JOUENAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Febnutry 8, 1872. 



G. London Market. — The gi'eat London market Cabbage. 

 Distinct. Leaves large, round, broad, with thick midribs, and 

 forming large, solid, roundish, somewhat pointed hearts. 

 Dwai'f . The best yariety to sow in July for early summer use. 

 The following are a few of the synonymes : — Fulham, Batter- 

 sea, Vanack, Enfield Market, Emperor, Mitchell's Prince Al- 

 bert, Wellington, Sheppard's Manow, Shilling's Queen, East 

 Ham, King of the Cabbages, Cattell's Reliance, and Champion. 



7. St. John's Day Eaelt Dwaef Decmhead (Chou Jounnet). 

 — yexy dwarf. Heads large, flat, like the Drumhead or Cattle 

 Cabbage. Very crisp and tender. A most excellent Cabbage 

 for autumn use. Sow in April, and plant in rich groimd 15 or 

 18 inches apai't for September and late autumn use. 



8. WiNNiGSTAET. — Dwarf stem. Heads large, broad at the 

 base, tapei-ing or conical, very hard. BoUs Tery tender. Leaves 

 glaucous. Unprepossessing at first. Exceedingly good in dry 

 summers. Sow in July or August for use the following July 

 and August. It requii'es much the same treatment as Red 

 Cabbage. 



9. Pomeranian. — Stem tall. Heads exceedingly long, pointed, 

 'becoming very hard. Excelleut. Somewhat in appearance 

 like the Wirmigstadt, but taller, more pointed, and having the 

 leaves pale green, not glaucous. 



10. Drumhead. — Tall. Heads very large, flat. Plant ex- 

 ceedingly robust. Coarse, scarcely admissible as a garden 

 Cabbage. 



11. Portugal Cabbage (Couve Troncliuda). — Very distinct. 

 Leaves large, pale green, with very thick fleshy white midribs, 

 which cook like Sea-kale. Hearts sometimes close and firm. 

 Flowers white. iSow in spring for autumn use. 



12. Yaugibakd. — An interesting variety, coming into use in 

 winter. Rather coarse. Heads of mediimi size, flattened. 

 Leaves sUghtly tinged w^ith brown. 



In addition to these we have the Coleworts, the Savoy Cabbages, 

 and the Red Cabbages. The above, therefore, represent the 

 most distinct tj-pes of garden Cabbages. Of No. 1, Early York, 

 there are several forms, but all casUy recognised ; also No. 4, 

 Sugarloaf, is quite distinct. Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 6 all more or 

 less resemble one another, and form the main body of what 

 we term WTiite Cabbages. 



We could extend the list of names and our remarks further, 

 "Were it neeessarj-, and give selections of varieties from the 

 ■seed catalogues before us, stating the type to which each be- 

 longs, but we think we have said enough to show that there 

 are not many distinct forms of Cabbages, that two-thu-ds of the 

 names found in commerce are appUed to mere variations, 

 more or less pure, of the great London Market Cabbage of 

 Covent Garden. — B. 



AURICULA GOSSIP. 



Now that the time for promoting the spring growth of this 

 lovely flower has an'ived, and all growers of it will soon be 

 busy top-dressing — an operation I never leave to other hands 

 than my own — it may not be unseasonable to say a few words 

 about the Auricula and its prospects. And I do this the rather 

 as I have received during the past week letters from my old 

 correspondent Mr. George Lightbody and from a brother cler- 

 gyman, imknowu to me personally, but the son of one who 

 in former days stood high in the rank of florists, and whose 

 coUeetion of Tuhps and Auriculas was known thi-onghout 

 England. 



There is, I think, from what I see and hear from others, a 

 prospect of a good bloom this spring. The very mild winter 

 that we have had has been a favourable one for the flower, 

 ■where cai'e has been taken to keep out wet and to give air on 

 all possible occasions. I have never had my own collection in 

 better health or showing more promise of a good bloom, and 

 I hear the same report from others. May we not hope, then, 

 that at the April Show at Kensington we shall find a beautiful 

 an'ay to delight all lovers of the flower, and, it may be, astonish 

 outsiders ? One thing we ma}' rest assured of — that from the 

 collection of Mr. Turner, of Slough, there will be a magnificent 

 display staged. The Slough .Auriculas have been long famous, 

 and now they have attained an extent in amount and quality 

 ■which we may fau'ly say is unequalled. During the autumn 

 he became the possessor of a large collection belonging to a 

 gi'ower near Glasgow, containing between five and six hundred 

 plants of all the best known varieties ; whUe he had previously 

 purchased the collection of that veteran grower, Mr. Headley, 

 of Stapleford, the raiser of George Lightbody, Conductor, &c., 

 and in this are, I have reason to beheve, some remarkably fine 



seedlings, especially amongst green edges, so that here ■will be 

 a treat in itself for the lovers of the Auricula. 



The mention of seedlings reminds me that some of our oldest 

 raisers are rething from the field. Campbell, of Falkirk, the 

 raiser of Pizarro, Lord Palmerston, Robert Bums, d-c, who is 

 now seventy-three, ■will sow no more seed. He has been work- 

 ing indefatigably for the last twenty years to obtain crimson 

 selfs with a good paste from old Lord Lee, and now beUeves 

 that he has succeeded. Then Mr. Lightbody also gives up; 

 he is well known as the raiser of Richard Headley, Fair Flora, 

 Lord Clyde, A-c. Mr. Robert Traill, another veteran grower, 

 the raiser of Maj'flower, General NeiU, ttc, also retires from 

 the field ; and last, but not least, Mr. Headley. It shows the 

 difficulty of raising seedlings of any moment, that these growers, 

 who have been for thirty or forty years engaged in thus raising 

 seedlings, have only left some half-dozen varieties of any note 

 in the catalogues, and even of these some will be perhajDS dis- 

 placed by-and-by. It is an honour, then, to be the raiser of a 

 good Auricula, and testifies to patient endurance and perse- 

 verance ; and let us hope that both north and south of the 

 Tweed the mantle of these patient workers may fall on some 

 who "will be ready to take up the work. 



There is one 'disadvantage connected with it — ^years must 

 elapse before a seedling that passes muster can be distributed 

 to the public, and then only in small quantities. You cannot 

 propagate an Auricula as you can a Pansy or a Verbena ; it 

 ■will " gang its aiu gait," and some sorts are very shy indeed 

 in jiroducing offsets. Hence it is that a flower like Colonel 

 Taylor, which is forty or fifty years out, will stiU fetch half a 

 guinea. On the other hand, there is the advantage that one 

 is not for ever recasting one's stock, while the necessity for 

 adding new varieties is much less than in any other florist's 

 flower with which I am acquainted. How few of the Dahlias, 

 Hollyhocks, or Pausies, of twenty years ago even, are culti- 

 vated now ! 



At my last repotting in August (for after all I believe that 

 to be the best time for the operation ; I have tried May, but it 

 did not seem to succeed so well) — I used much less rich com- 

 post than I have hitherto done, and, as far as I can see as yet, 

 with manifestly good results. Amongst my small stock I see 

 a good deal of health, and my winter losses have been compa- 

 ratively nothing, while I find the pots well filled with roots ; 

 and now, with a good top-dressing of sheep's manure well 

 rotted, I hope to have a ■vigorous bloom. There is one thing 

 I am especially anxious to avoid, and that is coarseness ; for 

 one of the greatest charms of the Auricula is its refinement ; 

 and when by overfeeding and stimulants this is lost, I think 

 the result is fat;il to this special beauty of the flower. I think 

 at some of oui' metropohtan shows a mistake has been made 

 in allowing plants to be shown ■with two trusses. In old days 

 the symmetry of the plant as well as the beauty of the flower 

 used to be considered, and when plants were shown in pairs 

 an equality in the style of growth was insisted upon also. It 

 may sound veiy well to have Auriculas like Cabbages with 

 large overlapping leaves, but I think that the neat, stiff, sym- 

 metrical foliage is far more to be sought after. It is the same 

 as with the Hyacinth. Surely the stiff erect foliage is more 

 to be dcsu-ed than the limp leaves which require to be tied up 

 to prevent them falling over the sides of the pot. I think, 

 too, the plan of showing an overcrowded truss is bad. I have 

 seen them with as many as fifteen pips. Now, I believe one 

 with a truss of seven, or at most nine pips, is a prettier object. 

 All these, which I believe to be defects in sho^wing, come from 

 the idea, too prevalent now-a-days, that size is the test of 

 excellence of growth. 



It would only be reiterating an oft-told tale were I to mention 

 which I consider to be the best varieties, and novelties are so 

 few that they give one but little trouble. We shall probably see 

 some this season from the Stapleford stock ; while of Alpines, 

 however pretty they may be and are, I must, as a bigoted old 

 florist, say they vnil bear no comparison with the florists' 

 varieties. They are indeed to be had in abundance. Mr. 

 Turner has made a wonderful advance in them, but after all 

 they must hold a subordinate place iu the love of the Auricula- 

 giower. — ^D., Deal. 



MRS. PINCE'S MUSCAT GRAPE. 



After the excellent article of Mr. Foote, page 106, 1 shall 



be very glad if Mr. Meredith would give us his experience of 



this Grape, he ha^ving had it in cultivation for some years ; in 



fact, I know he has a house devoted entirely to this variety. 



