tubes, and altogether a total absence of brilliancy and beauty. Bulbs are bulbs, and so they stand no chance of being thrown away while people will buy bulbs. They will pass through twenty hands, only to be thrown away by each as soon as they are seen in flower; those who cultivate them should never buy without seeing them in bloom, and as soon as they can get any that at all approach the standard, by being short in the tube, wide in the mouth, broad at the portions divided, and not sharp pointed, they should save seed, and look for better.

PROPERTIES OF THE DAHLIA.

1. The flower should be a perfect circle when viewed in front, the petals should be broad at the ends, smooth at the edges, thick in substance, perfectly free from indenture or point, stiff to hold its form; it should cup a little, but not enough to show the under surface. They should be in regular rows, forming an outline of a perfect circle, without any vacancy between them, and all in the circle should be the same size, uniformly opened to the same shape, and not crumpled.

2. The flower should form two-thirds of a ball

when looked at sideways. The rows of petals should rise one above another symmetrically; every petal should cover the join of the two petals under it—what the florists call imbricating, by which means the circular appearance is perfected throughout.

3. The centre should be perfect, the unbloomed petals laying with their points towards the centre, should form a button, and should be the highest part of the flower completing the ball.

4. The flower should be symmetrical. The petals should open boldly, without showing their under side, even when half opened, and should form circular rows, uniformly laid, evenly opened, and enlarging by degrees to the outer row of all,

5. The flower should be very double. The rows of petals laying one above another should cover one another very nearly; not more should be seen in depth than half the breadth; the more they are covered, so as to leave them distinct, the better in that respect the petals, therefore, though cupped, must be shallow.

6. The size of the flower, when well grown, should be four inches diameter, and not more than six.

7. The colour should be dense, whatever it be not as if it were a white dipped in colour, but as if the whole flower was coloured throughout. Whether tipped or edged, it must be free from splashes or blotches, or indefinite marks of any kind; and new flowers, unless they beat all old ones of the same colour, or are of a novel colour themselves, with a majority of the points of excellence, should be rejected.

If the petals show the under side too much, even when looked at sideways—if they do not cover each other well-if the centre is composed of petals, points upwards, or those which are round

the centre are confused-if the petals are too deep and funnel-like—if the petals are too narrow, or exhibit too much of their length-or if they show any of the green scale at the bottoms of the petals--if the eye is sunk-if the shoulder is too high, the face flat, or the sides too upright-if the petals show an indenture as if heart-shapedif the petals are too large and coarse, or are flimsy, or do not hold their form-in any or all these cases the flowers are objectionable; and if there be one or two of these faults conspicuous, the flower is second or third rate.

If flowers are exhibited which show the disc, or a green scale, or have been eaten by vermin, or damaged by carriage, or are evidently decayed, the censors should reject them at once.

PROPERTIES OF THE POLYANTHUS.

The flower of the polyanthus, like that of the auricula, is formed of one petal only, but, being divided at the edge, it appears like five or six petals.

OF THE PIP.

1. The single pip or flower should be perfectly flat and round, and be slightly scolloped on the edge, and three quarters of an inch diameter.

2. It should be divided in six places, forming six apparent flower leaves, each of which should be indented in the centre to make it a kind of heart-shaped end; but the divisions must not reach the yellow eye.

3. The indenture in the centre of the apparent flower-leaves, should be exactly the same depth as the indenture formed by the join of these flower-leaves so that it should not be known, by the form of the flower, which is the actual division and which is the indenture; in other words, which is the side and which the centre of the flower-leaf, and all the indentures should be as slight as possible to preserve the character. The tube should be one-fifth of the whole width of the flower, and stand up at the edge, above the surface of the yellow eye.

4. The flower should be divided thus-the yellow tube in the centre being measured, the yellow eye, round the tube, should be the same width as its diameter; and the ground colour of the flower should be the same: or draw with the compasses, opened to a sixteenth of an inch apart, a circle for the tube or centre; open them to three sixteenths, and draw another circle for the eye, then open them further to five sixteenths, and draw a third circle for the ground or dark colour.* Beyond these circles there is a yellow lacing, which should reach round every flower-leaf to the yellow eye, and down the centre of every petal to the eye, and so much like the edging that the flower should appear to have twelve similar petals. The ends of these twelve should be blunted, and rounded like so many semi-circles, so that the outline of the circle should be interrupted as little as possible.

* This measure is for a flower only five-eighths of an inch diameter, but it is the easiest to explain the proportions.

5. The tube should be nearly filled up with the six anthers, which are technically called the thrum, and the flower should not exhibit the pistil.*

6. The edging round and down the centre of the leaves formed by the divisions, should be of even width all the way, and universally of the same shade of sulphur, lemon, or yellow as the eye, and there must by no means be two shades of yellow in the eye.

7. The ground colour should be just what any body likes best, but clear, well defined, perfectly smooth at the edges inside next the eye, to form a circle; and outside, next the lacing: a black or a crimson ground, being scarce, is desirable; but the quality of the colour as to clearness, rather than the colour itself, constitutes the property.

OF THE PLANT.

1. The stem should be strong, straight, elastic,. and from four to six inches in length.

2. The footstalks of the flowers should be of such length as to bring all the flowers well together.

3. The truss should comprise seven or more flowers, and be neatly arranged to be seen all at

once.

4. The foliage should be short, broad, thick, and cover the pot well.

* Some Polyanthuses show the pistil only, and are called pin-eyed: these are considered worthless.