July 15, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
47 
I did not last year top-dress my plants, as it was always considered 
necessary ; indeed, it u c ei to be one of the most important points in its 
culture. Where plants are wanting in vigour it may be done ; but I have 
found that where they are healthy it is unnecessary, except where the soil 
may have receded from the plants, and the pots require filling up. It has 
been questioned whether the size of the blooms might not be affected by 
the neglect of this operation, but I have had as large and fine blooms 
without it as ever I had when I assiduously top-dressed. The last two 
years have been somewhat remarkable for the lateness at which Auriculas 
bloomed, not only in my own garden which, although so far south, is late, 
so thoroughly an alpine flower as the Auricula, notwithstanding the 
change that has been made in it by the efforts of the florist. 
With regard to new varieties I have but little to say. It suits one 
exhibitor to give 15s. or £1 for a new variety, but it does not suit me, and, 
therefore, I must be content to wait for them until the market comes 
down. I am perforce contented with such green edges as Booth’s Freedom 
and Trail’s Prince of Greens ; with such grey edges as Geo. Lightbody and 
Lancashire Hero ; with Read’s Acme aud Smiling Beauty amongst whites ; 
with Pizarro, Blackbird, Charles Perry amongst seifs, and am content to 
admire the newer varieties when I see them with others, and after all it is, 
Fig. 8.— Caeanthe vestita Williamsi. 
but generally through the country, affecting, as it did, exhibitors more or 
less. To myself this is a matter of comparative indifference, as I do not 
exhibit, at the same time the lateness did not affect the quality of the 
blooms. The winter of 1885 was a mild one, that of 1886 long, cold, aud 
dreary, and yet I have not seen any difference in the quality of the 
blooms or the vigour of the plants ; indeed I am not sure whether a severe 
winter is not bettor for them, provided they are kept free from frost. 
They do not get stimulated into bloom too early, and then have to endure 
perhaps a cold wave for some time which checks them. Those who 
employ heat are not, of course, subject to these vicissitudes, but I do not 
envy them. It may be necessary for the exigencies of exhibitors, but I 
hardly think there is a grower who, if he had to grow them simply for his 
own enjoyment, would make use of it. There can be little question that 
it tends to ruin both plants and flower stems, and cannot be good for 
perhaps, questionable whether such kinds are really beaten. As 1 »m no¬ 
judge my opinion goes for nothing, but some of my northern friends, who 
keep very rigidly to old rules, are very sceptical on the point ; they 
consider there is a want of taste in the south for correctness, and a greater 
regard for showiness. It may be so, but still there are some of the new 
flowers which seem to be very good. 
Writing of my Auriculas reminds me that we have just lost a great 
admirer and successful cultivator in th# person of Mr. J. K. Penson 
Denham House, Ludlow. For a little while he. appeared as an exhibitor, 
and was most successful, and the plants which he exhibited, sturdy and 
healthy, were the perfection of Auricula-growing ; but the task of exhi¬ 
biting did not suit him. It broke up for a time the symmetry of his collec¬ 
tion at home, and the turmoil of the exhibition and other circumstances 
determined him not to venture upon it again. My acquaintance with 
