46 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



must be so thinly placed, that the edge presents to the eye a green 

 colour. Inside the green margin is the body-colour, and black 

 is most esteemed, although, when closely scrutinised, there is a 

 tinge of purple in it. There are other shades of colour, such 

 as maroon, violet, and plum. The colour strikes or flashes into 

 the green edge, and is never found in a compact ring. Some- 

 times, the ground, or body-colour, strikes quite through to the 

 edge, which is a great fault. The inner edge of the body-colour, 

 where it touches on the white centre, should be circular, but it is 

 •sometimes slightly angular, and what is worse, a scalloped edge 

 is formed. The centre ought to be white, formed by a dense 

 coating of farina, and the eye, or centre of the flower, should be 

 bright yellow, and filled with the anthers. The stigma should be 

 out of sight within the tube : if the stigmatic part of the flower 

 protrudes from the eye, and the anthers are placed lower down, 

 it is termed "pin-eyed," and no florist would own such a flower. 

 Any deviation from the properties I have given above is a fault, 

 •and few of the older Green-Edged varieties are faultless. One 

 of the most esteemed of them, Freedom (Booth), has an angular 

 paste, which is the one fault of this fine flower. Admiral 

 Napier (Campbell) is a fairly good Green-Edge, but is also spoilt 

 by an angular paste. Rev. F. D. Horner (Simonite) is perhaps 

 the best Green-Edge we have at present, but the slightly 

 . angular paste is its one serious fault. Another fault is a pale- 

 coloured tube, and amongst the older Green-Edged varieties 

 this is possessed by Apollo (Beeston). Prince of Greens (Trail) 

 may be ranked as a modern variety, although it was raised some 

 forty years ago by Mr. Trail, of Aberlady, N.B. It has the 

 most correct green edge of any ; but the pale-coloured tube, 

 which takes on an inky tinge as the flowers fade, quite spoils it. 

 There is still room for improvement in this section. 



Grey-Edged varieties come next in order, and it may safely 

 be asserted that this class contains the finest edged Auriculas. 

 The edge is termed "grey," owing to its being moderately powdered 

 with farina over the green, but in no other respect does it differ 

 from the Green-Edged varieties. Perhaps the most perfect of 

 all Show Auriculas is George Lightbody (Headly). In all points 

 it is of surpassing excellence. The truss is admirable ; the pips, 

 or corolla, are in all points excellent, and w^hen shown with 

 seven pips, in the best condition, from a young plant, this 

 variety usually wins premium at the leading exhibitions. Lanca- 

 shire Hero, raised by an old Lancashire weaver (Mr. Robert 



