6 



years, thirty years ago, and his son, who is yet an 

 Auricula grower, is now upwards of 80, and he says 

 from his infant years he was attached to them. An- 

 other Auricula grower, named Joseph Partington, of 

 Tonga, adjoining Middleton, has heen a grower 71 

 years, and is the oldest now living : he is a hale 

 hearty old man of 86, and his delight is to talk of old 

 times. When a boy, about 16 years old, he took the 

 first prize at Eccles, about four miles from Manches- 

 ter, with Taylor's Victory (Green-edged), for which 

 he received 21*. ; so that shews can clearly be proved 

 to have existed above 70 years. In Partington's 

 early years the principal growers were, Abel Buckley, 

 of Tonge ; John Buckley, of Chadderton ; John 

 Grime, sen. (the raiser of Privateer), of Roy ton, 

 near Oldham ; John Grime, jun., John Taylor, of 

 Roy ton (the raiser of Taylor's Glory) ; James Mills, 

 WiUiam Kenyon, of Middleton (raiser of Ringleader) ; 

 and John Heyes, of Castleton Moor, near Rochdale 

 (the raiser of Lovely Ann) ; and all within four miles 

 of each other. 



Taylor's Victory (green-edged), 1746, was consi- 

 dered the best out ; and Partington says that there 

 were as many varieties then grown as now. Red- 

 mayne's Metropolitan came out about 65 years ago, 

 and was introduced by a florist named Tottle, and 

 was generally said to have been a stolen plant. 

 Ileyes bought it, and sold it out as Heyes' Apollo ; 



