delicate tints of lilac-blue. This and White Perfection were of the long-leaved kind.
The purest white seen was in the exhibit of Vilmorin Andrieux et Cie., Paris. It was appropriately named Purity, being perfect in its tone of white. The flowers were of good size, though not of the largest, the truss well placed amid green leaves on purple stems. Many flowers of Mont Blanc, in the same lot, were nearly of as pure a white, but some were faintly blushed with pink, as were some good ones of this name in the exhibit of William Bull, Chelsea, England. The Avalanche, from Mr. Bull, was a large and beautiful white, one of the best. Another good white, Filicina alba, was in the exhibit of Henry Metle, Qiiedlinburg. The plants were tall and strong, abundant bloomers, flowers of fair size, and fern leaved foliage. Other good strains in the sets from Paris were Grand Rose and Grand Blanc Carne, both large-flowered, the pale corolla of the latter with a flush of pink. In the exhibit of Mr. Bull may also be mentioned Pink Beauty, a very handsome pink, with flowers of medium size, those on the lower branches too much covered by leaves for the best effect; Comet, a showy red ; Fulgens, a bright red, with the margins of the petals a little dotted with white,and slightly of the punctate order.
In the exhibit of John Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, London, were a number of good double-flowered kinds. Macros alba plena showed pinkish white flowers and long leaves. Marmorata plena was a double reddish white, the flowers prettily splashed and colored with red or dark pink. The best red in this collection, Chiswick Red, carried very large flowers of a rich dark red, inclining to purple, the greenish eye encircled with a narrow band of white. They were fine, thrifty plants, with large leaves and prolific umbels. The same strain in the lot of Farquhar & Co. was about as good. Crimson, sent by Kelway & Son, Langport, England, was another very bright red, and Vermilion, from Carter & Co., red, and a little punctate.
The Dark Red of Rupp & Son showed well. There were several reds of the Kerrnesina sort, some quite coppery, and with slight metallic reflections. These, with the salmon reds, carmines, scarlets, purples and other shades, showed the multiplicity of tints into which the color of the original stock had been varied. Dainty flowers of the punctate kind were frequent, with two or three rows of white dots quite regularly placed near their margins, but occasionally scattered. The flowers were generally small, but abundant.
There were blues and lavenders in most of the exhibits which attracted much attention. It is‘barely ten years since the blue race of Chinese Primroses with fringed corollas was established, but the display here made shows that the color is fixed, and comes true from seed. Carter & Co. showed two excellent kinds, London Blue and Porcelain Blue, both large flowered. Haase & Schmidt, of Erfurt, had fine ones labeled Coerulea. Another was the Blue of Vilmorin-Andrieux & Cie., with purple foliage.
A few sets were seen of a different character, the flaked or striated. They were mainly white-flowered, with lines and spots of various shades of red, in form and size varying from dots and lines to spots covering a petal or even half of the corolla. The colors were mostly too irregularly placed to be harmonious and pleasing, but may point the way to some striking variegated forms. Some plants in the exhibit showed possibilities of yellow flowers by enlarging the yellow of the throat. One in particular was noticed, Oculata lutea (Laing & Son), a singular form of this character, having a large yellow spot enclosed by a border of white or white tinged with red. Even the foliage had a yellow cast.
The most peculiar exhibit was that of Hillebrand & Bredemeier, Italy. They were very distinct in foliage, with leaves remarkably crisped, their lobules having the parenchyma very full, so as to be formed into a frill or ruffle. To some extent this characterizes the calyx also. The leaves are symmetrical in form, from oval to oblonge in some cases, their color varying from pale green to dark purple. They are beautiful-leaved plants, as handsome and decorative in their way as are the fine-flowered kinds. The flowers are generally single, mostly small, and often without the fimbriated margin. One of the most crisped was Candidissima, white-flowered and with purple foliage. Carnea has flesh colored corollas, the yellow eye enlarged and star-shaped, and the foliage green. A view of these plants led one to think that the perfect Primrose would be one combining the crisped leaves of the Italian growers with the fine flowers seen in the collections from northern Europe.
Too much praise can hardly be given to Mr. John Thorpe for the cultural skill which has brought forward this immense collection in such uniform health and vigor.
E. J. Hill, Englewood, Chicago, Ill. (1893)