stable condition. Ornamental flowers are good for this purpose, as
they are highly variable, and are carefully observed. All
floriculturists are unanimous that certain varieties are affected by
very slight differences in the nature of the artificial compost in
which they are grown, and by the natural soil of the district, and by
the season. Thus, a skilful judge, in writing on Carnations and
Picotees,[656] asks "where can Admiral Curzon be seen possessing the
colour, size, and strength which it has in Derbyshire? Where can
Flora's Garland be found equal to those at Slough? Where do
high-coloured flowers revel better than at Woolwich and Birmingham? Yet
in no two of these districts do the same varieties attain an equal
degree of excellence, although each may be receiving the attention of
the most skilful cultivators." The same writer then recommends every
cultivator to keep five different kinds of soil and manure, "and to
endeavour to suit the respective appetites of the plants you are
dealing with, for without such attention all hope of general success
will be vain." So it is with the Dahlia:[657] the Lady Cooper rarely
succeeds near London, but does admirably in other districts; the
reverse holds good with other varieties; and again, there are others
which succeed equally well in various situations. A skilful
gardener[658] states that he procured cuttings of an old and well-known
variety (pulchella) of Verbena, which from having been propagated in a
different situation presented a slightly different shade of colour; the
two varieties were afterwards multiplied by cuttings, being carefully
kept distinct; but in the second year they could hardly be
distinguished, and in the third year no one could distinguish them.

The nature of the season has an especial influence on certain varieties
of the Dahlia: in 1841 two varieties were pre-eminently good, and the
next year these same two were pre-eminently bad. A famous amateur[659]
asserts that in 1861 many varieties of the Rose came so untrue in
character, "that it was hardly possible to recognise them, and the
thought was not seldom entertained that the grower had lost his tally."
The same amateur[660] states that in 1862 two-thirds of his Auriculas
produced central trusses of flowers, and these are remarkable from not
keeping true; {274} and h