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JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEI?. 



[ May 5, 1863. 



any charge and without any money prize, solely for the purpose 

 of making the flower more popular. This may Tery well be 

 enlarged by-and-by ; and I am quite sanguine as to the practi- 

 cability before long of attempting something of the sort. 



" What has become of the Alford Auriculas ?" In answer to 

 numerous inquiries on this point I may say that the whole col- 

 lection has passed into the hands of Mr. Charles Turner, of the 

 Slough Nursery. My late and ever-to-be-lamented friend pos- 

 sessed the most varied if not the most extensive collection of 

 any amateur in England ; and, indeed, I hardly suppose that 

 in the whole kingdom there was one which combined so many 

 varieties. These, added to Mr. Turner's already noble "stud," 

 will make hiB the finest collection in the world. As I know the 

 circumstances of the purchase I may just say that it was made 

 without the smallest hesitation ; the terms proposed by Mr. 

 Turner being such as his liberal mind suggested as a fair value, 

 and such as the representatives of my dear friend felt few but Mr. 

 Turner would have made. And now those pets over which he 

 had spent many a pleasant hour have changed their home, and 

 he who was looking on to see their opening beauties has left us 

 for ever! Few Auricula-growers who knew him but will, in 

 looking over their stock, think of him. Well indeed will it be 

 for us if, like him, we have thoughts such as he had of higher 

 and better things. 



" Can any better frame than that described in the Cottage 

 Gardener's Dictionary as Dr. Horner's be recommended for 

 them ?" Yes, most decidedly. The very best frame that Auri- 

 culas can be grown in is one planned by my friend the Rev. J. 

 Bramhal], Mr. JeanB's brother-in-law, fully described and figured 

 in either the Florist or Gossip for the Garden ; while Mr. Jeans' s 

 own notion of an Auricula-frame is given in the Florist for 1861, 

 page 273. My own opinion and experience, however, are in 

 favour of growing them in common garden frames, taking care 

 that the glass is large, so as to prevent drip, and then to have 

 an Auricula-house for blooming them in, such as I myself de- 

 scribed in the Florist for 1860. Since that time I have had one 

 made for myself; it is now full, and a prettier sight in the way of 



pered by exposure to -the air, I consider nearly as good for them 

 as s gentle summer shower ; but by all means let them have all 

 the air possible. 



" Where can good plants of the leading kinds he obtained ? " 

 Happily the demand for them has so increased, that this becomes 

 a difficult question ts answer. Mr. Turner has made a large 

 addition of nearly five hundred plants to his stock, and as many 

 of them are, doubtless, such as he has already, plants may be 

 obtained from him. Mr. Lightbody, of Palkirk, has also a Tery 

 fine collection, and there are other growers about there. Messrs. 

 Holland & Bayley, of Chadderton, near Manchester, can, I 

 believe, execute orders for some kinds, although, unfortunately, 

 I could not obtain what I wanted from them ; but I would 

 advise all who wish to purchase to be sharp about it ; it will be 

 next to impossible to obtain plants by-and-by. Where persons 

 are intending to commence their growth, our advice is to procure 

 some of the cheaper kinds at first, and then when one finds that 

 he can manage them, to go on by degrees to the more expensive 

 sorts. 



I have thus run through most of the points on which my 

 opinion has been asked, and cannot forbear saying that I hope 

 no one will be deterred from growing them through any supposed 

 difficulty of culture. They require care, but not so much as' 

 Carnations and Picotees, and some other flowers. The diffi- 

 culties have beeD greatly exaggerated, owing, I think, in a great 

 measure, to the nasty messes that used to be considered necessary 

 to grow them in. Attention to cleanliness and good wholesome 

 food will do as much for them as these will for ourselves, while 

 over-excitement will act injuriously on them as well as on us. 

 Nor, again, are they so expensive as some would suppose. You 

 may, of course, give high prices, but then if you wish to part 

 with them, you can obtain the same. There are kinds such as 

 Maria, Lycurgus, George Lightbody, &c, which will command 

 their price for years to come, while the commonest sorts growers 

 for sale will always be glad to purchase. I might, had I been 

 so disposed, have over and over again sold mine, and that at 

 good prices. This can be said of few florists' flowers. Tulips are 

 quoted at high prices, but to sell them is another matter. 

 Altogether, taking them in their various aspects, consider- 

 ing their extreme beauty, the comparative scarceness of good 

 collections, and their success commercially (if one may 

 allow such a mean notion to enter into the growth of 

 flowers), I still hold by my first love, and after five and 

 twenty years of constant affection, maintain that no florists' 

 flower is more worthy of general cultivation than The 

 Afbiccxa. — D., Deal. 



flowers I would not desire to see. Being placed on a level with 

 the sight, the plants can be seen wii hout the trouble of stooping 

 over them. The front sashes can be drawn up so as to give air 

 without allowing the cold wind to blow upon the plants ; and if 

 care be given to ventilation and shading, they may remain in 

 this blooming-house during the summer. It may be, perhaps, 

 objected that this is only suitable for a large collection; but if 

 the house be made small at first, it can always be added to. 



" Will it hurt Auriculas to let them have gentle summer 

 showers ? " My own practice is never to allow them to get rain, 

 not that I think that gentle rain would hurt them, but I con- 

 sider it to be safer to lay down this rule, called out so much as 

 I necessarily am by professional duty, that my frames should 

 always be down on the least approach of rain. People are such 

 bad judges of what a shower is that I cannot trust to the judg- 

 ment of others, and by this meanB I preserve my stock from 

 being saturated with heavy rains. Were I at home, and could 

 run out and cover them when they had had enough, it would 

 be a different thing. But careful watering with rain water when 

 it is to be had, or, at any rate, with water that has been tern- 



INVITATION TO ME. EOBSON. 



I hate amused myself for some weeks past in writing 

 articles in reply to your contributors. It is now time to 

 finish the argument and unmask myseif, although to a large 

 portion of your readers I feel it is no unmasking. Mr. 

 Bobson persists in referring to old recollections. All he 

 says is, doubtless, true enough, and his friend when he 

 " shook his head," was also truthful. The fact is, he had 

 not discovered the modern simple method of growing Peach 

 and Nectarine trees in pots. But why do I sav modern ? 

 Loudon tells us in the " Gardeners' Magazine," that Peach 

 trees in pots were grown for twenty years with success by 

 merely giving them surface-dressings. The thing is not new, 

 but the method is simplified and systematised, if such a grand 

 word may be applied to a very facile mode of culture. 



To end this discussion, which has given me great amusement — 

 for I am always amused with platitudes advanced with sober 

 seriousness ; I fear it is the remains of a love of mischief which 

 when a boy I was famous for — I hereby invite Mr. Bobson to 

 come and Bee me, and my trees, and my houses, and my various 

 "dodges" which I carry on from year to year, and which I 

 hope to do till the " must-be " comes. I shall be happy to 

 receive him with a cheerful welcome, and show him Peaches and 

 other trees in pots standing on a hard clay floor — fed merely, 

 aad amply fed, by surface-dressings ; others planted out ; others 

 on a loose surface to root in ; in short, I will show him all that 

 I have. The trees are now full of young fruit not yet thinned, 

 with the exception of the Apricots, of which many thousands 

 have been consigned to tarts. He should come now — it is but 

 a day's journey — and again in August, and then we can taste 

 and argue about flavour just as two old gentlemen should do. 



