Journal of hortigcjlture and cottage gardener. 



t May S, 1871 



it belongs. It it increaecd by dhieion of the roots, and grows 

 freely in loamy soil. 



THE NATIONAL AURICULA SOCIETIS 

 SOUTHERN SHOW. 



This long-looked-for contest took place, as already stated in 

 the Jonrnal, on the •24th, and without doubt the Fates were 

 unpropitiouB. Seven exhibitors competed— five from the north 

 and two from the south ; the remarkably dieappointiDg weather 

 of the month of April preventing some others from entering 

 the lists. My own inability to exhibit was in some degree 

 attribntable to this, for although my earlier plants had fallen 

 a victim to disease, yet I had sufficient left to have enabled me 

 to have entered in some clasees had they not been so late. 

 And this was quite contrary to what had been anticipated. 

 In March the bloom promised to he an early one ; but although 

 the trusses got well up above the foliage and the buds increased 

 in size, there they remained — open they would not, and hence 

 eo many growers were unable to put in an appearance. Your 

 reporter's observations on the literature of florists' flowers are 

 quite just ; it depends very much on who makes the obeerva- 

 tions. My duty, however, at present must not be that of a 

 controversialist, but simply of a critic, first in a general way 

 and then in detail. 



As to the arrangements of the Show nothing could have 

 been better, although the Crystal Palace is hardly the place to 

 show off so small a flower as the Auricula, it is too overwhelm- 

 ing in its size. And as some of our Manchester friends were there 

 they will, I hope, see that to use, as on this occasion, smaller 

 pots and to have them neatly filled-in with moss is better 

 than to have the plants wobbling about in large pots ; while 

 it is better to place the undecorated flowers in regular order 

 rather than to have them higgledy-piggledy about on the tables. 

 Then as to the general character of the exhibits, they bore in 

 many instances unmistakeable evidence of having been sub- 

 jected to a higher temperature than the Auricula likes ; and 

 there were many plants which, had they not had their crutches, 

 would have been gracefully nodding to the visitors, so drawn 

 were the stems. As good Ben. Simonite said, they had been 

 obliged to boil them down to get them in. These observations 

 apply to both north and south, some even of the champion 

 grower's plants bearing evidence of it. No Auricula grower 

 would, I believe, subject his plants to a higher temperature 

 than that of an ordinary matted frame if he could help it. 

 Then as to that mest vital point the judging. Nothing could 

 have been more conscientious and painstaking in the classes 

 of Auriculas. The Alpines, Polyanthus, etc., had little charm 

 for me, and so I did not examine them minutely ; and I am 

 sure all true lovers of the flower must be indebted to Messrs. 

 Tymons and Parsons for their able services. When, then, the 

 flowers of our friend Mr. Horner occupied bo prominent a 

 position as they did, it may be assuredly gathered that they 

 had attained a high state of excellence. It is all very well for 

 him to say, with that modesty which is ever a characteristic 

 of a true man, tbat he deserves no thanks, that the breezy 

 moorland near which he lives and the mountain loam which 

 he can procure for his plants are the causes of his euocees ; 

 but no one who has read anything he has written but must 

 see that they are the objects of most loving care and skilful 

 attention, and that while situation may have something to do 

 with it, that something would be of little avail were it not sup- 

 plemented by those qualities which he so eminently possesses. 



And now with regard to individual flowers in the several 

 clasBes. In green edges I was agreeably disenchanted with 

 regard to one flower. Prince of Greens. Seeing it placed so 

 highly by such judges as Messrs. Horner and Simonite, aud 

 hearing that it was unattainable by ordinary mortals, it only 

 made one's mouth water to hear of it ; and although I was 

 somewhat doubtful of it last year at Manchester, I hardly 

 ventured to be heretic enough to go against such authorities 

 until I had seen more of it. Well, having now carefully ex- 

 amined, I honestly say I do not care about it. It has some 

 undeniably good points. The paste, edge, and colour are 

 excellent, but it has a wretched, watery, dead-looking tube 

 which takes all life out of the truss, and it has also very long 

 awkward footstalks, eo that the truss is very sprawling, the 

 pips being thrown about like a spider's legs. Traill's Anna, 

 on the other hand, I think quite deserves its position ; it is in 

 the style of Booth's Freedom and apparently a seedling from 

 it, with greater robustness of habit, and is a most useful exhi- 

 bition flower. Of the older kinds Page's Champion, Booth's 



Freedom, and Col. Taylor held their own; while amongst 

 those not yet in commerce was Simonite's TalismaD, with a 

 good green edge, black body colour — perhaps a little too much 

 of it, and with a good yellow tube. Passing to the grey edges, 

 here again novelty has to some extent, I think, run away with 

 sober judgment. I do not at all deny the beauty of Alexander 

 Meiklejohn, but I doubted last year whether it would be a beat 

 on George Lightbody, an opinion also given by my friend Mr. 

 Tjmoue, and I saw no reason to alter my judgment this year. 

 It is a very good flower, but still the premier flower is the 

 older one, and as such it obtained the premier prize of the 

 Show. George Levick is also a very good flower, but having 

 George Lightbody I should be content to be without it. Lan- 

 cashire's Lancashire Hero was grand ; indeed it was almost a 

 question whether the bloom exhibited by Mr. Simonite was 

 not the premier plant : it was almost a tie between it and 

 George Lightbody. Charles E. Brown was also shown very 

 well, and being a " great doer" is doubtless agreat acquisition 

 as an exhibition flower; it sometimes, as is the cate with 

 other grey edges, comes quite a green edge. Of William Brad- 

 shaw more must be seen before one can pronounce an opinion 

 upon it, save that it is a promising flower. 



White-edged flowers are a limited class, and some even of 

 the most cherished flowers will have a dash of grey. Rarely 

 is so pure a white-edge as Taylor's Glory to be met with ; 

 Smiling Beauty is good, but I think the edge of Smith's Ne 

 Plus Ultra is purer. There was a flower, however, exhibited 

 by Mr. Simonite which promises to be the best of its class, 

 Frank Simonite. " It ought," said the raiser, Ben. Simonite, 

 " not to be called after a boy, but he is a good little chap and 

 so he has a right to it. " Well said, daddy, and may the good 

 little chap be a comfort to you by-and-by. The flower is 

 grand, of fine habit, good stout stem, deep plum or violet body 

 colour, its one defect having too pale an eye, but though pale 

 it is not dead. The same raiser's Fanny Crossland is pretty, 

 and so is Walker's John Simonite, bright yellow tube — a grand 

 point, paste dense, body colour black, and edge pure white. 



Amongst selfa. Lord Lome, Duke of Argyle, Campbell's 

 newer crimson self8,were good; hut notwithstanding the com- 

 mendation bestowed on Ellen Lancaster, I do not think it 

 equal as a dark self to Pizarro when the latter can be had 

 without the paste cracking. Charles Perry and Spalding's 

 Metropolitan run one another very closely, but I think my 

 preference is to the latter flower, it having more substance in 

 it. Mr. Simonite had a crimson seedling which promises well. 

 These bright flowers are very valuable on a stage, as lighting- 

 up the darker varieties. Mr. Douglas's new Alpine Silvia is 

 undoubtedly a flower of great promise. 



In last week's Journal I said that perhaps after the Show I 

 should get a little enlightenment on the disease from which Mr. 

 Llewellyn and myself have suffered. I was glad to meet him, 

 and to find that he had been good enough to send some speci- 

 mens of the insect to Mr. Andrew Murray. I brought up one 

 of my plants which had been attacked to the Show, and Mr. 

 Llewellyn pronounced it to be identical with his; and as it is 

 not the Apple blight, but an allied species, one may hope not 

 to be inconvenienced by the marauder a second year ; at any 

 rate I shall be sharper on the look-out for him, and hope if he 

 does come to attack him in time. — D., Deal. 



Yeaks and years ago — how many ? Well, I think more than 

 forty — I used to go far out of my way to look at the florist 

 flowers in the window of the shop in front of Groom's Nursery 

 in the Walworth Koad, and well did I feel myself repaid for the 

 extra walk when I had the dehght of gazing through the glass 

 at a few Auriculas. Later on I saw Mr. Crook's then well- 

 known collection, Mr. Chappel's, and some others. From then 

 till now I have not ceased to see those flowers in my mind's 

 eye. Years rolled on, flower shows came and went, but there 

 were scarcely any or no Auriculas ; and the longing was still 

 strong within me to see a show of Auriculas. The old, old 

 sorts— the green, the grey, and the white- edged^all full of 

 marvellous beauty, all full of interest to the naturalist, the 

 artist, aud the florist. To the first as proving what can be 

 done by selection, to the second as flowers of fine and har- 

 monious colour and of exquisite form, and to the third (the 

 true florist) a thing of beauty and a constant joy and delight. 

 And is not the true florist a combination of all three ? He is a 

 lover of Nature, an artist in his idea, and a florist because he 

 loves beauty of form and colour exemplified in certain plants. 



The Auricula Show, hke many other flower shows, has come 

 aud gone, but nnhke them it has left its mark. It astonished 



