280 



REPORT ON THE 



even most slightly raised above the level of the centre. As in 

 the Auricula, the tnbe should be tilled with bold anthers up to the 

 surface, with the stigma almost sessile below ; and all flowers 

 should expand equally and well. 



These are the points to be attained and strengthened in the 

 improvement of the florist Polyanthus ; and it will readily be 

 seen how far these lines of beauty, which give such brilliance, 

 purity, and refinement, lie beyond the comprehension of the 

 common garden border strains, and how far too few are the 

 beautiful florist Polyanthuses we have that fulfil this standard. 



The Chairman : I shall now be glad to invite discussion 

 on Mr. Horner's paper. These papers have been most carefully 

 prepared, and it is most interesting to us in a conversational way 

 to exchange our experiences with regard to the crossing of 

 Auriculas. One thing Mr. Hibberd said just now — I think I 

 must have misunderstood him— that the Alpine Auriculas were 

 not derived from the edged Auriculas. I think I must have 

 misunderstood him, but those are the words I think he said, and 

 if so, it is quite contrary to my experience of them. I know 

 when I spoke to Mr. Horner himself as to the difficulty of 

 raising good seedling florist Auriculas without a very careful 

 selection of parentage and fertilization, because of the probability 

 of the edged Auriculas producing something like an Alpine 

 Auricula, he said it was most necessary that there should be no 

 Alpine Auricula anywhere near the place, for fear the bees and wind 

 should carry the pollen from the Alpine Auricula with its strong 

 pollen and supply the florist Auricula. He said it was necessary 

 to entirely separate the Alpine section clear away from the florist 

 section. My experience lias been unquestionably with the 

 florists' Auriculas, Colonel Champney, for example, and I have 

 known the Alpine Auricula good enough to take its place in 

 Standard 12. I think, therefore, probably you will be able to 

 see that the Alpine Auriculas must not be placed too near 

 the florist Auriculas, or a very bad strain of seed will be 

 produced. That gives a clue to the way in which we may, 

 in the future, improve the florist Auricula, and also by 

 which we may by hybridization get new strains of florist 

 flowers. There is one thing in florist flowers we should 

 always aim at and desire to see maintained, and that is 



