Bruges
Feu de Fontenoy
Feu Granade
Fanor
Favorite Mignonne
Faventella
Fabian
Fulgor Solis
Grand Berger
Grand Monarque
Hecate
L'Imperatrice
Le Melange des Beautes
La Medaille
Marmara
Miriam
Manteau Royal
Naxara
Negre
Niobe
L'CEil Noir
Le Negre Superbe
CEillet Bizarre
Plato
La Princesse Charmante
Pizarro
Passe Brutus
Paris
Quixos
Rodney
Roi Rouge
Roxana
Rose Incomparable
Rose of Sharon
Rose Monstrueuse
Sarah
Sophia
Sappho
Thais
Temeraire
Totilla
Terentius
Venus
Virgo
Vesta
Violet Bleuatre
— — Superbe
Viola le vrai Noir
Vereatre
Vulcan
La Zebra
Zoile
Zephyr
Zagoras
Zaire
THJILILP S o
Trtacher &C"4rf Maria J.ane
( 173 )
OF THE TULIP.
IF the account which I here give of the Tulip be
short and defective, I trust the following apology will
be considered satisfactory. I had., indeed,, purposed,
at setting out, to pass it over altogether, not only
because I was unwilling to swell this treatise to a
size that might render it inconvenient to be car-
ried in the pocket, as a kind of manual, which the
florist might readily and easily consult, and for
which I intended it, but because those flowers (I
mean the finer sorts) are not so very generally cul-
tivated. I have since, however, been induced to
change my determination; and, in doing so, shall
confine the subject matter to those points more es-
sentially and more immediately relating to its culti-
vation : by this, I shall perhaps avoid the reprehen-
sions, in some measure, of all those whose attention
is almost exclusively directed to the culture of this
flower, and who consider every other as unworthy of
174 THE TULIP.
their notice. To such I can with truth say, that I
have always been a great admirer of the Tulip, and
that I esteem it the masterpiece of perfection,, and
one of the greatest ornaments of the garden. Many
a poor florist may be justly lavish in its praise, with-
out ever having it in his power to gratify his wish
with the possession of it. A moderate collection of
choice Tulips, — of those beautiful, those exquisitely
beautiful flowers, which are the pride and boast of
every amateur who grows them, could not be pur-
chased for a sum much less than one thousand
pounds, at the usual catalogue prices, nor obtained
and got together till after years of patient search and
unwearied labour.
The high prices that have for many years been
affixed to Tulips in the printed catalogues of our
florists are so deterring and repulsive of the fancy,
that persons with a taste and fondness for this flower
are afraid to indulge and enter into it. Those prices
are generally rated nearly one-half higher than they
may be bought at, both here and in Holland; this
has a bad effect, and wears the appearance of impo-
THE TULIP. 175
sition, and beyond doubt prevents a more extensive
culture of them.
The Tulip, according to Gesner, is a native of
Cappadocia, a province of Natolia, or Asia Minor,
though some others affirm that it grew spontaneously,
and was common to most of the islands in the Le-
vant, or Eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was intro-
duced into England in the year 1577, where it has
been found to increase freely, and to grow in the
open ground without any extraordinary degree of
care.
We are indebted to this part of the world both for
some of our choicest fruits as well as flowers — as, for
instance, apples, cherries, peaches, plums, quinces,
and some peculiar sorts of grapes. We have re-
ceived from thence some of our most beautiful lilies
and irises ; for what is finer than the white lily and
the scarlet martagon, or more curious than the Iris
Susiana? The musk and damask roses, and the
greater part of odoriferous shrubs, were brought
from thence.
The inconstancy of the seed of the Tulip has mul-
176
THE TULIP.
tiplied its varieties beyond all calculation, though a
bulb raised from seed will hardly ever break into its
true colours under seven years ; he, therefore, that
wishes to add to that variety, has many years to wait
of patient, though anxious expectation, before his
wish can be gratified.
The fresh spirit that has been infused into the
cultivators of flowrers, since our return to peace and
to peaceful pursuits, has induced many to try to raise
a fresh set of breeders, and to sow seed annually that
has been saved from fine flowers. The enthusiastic
florist overlooks every difficulty; eager with hope,
and ardent in the pursuit, he anticipates success,
and his perseverance effects it. After three years of
application, he will nearly have accomplished his
object : he will then have a succession of bulbs, and
be gratified every succeeding year with the appear-
ance of bloom, and the production of new varieties
as they break into colour. The most gratifying and
complete success has attended the labours of Mr.
Carter, of Foxgrove, Wiltshire ; of a Mr. Austen, a
Mr. Strong, a Mr. Lawrence, and a Mr. Goldham,
THE TULIP. 177
who have raised from seed, and matured and broke
into colour, perhaps some of the finest Tulips in the
country. Mr. Clarke, of Croydon, a scientific and
experienced florist, has the best breeders in the king-
dom, raised from the seed of Louis, Charbonniere,
Davey's Trafalgar, &c., with finely-formed cups and
clear bottoms ; they are in very high repute among
florists. Let others persevere, and they will have
the same success. No great skill or art is required ;
time, patience, and perseverance are alone wanting.
Mr. Clarke's mode of sowing the seed is as fol-
lows : —
The best time for sowing the Tulip seed is the
latter end of January, or the beginning of February,
and in pots used for Carnations. Let the earth be
good, and put some lime-core at the bottom of the
pot, or the plants will be destroyed by the worm,
&c. &c. Cover the seed half an inch, and keep the
earth moist. When sown, put the pots under a light,
and keep them from severe frost. When the plants
are up, the pots may be set out, so as to have the
sun; but when the sun becomes powerful, they
I 5
178 THE TULIP.
should be set so that they may have the morning
and evening sun only. Keep the plants in a grow-
ing state by watering occasionally, till the leaves are
entirely dead. Let the pots be then kept dry for a
time, and then take up the small bulbs and dry them
gradually as usual. The first time of planting them
may be the middle of October, or a little earlier, in
the open ground, and little more than two inches
deep.
The Tulip is generally divided into two classes —
the early dwarf and the taller late flowering ; and
both are further distinguished according to their tints
and their peculiar mixture — as Flakes, Bibloemens,
Bizarres, Rigauts, Baguets, &c., on grounds both of
white and yellow.
To describe their different and variegated colours
would be a work almost impossible ; I shall, there-
fore, proceed to point out the soil most suitable for
them, and the time and manner of planting. We
will suppose the bed is intended for your best sorts,
which must be situated in an open part of the gar-
den. The earth most proper for it is a fresh and
THE TULIP. 179
rich loamy soil, of rather a sandy nature, which
should be dug twelve months, at least, before it is
used. Many florists are afraid of adding dung, lest
it should start the colours, and render the cups foul,
and therefore use none; but if you wish to blow
them of any size, you must, however, add a small
portion, taking care that it be well rotten and incor-
porated with the loam. Perhaps the safest way, after
all, is to dig a little dung in at the bottom of the bed,
a foot, at least, below the bulbs.
A very intelligent and old Tulip grower assured
me, that the best compost he could ever hit upon,
after many experiments, was the following ; the com-
ponent parts of which were :
| Rich yellow loam,
T Leaf mould,
£ Two year old horse-dung,
•i- Sea sand.
The bed was dug two feet deep.
The usual time of planting them, according to
the ' Florist's Calendar,' near London, is the Lord
Mayor's Day, which is the 9th of November-: the
180 THE TULIP.
distance between the rows should be nine inches, and
from bulb to bulb in the row seven, the depth four.
After the bed is lined and marked out, the most
simple method of planting them is, to get a blunted
dibber, with a circular mark round it, or a nail driven
in it, at the distance of about five inches from the
end, which will direct you how deep you are to make
the holes, into each of which you are to put a little
sea or river sand, before you set the bulbs in ; this
helps to keep them dry in the winter, as the rain-
water passes through it, and improves likewise their
coat or external skin. It is not customary to give
them water in any stage of their growth ; as soon as
they are out of flower, break off the seed cup, to
encourage the growth of the bulb.
Van Oosten, whom I mentioned before, says,
' The florist who wishes to observe proper arrange-
( ment of height, and a pleasing mixture and variety
' in the bed, should have a box of convenient length
' and breadth, to put as many tulips in as his bed will
'* contain, and this box must be divided into as many
f compartments as bulbs ; which are to be put in the
THE TULIP. 181
' same order in the box as they are to be set
'in the bed; and when they are taken up, to be
' replaced in the box as before.' This plan is at
once simple and convenient, and I believe generally
adopted. The bulbs, he says, must be taken up
every year, or they will degenerate and come to
nothing; and if transplanted every year into fresh
ground, that has been turned three or four times,
they are the better for it in every respect.
Persons who have valuable collections are in the
habit of hooping them over in very wet and in very
sharp frosty weather, and of covering them during
such periods with mats, yet avail themselves of every
opportunity to give air. Heavy hail-storms in par-
ticular must be guarded against. The same precau-
tion against bleak, chilling easterly winds in February
and March ought to be adopted as is recommended
by the Dutch florist in the treatment of his Hyacinths
at the same season. Those winds chill and stagnate
the sap, arrest the progress of vegetation, and do
infinite mischief every way.
To bloom Tulips in perfection, an erection ought
182 THE TULIP.
to be raised over them, and covered with stout Scotch
sheeting, reaching to the ground, to be drawn up and
let down with pulleys : by doing this you may keep
them in high condition for three weeks, during which
time you will have a full opportunity of gratifying
your friends with a view ; for the true enjoyment of
every pleasure is to share it with them.
I conceive it unnecessary to mention, that if you
wish to preserve the beauty of their blossoms, you
must protect them against the sun, rain, and wind ;
at the same time, you must allow them all the air
possible, lest the stems be drawn up weak, and so
rendered unable to support the cups.
The careful florist frequently runs a small cord
along the rows, and fastens the stems to it, just below
the cup, with green-coloured worsted : this has no
unpleasant appearance.
The bulbs must be taken up every year ; for, if
they are suffered to remain two years together in the
ground, they become foul, and break into small in-
crease, so that it will be two or three years before
they can recover their size, and produce any good
blossoms.
THE TULIP. 183
As soon as the stems are nearly withered away,
take up the bulbs on a cloudy day, place them in
shallow wooden boxes, or on boarded floors, to dry,
and let them have sun and air. Brick or stone floors
are fatal to them; they will contract a dampness,
and a mildew that will destroy them. Let them be
arranged singly, and not one upon another. I have
seen a quantity of common Tulips thrown into a
hamper with a lid over when taken up, and in forty-
eight hours they have heated and rotted, and bred
maggots.
After the fibres are completely withered, rub them
off gently, and pluck the dead stem from the bulb ;
then put them away in some dry place till the plant-
ing season again comes round. These are all the
directions which I conceive necessary for the culture
of the Tulip.
184
THE TULIP.
The following short Catalogue contains a few of
the most valuable Sorts.
ROSE-COLOURED TULIPS.
Andromeda
Altesse
Amaryllis
Amadis
Bathsheba
Bacchus
Beeterer Brulante
Eclatante
La Brulante Eclatante
Buisson Ardent
Claudiana
Comte de Vergennes
Cerise Superieure
— Palmyre
Eudonie
Lambelle
Clio
Calista
Daviana
Elizabeth
Henriette
Imperiale
Juno
Lord Colchester
Lavinia
Madame Catalani
Maria Theresa
Maria Louisa
Man on
Matilda
Minerva
Mercurius
Nannette
Ponceau Unique
. Tres-Blond
Reine des Cerises
Roi des Cerises
de Roses
Rose Cerise Blanche
Brillante
C amuse de Craix
Camuse
Primo Bien du Noir
Esther
William
Premiere
THE TULIP.
185
Rose Primo
Hebe
Triomphe Royal
^— Thalestris
Surpasse Ponceau Tres-
Blond
Surpasse Thalestris
La Tendresse
Toilette de la Reine
Vesta
Walworth
BIBLOEMEN.
Ambassadeur d'HolIande
Acapulca
Amiable Brunette
Abbe" de St. Michel
Belle Actrice
Blue Violet
Chaumont
Clarke's Euphrosyne
Comte de Saxe
Clitus
Constantia
Cramoisi Superb
Due de Florence
Duchess of Wellington
Directeur-General
David
Duchess of Clarence
Endymion
Imperatrix Florum
Franciscus Primus
Gloria Alborum
Grotius
Holmes's King
Josephine
Louis XVI.
Ly sander
L'Impe'ratrice de Maroc
Leonard
La Belle Duchesse de
Parma
La Mere Brune Incompa-
rable
La Charbonniere
Cornwallis
Ly sander Noir
Majestueuse
Magnifique
Prince Souverain
Princess Charlotte's Ceno-
taph
186
THE TULIP.
Perle Blanche
Prince de Conde
Hoi de Siam
Reine de Violets
de Sheba
• de Fleurs
Rubens
Sang de Boeuf
Superbe en Noir
Scipio
Selina
Transparent Noir
Violet Alexandre
Superbe
Washington
BIZARRES.
Ariadne
Alfred
Abercrombie
Brutus
Buonaparte
Bugby's Hector
Bizarre Eclatante
Commander-in-Chief
Captain White
Cenotaph
Charbonnier Extra
Cimon
Count Platoff
Castrum Doloris
Catafalque (Old Dutch)
• Superbe
Davey's Trafalgar
Duke of York
Etna
Eucharis
Earl Chatham
Feu en Feu
Godfrey's Sir Vincent
Gloria Mundi
Groland
Hector
Holmes's Regent
Heroine
Leopoldina
Louisa
Laurence's Duke of Cla-
rence
Lord Hill
Lord Wellington
Pluto
Polyhymnia
THE TULIP.
187
Milo
Mon Amie
Mizraim
Masonia
Merveille d'Europe
Necker
Nicanor
Nonpareille
Optimus (Button's)
Pompe Funebre
Prince Waterloo
Rex Mundi
Roi de Navarre
San Josef
Sir George Dackett
Surpasse Catafalque
Suwarrow
S emir amis
Vulcan
Walworth
Zeno
( 188 )
OF THE HYACINTH.
' Suave rubens Hyacinthus.' — VIRGIL.
IN the former edition of this book,, I omitted all
notice of the Hyacinth, because, being very little
conversant with the culture of it, I did not consider
myself competent to give any directions respecting
it. I now beg, to offer some practical observations
upon the treatment of this flower, which have been
communicated to me by a gentleman, who, having
occasion to visit Holland in the spring of 1821, spent
a few days at Haarlem, when the Hyacinths were in
flower, in a manner, as he reports, the most agree-
able and gratifying. He is a great admirer of the
flower-garden, and of an inquisitive turn of mind,
that prompts him to explore any subject thoroughly
to which he turns his attention. I shall endeavour
to detail these observations in that conversational
THE HYACINTH. 189
mode as they took place between him and the Dutch
florists ; and as to the matter, it will speak for itself.
To me, at least, it appeared particularly interesting,
and if it fail of exciting interest here, it will be en-
tirely owing to my inability to do justice to the report.
In the successful culture of this flower the Dutch
florists pride themselves more than in that of any
other, the Tulip not even excepted, and from the
immense yearly sale of which they derive a consi-
derable profit, not only from this country, but I may
safely say from every state in Europe. No words
can express the self-complacency and satisfaction
which a Dutch florist feels in a fine sun-shining
morning in April, while exhibiting to some foreign
florist or traveller his spacious and richly-adorned
beds of this highly-perfumed flower, to him at once
a source of profit and of pleasure : his natural phlegm
and indifference seem to have vanished, and that
cold, reserved cast of national character to be laid
aside ; pleasure sparkles in his eyes, increased, no
doubt, by the expectation of touching some fifty or
a hundred of your florins. The spectacle is truly
190 THE HYACINTH.
grand and magnificent; the order and arrangement
admirable; and the fragrance powerful. Rows of
red and yellow ; purple and white of various shades
follow in succession; and whole acres are covered
with an immense mass of bloom.
( Can you produce anything equal to this in Eng-
land ? ' demanded Mynheer Bloemist, with a smile
of exultation ; adding at the same time, ( you should
study and adopt our method of cultivation.' My
friend returned for answer, ' I fear your most ap-
proved mode of culture would not avail us much in
England, without your soil and saline atmosphere,
both of which seem so suitable and congenial to the
growth of this flower.'
' Your observation is good,' replied Mynheer ;
' but do not infer from thence that our care and
culture are nothing, or that our pains to improve the
soil is attended with no expense or trouble.'
e Your soil,' resumed my friend, ' has been de-
scribed to me as belonging to that sort which is
called alluvial — namely, a mixture of mud, sand,
and other earths, which is generally left and depo-
THE HYACINTH. 191
sited in low lands after the subsiding of some vast
overflowing torrent or inundation, and that it bears
a great resemblance to that of Lower Egypt.'
f Our country,' replied Mynheer, f is for the most
part naturally poor and barren. It may resemble
that of Egypt in some particulars, viz. its low situa-
tion and sandy earth ; but it is not yearly enriched
with the fertilizing slime, and mud and soil deposited
by the inundation of the Nile, which is said to be
caused by periodical rains that fall in Nubia and
Abyssinia; there a hot sun in an unclouded atmos-
phere seems to impart birth and maturity to vege-
table productions almost at the same instant; so
rapid is the growth, and so well matured the fruits
and grain; there corn, and rice, and flax, sugar-
canes, vines, figs, and dates, melons, gourds, and
cucumbers, the papyrus, the lotus, &c. flourish in the
greatest luxuriancy. Take away our bulbs, and
what else have we to boast of? Choice exotics do
not thrive well with us, nor are our fruits too richly
flavoured ; we suffer more from damps and fogs than
you do in England.'
192 THE HYACINTH.
In the neighbourhood of Haarlem, in the province
of South Holland, the greatest and principal display
of hyacinths, tulips, jonquilles, irises, &c. is to be
seen; and my friend visited in succession the gar-
dens of George Voorhelm Schneevooght, of Henry
Cornelis, of Theodore Storm, of H. Polman Mooy,
and some others.
The Dutch florist has his tricks and finesse, as
well as the English : he would persuade you, that
when you have seen his collection, there is nothing
in Holland besides worth looking at; his are the
choicest, cheapest, and best; nor would he direct
you, if he could possibly avoid it, to the residence
or garden of any other florist. His tallies, or num-
ber-sticks, do not appear, and of course neither
offend the eye nor take from the effect. If you ask
him the name of a flower that has escaped his
memory for the moment, he stoops down, scratches
the ground with his fingers, feels for the concealed
tally, and draws it up; which having examined, he
replaces it again, and smooths the surface as it was
before.
THE HYACINTH. 193
Petty robberies of flowers are not imfrequent
among them, and at certain periods they are under
the necessity of appointing watchmen to guard
them. « Pray, Mynheer Bloemist/ inquired my
friend one day, ( what are the flowers you princi-
pally cultivate ? ' The answer he received was,
f the hyacinth, the tulip, the polyanthus-narcissus,
the ranunculus, the anemone, the crocus, the jon-
quil, the bulbous iris, the gladiolus, the amaryllis,
the rose, the lily, the dahlia, and a few other tube-
rous and bulbous-rooted plants, which seem by
nature suited to our soil and climate, and in which
our export trade in flowers principally consists. Of
late years we have not paid much attention to the
culture of the auricula, for in many parts of Hol-
land the situation is too low and humid for this
flower to continue in health long together. Of all
these our sale of hyacinths is by far the greatest :
of late years we have sent, a great many to the
United States of America, and to Russia ; but the
demand for them from England is regular and con-
stant : we have standing orders from the principal
K
194
THE HYACINTH.
seedsmen and florists in London and other parts of
England, as well as from Edinburgh and Dublin,
which we execute yearly ; and this vast annual sup-
ply of hyacinths does not seem at all to affect the
demand in succeeding years.'
' Well,, Mynheer Bloemist,' resumed my friend,
* I confess I feel exceedingly gratified with the sight
of your hyacinths ; their perfume, beauty, and rich-
ness of colour, far surpass any idea that my mind
could have formed respecting them. At the proper
season, which you say is October, I wish you to
forward me to England one hundred roots of double
and one hundred of single, including all your finest
varieties of yellow, white, red, and blue. I particu-
larly request to have the Bouquet Orange, Heroine,
Vainqueur, Favourite, and Pure d'Or included
among the yellow; Gloria Florum Suprema, Furius-
Camillus, A -la- Mode, and Anna Maria Schuur-
mans among the white; Catherine, Victorieuse,
Waterloo, Comte de la Coste, Maria Louisa, among
the red; and Bouquet Constant, Gloria Mundi,
Helicon, I'lmportante, and Pasquin among the
blue.5
THE HYACINTH. 195
' Your commands shall be executed with fidelity/
was the answer returned by Mynheer, accompanied
with a bow expressive of the obligation and favour
received.
' Now, Mynheer, when I receive those bulbs in
England, I do not mean to be satisfied with one
year's bloom, and then cast them away; I intend to
try how far care and culture will assist me in pre-
serving them, and in preventing that degeneracy,
which our English gardeners say they so soon fall
into ; I shall therefore feel obliged to you for any
information upon this subject which you may be
disposed to impart, and upon which your experience
so well enables you to speak.'
' You rate my poor abilities too highly, Sir/
answered Mynheer ; ' and I fear you will be dis-
appointed in the information which you seem de-
sirous to obtain; for I have no particular methods
to communicate, no successful experiments to detail,,
which are not known and practised by us all. Our
soil round Haarlem is upon the whole poor and
sterile, consisting of nearly two-thirds sand to one
K 2
196 THE HYACINTH.
of loam, of a light brown colour,, yet of considerable
depth; the nature of such a soil is of course light
and porous. Observe with what facility I can force
my arm into this fresh-dug quarter, nearly to the
shoulder, yet by compression and treading we can
render it close arid firm. It is from the application
of animal dungs that you behold it here discoloured
and of a dark appearance. Well rotten cow-dung
we find the best suited to such a soil, particularly in
that part of it in which we grow our hyacinths ; yet
we never suffer it to come in contact with the bulbs.
When we apply it, we trench it in, a foot below
them; we refresh the soil above with leaf-mould
from time to time, and with occasional dressings of
maiden mould, where the ground has been exhausted
by long culture. We have of late years applied
night-soil, dried and reduced to mould, with con-
siderable advantage : I have no hesitation in saying,
that the brightness and vividness of the colours have
been greatly increased thereby. There is one thing
in particular, which I wish you to observe with
minute attention : that is, not to cut the leaves off
THE HYACINTH. 197
the plants, after they have done flowering; but to
suffer them to decay and die gradually, for the
health, strength, and size of the bulb for the suc-
ceeding year depend upon its storing up a proper
fund of sap, which you will in a great degree pre-
vent by cutting off the leaves when in a green state.
I recommend to you to cut down the flowering stem
as soon as the bloom has faded, but by no means to
deprive it of its leaves ; great injury is done to all
sorts of bulbs by this inconsiderate and unskilful
practice. Great care is also requisite in drying the
bulb, especially if May should be a rainy month ;
they will in that case require to be defended from
the excessive rain. About the beginning of June,
if the season has been dry and favourable, we begin
to take them up ; by that time the foliage has lost
its sap, and become dry and decayed ; we then cut
it off within an inch of the bulb, but touch not the
fibres. When this operation is finished, we replace
them on the bed upon their sides, in rows according
to the sorts, and cover them over about an inch
deep with sand ; this prevents the bulb from drying
198 THE HYACINTH.
too fast and shrinking in substance. We suffer
them to remain here a fortnight longer, till the
fibres are dry and withered, and then consider them
ripe, and fit to be taken up for good. After having
carefully rubbed off the fibres, and any loose skins
hanging to t-hem, with a piece of soft woollen cloth,
wTe take them into the house or store-rooms, where
we arrange them in shallow boxes, one bulb deep,
and cover them over with dry sand, where they
remain till the planting season again comes round,
which is the latter end of October ; for if they were
placed several together, they would be apt to heat,
and liable to perish : such as are ordered and des-
tined for exportation, we select at this time, and
wrap up singly in paper.
' Were I to give any particular directions for
forming the bed, I would recommend you, in the
first place, to select such part of the garden as lies
open and airy, with an exposure to the south or
south-west, and which is protected by some building
or fence on the north and east ; the soil should be
a good sandy loam, or, in absence thereof, fresh
THE HYACINTH. 199
maiden earth, that has been dug six months at least
before you use it ; if twelve months, the better. To
be enriched and incorporated with decayed leaf-
mould, well rotten cow-dung, and river sand, in
something like the following quantities : —
4 Barrows of maiden earth,
1 Do. well rotten cow-dung,
2 Do. leaf-mould,
2 Do. sea or river sand.
f If you have the opportunity of adding to this
one barrow of night-soil reduced to mould, no fitter
or better compost can possibly be put together, and
it will retain its strength and quality for two or three
years : the trouble and expense, I admit, are con-
siderable, but then you will be repaid by a fine
bloom and healthy bulbs.
' If the subsoil be brick-earth or clay, which do
not easily discharge the falling rains, the bed should
be raised ten inches, at least, above the surface of
the ground, that the bulbs may sustain no damage
from them. Plant them four inches deep, and nine
inches apart every way, putting a little sand both
200 THE HYACINTH.
below and above the bulb, which not only prevents
the approach of insects,, but acts as a drain around
it ; but if the subsoil consist of sand or sandy gravel,,
a stratum of four inches thick of rotten cow-dung
should be laid about a foot below the bulbs, which
will not only administer nourishment to the roots,
but preserve a cool bottom, in which they delight.
The bed should be hooped over, and mats thrown
on occasionally to keep off heavy and continued
rains, which sometimes fall in November, and are
followed by sharp frosts : these frosts are more liable
to injure the bulbs when the ground is saturated with
water than when it is moderately moist or dry ; slight
frosts and gentle rains do no injury. Some florists
with small collections will cover the beds on the
approach of severe weather with old tan, to the
depth of six inches, which they remove in general, if
the weather permits, about the middle of February,
towards the end of which month, as well as in March,
when vegetation is in action, and the leaves begin to
shoot forth, a cold, bleak, easterly wind too frequently
prevails — a wind, as all travellers agree, congenial to
THE HYACINTH. 201
neither animal nor vegetable life in any part of the
globe ; in which case, a protection of upright hurdles,
covered with mats, should be afforded, to arrest and
turn aside the withering and chilling blast. Tulips
require the same precaution. Except on these par-
ticular occasions, the bed should be exposed and
open, and have a free circulation of air, without
which no plants can thrive and continue healthy
long together.
' About the commencement of April, in most
seasons, these flowers begin to show colour; some
are earlier than others, as is the case with most
species of flowering plants ; their stems then require
to be tied loosely to sticks, to keep them upright,,
and to support the weight of their bells ; for if the
weight does not break them, yet any sudden gust of
wind would snap them in two, from their extremely
brittle and succulent nature. It is necessary to pro-
tect the blossoms from the rays of the sun, if you
wish to preserve their beauty and lustre ; for three
days' exposure, even to an April sun, would greatly
impair their tints, and deaden the brilliancy of their
K 5
202 THE HYACINTH.
colours. Examine only the rich and glowing tint of
the damask-rose at five o'clock in the morning that
o
has opened in the night, and examine the same
again at ten, and you will be struck with the change
that five hours' sun has made. And it is no less
necessary to guard against any sudden return of
frost at this season, which not unfrequently occurs ;
the covering of stout canvas ought to be let down close
to the ground, and mats thrown over beside ; for the
injury done to the bloom by frost is more sudden and
serious than that done by the sun. By attending to
these two necessary precautions, I have no doubt but
that you will be enabled to preserve the bloom in
high order and beauty for three weeks or more.
' These, Sir, are my directions for the culture of
the Hyacinth ; any further minute detail I conceive
unnecessary, as your own good sense and judgment
will supply the deficiency. I am not aware that I
have omitted anything essential. As to the plan we
pursue in raising new varieties from seed, you have
already inferred that you have no wish for me to
enter upon that subject, but that you will be content
THE HYACINTH. 203
to leave the raising of seedlings in the hands of the
Dutch florist, with all its care, trouble, and advan-
tages/
( Allow me, Mynheer,' rejoined my friend, c to
return you my hearty thanks for this excellent bota-
nical lecture, if I may so term it, to which I have
listened with peculiar satisfaction; if I fail in the
successful culture of my bulbs, with these clear me-
thodical directions before me, I shall most certainly
attribute it to my unskilful application of them.'
With a hearty shake of the hand my friend and
Mynheer Bloemist then separated, perfectly satisfied
with each other.
This flower is certainly not so extensively culti-
vated among us as many others that are less beau-
tiful and inviting ; this arises, I am inclined to think,
from the vulgar notion — which, by the bye, may be,
after all, a vulgar error — that the bulbs are hardly
worth cultivating a second year in Britain, and are,
therefore, like the Guernsey Lily, cast away as
useless.
I have not the least doubt but that in many parts
204 THE HYACINTH.
of England, were the experiment fairly made, the
hyacinth might be cultivated with success ; the spot
chosen ought to be situated near to the sea-coast,
and the soil a light sandy earth of tolerable depth.
I am told this flower thrives well in Devonshire ;
and there are many florists, within the circle of my
acquaintance, who yearly bloom from a hundred to
two hundred bulbs ; and, according to the account
given by them, with tolerable success in general,
both as regards the fineness of the blossom and the
condition of the bulb when taken up. There is a
rich tract of land by the side of the Humber, and
along the banks of the Trent in Yorkshire, where
the finest kidney potatoes in all England are/aised,
with clear skins, free from all speck and scab ; bulbs
of all sorts, I am satisfied, would thrive in this soil,
and that they w^ould rise with clear skins and silvery
coats, equal to those imported from Holland.
I hold it the extreme of folly in any one, who has
,a garden, to cast away the roots which have flowered
in glasses, much less those in pots ; the thousands
that are suffered to perish in this way every year in
THE HYACINTH. 205
London is astonishing : one year's accumulation of
these cast-away bulbs would produce an ample stock
for an experimental florist to commence an essay
with. If by chance a few bulbs perish in the bed
during winter, care must be taken to make a reserve
against such loss, by planting a dozen bulbs or so in
pots to supply their places, by plunging the pots in
the ground, and thereby keep up the order and uni-
formity of the bed ; such as are not wanted may be
taken into the house, and forced into flower early.
The usual mode which the London florists pursue in
keeping these bulbs in pots through the winter, is to
plunge them in sand or coal-ashes up to the rim, and
to cover them with six inches of old tan : in Febru-
ary they begin to remove some from this repository
into the green-house to force ; and so continue to do,
from time to time, as they want them. I know of no
better method.
The following flowers, with the prices, are copied
from a Dutch Catalogue : the gulden or guilder or
Dutch florin are of the same value, Is. $d. English ;
a stiver 1 -£Qd. English.
206 THE HYACINTH.
DOUBLE HYACINTHS.
YELLOW.
Guild. Stiv.
Bouquet Orange 2 0
Chrysolora 0 6
Due de Berry 0 10
Heroine , 15 0
L'Or Vegetable 0 6
Louis d'Or 0 12
Ophir 0 6
Pure d'Or 3 0
Vainqueur 2 0
WHITE.
Aardshertogin 0 12
Admiral Zoutman 0 4
A-la-Mode 0 10
Altesse Royale 0 6
A. M. Schuurmans 1 0
Blanche Fleur 0 4
Bailluw Van Zuidwyk 0 4
Baron Van Wassenaar 0 6
Beautd sans Pareille 0 10
Tendre 0 10
Belle Forme. . 0 4
THE HYACINTH. 207
Guild. Stir.
Bijou des Amateurs 0 6
CceurTendre 0 4
Coeur Aimable 0 4
Constantia Elizabeth 0 4
Couronne Blanche 0 3
Dageraad 0 3
Diana Van Ephese 0 10
Due de Berry 0 6
DonGratuit 0 6
Due de Penthievre 0 6
Furius Camillus 1 10
Gloria Florum 1 6
Grande Blanche Imperiale 0 15
Grand Monarque 0 12
Gilde Vryheid 0 4
Hermione 0 4
Illustre Beaute 0 6
Juno 0 10
Madame de St. Simon 0 10
Minerva 0 6
Nannette 0 6
Sphaera mundi 0 12
Reviseur General 0 6
Sultan Achmet 0 8
Staten General 0 10
Violet Superbe 0 4
Virgo 0 6
208 THE HYACINTH.
RED.
Guild. Stiv.
Augustus Rex 0 5
Boerhaven 0 6
Bruidskleed 0 6
Catherine Victorieuse 3 0
Comte de la Coste 3 0
Couronne d'Or 1 0
Delice du Printems 0 8
Diademe de Flore 0 6
Duchesse de Parme 0 8
Eleonora 0 6
Emilia Galotti 0 8
Flos Sanguineus 0 8
Grootvorst 0 8
Hugo Grotius 0 6
Illustre Pyramidale 0 0
II Pastor Fido 0 4
La Delicatesse 0 8
La Superbe Royale 0 4
L'honneur d' Amsterdam 0 10
Maria Louisa c ; 1 10
Madame Zoutman 0 12
Marquise de la Coste 1 0
Perruque Quarre 0 8
Phoenix 0 4
Rex Rubrorum « 0 8
Rose agreable 0 5
Rose d'Ispahan 0 12
THE HYACINTH. 209
Guild. Stiv.
Rose Illustre 0 0
, Mignon 0 6
Sceptre 1 0
Rouge Charmant 0 6
Rozenkrans Van Flora 0 6
Roxane. ...••., 0 12
Sans Rival 0 8
Soleil Royal 0 10
Superbissima 0 10
Temple van Apollo 0 6
Waterloo . ... 1 6
BLUE.
A-la-Mode 0 6
Alcibiacles 0 6
Bouquet Constant 3 0
Bucentaurus -. 0 6
Bleu Fonce 0 6
Cceruleus Imperialis 0 4
Drusus 0 8
Directeur General 0 8
Due de Luxembourg 0 8
de Normandie 0 8
de Bronswic 0 6
Flora Perfecta 0 6
Globe Celeste.. 0 12
210 THE HYACINTH.
Guild. Stir.
Terrestre 0 6
Graaf Floris 0 8
Grandeur Triomphante 0 12
Grand Gris-de-Lin 0 10
Gloria Mundi 3 0
Helicon 3 0
Incomparable Azur 0 4
Keizer Tiberius 0 4
Kroon van Indien 0 8
La Bien Aimee 0 4
La Gentilesse 1 0
L'Amitie 0 4
L'lllustre 0 8
L'Importante 4 0
La Ville de Haarlem 0 8
Mirabeau 0 12
Mon Bijou 0 8
• Ami 0 6
Negro Superbe 0 12
Nigritienne 0 6
Olden Barneveld 0 5
Parmenio 0 8
Passe ne plus ultra 1 0
Pasquin 0 12
Porceleine Sceptre 0 6
Velours Pourpre 0 3
THE HYACINTH.
211
SINGLE HYACINTHS.
THE names of a few of the finest, the prices of which
run nearly the same as for the double.
YELLOW.
Couleur de Jonquille
Pluie d'Or
Prince d'Orange
Toison d'Or
Armenia
Belle Amazone
Hercules
WHITE.
Melpomene*
Premier noble Thais
RED.
Actrice
Aimable Rosette
Aimable Louise
Fleur des Dames
I/Eclair
L'Eclatante
Mignon
Princesse d'Esterhazy
Regina Rubrorum Thalia
Vuurlam
BLUE.
Alexander Niger
Buonaparte
Dolphin
Fortunatus
Colbert
General Hoche
Konings
Grande Vedette
La Modeste
Nonpareille
Oron dates
Staten General
( 212 )
OF THE ROSE.
' Rosa mea.' — PLAUTUS.
' Rose thou art the sweetest flower
That ever drank the amber shower.'
T. MOORE.
{ I know a hank whereon the wild Thyme blows,
Where Oxlip and the nodding Violet grows,
O'er-canopied with luscious Woodbine,
With sweet Musk Roses, and with Eglantine :
There sleeps Titania.'
SHAKSPEAUE'S Midsummer Night's Dream.
To say anything in praise of the attractive beauty
and sweetness of the Rose, would be not only to in-
sult the good sense and good taste of my readers, but
absolutely to imply the want of both ; suffice it then
to say, that the Rose is a universal favourite ; and
that in no part of the world, torrid, temperate, or
frigid, but e nascuntur rosae,' of some description or
other. Among the ancients the Rose was conse-
crated to Venus — ' flos Veneri sacer' — and was con-
sidered by them the harbinger of spring.
/•*qt>;i rJWljtfiifa'r Trent her &CC ,4 ye Jfurta S.nr.-f
THE ROSE. 213
' Cum. rosam viderit, tune incipere ver arbitrator.'
CICERO.
The Roman guests at feasts and entertainments
adorned their heads with it, as < convivae rosis coro-
nabantur;' thus Horace:
' Mitte sectari, rosa quo locorum
sera moretur.'
Again :
4 Hue vina, et unguenta, et nimium breves
Flores amaense ferre jube rosae.*
And again in another place :
( Cur nou sub alta vel platano, vel hac
Firm jacentes sic temere, et rosa
Canos odorati capillos
Dum licet, Assyriaque nardo
Potamus uncti ? Dissipat Evius
Curas edaces.'
Persons when probably ill and anxious to live,
used to express themselves thus, ' I hope I shall live
to gather roses another year :'
' Alias tractare rosas.' — JUVENAL.
Ovid makes mention of ' ameena rosaria;1 and Vir-
gil, while living in retirement at Parthenope, in the
south of Italy, which was soon after pulled down,
and rebuilt under the name of Neapolis, or new city,
now called Naples :
214 THE ROSE.
4 Illo Virgilium me tempore dulcis alebat
Parthenope, studiis florentem ignobilis oti ;'
intimated an intention which he then entertained of
writing upon horticulture, and the rose in particular,
as cultivated in gardens at Paestum in Lucania,
which he mentions thus towards the end of the fourth
Georgic :
' Forsan et pingues hortos quae cura colendi
Ornaretj canerem, biferique rosaria Paesti.'
Ausonius, likewise a perfect amateur of the rose,
and who wrote upon it, an author, by-the-bye, that
I have not been able to lay my hand on, says,
( Vidi paestano gaudere rosaria cultu.'
The roses principally noticed by Latin authors
are, the rosa Damascena, or white rose of Damascus;
rosa Milesia, or red rose of two varieties, rubra et
purpurea; rosa provincialis, called also Batavia, or
the large Provence, which was first discovered in the
neighbourhood of Toulouse ; rosa paestana, or bas-
tard musk, which flowered twice in the year, in May
and again in September ; rosa moschata vel odorata,
the African and Asiatic musk rose ; rosa holoserica,
or velvet rose : there were also the hyberna, or early
THE ROSE. 215
flowering ; the scrotina, or late flowering ; and the
Grecian luteola, or yellow.
The varieties of the rose are now extremely
numerous ; many are the native or natural produc-
tions of foreign countries, and many are the produc-
tions of European florists from seed.
The Scotch roses, that have been raised from seed
within these few years past, are exceedingly fine
and delicate, and make a great addition to the flower-
garden.
I might have remarked before, that the rose-gar-
dens of Psestum were as celebrated in the time of
Augustus, in honour of whom the month of August
was named, as those of Mr. Lee of Hammersmith^
or Mr. Loddige of Hackney, in our time. In his
reign literature was encouraged, and the liberal
arts and sciences began to flourish ; and this love of
letters and of the arts was soon followed by a refine-
ment of taste and manners, that shortly after brought
into use all the expensive embellishments, as well as
the more elegant conveniences of life : the simple
farm-house and the plain cabbage-garden of their
216 THE ROSE.
ancestors were changed into splendid villas and mag-
nificent gardens, adorned with fountains, statues,
and flowering shrubs and plants. An indecent statue
of Priapus was stuck up in all gardens, as ( Hortus
custos.'
My object in introducing this flower into my trea-
tise, is for the more immediate purpose, than any
other I had in view, of presenting a select catalogue
of the finest sorts, distinguished alike for varied tints,
fragrance, and beauty, and which will, in fact, form
a most complete and magnificent rosary, well deserv-
ing of cultivation.
Rose-trees grow best in a light rich loam, and
require to be well pruned every year, to enable them
to throw out strong flowering buds : these buds are
very often destroyed in the spring by a small, dark
red grub, which feeds upon them, folds itself up in
the leaves, and then changes into a moth chrysalis.
In the seasons they prevail, if not sought for and
destroyed, there will be but few early Roses, the
only chance remaining will be in the formation of
fresh summer buds. They are also liable to be
THE ROSE. 217
injured by a small, light green caterpillar, which is
also found to infest the apple blossom and the young
forming fruit, and which feeds upon it. When the
trees are blighted with honey-dew, or infested with
the green fly, they ought to be washed with strong
soap-suds, or cleansed with a soft brush dipped in a
lye of lime-water, sulphur, and tobacco.
Propagation is by dividing the roots, by budding
on the briar, and by layers laid down the beginning
of July. As a skilful gardener is not always at
hand to perform this last-named method of propa-
gation, I will endeavour briefly to describe it, and
which some of my readers, perhaps, may be inclined
to perform themselves.
Select the strong young shoots that have been
formed the same year ; then, with a sharp budding
or other thin-bladed knife, begin a quarter of an
inch below the joint, and make an incision of three-
quarters of an inch in length on the side next the
ground, up the middle of the shoot; after which, cut
off transversely the nib or extremity of the tongue
just below the joint; then move the ground, and
L
218 THE ROSE.
open a place three inches deep, in which, after hav-
ing first put a little sand, or sand and fresh loam
mixed, fix and peg down the layer to that depth,
and after giving the tongue a little twist or turn on
one side, to keep the cleft open, close the earth tight
round it. When the whole is performed, give the
layers a gentle watering to settle the mould, and
which ought to be repeated from time to time, to
promote the striking of the new fihres, and to keep
the mother-plant in a healthy, growing state. The
layers, in most cases, will be fit to remove the spring
following ; but such as are not well rooted had better
remain till the succeeding autumn. The same mccle
of operation may be applied to most shrubs ; and
take care to cover that part of the shoot only with
earth which is pegged down, — the other part of it,
connected with the stool or parent plant, must lie
uncovered.
THE ROSE.
219
White Monthly
Double White
White Provence
Catalogue of Roses.
WHITE.
White Damask
Double Musk
Rosa Banksia
Rose Blanche de Belgique
Red Moss
White Moss
Single Moss
MOSS.
Scarlet Moss
Blush Moss
Mossy Rose de Meaux
Double White Scotch
Red Scotch
Blush Scotch
Scotch Provence
SCOTCH.
Double Marble Scotch
Purple Scotch
Pale Yellow Scotch
Fairy Scotch Rose
BLUSH.
Great Maiden's Blush
Lesser Maiden's Blush
Celestial
Blush Provence
• Belgique
Early Blush
Shailer's Provence
Dutch Provence
Imperial Blush
Blush Mignon
Brunswick
Aurora
L2
220
THE ROSE.
SWEET BRIARS.
Semi Double Sweet Briar
Double Sweet Briar
Manning's Blush Sweet
Briar
Royal Sweet Briar
Monstrous Sweet Briar
Mossy Sweet Briar
Double Tree Sweet Briar
Swiss Rose
Common Provence
Tree Preony Rose
Spongs
Italian
Dutch Tree
Red Monthly
RED.
Rose of Four Seasons
Red Mignon
Superb Red
Royal Red
Rose de Meaux
Rosa Bullata
BRIGHT RED.
Carmine
Proliferous Carmine
Fiery
Refulgent
Scarlet Provence
Rosa Pijestana
Bright Crumpled
Neapolitan
Mogul
Cluster
Superb Carmine
Tuscan
Triumphant
DARK.
Pluto
Burning Coal
THE ROSE.
221
Mourning
Large Dark China
Castile
Negro
Black Frizzled
Mottled
Double Velvet
Mexican
Bright Purple
Royal Purple
Red and Violet
Favourite Purple
Blue Purple
PURPLE.
Light Purple
Grand Purple
Blue
and Purple
Mottled Purple
Single Yellow
YELLOW.
I Double Yellow
RED AND WHITE.
York and Lancaster
Rosa Mundi
Striped Mignon
( 222 )
OF GERANIUMS.
THE following select catalogue of geraniums * com-
prehends some of the newest,, rarest, and most ad-
mired varieties : —
Dianthiflorum
Eximium
Baileyanum
Macranthon
Tricolour
Floridum
Pavonium
Daveyanum
Rubescens
Involucratum
Ardens
Nervosum
Hoareanum
Bicolour
Flammidum
Obscurum
Ignescens, Majus
Coriaceum
Sanguineum
Villosum
Dawsonianum
Thompsonianum
Reticulatum
Oblatum
Triumphans
Cordifolium Novum
Foliaceum, Majus
Pes Pelicanum
Crassicaule
Formosum
Fulgidum
Lumleyanum
Mooreanum
* Geraniums grow luxuriantly in my carnation compost.
( 223 )
OF THE GEORGINA.
THIS flower was introduced about the year 1804,
by Lady Holland, from Spain. It is a native of
Mexico, in South America,, the part from whence
potatoes were first brought to England by Sir
Walter Raleigh, in the year 1565. The roots are
susceptible of frost, and liable to be destroyed by
it; of course they must be taken up every year,
and kept in dry sand, with the crown uppermost.
It is propagated by dividing the roots; a single
tuber even will suffice, by cuttings and by seed.
In many instances it will sow itself, for plants very
frequently spring up on the spot where it has stood
the preceding year. It is now generally treated as
an annual, by sowing the seed in March, upon
heat ; the young plants are pricked out singly into
small pots, and kept in frames until May, when
they may be turned into the ground to flower in the
224 THE GEORGINA.
autumn. To ensure an early bloom in the summer,
the old roots are planted in pots in March, and kept
in the green-house till all danger of the frost is past.
This flower,, from its great height and size, is too
large for a small flower-garden : half a dozen roots
are enough for a large one. It is best adapted to
fill up the vacancies in ornamental shrubberies,
where it makes a grand and magnificent appearance,
through the summer and autumn. The double
flowers are now most cultivated, for the finest
varieties of which we are indebted to the French;
their colours are white, crimson, scarlet, yellow, and
purple of different shades.
( 225 )
OF THE
RUSSIAN AND DANISH STOCKS.
OF all the flowers that have of late years been in-
troduced into England, none seem to give greater
pleasure than the different varieties of these annual
or ten week stocks; and none are sought after at this
moment with greater avidity : they consist of about
eighteen sorts, and form a splendid flower-garden
of themselves. The colours which I have noticed,
and which are thus described upon some packets of
the seed sent from Denmark : light red, tile red, dark
red or mahogany, ruby, scarlet, flesh-colour, peach
blossom, light ash, dark ash, lilac, blue, purple, mul-
berry, black, white, &c. Some of the plants have the
wall-flower leaf, and others the Brompton leaf. Be-
fore the introduction of these, we were acquainted only
with the scarlet, the purple, and the white. The seed
ought to be sown about the middle of September,
L 5
226 RUSSIAN AND DANISH STOCKS.
and the young plants to be pricked out three or four
in small pots, and to be protected in frames through
the winter; these will flower early in the spring.
The seed may be sown again in March or April, for
plants to bloom in the summer. Some biennial or
winter stocks have also been introduced, but I have
yet had no opportunity of seeing them flower. In
mentioning these, I have no wish to underrate our
native stock, the Brompton, which in some situations
grows to an immense size, presenting one large mass of
bloom : the brilliant colour of the scarlet is the most
striking, but the purple and the white are equally
pleasing. The seed of the Brompton ought to be
sown some time in May, that the stalks may get
hard and woody to stand the winter; the careful
gardener, when in possession of a good double-
flowering scarlet, will not neglect to winter some of
the plants in pots, either in frames, green-houses, or
under hoops covered with mats, during any very-
hard frosts; for good and well-saved seed of this
stock is not always to be got.
If I may credit the testimony of a gardener of
RUSSIAN AND DANISH STOCKS. 227
the name of Davis, who works for me occasionally,
and I have no reason to doubt his testimony, he
assures me, that about thirty years ago, during the
time of his apprenticeship to Mr. Mott, gardener to
the Duke of Bolton, at Hackwood, in Hampshire,
his Grace received from Germany, through the
medium of a domestic servant, whose father was a
gardener in that country, the same coloured stocks
as I have been describing ; they were considered a
great rarity, and were much admired, but they were
called Grecian stocks, the name they now go by in
France. The major part of them, he says, were
wall-leafed.
The annual stock is, I believe, originally a native
of Greece, and called ( cheiranthus,' or hand-flower,
probably from its being carried in the hand as a
nosegay, or making a handful of flowers. There is
no doubt, in my opinion, but that these stocks found
their way from Greece into Russia, Denmark, and
the north of Europe, and since our unrestricted in-
tercourse with the Continent, the seed of them has
reached England, bringing with it the name of the
228 RUSSIAN AND DANISH STOCKS.
country from which it was imported. It is not, how-
ever, worth my while to cavil either about the name
or origin, for I give them a free welcome to the gar-
den ; and as for their recommendation and passport^
they carry them with them.
( 229 )
HERBACEOUS PLANTS.
THE finely flowering plants of this description deco-
rate the garden in an eminent degree ; they flower
year after year, and require little or no care. Many
kinds contain distinct species, and these species again
consist of numerous and beautiful varieties. The
following list is select,, yet comprehensive.
Aconitum
Achillea
Allium
Alyssum
Anthericum
Arabis
Asclepias
Asphodelus
Caltha
Campanula
Catananche
Centaurea
Chelone
Chrysocoma
Convolvulus
Coreopsis
Delphinium
Fraxinella
Fumaria
Gentiana
Gladiolus
Hepatica
Hemerocallis
Hieracium
Iris
Liatris
Linum
Lychnis
230
HERBACEOUS PLANTS.
JLythrum
Melittis
Monarda
Narcissus
GEnothera
Orchis
Ornithogalum
Orobus
Phlox
Polygala
Rudbeckia
Saponaria
Saxifraga
Scilla
Silene
Statice
Teucrium
Trollius
Veratrum
Verbascum
Veronica
I have given the generic names of the above, be-
cause they are more generally known and expressed
by them; I shall add the English names of a few
more, as they occur to my recollection.
Candy Tuft
Columbine
Daisy
Dogs'-tooth Violet
Lily
Poppy
Rose Campion
Rock Rose
Wall Flower
Sweet William
Heart's Ease
Honesty
Jonquil
Peony
Foxglove
Solomon's Seal
Lily of the Valley
Rocket
Hollyhock
Valerian
Loose strife
Scabious
HERBACEOUS PLANTS.
231
TENDER AND HARDY ANNUALS.
Balsam
Cockscomb
Eggplant
Tricolor
Globe Amaranth
India Pink
Xerantbemum
Zinnia
Larkspur
Chrysanthemum
Lavatera
Lupine
Sweet Pea
Belvidere
Persicaria
Havvkvveed
Sweet Sultan
French Marigold
African ditto
( 232 )
OF
ORNAMENTAL TREES
FLOWERING SHRUBS.
I KNOW of no scene in nature more interesting than
a well-planted Shrubbery, stored with choice trees,
where art imitates nature, and where a judicious
classification and grouping have been observed, both
as regards the height, the form, and colour ; so that
all the various shades of leaf, of branch, and blos-
som, blend and harmonize in order and beauty.
In the spring of the year in particular, such a
scene never fails to interest even the most heartless
and indifferent beholder; he finds his senses re-
freshed and gladdened by the gentle breeze, wafting
the sweets from so many flowers, varied alike in
form and fragrance : nay, his whole frame feels most
sensibly at the time, that there is a ' healing' in the
ORNAMENTAL TREES, ETC. 233
air around him, and he inhales it with delight. Nor
is the appearance of the Shrubbery in autumn much
less striking ; the pendant berries and the changeful
leaf, exhibiting such diversity of shade and colour,
give to it a most picturesque effect, lovely, though
somewhat mournful.
When one reflects indeed upon the length of time,
the toil, the trouble, and the vast expense, that have
necessarily been incurred in transplanting into Eng-
land from so many different countries, and bringing
as it were into one view, these elegant and useful
productions of nature, one cannot but be struck with
the patient and persevering industry of man, and
the force and application of his intellectual faculties
even in this pursuit; of which these exotic shrubs
and trees may be considered as lasting monuments,
growing in honour of all those, who have been so
fortunate as to have benefited their country by the
contribution of some new species or variety.
The courteous reader may here, if he feel so in-
clined, not having the splendid reality before him,
indulge awhile in f wakeful reverie/ and fancy
234 ORNAMENTAL TREES, ETC.
himself in the centre of some spacious grove-belted
lawn, contemplating such a scene ; and if he further
fancy himself in the company of a beloved wife,
daughter, friend, or companion, all the better ; for
to be alone in such a case, is beyond doubt, lonely; — •
the Rose and the Violet, plucked and presented by the
hand of any one of these, will at the time be prized
the more ; and the elegant and lovely Lilac, Jasmine,
Honeysuckle, Sweet Briar, and the Virgin's Bower,
will appear to shed fresh sweets unnoticed before ;
and as two pair of eyes, according to every-day cal-
culation, will discover more beauties than one, so two
minds, if the least congenial in taste, will, from the
pleasing interchange of observation and sentiment,
and a disposition to please and be pleased, expe-
rience double gratification in examining the lovely
and interesting objects before them.
Let the reader, as I repeated before, contemplate
such a scene of Nature, where trees and shrubs
(on whose branches the birds are warbling their
sweet notes) rise gradually above one another, in
form not much unlike to the interior seats and stages
ORNAMENTAL TREES, ETC.
235
of some vast amphitheatre ; the front occupied with
plants of short growth,, yet of the choicest flowering
sorts, and the back ground filled up with ornamental
trees of taller size ; let him there view in succession
the early blossoms in January, February, and March
of the
Mezereon
Pyracantha
Laurustinus
Glastonbury Thorn
Alaternus
Manna Ash
Cornelian Cherry
Spurge Laurel
Almond
Phillyrea
Peach Tree
Portugal Laurel
Spanish Traveller's Joy
And again in April, May, June, and July, the
Bay Tree '
Barberry Tree
Corcliorus, from Japan
Honeysuckle
Hypericum
Laurel
Laburnum
Lilac
Privet
Elder
Furze
Guelder Rose
Jasmine
Judas Tree
Kalmia
Rose
Sy rin go
Sweet Briar
Cistus
Service Tree
Hawthorn
Horse Chestnut
236
ORNAMENTAL TREES, ETC.
Magnolia Sumach
Scarlet Maple Althaea
Rhododendron Broom
Mountain Ash Heath
Bird Cherry Pomegranate
Rose Acacia Passion Flower
Tulip Tree Spiraea
Azalea Tamarisk
Bladder Senna Trumpet Flower
Itea Virgin's Bower, &c.
Nor let him overlook these evergreens, the
Andromeda Cypress
Box Arbutus
Coronilla Bignonia
Germander Rockrose
Arbor Vitse Juniper
Cedar Southern Wood
Fir Ivy
Holly Savin
Cytisus Widow's Wail
There are many other trees of tall growth, which
more properly belong to the park, the wood, and the
forest, as
Ash
Alder
Beech
Birch
Chesntut
Cork Tree
Elm
Lime
Larch
Oak
Plane
ORNAMENTAL TREES, ETC. 237
Sycamore
Walnut
Willow, &c.
Poplar
In gardens the choicest flowering shrubs of dwarf-
ish growth only should be introduced ; for few plants
thrive well beneath the smothering shade of large
ones : and in forming new shrubberies and planta-
tions, especial care should be taken to allow proper
space for the several plants, lest in a few years they
become a tangled wood, and require untimely lop-
ping, which not only injures their growth but de-
stroys their beauty.
( 238 )
THE BOWER.
' The roof
Of thickest covert was inwoven shade.
Laurel and Myrtle, and what higher grew
Of firm and fragrant leaf ; on either side
Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub
Fenced up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flower,
Iris all hues, Roses and Jessamin,
Rear'd high their flourish'd heads between, and wrought
Mosaic ; under foot the Violet,
Crocus, and Hyacinth, with rich inlay,
Broider'd the ground.'
MILTON.
How grand, stately, and majestic appear those large
Elms, Beech trees, Oaks, Planes, and Sycamores,
which are pretty generally to be met with in most of
our noblemen's parks in England ; whose branches
have never been violated by the axe, but have been
suffered to grow by way of ornament, descending on
all sides within eight or ten feet of the ground, and
thereby affording a most agreeable shade and shelter
to both men and cattle ! I have always viewed them
with pleasure.
THE BOWER. 239
I here recommend to my youthful readers to seize
every opportunity of acquiring not only a knowledge
of the names, but also of the several properties of each
tree and shrub ; and to be able readily to distinguish
the same both by leaf, flower, and fruit. They will
find their perception quickened, and their compre-
hension enlarged, by a close examination into the
various productions of nature ; and their gratification
will increase, as their knowledge of natural history
advances ; for it is really provoking oftentimes to
witness the ignorance of many persons, (not Cock-
neys alone,) on the subject of trees and plants in
particular, who are well informed upon almost every
other.
( 240 )
A
FLOWER CHRISTENING.
ONE of the most important and wished-for events in
the life of a florist — in a florist's estimation, at least
— is the raising of a fine flower from seed. His joy
on first beholding it is equal to that of a lord on first
viewing the infant heir of his title, wealth, and
honours. By the production of this flower he claims
the undisputed title of florist among the brotherhood,
grounds his pretensions to superior knowledge, and
assumes a loftier tone of decision upon every dis-
putable point connected with the fancy. But to fix
upon an appropriate and distinguished name for his
new flower, is a work of almost as much difficulty
as to raise it. No vulgar or common name can, in
his opinion, speak its merits or exemplify its beauties.
The flower must be ennobled by the ennobling name
of King, Queen, Emperor, Hero, and very often con-
A FLOWER CHRISTENING. 24i
secratccl by the sacred titles of Jupiter, Mars, Juno,
Venus. The unlettered florist, on such an occasion,
is frequently obliged to consult the parson, the
schoolmaster, or the doctor, as high authorities, for
some learned and astounding name; but the sum-
mary of the proper names of the heathen gods and
goddesses, illustrious heroes and heroines, and cele-
brated worthies and beauties of antiquity, discovered
at the end of Entick's Spelling Dictionary, has ob-
viated much of the difficulty heretofore complained
of. Sam Greenhorn, an old florist, after many years
trying and toiling, at length had the good luck to
raise a number of seedling Carnations, which dazzled
the eyes, excited the envy, and blinded the judgment,
not only of Sam, but of many others in his neigh-
bourhood. Sam, with nice discrimination, selected
twelve of the best, and hastened up with ardent speed
to town, a distance of fifty miles, to present them for
exhibition at a flower-show society, whose members
were met to contend for a silver cup, and celebrate
their annual feast ; it was somewhere near Chelsea
M
242 A FLOWER CHRISTENING.
or Battersea, places noted for the cutting of simples
and cabbages, as well as the curing of simpletons.
Sam's name was announced by the landlord in
due form, and he was ordered to be ushered up stairs*
He entered the room, made his reverence to the
chairman, and presented his seedlings. They were
most minutely inspected and critically examined;
and whether it was the smile of pleasure and appro-
bation that appeared on their countenances, accom-
panied with sly winks, becks, and leers, or that
roguish, malicious, mischievous smile, which is often
visible when simple men become the dupes of their
own weakness and credulity, and the sport of others,
I am at a loss to determine : all declared themselves
struck with astonishment, and professed an eager
desire to become subscribers and purchasers of these
new flowers ; no language, according to their account,
could sufficiently describe their beauties, and no price
could overrate their value. Sam was left to fix his
own price, and fancied his purse to be already filled,
like the cornucopia of old, and his reputation as a
A FLOWER CHRISTENING. 243
florist established for ever. A difficulty was started
because those seedlings had not yet been named, and
therefore had no distinguishing titles whereby to
know them. Sam was requested to retire for a while
for this purpose, and particularly charged to fix
handsome names to them. He withdrew accord-
ingly, not a little perplexed at the task he had to
perform. It is true, he had been pondering in his
mind for months over the names he should give them,
but had not been able to come to any final conclu-
sion. He could have no benefit of clergy in this
case, because he was a bit of a methodist ; as to the
schoolmaster, he said it was of no use to go to him,
for he only taught upon the national system, and
therefore did not know more than himself; and as
to the doctor in his neighbourhood, there was a little
bill unpaid on his wife's account, which foreclosed
the door of application in that quarter. ' When I
get to London,' Sam used to say, ' I shall get over
this dilemma about names;' for London, he had
heard, was the place where honours, titles, and dis-
tinctions, were conferred ; and that if they were once
M 2
244 A FLOWER CHRISTENING.
christened there, nobody would presume hereafter to
change them.
On descending below, he found ten or twelve per-
sons seated round a large table, drinking porter,
smoking tobacco, and betting upon the pans of
flowers of their respective masters ; for our London
tip-top florists never go unattended to those feasts.
Sam was invited to drink, and a few moments' con-
versation soon put them all upon one convivial footing
of good fellowship. He began to find himself quite
at home, and thought himself extremely lucky in the
opportunity thus afforded him of asking their advice
and counsel; in truth, these fellows generally know
as much or more about flowers than their employers,
for they are the operative florists, while the others,
in general, are only lookers-on. Sam took from the
box his best scarlet-bizarred Carnation, and desired
the company to give a name to it.
Tom Tulip, as the oldest fancier in the room,
took the lead upon the occasion, and swore that it
was all over a good flower, and nothing but a good,
one, and that if ever flower deserved the name of
A FLOWER CHRISTENING. 245
Emperor, this one did, and he therefore proposed
that it should be called Greenhorn's Emperor, which
was unanimously agreed to. The bell was rung,
the waiter came, and two bottles of wine wrere
ordered by Sam, upon the suggestion of Tulip.
Chair ! chair ! was called, and Mr. Samuel Green-
horn was unanimously voted into it. The wine
arrived, the corks were drawn in a crack, and Tom
Tulip proposed the health of Mr. Greenhorn with
three, and success to his Emperor. The bottles
were soon emptied in discussing the imperial pro-
perties of the Emperor. Sam then drew forth a
purple-flaked carnation, which was handed round.
Bill Rose descanted for some time upon the various
merits of this flower, pointed out the real Tyrian
purple stripe, and maintained that it was one of the
best he ever had seen : the name, he insisted, should
be Greenhorn's Queen, — Queen Caroline. Sam
nodded ascent, and ordered in a third bottle, which
was soon disposed of as before. A rose-coloured
flake was next handed round. Strawberry Jack
declared himself enraptured with it ; the leaf was a
246 A FLOWER CHRISTENING.
complete rose leaf, well ribboned, well formed, and
the colour that of the royal Provence rose, bright
and brilliant. Jack swore that Mr. Greenhorn was
one of the luckiest fellows he ever knew in his life,
and that the flower should be called the Rose of
Roses ; this name was also adopted. A fresh bottle
was called for, and the baptismal toast drunk as
before with glee. The spirits of the company began
now to be volatilized, and the tones of their voices
mellowed and heightened; they were all talkers
and no hearers ; a charming discord of merry sounds
or songs was also heard, and coarse jokes cracked as
thick as nuts. The exhaustion of the bottle pro-
duced a pause, and another flower was brought for-
ward, a crimson bizarre. Ned Ricklas undertook
to point out its beauties. ( Observe here,' cries
Ned, ' the genuine colours of the rainbow ; here's
crimson, scarlet, and purple, softened down in a
variety of shades : I mean to call this, for I am
a bit of a botanist/ said Ned, ' after old father
Linnaeus, a flower worthy of him, and he of the
flower.' A peal of approbation followed : Green-
A FLOWER CHRISTENING. 247
horn ordered another bottle, Linnseus's health was
drank in raptures,, and the same etiquette was ob-
served as before. A scarlet flake was next pro-
duced, and Greenhorn declared that he would name
it himself. Moonlight Dick held the flower in his
hand. e Well, Mr. Greenhorn,' he exclaimed, f this
is a wonder of a flower ; this is a flamer ; I can look
the sun in the face easier than this flower, its bright
scarlet quite overcomes me ; what pretty name have
you for it ? ' < Why, as to the matter of thai;,' said
Sam, f I don't know much about prettiness, but I
mean to call it after my wife, Meg.' f Why now,*
replied Dick, ' that's both handsomely said and
kindly done of you ; it shall be named the Lovely
Margaret by all means, and we will toast her in a
bumper.'
The sixth bottle was called for, which the land-
lord, being now at leisure, after having attended
upon the company up stairs, brought in himself,
and inquired, in rather a sharpish tone, who was to
pay for all this wine, beer, tobacco, and sundries?
He held the bill, at the same time, in his hand,
248 A FLOWER CHRISTENING.
amounting to somewhere about seven and forty
shillings, including Greenhorn's refreshment, before
he waited upon the company up stairs. ' Oh,'
exclaims Tom Tulip, ' our chairman there, Mr.
Samuel Greenhorn, will stand godfather to his own
seedlings, and discharge the bill with pleasure ; but
we have not yet got half through the ceremony : it
will never do to send the rest home into the country
without their names; what say you, Mr. Green-
horn?'
' I will just step out and settle with mine host for
what we have had in/ replied Sam, ' and I will
return presently.' Sam, it is true, felt elevated with
liquor ; but this unthought-of call upon his slender
and ill-provided purse, which happened luckily to
contain, within two or three shillings, the sum de-
manded, brought him to sober recollection. The
landlord took what he had, and Sam, it being then
near ten o'clock, decamped in silence, leaving his
Emperor, Queen, Rose of Roses, old Linnaeus, and
his wife Meg, behind him. The deep, arch rogues,
his companions, these modern Cantelupes, hearing
A FLOWER CHRISTENING. 249
that Greenhorn had decamped, rushed vexed and
disappointed into the street, and sent forth shouts of
scorn, insult, and derision; these appalling sounds
were yet within reach of Sam's ears, and quickened
with alarm his reeling steps. His Emperor, they
bawled out, was a mere button ; his Queen a butter-
cup ; Linnaeus no better than a wind-mill sail ; his
Tyrian purple a perfect ' bas bleu,' or Lancashire
blue-stocking; and his Lovely Meg a dirty red
garter. Further I dare not report.
( 251 )
THE
RULES AND REGULATIONS
OF A
FLORISTS' SOCIETY.
I HERE beg to present the reader, by way of Appen-
dix,, with the substance at least of the Rules and
Regulations of two Societies of Florists, which were
some years ago instituted at Islington and Chelsea,
for encouraging the cultivation of Auriculas, Pinks,
and Carnations. I do this in the hope that the
same will not be unacceptable to the majority of my
readers, to the young Florists in particular, who may
be unacquainted with the nature of such institutions,
and therefore desirous of obtaining some information
respecting them ; they will also serve as a ready pre-
cedent to refer to for the establishing of rules for any
new society elsewhere.
There are several others of the same description.
252 RULES OF A FLORISTS' SOCIETY.
in the neighbourhood of London ; but these two were
not only the most numerous in point of numbers,
but likewise the most respectable in regard to the
members composing them, who consisted of several
amateur gentlemen florists, and the most eminent
public florists round the metropolis. The laws of
these two Societies were, in fact, both in spirit and in
letter, very much alike, and several of the members
belonged to them both.
RULE I.
Any person desirous of becoming a member of
this Society must be proposed by one of the mem-
bers, and seconded by another at one of the regular
meetings, and a written notice must be sent to that
effect by the secretary to every member, stating the
name and residence of the person so proposed ; the
election to take place by ballot the next succeeding
show-day; such person will then be admitted a
member, unless two black balls appear against him.
RULES OF A FLORISTS' SOCIETY. 253
n.
That a president and secretary be chosen annually,
on the Carnation show-day, by ballot.
in.
That the names of the members and their resi-
dences be inserted in the articles.
IV.
That each member's subscription be U. Us. 6cZ.
per annum: 10s. 6d. for Auriculas: 10s. 6d. for
Pinks: 10s. Qd. for Carnations. Persons making
use of any art, in order to deceive the committee,
except that of merely dressing the flowers for the
show, will be expelled the Society.
v.
That when special meetings are called to fix the
show-days, or on other occasions, the secretary shall
send a printed or a written notice to each member ;
and all absentees shall forfeit two shillings.
254 RULES OF A FLORISTS' SOCIETY.
That each member shall pay for a dinner ticket
for Auriculas, Pinks, and Carnations ; but should it
be inconvenient, on the day the show is appointed,
for such member to attend at dinner, he shall be at
liberty to transfer his ticket to any gentleman he may
think proper, indorsing his name on the back.
VII.
That each member shall provide, at his own ex-
pense, a pan to show his Carnations in, agreeable to
the Society's pattern.
VIII.
That all flowers on show-days shall be in the room
— the Auriculas at one o'clock. Pinks one o'clock,
Carnations one o'clock, precisely, by the house clock,
or they shall not be admitted ; and that each mem-
ber pay any demand for deficiencies the secretary
may have against him previous thereto, or be expelled
the Society.
RULES OF A FLORISTS' SOCIETY. 255
IX.
The committee, styled censors, umpires, or judges,
three in number, to determine the prizes, shall be
chosen by members present on the show-days, who
shall declare, if required, that they have not seen or
assisted in dressing any of the blooms since they
were gathered or selected for show.
x.
Members showing flowers on show-days, shall de-
clare they have been in their possession the last four
months ; and if Seedlings, that they are of their own
sowing and growing. No Seedling to be admitted
to take a Seedling prize after the third year of
blooming.
XI.
That the value of prizes shall be presented in plate
to each successful candidate on the show-days.
XII.
That the prizes shall be limited to six in number
for the named flowers, and two for Seedlings.
256 RULES OF A FLORISTS' SOCIETY.
XIII.
That each member showing flowers on show-days-
shall return to his seat as soon as he has carried
them into the show-room, and shall not leave it until
the flowers have heen brought into the dining-room,
and have passed round the table, beginning on the
president's right hand, and returning on his left, in
order that each person may distinctly view them*
The flowers not to be taken away until they are dis-
missed by the president.
xiv.
That if any member shall call the judgment of the
censors in question, after the prizes are declared, he
shall for such offence forfeit one guinea, or be ex
pelled the Society.
xv.
That if any member shall create a quarrel, so as
to disturb the harmony of the company on the show-
days, his conduct shall become the subject of consi-
RULES OF A FLORISTS' SOCIETY. 257
deration at the next meeting, and a majority of the
members then present deciding on its impropriety,
shall expel him the Society.
XVI.
That if any member refuses to pay any of the
before-mentioned fines, or shall attempt to evade any
of the rules, he shah1 be immediately expelled the
Society.
XVII.
That all forfeits be appropriated to the Seedling
prizes.
XVIII.
No member is allowed to show flowers on the day
he is admitted.
XIX.
That no person be suffered to touch or handle the
blossoms on show-days, without the consent of the
proprietor, under the forfeiture of twenty shillings.
( 258 )
PRIZES FOR AURICULAS.
To the person who shows the best and completest
pair of Auriculas, each of a different sort, not less
than seven full-blown pips to each plant :
First prize. A piece of plate equal in value to
one-fourth of the sum subscribed, after deducting the
Seedlings.
Second do One-fifth.
Third do. ... , . .One-sixth.
*
Fourth do One-seventh.
Fifth do > One-eighth.
Sixth do One-ninth.
For the best Seedling Auriculas with three full-
blown pips :
First prize.
Second do ...
( 259 )
PRIZES FOR PINKS.
To the person who shows the best and completest
twelve blossoms of Pinks, every one of a different
sort:
First prize. A piece of plate equal in value to
one-fourth of the sum subscribed.
Second do One-fifth.
Third do One-sixth.
Fourth do One-seventh.
Fifth do One-eighth.
Sixth do One-ninth.
For the best Seedling Pinks, laced, or otherwise :
First Prize
Second do.
( 260 )
PRIZES FOR CARNATIONS,
To the person who shows the completest twelve
blossoms of Carnations, every one of a different sort :
First Prize. A piece of plate equal in value to
one-fourth of the sum subscribed, after deducting for
seedlings.
O
Second do One-fifth.
Third do One-sixth.
Fourth do One-seventh.
Fifth do One-eighth.
Sixth do , One-ninth.
For Seedling Carnations, either Flakes or Bizarres:
First prize »
Second do. .
( 261 )
PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES.
KNOWING that several florists are great cultivators
of Gooseberries, I have been induced, for their grati-
fication, to insert a copy of the winning berries of
the year 1823, distinguished into four classes ;
viz. Red, Yellow, Green, and White, taken from
' An Account of the different Gooseberry Shows,
' held in Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumberland, York-
< shire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire,
* Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire,'
&c. published in Manchester. I beg to remark,
that the summer of 1823, being cold and wet, was
most unfavourable to fruits of every description.
I have done this the more readily, because it will
assist many ladies and gentlemen, also, who may
not have an opportunity of seeing this ' Account ;'
in making their selection they can form an idea of
the size of the berries from their weight, and are in-
formed, at the same time, of the colour of each.
262 PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES.
I beg to recommend particularly, for their rich
flavour, the Jubilee, Viper, Scorpion, Ocean, and the
Lancashire Lass : the taste of this last very much
resembles the greengage plum, a complete sweetmeat,
when ripened in a hot summer.
If we may credit the account of some of the old
writers, England was not in possession of the Goose-
berry-tree till the reign of King Henry VIII., when
it was introduced from Flanders. About the same
time also, herbs for salads, carrots, cabbage, and
other vegetable plants and edible roots were intro,
duced, chiefly by the monks, who were ever attentive
to their temporal wants and enjoyments. They were
excellent judges in this respect, for you never find
any of the old monasteries or abbeys built in bleak
and barren situations, without water; but, on the
contrary, in rich vales, by the side of fine rivers,,
where the fertility of the soil could be turned to
good account, in the production of corn, fruits, and
vegetables, and in the rearing of domestic animals,
and where the waters might afford a good supply of
fine fish. Asparagus, cauliflowers, beans, and peas,
PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES. 263
did not find their way into England till the time of
the restoration of Charles II. This country, there-
fore,, does not appear to have been originally favoured
with any of the choicest gifts of nature, either in
respect to fruits, vegetables, or flowers. Its native
fruits, if they are deserving at all of the name, are
the acorn, crab, sloe, blackberry, juniperberry,
elderberry, hips, and haws : all others are exotics,
and have been introduced into it.
Gooseberry bushes produce the finest fruit when
young ; that is, about the third or fourth year after
planting : they should be renewed every seventh
year, and well pruned every year, or they soon de-
generate. The same observation applies with equal
truth to raspberries and currants.
The experienced gardener is aware, that if any
tree is suffered to bear and ripen its whole crop of
fruit, no matter whether it be the peach, the apricot,
the nectarine, the vine, or gooseberry, the fruit will
be small, and appear not like the same, provided it
had been properly thinned. If you wish to try
what effect the following mode of treating tjhe goose-
264 PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES.
berry has upon its fruit, select a young healthy tree,
and leave only three or four berries upon each
branch, plucking off the rest, when they are of the
size of a pea ; then give it what gardeners call an
emulsion of the ( Nectar adoratum,' the ' Lac me-
dicinale,' which is a watering-pot full of the draining,
or black fluid from the dunghill. Do this twice, a
fortnight apart ; if a large bush, thrice, but not
oftener, lest you stupify or intoxicate its vegetative
faculty, if I may so express it.
When the berries are swelling and ripening, if
the weather be dry and hot, water frequently, but
do not saturate it too much at one time. This is
the method adopted by some who exhibit berries for
prizes, and is attended with the wished-for result.
If your soil is light and sandy, and soon parches,
lay a stratum of rotten cow-dung upon the surface
round the root of the bush : this will keep the earth
below moist and cool, and be of service to both the
fruit and the tree.
I do not pretend to say that the berries will equal,
either in size or weight, the newly restored anted!-
PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES. 265
luvian cherry of the London Horticultural Society ;
the real ' Cerasum Ponticum ' of the ancients, one
of the lost fruits of the Golden Age, four of which
are said to weigh a pound; but they will surpass
every expectation you may have formed. Trees
that are to produce those wonderful cherries, are
now propagated with great care and earnestness in
the Society's gardens at Turnham Green.
But alas ! since I first wrote the preceding para-
graph, in the first edition of this work, I have
learnt, to my regret, that this said cherry is nearly
all stone, and that the stone of it is much heavier
and larger than that of an apricot. It is a monstrous
production of the kind, it must be allowed, but it is
not worth cultivating ; for it has not one good quality
to recommend it, neither flesh, flavour, nor juiciness.
Let it be restored forthwith to the wilderness ; and
let the skilful gardener continue to bud and graft
from the May-duke, the black-heart, the bleeding-
heart, bigarreau, carnation, morello, black eagle,
Waterloo, Montmorency, £c. &c.
N
266 PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES.
The following is the List, commencing with
THE RED GOOSEBERRIES.
Dwts. Grs.
Roaring Lion 23 2
Huntsman 22 23
Sir John f 23 6
Overall 23 12
Crown Bob 20 17
Lancashire Lad 20 12J
Prince Regent 22 4
British Crown 20 0
Jubilee 20 1
Sportsman 20 4
Smolensko 19 14
Pastime 20 15
Top Sawyer 22 1
Superior 21 19J
Boggart 19 15
Yaxley Hero 20 2
Jolly Miner 19 23
Printer 17 12
Highwayman 19 6
Richmond Hill 18 17
Bang-up 19 0
Triumphant 19 14
Rough Robin 17 7
PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES. 267
Dvvts. Grs.
Elisha 17 17
Glorious 18 21
Whipper-in 17 9
Emperor 17 12
Ploughboy 15 12
PlimBob 17 12
Nonsuch 17 7
Sampson 17 1
Patriot 18 13
Rifleman 18 0
Lord Hill 16 11
Lord Ward 15 0
Cheshire Man 18 21
Polander 16 18
Spanking Roger 16 14
Father Belts 16 2J
Warwickshire Lad 16 0
Roman Rig 15 10
Moorcock 17 6
Earl Grosvenor 15 9
Duke of Leeds 16 0
N.B. — Heaviest Red Berry (Seedling), Foxhunter,
25 dwts. 2 grs. Nantwich Meeting, grown by John
Bratherton, Cheshire.
N 2
263 PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES.
YELLOW.
D\vts. Grs.
Rockvvood 22 9
Nelson's Waves 20 9
Viper 21 4
Delight 22 7
Queen 18 3
Chain IS 6
Golden Sovereign 2i 1
Cottage Girl 19 16
Invincible 16 8
Gunner 18 4
Trafalgar 1 16 , 16
Conquering Hero 18 IS
Regulator 17 13
Cheshire Cheese 17 8
Smuggler 16 20
Swing'em 16 0
Ringleader 16 4
Husbandman 15 21
Diamond 19 16
Radical 19 15
Ville de Paris 15 21
Don Cossack 17 16
Bottom Sawyer 17 6
Ruleall 16 4
Sir Charles Wolseley 14 12
PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES. 269
Dwts. Grs.
Banger 15 0
Blacksmith 16 3
Tim Bobbin 15 5
Wedge *. 16 20
Scorpion 17 3
Purse , ... 13 12
Bunker's Hill 16 12
Duke of Waterloo 15 0
Medal 15 2
Fleece 17 12
Highlander 14 14
Lord Suffield 13 3
Favourite 11 11
Colonel Holden 14 22
Emperor of Russia 12 19
Self- Interest 16 10
Union 14 3
Gourd 15 2
Overseer 15 12
Rattlesnake 14 12
N. B. — Heaviest Yellow Berry, Rockwood, 22 dwts.
9 grs., Heywood Meeting, grown by Joseph Clegg,
near Rochdale, Lancashire.
270 PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES.
GREEN.
Dwts. Grs.
Ocean 19 11
Greenhood 17 16
Independent 16 11
Jolly Angler 19 14
Favourite 18 1
Troubler 17 5
Laurel 16 0
Mountain 17 10
Elijah 18 20
Lively Green 17 17
Wistaston Hero 17 14
Jolly Tar 16 9
Merryman 16 6
Farmer 17 7
Peover Pecker 16 10
No Bribery 16 0
Evergreen 15 0
Southwell Hero 14 20
Nelson 13 14
Green Dragon 14 7
Profit1 17 17
Chisel 13 0
Waterloo 17 11
Bellingham 17 4
Rough Robin 15 11
Captain Greenhall 14 12
PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES. 271
Dwts. Grs.
Green Ralson 13 19
Green Anchor 13 0
Glory of Ratcliff 11 20
Toper 13 0
Derby Ram 15 1
Fair Play 14 0
Jolly Cobler , 13 8
Wistaston Green 14 0
Nathaniel's Pride 12 11J
Liberty 13 2
Star 14 18
Green Bag 14 8
Dr. Crompton 12 11
N. B. — Heaviest Green Berry (Seedling), Green
Willow, 19 dwts. 20 grs., Nantwich Meeting, grown
by Joseph Bratherton, Cheshire.
WHITE.
Wellington's Glory 18 22
Thrasher 19 0
Queen Anne 17 17
Nailer 18 0
Smiling Beauty 17 16
Bonny Lass 18 0
Cheshire Lass . . , 16 6
272 PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES.
Dtvts. Grs.
Toper 16 12
Ferotrate 16 15
Queen Caroline 19 1G
Conquering Hero 11 7
Dusty Miller 16 9
Reformer 16 12
White Lion 16 ] 3j
Sheba Queen 15 H
Lady Delamere 18 5
Counsellor Brougham 15 6
Bonny Landlady 15 0
Merry Lass . .^ 16 0
Queen Mary 17 2
Maid of the Mill 14 0
Whitesmith 13 7
Marchioness of Downshire 16 4
Redress 15 7
White Rock 17 15
Venture 15 1
Republican 16 12
Northern Hero 13 0
Queen Charlotte 14 13
Lovely Lass 15 IS
Pillar of Beauty 14 7J
Honesty 14 28
Great Britain 13 0
Fair Rosamond 13 16
Beauty of England 13 3J
PRIZE GOOSEBERRIES. 273
Dwts. Grs.
Governess 18 21
Luck's All 16 5
Packington Hero 12 21
Ram 13 19
Hall's Conqueror 13 18
Milk-Maid 12 22
Rockgetter 14 0
Fowler 14 0
Transparent 13 9
White Flower 12 6
Heaviest White Berry (Seedling), Princess Royal,
22 dwts. 3 grs., Nantwich Meeting, grown by John
Bratherton, Cheshire.
5
( 274 )
NOTICE EXTRAORDINARY.
' Non semper idem floribus est houos
Vernis.' HORACE.
To the ladies and gentlemen who take pleasure in
the flower-garden, this officious intimation is hereby
given, in the name and in the behalf of all the
florists in Great Britain.
That as much as the poor, sickly, half-starved,
ragged, disconsolate man differs from the same man
when prosperous, well-fed, well-clothed, in health,
cheerful, and at his ease, so much does the healthy,
well-cultivated flower differ from the same flower
when neglected, and planted in barren and improper
soil. In vain will the same man exclaim, ' I am he,
I am the man ; ' no one will believe him, scarce any
one will know him — he is the world's scorn. So it
is often the case with a flower, when in the hands of
a florist, and again when in the care of some gentle-
NOTICE EXTRAORDINARY. 275
man or lady's bungling gardener — the flower is no
longer acknowledged to be the same flower : thus
reproach is very often unmeritedly incurred by the
florist.
By way of recapitulation, then, be it added, that
one-third fresh loam or maiden-earth, two-thirds
frame-dung, with one-sixth of the whole, dried road-
grit or sand, put together in the autumn, and fre-
quently turned in the winter, will form a compost in
which almost any plant will thrive in the spring and
summer following; and whoever manages to keep
his plants in health, and in a vigorous state of
growth, will never fail to have a generous bloom.
Valete.
THE END.
LONDON?
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