CULT OF FLOWERS.
The cult of flowers advances at an almost breathless speed. The industry in both plants and seed is already enormous. At Southport recently £10,000 was taken at one show, attended by 80,000 people ; and some trade exhibitors were snowed under with orders. All recorded attendances were excelled at the show. I met a few years ago an amateur- professional who had exhibited for the first time at Chelsea ; and he said to me in effect : " What am I to do ? I have taken sixty orders for my dwarf rose ; and there aren't a dozen in the country ! " The North of England has proved itself even more embarrassingly eager ; and perhaps is becoming more zealous for flowers than the flower-loving South. Yet I think I never saw a keener crowd in any flower tent than recently at Hayward's Heath. On the subject of plants I made some reference to a hedge-plant, named Pyracantha Rogersii (not Rodgeri, as Mr. Rogers points out). It may interest those who are concerned with this new and attractively berried bush that cuttings have taken well, though they spent twelve hours on the railway after gathering. The heel- cuttings did best. * * * *
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