October 2-1, 1835. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



339 



Rucceeil tlic harvest supper, the oponiug and evidently legiti- 

 mate oue of the evening being — 



" Hort's a malstor'ii good hoiiUli, boyg, 

 Anil drink u' yer bu-o-c-c-cr, 

 Heru'fi 11 missus' good bt'ilUh, boys, 

 Sho pcrwidos us good cbc-e-e-u-er, &c." 



You will porcpivn that the words beor and cheer are con- 

 tinued alnuist ad inliiiitiim—m fact, as long as each singer has 

 any breath left. Other songs follow, either iu the sentimental 

 or comic strain as miiy suit tlie tastes of the company assembled, 

 or of the singer for the time being. The master, mistress, 

 children, inul dependunts are generally present at these gather- 

 ings to offer their good wishes, and also contribute some sub- 

 stantial proof of their good will, in tlie shape of half-crowns, 

 shillings, or smaller coin. The moon being fully risen a sceno 

 commences which ahvay.^ awakes iu my mind a hniging to 

 fathom its antiquity and origin, certainly it is very impressive. 

 On the lawu, or some convenient grass space in front of the 

 liouso, are asseml)k>d our half-inebriated sons of toil, and from 

 the hall-door or windows all the imniites of the house are 

 gathered together to witness this curious spectacle. The men 

 stand iu a semicircle around the bailiff, or head man, who 

 faces them, waiting reverently until he has thrown up his face 

 towards the sky, shouting in bis loudest tones, and jiausing 

 upon each word, as if invoking some unseen Deity, " Holla 

 lar," " holla lar," " holla lar." Immediately he and tlie men 

 around bow down their heads until they almost touch the 

 ground, aud all together utter the almost un.writable words, 

 '• Jah bah." This scene is en.acted three times, and it is scarcely 

 oi-edible the distauce which the sound of these largess gather- 

 ings can be heard. In the holy stillness of a summer night I 

 heard the voices of two sets of men in different directions, one 

 of them proceeding from a farm at a village four miles off 

 across the valley. — Alice. 



EEMINISCENCES OF AN OLD FLORIST. 

 I wi;ll remember Mr. Keynes telling us, at a florist's dinner, 

 how he pawned his watch, unknown to his father, to buy his 

 first Collection of Pinks ; but I managed it without that ; and 

 it is remarkable how, after more than fifty-tv.o years, I could 

 go to the garden where I grew them and point out the spot to 

 a few inches. The leading varieties at that time (1813) were 

 Midshipman, I believe, a red variety, aud Davy's Eclipse, black 

 and white. The Pinks of those days would now scarcely be 

 grown as border-iiowerB. Mr. Bow, of Broughton, near Man- 

 chester, above forty years ago, became a Fink-grower, and, 

 being a man who, by his own energies, had pushed himself into 

 a position, turned those energies to ffowers ; and his gardener, 

 under his directions, raised many Pinks, which for a time 

 eclipsed those in cultivation, and led the way to greater im- 

 provement. Falkuer's Duke of St. Albans became, as it was 

 termed, a clipper, and eclipsed all the purple-laced ones for 

 many years, until now it is consigned to oblivion, aud I question 

 if it could be obtained, although its only fault was serrated 

 edges. At that period tliere were but few florists in the south, 

 excepting Maddock, succeeded by tiroom and Davy of Chelsea 

 — all were principally supplied from the north, it being almost 

 like a bee hive swarming with florists ; and one Thomas was 

 the collector or buyer for the southern growers, by which he 

 made an independency, and retired. Pinks have now arrived 

 at perfection, and they are nearly as large as Carnations. .John 

 Ball, were it not for the centre, which is called by the northern 

 florists the " mooning " (that is, round as possible) being stany, 

 which is a drawback, it would be perfection itself, as that is 

 the only drawback it has. In 1822 there were forty-five varieties 

 of purple-laced amongst the winners ; and Turner's Prince 

 Regent took 19 first and premium prizes, and Ardwick Beauty 

 took 1.5, all of which are non-extant. The red-laced num- 

 bered 3.5 varieties, and Field's Fair Phyllis took the lead. 

 The same maybe said of them as of the purple-laced. The black 

 and whites numbered 30, Davj-'s Eclipse taking the lead. 

 Auriculas began to take my attention, and I purchased from 

 Daniel Bradshaw, of Prestwick, near Manchester, a small 

 quantity, aud remember well that we had a large flag outside 

 the siinmier-house, whicli served for various purposes, not quite 

 a yard square. Under this flag, which stood on four pieces of 

 wood, I wintered them for many years, and then they got at 

 last a frame with glass for their winter quarters, but I did not 

 observe that they grew any better. 

 It may probably be interesting to present growers to have 



some particulars of this flower. Joseph Partington,* seventy- 

 three years ago, took the first prize, which at that time was 

 twenty-one shillings, with Taylor's 'Victory— a green-edged 

 variety, rather bare in the dust or farina, and not a dark green 

 edge. At that perioil they were all of a pale green. Hed- 

 maync's Metropolitan, a self, was introduced about 1780 by a 

 florist named Tottle. It is generally supposed that it was 

 stolen from some one in the south. One Heys, of Castleton 

 Moor, near Rochdale, got it and sold it under the name of 

 Apollo, by which name it is more generally known than its true 

 one. J le sent it to some distant place, supposed to he in the south 

 of England, wlien it was sent again to this neighbourhood by 

 some one else, under its proper name ; but where the raiser 

 lived is not known. It is a singular fact that many years ago 

 it was so plentiful that it became a border flower (which many 

 now living can remember), and sold at twopence per plant. 

 The .\uricula was grown by Mr. Wrigloy, of Langley Hall, 

 near Middleton, iu ITIiT. 



In 177(1 the principal varieties were Taylor's Victory (this 

 variety in 1822 took three prizes — two fourths and one fifth) ; 

 Siberon's Fame, light green edged ; Foden's May Duke, green 

 edged; Pott's Delegate, green edged; dough's Defiance, green 

 edged; Clongh's Jingling Johnny, green edged ; Riding's Junius, 

 grey edged; Ashworth's Man-of-War, grey edged; Hortaine, 

 white edged ; Hughes's Pillar of Beauty, white edged ; Berrj''s 

 Lord Lee, self ; aud Pope's Gardener, self. These were then 

 considered very tine, but only three out of these arc now iu 

 cultivation— Jingling Johnny, Lord Lee, and Pillar of Beauty. 

 In 1822 of the leading varieties in green edges, PolUt's Highland 

 Boy took 30 prizes ; Stretch and Barton's King, 29 ; Buckley's 

 Jolly Tar, 22 ; Rider's Waterloo, 10 ; Stretch's Alexander, 1.5 ; 

 Lee's Colonel Taylor, 12 ; and Booth's Freedom, 9 ; and the 

 prize list contains 55 winning sorts, but only nine besides those 

 enumerated are now in existence. 



The grey-edged class consisted of 52 varieties— the leading 

 ones, Grimes's Privateer took 4(1 prizes ; Kenyon's Ringleader, 

 ■14 ; Eider's Waterloo, 25 ; Taylor's Plough Boy, 13 ; Hey'.'J 

 Lovely Ann, 11; aud Popplewell's Conqueror, 9; and about 

 eight others that were grown a few years ago. 



The white edged consisted of 31 varieties, Hughes's Pillar of 

 Beauty, 38 prizes ; Taylor's Glory, 33 ; Leigh's Bright Venus, 33 ; 

 Tavlor's Incomparable, 28 ; Pott's Regulator, 25 ; PoppleweU's 

 Conqueror, 16; Ashworth's Rule All, 14 ; and four others which 

 were grown a few vears ago. 



The selfs consisted of 45 varieties— the leading ones, Red- 

 majne's Metropolitan took 39 prizes ; Ben-y's Lord Primate, 34 ; 

 Flora's Flag, 27; Schole's Ned Lud, 28; Whittaker's True 

 Blue, 17 ; Grand Turk, 18 ; Lord Lee, 14. These are all that 

 are now grown. 



At Jliddleton, near Manchester, the Auricula was cultivated 

 as early as 1725. The oldest varieties known are Rule Arbitrar, 

 green edged ; Hortaine, white edged; and Pott's Eclipse, gi-een 

 edged. The first and second can be traced as far back as 17.57 

 — one hundred and eight years ago, and the third to 17G7, 

 ninety-eight years ago. About the year 1785 the following 

 varieties were introduced :— Grimes's Privateer, gi-een edged, 

 shown then iu the green edged class ; PoppleweU's Conqueror, 

 white edged ; Grimes's Hyder Ali ; Wrigley's Northern Hero, 

 green edged; Walker's Goldfinch, yellow self, now known as 

 Gorton's Goldfinch ; Gorton's Champion, green edged ; and 

 Gorton's Stadtholder, yellow self.— John Slateu, Nurtltrndev, 

 near J/nnf/ics(cr.— (HV.v( of Scotland Horticultural Mapazine). 



MANAGEMENT OF MOWING MACHINES. 



Vekv seldom have I found the knives uneven, but when so 

 I think it was through a stone being caught between the cutters 

 and the plate, and pressing one or more of these deeper into the 

 cvliuder, as I find every cutter is not set at the bottom of the 

 groove cut for it iu the cylinder. It is an easy matter for any 

 smith to raise or lower any of the cutters as required. Should 

 it be necessary to grind the cutters, the quickest way I have 

 tried is oil and silver sand, screwing the cutters as near the 

 plate as can be, and turning them the reverse way. This is 

 quicker than using emery, but, of course, grinds the plate 

 away verj- much, which hastens the end of the machine. 



In the machines now made, there is no need of grinding. 



• This information I procured some years ago from the oldest and 

 earliest growers living, some of whom were 88 years old, and became 

 growers at the age of 14 years. The father of one died some years ago, 

 aged 86 years, and his son .John was 83 when he gave me the particulars, 

 aud WAa hale and hearty then. 



