The street-sellers of cut flowers present characteristics peculiarly their own. This trade is mostly in the hands of girls, who are of two classes. This traffic ranks with the street sale of water-cresses and congreves, that is to say, among the lowest grades of the street-trade, being pursued only by the very poor, or the very young.
Of the Quantity of Shrubs, “Roots,” Flowers, etc., sold in the Streets, and of the Buyers.
The returns which I caused to be procured, to show the extent of the business carried on in the metropolitan markets, give the following results as to the quantity of trees, shrubs, flowers, roots, and branches, sold wholesale in London, as well as the proportion retailed in the streets.
TABLE SHOWING THE QUANTITY OF TREES, SHRUBS, FLOWERS, ROOTS, AND BRANCHES SOLD ANNUALLY, WHOLESALE, AT THE METROPOLITAN MARKETS, AND THE PROPORTION RETAILED IN THE STREETS.[6]
| Covent Garden. | Farringdon. | Total. | Proportion sold to Costers. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trees and Shrubs. | |||||
| Firs | 400 | doz. roots | 400 | 800 | One-third. |
| Laurels | 480 | „ | 480 | 960 | One-third. |
| Myrtles | 1,440 | „ | 1,120 | 2,560 | One-fourth. |
| Rhododendrons | 288 | „ | 256 | 544 | One-ninth. |
| Lilac | 192 | „ | 192 | 384 | One-sixth. |
| Box | 288 | „ | 192 | 480 | One-sixth. |
| Heaths (of all kinds) | 1,600 | „ | 1,440 | 3,040 | One-fifth. |
| Broom and Furze | 544 | „ | 480 | 1,024 | One-fourth. |
| Laurustinus | 400 | „ | 320 | 720 | One-fourth. |
| Southernwood (Old Man) | 960 | „ | 480 | 1,440 | One-half. |
| Flowers (in Pots). | |||||
| Roses (Moss) | 1,200 | doz. pots | 960 | 2,160 | One-half. |
| Ditto (China) | 1,200 | „ | 960 | 2,160 | One-half. |
| Fuchsias | 1,200 | „ | 960 | 2,160 | One-half. |
| Flower Roots. | |||||
| Primroses | 600 | doz. roots | 400 | 1,000 | One-half. |
| Polyanthus | 720 | „ | 720 | 1,440 | One-half. |
| Cowslips | 720 | „ | 480 | 1,200 | One-half. |
| Daisies | 800 | „ | 600 | 1,400 | One-half. |
| Wallflowers | 960 | „ | 960 | 1,920 | One-half. |
| Candytufts | 720 | „ | 480 | 1,200 | One-half. |
| Daffodils | 720 | „ | 480 | 1,200 | One-half. |
| Violets | 1,200 | „ | 1,200 | 2,400 | One-third. |
| Mignonette | 2,000 | „ | 1,800 | 3,800 | One-sixth. |
| Stocks | 1,600 | „ | 1,280 | 2,880 | One-sixth. |
| Pinks and Carnations | 480 | „ | 320 | 800 | One-half. |
| Lilies of the Valley | 144 | „ | 144 | 288 | One-fourth. |
| Pansies | 600 | „ | 480 | 1,080 | One-fourth. |
| Lilies and Tulips | 152 | „ | 128 | 280 | One-ninth. |
| Balsam | 320 | „ | 320 | 640 | One-sixth. |
| Calceolarii | 360 | „ | 240 | 600 | One-ninth. |
| Musk-plants | 5,760 | „ | 4,800 | 10,560 | One-half. |
| London Pride | 400 | „ | 320 | 720 | One-third. |
| Lupins | 960 | „ | 640 | 1,600 | One-third. |
| China-asters | 450 | „ | 400 | 850 | One-sixth. |
| Marigolds | 5,760 | „ | 4,800 | 10,560 | One-eighth. |
| Dahlias | 80 | „ | 80 | 160 | One-ninth. |
| Heliotrope | 800 | „ | 480 | 1,280 | One-sixth. |
| Michaelmas Daisies | 216 | „ | 216 | 432 | One-third. |
| Flowers (cut). | |||||
| Violets | 1,440 | doz. bunches | 1,280 | 2,720 | One-half. |
| Wallflowers | 3,200 | „ | 1,600 | 4,800 | One-half. |
| Lavender (green and dry) | 1,600 | „ | 1,200 | 4,120[7] | One-half. |
| Pinks | 720 | „ | 600 | 1,320 | One-third. |
| Mignonette | 2,000 | „ | 1,600 | 3,600 | One-half. |
| Lilies of the Valley | 180 | „ | 160 | 340 | One-tenth. |
| Moss Roses | 2,000 | „ | 1,600 | 3,600 | One-third. |
| China ditto | 2,000 | „ | 1,600 | 3,600 | One-third. |
| Stocks | 800 | „ | 480 | 1,280 | One-third. |
| Branches. | |||||
| Holly | 840 | doz. bundles | 720 | 1,640[7] | One-half. |
| Mistletoe | 800 | „ | 640 | 1,560[7] | One-half. |
| Ivy and Laurel | 360 | „ | 280 | 740[7] | One-half. |
| Lilac | 96 | „ | 64 | 150 | One-half. |
| Palm | 12 | „ | 8 | 28[7] | One-half. |
| May | 30 | „ | 20 | 70[7] | One-half. |
Perhaps the pleasantest of all cries in early spring is that of “All a-growing—all a-blowing” heard for the first time in the season. It is that of the “root-seller” who has stocked his barrow with primroses, violets, and daisies. Their beauty and fragrance gladden the senses; and the first and, perhaps, unexpected sight of them may prompt hopes of the coming year, such as seem proper to the spring.
Cobbett has insisted, and with unquestioned truth, that a fondness for bees and flowers is among the very best characteristics of the English peasant. I consider it equally unquestionable that a fondness for in-door flowers, is indicative of the good character and healthful tastes, as well as of the domestic and industrious habits, of the city artizan. Among some of the most intelligent and best-conducted of these artizans, I may occasionally have found, on my visits to their homes, neither flowers nor birds, but then I have found books.
United with the fondness for the violet, the wallflower, the rose—is the presence of the quality which has been pronounced the handmaiden of all the virtues—cleanliness. I believe that the bunch of violets, on which a poor woman or her husband has expended 1d., rarely ornaments an unswept hearth. In my investigations, I could not but notice how the presence or absence of flowers, together with other indications of the better tastes, marked the difference between the well-paid and the ill-paid workman. Concerning the tailors, for instance, I had occasion to remark, of the dwellings of these classes:—“In the one, you occasionally find small statues of Shakspere beneath glass shades; in the other, all is dirt and fœtor. The working-tailor’s comfortable first-floor at the West-end is redolent with the perfume of the small bunch of violets that stands in a tumbler over the mantel-piece; the sweater’s wretched garret is rank with the stench of filth and herrings.” The presence of the bunch of flowers of itself tells us of “a better state of things” elevating the workman; for, amidst the squalid poverty and fustiness of a slopworker’s garret, the nostril loses its daintiness of sense, so that even a freshly fragrant wallflower is only so many yellow petals and green leaves.