346 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 1, 1881. 
stage, and there they remained, and I think they have learned that the 
application of fire heat is a dangerous tool to play with. I think that 
no stronger proof of the truth of this statement can be given than the 
fact that Ben Simonite could not even enter in the class in which he 
has always been a victor—the class for twelve varieties, and could 
exhibit in no higher class than fours. The northern flowers had in 
many cases a cramped appearance owing to the same cause, and even 
Mr. Horner’s flowers, excellent as they were, were not equal to what I 
have seen them, and, indeed, that was his own judgment on them. We 
missed, too, the beautifully grown and well-flowered plants of Mr. 
Penson of Ludlow ; and, taking altogether, I think the palm for the best 
plants in the Exhibition must be given to Mr. Douglas. I have some¬ 
times found fault with his plants in former years, that they lacked 
refinement, and were many of them unrecognisable from their coarse¬ 
ness. I went this year through his class of fifty, where this fault used to 
be more patent, and I will not say I was surprised (for nothing that Mr. 
Douglas does in the way of good gardening need surprise anyone), but I 
was as a lover of the flower intensely pleased with the beauty of the 
collection. There was hardly a flower, as far as I could see, that was out 
of character, and while the foliage was ample, and indeed luxuriant, it 
had none of that cabbagy appearance which, I think, spoils the refined 
appearance of the Auricula. Exception may be taken to such coarse 
flowers as Yulcan, which is always a rough coarse flower, but exceptions 
prove the rule. 
The very ample report given in last week’s Journal obviates the 
necessity of my entering into the details of the Show, save to remark 
that the best-filled classes were those which I had some difficulty a few 
years ago in getting established—those for fours and twos—to be com¬ 
peted for by those who did not exhibit in twelves and sixes ; and 
although one was surprised to see some names in them that one never 
thought of finding there, yet I believe that nothing has more tended to 
increase the growth of the flower than the establishment of these classes. 
I would rather notice some of the flowers without any special reference 
to the exhibitors. Taking the green edges first, there is no question in 
ray mind than that Prince of Greens, which I at one time thought was 
not equal to what it was supposed to be, has of late years improved 
under culture. It has lost to a great extent that sprawling spidery cast 
of truss it used once to show, and nothing more beautiful than the plant 
which obtained the premier prize, exhibited by Mr. PohlmaD, can be 
imagined. The green was so beautifully pure and the truss so excellent 
in arrangement. We wonder at times how it was that Colonel Taylor 
held so long, and indeed does still hold, so high a place amongst green 
edges. True, the edge is unimpeachable ; but then it is very angular, 
and the body colour is apt to run into the paste or, rather, show under¬ 
neath it, so that it has not that clean solid look which the paste ought 
to have. But I suppose, as I have said, that the vividness of the green 
edge condones its other faults, and indeed it will be seen that in the 
class-showing there was no other catalogued flower that took any of the 
eight prizes ; but to my mind, when you can get, as sometimes you can, 
a bloom of George Lightbody or Lancashire Hero as green edges there 
is no flower which can approach them. I have a small truss of George 
Lightbody in flower with a perfectly green edge, and most beautiful it 
is. Will it continue 60 , or revert to its normal condition of grey edge ? 
I do not say anything of the seedlings because we are not likely to see 
anything of them for some time to come in a general way, but there can 
be no doubt of the excellence of some of those exhibited. 
The class of grey edges was still more numerously represented than 
the greens, for it is the most fruitful class of all; but here again we 
find George Lightbody carrying off the principal honours (I exclude, as 
I have said, seedlings), and it is somewhat singular that that grand 
flower Lancashire Hero does not appear as a prizewinner. Some years 
it has taken a very prominent place, but this year it is out of the 
running. Alexander Meiklejohn is another flower which at times runs 
George Lightbody close, and there is a deal of promise of Mr. Horner’s 
Irreproachable, which we might rather call Unapproachable ; but at 
present George Lightbody still keeps its place and the name of old 
Mr. Headly green in Auricula growers’ memory. Dr. Horner is another 
flower which at times runs George hard, hut only rarely, and the old 
favourite is still, I believe, the ideal of an Auricula grower’s grey edge, 
and it will be a fortunate day for any raiser of seedlings when he can 
say, “ I have a grey edge which beats George L ; ghtbody.” 
The most limited class of all is the white edges. I mean limited 
as to the number of good varieties, for a large proportion of them are 
greyish-white, and not white. I would class as the pure white edges 
Acme (Bead), Glory (Taylor), and Catherina (Summerscales), the two 
latter very old flowers ; while of those flowers where the colour is more 
or less a greyish-white Smiling Beauty (Heap), True Briton (Hepworth), 
Beauty (Trail) amongst the older flowers, and I think, from what I 
have seen of it, Mr. Douglas’s Conservative are to be classed. In the 
single classes it will be seen that Acme held the most prominent place, 
taking four out of the seven prizes, and seems to have been exceptionally 
good this year. The other three prizes were taken by seedlings, Con¬ 
servative, Luna, and Beeswing. Taylor’s Glory is a very early bloomer, 
and rarely puts in an appearance at these exhibitions, while Catherina 
is more of a iavourite in the north than in the south. It is an angular 
flower, but its edge is unexceptionable. Trail’s Beauty is sometimes very 
good, but when not in character it is the very reverse of a beauty, and 
it is inclined somewhat to be coarse. Frank Simonite was also shown 
well, and when John Simonite becomes more plentiful it will be a useful 
flower. 
We now come to seifs. Some of the best were unrepresented in the single 
specimen class ; there was not amongst them one Pizarro, ot Metropolitan 
or Mrs. Sturrock, or Lord of Lome, or Lord Clyde, nor Mrs. Douglas, 
all good and prize-winning sorts, Mr. Horner’s Heroine, a grand flower 
of most refined character, taking the foremost place, and Kaye’s lopsy, 
which seems to have come out exceptionally well this year, and Black¬ 
bird, another fine sort, coming in also. Any raiser of seedlings knows 
that this is the class which most frequently appears in a seedling pan, 
and all raisers of seedlings generally commence with a good self. The 
plants, too, of this class are generally very vigorous, with one or two 
exceptions, such as Duke of Argyle and Lord Clyde, and they are by 
the uninitiated generally the most appreciated. 
I think that there could be but one feeling, and that of satisfaction, 
that the Yeitch Memorial medal and prize went to Mr. Homer. Of 
course we had all set it down in our minds that it would be so, but 
still there was a chance that even the champion grower might come off 
second, although not a likely one, and we all felt that it had gone 
where it ought to go, to the best grower of Auriculas we have over had. 
There is one other subject of a painful character that will mark this 
Exhibition—the death of Mr. George Rudd of Bradford. I bad not 
heard of his illness, and looked out for him in vain. He has not long 
survived his devoted friend Mr. Woodhead, and I believe will be univer¬ 
sally regretted. I never was at his residence, but I have frequently met 
him, and always felt that he and Mr. Woodhead were kindred spirits. 
He was a keen and experienced florist and an honest and upright man to 
deal with ; and thus the death roll becomes larger, and even amongst 
the limited circle of florists gaps are being continually made, but I shall 
ever associate in my mind with the Auricula Exhibition of 1884 the- 
name of George Rudd.—D., Deal. 
RHODODENDRON AUCKLANDIT. 
This, one of the most beautiful of the race of Sikkim Rhododendrons,, 
is at the present time in full beauty with us, and taking into considera¬ 
tion the hardiness and easy culture of these plants it is somewhat surpris¬ 
ing that they are not more frequently met with. We have here two- 
specimens of R. Aucklandii bearing numerous trusses of exquisitely chaste 
flowers, of four to seven in a truss, and anything more beautiful is not 
easily conceived. According to the opinion of numerous admirers they 
are in point both of beauty and fragrance equal to many of the high- 
priced Orchids. While the care and anxiety that the latter occasionally 
give the grower are difficulties not easily overcome, the former which has, 
I am informed, being considered and even proved quite hardy by som i 
growers, requires at the least but ordinary care and attention. The speci¬ 
mens above named are about 10 feet high, and one (the largest), was pur¬ 
chased from Messrs. Henderson & Son, St. John’s Wood, as long ago as 
1858. The plants when not in bloom are always noticeable on account of 
their bright glossy foliage.—W. W., Croydon. 
[This magnificent Rhododendron is considered to he a variety of 
R. Griffithianum, and as such was figured in the “ Botanical Magazine’* 
in 1858. In Dr. Hooker’s “ Sikkim Rhododendrons ” it was described as a. 
species under the name of R. Aucklandii, but subsequently when review¬ 
ing these plants in the Horticultural Society’s Journal for 1852, Dr- 
Hooker stated that it was the same as Wight’s R. Griffithianum; the 
latter author’s figure and description having been taken from an inferior 
specim n, and he decided to waive the name of Aucklandii. Still further 
examination of plants that flowered in Mr. Gaines’, Wandsworth Nursery, 
in 1858, convinced him that it was really a variety of R. Griffithianum. 
The plant is found in Bhotan and Sikkim, at from 7000 to 9000 feet above 
sea level, in valleys where the climate is rather drier than in many other 
parts of this district, and was introduced to England in 1849. Our figure 
represents a reduced truss grown on one of Mr. Major's plants at Crom¬ 
well House, Croydon.] 
DOUBLE GERMAN WALLFLOWERS—SPRING BEDDING. 
Visiting the admirably managed gardens at Minella, near this town, 
a few days since, my attention was attracted by four large beds of Wall¬ 
flowers with splendid spikes of bloom. So showy and effective were, 
they, that I was induced to ask Mr. Crehan, the head gardener—Are 
those beds ever more brilliant in summer and autumn ? These dwarf 
double, or perhaps more correctly semi-double, German Wallflowers- 
were in bloom for the past mouth, and broke the customary garden- 
monotony the whole winter. Now I am acquainted with many garden*, 
and I respectfully submit, is it not the practice in too many to leave 
the flower beds wholly unoccupied during the winter months—in fact, 
until the end of May or beginning of June, when the ephemeral summer 
bedding comes forth? Why should this be so? There is not the least 
reason why a magnificent bouquet should not be possible during the 
months of February, March, and April ; and in our mild climate (we 
bad no winter this year) we have Snowdrops, Christmas Roses, early 
Narcissi (N. minor and N. obvallaris) Aconites, Erythroniums, Violets on 
warm banks, and if not too severe, a sprinkling of Crown Anemones, &c., 
as early as January. The materials increase every day; and this morning, 
