Plate 91. 
VARIETIES OF BABIANA. 
AVe are gratified every year by the exhibition of some fine trusses of Ixias, Sparaxis, 
Tritonias, and Babianas, by Messrs. Hooper of Covent Garden, and we often wonder why 
they are not more generally cultivated. These collections, it is true, come from the Channel 
Islands, where they can be grown with greater certainty than in our more capricious climate, 
the damp of our winters seriously interfering with their well-being ; but the following state- 
ment of Messrs. Barr and Sugden clearly show that they can be easily cultivated : — “ At our 
experimental grounds we have grand displays of these charming flowers year after year, 
sometimes by making up a temporary pit, and placing in it about a foot of good soil, and in 
this plant the bulbs about two inches deep, and during wet and frosty weather protect simply 
with shutters. The masses of bloom in ]\Iay we have had from these were surprising ; and 
we could not help feeling at how trifling an amount of trouble so large a quantity of valuable 
flowers to act for indoor decoration could be produced.” 
AVe are indebted to our friend AV. E. Gumbleton, Esq., of Cork, for the fine blooms of the 
four varieties kindly sent to our artist. In the soft balmy air of the south of Ireland they 
succeed admirably j and he has given us glowing descriptions of their beauty. AVe have 
here in England not the favourable conditions that he has, but by adopting some such plan 
as that suggested by Messrs. Barr and Sugden, the difficulty of climate may be overcome ; in 
fact, to the real lover of flowers no difficulty is too great to prevent him from cultivating his 
favourites ; and hence we hope that this beautiful group of plants may become generally 
cultivated. 
Plate 92. 
AURICULA— CHARLES E. BROAVN. 
It is not given to every raiser of seedling flowers to be so fortunate as Air. Headly ; if as 
a raiser of tulips he has suceeded in producing some flowers which mark his skill and dili- 
gence, it is still more so with the Auricula. The finest variety in growth is George Lighlbodg, 
raised by him. Alderman Wishg is another fine green-edge, while Charles Edward Brown, the 
variety we now figure, has received, when exhibited by ourselves, the award of a first-class 
certificate from the Boyal Horticultural Society, and has taken, we observe, a prominent place 
on the winning stands at the Xorth of England exhibitions, where the Auricula is much more 
cultivated than in the South. 
AA^e Lave already some very fine flowers in the grey-edged section to which this flower 
belongs, some of them possessing all the qualities required in a first-rate Auricula, and others, 
such as CUapmayi s Maria and Sophia, having a brilliancy of colouring quite unequalled in any 
other flower ; but we think that a very leading position will be obtained by this variety, for, 
independently of its fine properties as a flower, the habit of the plant is excellent ; and if we 
may judge from our own case, more free in throwing off offsets than many are. It is this 
shyness in reproduction that tends to make the Auricula so scarce, and which keeps up the 
prices of some of the sorts ; for while, in the case of other flowers, the prices fall rapidly, many 
Auriculas are now quoted as high as they were a dozen years ago. 
The stock of Mr. Headly ’s Auriculas passed some time ago into the hands of Air. 
Charles Turner of the Eoyal Nursery, Slough, and with it the remaining plants of this variety, 
which had, however, been distributed by the late Mr. George Lightbody, of Falkirk. 
