364 



JOTJBNAL OF HOBTICULTURB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t Maj 11, 1876. 



from^tbe foliage (except as above) and of course from tUe soil." 



EainEo ofttn falls at an iDclinatiou that it mutt, even with 

 such a coping, supply a ooneiderable amount 

 of moisture to the foliage and also to the 

 ground at the foot of the wall. In order " to 

 provide against driving rains, wind, and 

 frost," does Mr. Tajlor intend that the screen 

 of tiffany is to be additional to the glass 

 coping? If so, would not an entire glass 

 covering be the best and most economical in 

 the end ? Either one or the other, I imagine, 

 would only be available to professionals or 

 wealthy proprietors. 



It is observable that water does not freeze 

 60 soon under trees though leafless as when 

 more exposed. Might not, therefore, net on 

 frames — say 24 inches and any suitable length, 

 fixed like louver boards, be both efficacious 

 and inespecBive ? They might be attached 

 and held in position by hooks, and when 

 the fruit was out of danger be taken down 



and used to protect new-sown Peas, or a row of Strawberries, 



placed like \ inverted. 



Fig. 101. 



\/\ /\ A /^ A (OyVv y Ws/\/\/' VV'>/'>/r)V \/ vv\/^vwv^s7 v 



y\/\/\/^/\/\/^/V^/''A/^^)/\/^/\/\/s/v\/v 



Fig. 102. 



The frame should be strengthened by light Iron stretches 

 across. — Y. 



AUBICULAS AND AURICULA GROWERS. 



Among Mr. Turner's three new varieties at the Royal Botanic 

 Show, April 26th, is noted a green edge, Star of Bethlehem. 

 If this is George Lightbody's green edge of that name it 

 should not be called new ; and if it is new it should not be 

 called Star of Bethlehem, since that name has already been 

 publicly appropriated. Also, the raiser of Topsy is Kay, not 

 Keynes, and General Niell is Trail's, not Hill's. The Auricula 

 has been kept more free from aliases than most flowers, and 

 with a few such exceptions as that Lancashire's Lancashire 

 Hero called Cheetham's, and Eedmayne's Metropolitan Hay's 

 Apollo, the raisers' names have been kept to their flowers 

 with a care that ia but fair. 



As the sight of offsets is always welcome round plants of our 

 best Auriculas, so the National Auricula Society itself should 

 be plant-like in thi? — That about the staid old growers younger 

 hands shonld be found clustering, both to enlarge the com. 

 petition aud thus add a value to prizes which mere money 

 cannot give, and also fill those gaps that death will make. 

 The chances by which new florists arise seem very various, 

 precarious, and remote. Some few are sons that tread in their 

 fathers' paths, others catch their fancy from a friend, or are 

 smitten suddenly with love while perfect strangers to that fair 

 flower, to which a show affords an embarrassing introduction. 

 It is a good sign that in our northern Auricula show the 

 presence of beginners is felt. Perhaps soma of them (for one 

 told me so), feel confused and lost as to what constitutes ex- 

 cellence, and even difference in the flower. One bemoaned 

 the blindness through which he could see no distinction worth 

 mentioning between a white and a grey edge. Well, there is 

 more hope of him than of one fair visitor that day, who re- 

 marked that these Auriculas might be rare but they were not 

 pretty ! I do not kcow that these her words are worth em- 

 balnfiirg in the Journal, but it in well that tastes so charm- 

 ingly differ. The sublimity of the Sunflower, the beauty of 

 the broad Paeony, the brave spectacle of heavy masses of bloom 

 are the delight of many eyes; but without even affecting to 

 despise these greater things, a florist with his flowers has that 

 subtle enjoymert of his eyesight which delicate and curious 

 flowers so well afford. May I, then, say to younger growers of 

 Auriculas than myeelf, Do not be discouraged by present con- 

 fusion and lack of discernment. You will feel and see your 

 way as you go on. With an accustomed eje yon will grow to 

 detect a difference where now you see none. The differences 

 that are so delicate grow to be quite plain. And this is one 



pleasure with Auriculae, that where the outside world that 

 coldly wonders and passing on sees small variety, the eye of 

 the florist finds many enjoyable and delicate degrees of beauty. 

 I am sorry the Auricula is left languishing in metropolitan 

 favour. One would have thought its bare claim as a spring 

 flower would be enough to make it a great favourite every- 

 where. But Auriculas appear to be northern lights that flicker 

 but feebly in the sunnier south. — F. D. Hobnkb, Kirkby 

 Malzeard, Eipon. 



EARLY STRAWBERRIES. 



Mncn time and labour has to be expended on the preparing 

 of Strawberry plants which have to be forced early and success- 

 fully. It sometimes happens that after all the trouble of 

 layering the first runners in small pots, and after they are 

 rooted potting them in the pots in which they are to be forced, 

 placing them in an open situation where they can have the 

 full benefit of the sun, and attending to wateiing them once 

 or twice a-day as they may require it, storing them where they 

 can be protected from frost until they are required to be intro- 

 duced for forcing, then watching those large crowns and ex- 

 pecting them to throw up fine bold flower trusses, but which, 

 to our great disappointment, occasionally throw up only a 

 large number of luxuriant leaves, and all we have for our 

 labour with those barren plants is only a little addition to the 

 compost heap. This on some soils is often the case with Keens' 

 Seedling. Black Prince is aUo very subject to the attacks of 

 mildew, which destroys the functions of the plants to such a 

 degree that they are unable to swell off their fruit to perfection. 



Now I wish to give my experience of two Strawberries for 

 the beneflt of any of your readers who may think proper to 

 try them. The first is Early Prolific, sent out some years ago 

 by Dr. Koden, and I have no doubt but it is in the hands of 

 many by this time who may be able to state their experience of 

 it. With me it succeeds remarkably well both indoors and out. 

 I have forced it now for six years, and my opinion is still the 

 same as I have stated before — that it is a first-class early Straw- 

 berry, aud only a few da.TS later than Black Prince, but I con- 

 sider it is worth waiting for. 



The second is Amy Kobsart, likewise Dr. Roden's. I believe 

 it is not yet sent out. I had thirty pots of it this season for 

 trial, and watched them very particularly. I thinned the fruit 

 to twelve in each pot, a number which the plants finished off to 

 perfection. One gathering I weighed, which was 3 J lbs. Amy 

 Kobsart is first-class in flavour, and ripens about a week earlier 

 than Early Prolific. It is, I believe, a seedling from Marguerite, 

 but perhaps Dr. Eoden will favour us with particulars respect- 

 ing its pedigree, &c. The above two Strawberries have both 

 good constitutions, and on suitable soils will always prove 

 fruitful. I may state that our soil here is light on a sandy 

 subsoil. Of course this is with reference to outdoor frnit. 



The above are succeeded by Duke of Edinburgh, Preeident, 

 and Dr. Hogg, all of which succeed well on our soil, with the 

 exception of Dr. Hogg, which is a shy bearer out of doors but 

 produces fine crops under glass. 



I start my first batches on a bed of leaves, which I consider 

 a great point for success, as it sets all the roots at work aud 

 induces the plants to throw their flower trusses well up above 

 the fohage, and then with a gentle circulation of air going on 

 you may be sure of nearly every blossom setting. As soon as 

 they are set I feed every time I water them with just a pinch 

 of guano in the water, which I consider the cleanest and best 

 stimulant that can be applied to plants in pots. — J. Andeeson, 

 mil Grove. 



TWO-DAT ROSE SHOWS. 

 I ENDOBSE the words of wisdom in the letter signed 

 " T. H. G.," and express a hope that there may be an unani- 

 mous feeling amongst exhibitors of P.osea to do their utmost 

 to stop the increasing prevalence of two-day Rose shows in- 

 stead of one. We who live at a distance from London and 

 the other principal shows have to out our Roses at least 

 thirty hours before they are judged, and carry them in a 

 stifling atmosphere for five or six hours, by rail into the 

 bargaiu. It is during the heat of the first week in July fre- 

 quently impossible to keep Koses in their proper form until 

 eleven o'clock, when the judges come round; and how olten, 

 alae ! when wo open our boxes after a hot journey, do we find 

 many of the blooms worthless. Think, then, of the public walk- 

 ing round a Rose show to admire blooms that have been out 

 fifty-eight hours— that is to say, at two o'clock on the second 



