370 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 4, 1882. 
their cherished gardens of the Netherlands. But the Auriculas of 
that time did in no way represent the Auriculas of this time ; for in 
1570, and for many years thereafter, the edged Auricula was a thing 
unknown. 
In the second edition of Philip Miller’s renowned Dictionary, 
published in 1733, we are told that “to enumerate the diversities of 
this plant would be almost endless and impossible, for every year 
produces vast quantities of new flowers, differing in shape, size, or 
colour.” The characters, as given by Miller, may be thus summed 
up : The flowers must be borne on a strong stem ; they must be in a 
regular and close umbel; the neck of each flower should be short, 
and the face flat and not inclined to cup ; the colours bright and well 
mixed ; eye large, round, of a good white or yellow. In the sixth 
edition, published in 1771, these characters are repeated. I turn 
from Miller’s Dictionary to the “ Eden ” of Dr. John Hill, a handsome 
folio, published 1757, and therein we hear of yellow and purple Auri¬ 
culas, but not of edged flowers and not of named flowers of any kind 
whatever. The Rev. William Hanbury’s “ Body of Gardening,” in 
two fine folio volumes, 1770, tells of varieties “ almost infinite in 
number” of this “ luscious flower,” but there is no hint even here of 
a proper Auricula ; we are still rioting amongst Alpines and border 
flowers, double and single, but the tone of the writer does suggest 
that in 1770 it had long since passed into the hands of the florists for 
weal or woe. We learn from Hanbury that the florists rejected the 
double flowers and made a broad distinction between the self-coloured 
and the variegated, and at that point Mr. Hanbury leaves us to our 
own conjectures. 
Thus we began with the third day of creation, and we have nearly 
reached the close of the eighteenth century, and we have not heard 
of any such Auriculas as have brought us together to-day. It will 
be seen, however, that Hanbury affords a clue to the time of their 
first appearance, which was doubtless about the middle of the 
eighteenth century, and w r e may reasonably conclude that for some 
time after the flower acquired the characters for which it is now 
valued writers on horticulture were in some instances unaware of its 
existence, and in others were prejudiced against it. Indeed, Mr. Han¬ 
bury was evidently familiar with the characteristics of the Auricula 
“ fancy,” and seems to have set up his back at it because of his 
confessed partiality for double flowers. 
We have, however, a somewhat remarkable proof of the compara¬ 
tive lateness of the formation and acceptance of edged flowers in a 
paper published in the Florist in the year 1819. This professes to be 
a copy of a manuscript dated 1732, and bears all the needful evidences 
of genuineness. In this document we have a table of properties, 
twelve in number, from which we gather that the pips should be 
round and flat, the body colour solid, flaked, or striped ; the bottom 
circular and without powder, and the eye showing a full thrum. 
Whatever may be the exact meaning of the terms employed in this 
code—and we should probably have but little trouble to master it in 
every detail—it seems to demonstrate that whoever drew it up was a 
thorough florist, but had never seen, or at all events had never recog¬ 
nised as proper, an edged flower of the modern type. 
However, Mr. John Slater, in the “Amateur Florist’s Guide,” pub¬ 
lished at Manchester some ten years since, gives a list of edged 
flowers that were in cultivation in 1770, some of which no doubt weie 
known in 1750, which for present purposes I will assume to be the 
year in which the Auricula first acquired its proper form as a florists’ 
flower. Mr. Slater has searched the records of the cultivators of 
Middleton and Rochdale and other of the ancient homes of flori¬ 
culture, and he makes a distinct declaration at page 18 of his book 
that the oldest known varieties were Rule Arbiter, with a green edge, 
and Hortaine, with a white edge ; and these, he says, can be traced 
as far back as 1757. Pott’s Eclipse, a green edge, he traces to the 
year 1767. About the year 1785 several sorts that are now known 
were introduced, such as Grimes’ Privateer, grey edge ; Popplewell’s 
Conqueror, white edge ; Gorton’s Champion, green edge ; and 
Wrigley’s Northern Hero, green edge. Thus, the negative evidence 
derived from our exploration of the old books agrees with the posi¬ 
tive evidence derived from the modern books, and we may safely 
regard the Auricula as dating from 1750, and it is therefore as a 
florists’ flower a quite modern achievement. The first table of pro¬ 
perties appears to have been published by James Thompson, a florist 
of Newcastle, in the year 1757. Maddock published his table of 
properties in the “ Florists’ Directory ” in the year 1792. and Emmer- 
ton improved thereon in his “ Treatise on the Auricula,” published in 
1815. Hence in Martyn’s edition of Miller, published in 1807, the 
edged flowers are recognised and their properties stated on the 
authority of Maddock, and agree pretty nearly with the properties 
required in the present day. 
Thus we arrive at a distinct epoch in the history of the flower, and 
the early history is completed. I shall scarcely err in saying that it 
is at this time in high favour, well understood, and its quality justifies 
the century and a half of labour that has been bestowed upon it. We 
may hear of collections numbering four to five hundred varieties, but 
probably no one at the present time possesses or desires so many ; for 
the annual exhibitions tend to the weeding-out of the inferior kinds 
and the maintenance of a high standard of merit. And this standard 
of merit, usually described as arbitrary, is in the main in strict 
accordance with the laws of Nature. The stout smooth pip, the pure 
colours, the rich bold thrum-eye, the ample healthy leafage, are 
several signs of vigour and power of reproduction, and claim a for¬ 
ward place for the plant in the “ struggle for life,” which tends ever 
to the “ survival of the fittest.” 
MUSHROOM BEDS. 
Where it is desired to have a supply of Mushrooms in succession to 
the indoor produce, it will be necessary to make up beds without delay. 
On a dry day shake the smaller parts out of any crude stable litter at 
hand, rejecting the strawy portion only, and if the 'smaller parts 
prove too moist spread them out in the sun, and turn them once 
during the day until they become only moderatelylmoist. Choose 
a dry sunny site for the bed, and unless the ground be so high as to 
preclude water flowing to and flooding the beds after^heavy showers, 
a temporary base should be formed of faggots or brushwood and 
laid out evenly, and over the faggots a good layer of coarse litter 
previous to putting on the principal materials. ",;The bed or beds 
should be mound-shaped, having a base of about 4 feet, and about 
30 inches high in the centre when well trodden and beaten down. 
In a few days the heat will have risen, and when it does not ex¬ 
ceed 90° in the centre of the bed, or 75° at a couple of inches beneath 
the surface, the spawn should be inserted, but if too^hot this must 
be deferred until the heat falls to the temperature named. Insert 
pieces of spawn an inch or a couple of inches deep (or so as to admit 
of their being lightly covered with the material), and 9 inches apart 
every way, firming the material well about and [over the spawn. As 
soon ns the bed is spawned cover with dry hay or soft straw litter 
thinly, and double it in about a week’s time. In a fortnight it will 
be readily ascertained whether the spawn has run or not, and if it 
has place a layer of fibrous loam 2 inches deep evenly over the bed 
and beat it firmly, smoothing it with the back of the spade so as to 
form an even unbroken surface, and then cover it with the hay or straw 
litter as before. In from six to eight weeks fromjthe time of spawning 
the Mushrooms will appear, when it will be necessary to [uncover the 
bed, and if dry supply water at a temperature of 75° to 90° through 
a flue rose. At the same time avoid saturating) the bed, which not 
only destroys the Mushrooms appearing, but is fatal to the spreading 
of the mycelium; hence it i3 necessary to have at command a tar¬ 
paulin or other light waterproof material to place'over the bed in 
case of heavy rains. It is necessary to occasionally change the cover¬ 
ing, as when it becomes wet next the bed it has a tendency to cause 
the crop to be tainted and the mycelium to spread too much on the 
surface. A very light covering will suffice after the Mushrooms 
appear, as they are greatly improved in quality by)exposure to light 
and air, a thin covering of hay or soft straw being all that is neces¬ 
sary to break the sun’s rays and prevent the bed drying unduly. 
FRUIT HOUSES. 
Fines.—Late Grapes must now be encouraged to grow quickly. 
Syringe freely twice a day. Keep the evaporation troughs filled with 
liquid manure, employing fire heat as little as possible, and close the 
houses early in the afternoon on bright sunny days. As the growths 
advance disbud, tie out, and stop as soon as they have made sufficient 
wood to cover the trellis with good foliage. Maintain a day tempera¬ 
ture of 85° to 90°, with a free circulation of dry air where Muscats are 
in flower, and allow the temperature to fall to 70° at night. Keep the 
points of the bunches near the glass, and set the pollen at liberty by 
gently shaking the Yines when the maximum temperature has been 
attained. Where early Grapes are largely grown thinning the berries 
must be commenced as soon as they are set. This operation is best 
performed in the morning and evening, and on dull days when the 
temperature is cool. Grapes that are swelling must have a liberal 
supply of heat and moisture until colouring commences, when a drier 
and more liberally ventilated atmosphere must be accorded. Early 
Grapes when ripe need little fire heat, and the temperature may fall to 
60° at night. Where fermenting material has been used on outside 
borders, and has become cool and heavy, a portion should be removed, 
