810 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 28, 1832. 
see them unless they like ; but it is conceivable that most of them 
will become patrons of the strange scene, including, perhaps, just 
a few who object to anything whatever in association with horti¬ 
cultural exhibitions. 
AURICULAS AT THE SOUTHERN SHOW. 
It is amusing to hear the comments that are made by those 
who attend a show of this character. Here, for instance, is an 
optimist who says it is the best show the Society ever held, but 
then he never grew an Auricula in his life, although a lover of 
other flowers ; while, on the other hand, here is one who has 
grown them for a number of years, and who says there was 
hardly a really good truss of an Auricula in the Show ! but then 
he is a very rigid follower of the old order of things ; while a 
third says, I think this ought to be called the Society for the 
Encouragement of Forced Auriculas and Primulas! It will be seen, 
then, that it is no easy thing to steer a safe course between so 
many conflicting opinions, and I hope I shall not “ flutter the 
Volscians” when I say, that in my opinion, it was a very mediocre 
exhibition, and not to be compared with those which have been 
held of late years. Nor do I see how it could be otherwise ; 
indeed, one felt surprised that there were so many flowers staged. 
Two things conspired to this—the date of the show and the extreme 
■coldness of the season. With a foot of snow on the 17th April 
.and frost of varying intensity from 4° to 12° for a week, it was 
not possible that those growers who use no fire heat could have 
a chance of getting in except in a very low place. Taking my 
own collection as a sample, I could not have shown one truss ; 
but as I do not now exhibit this is not of much consequence to 
me, as I shall enjoy flowers next week just as well as I should have 
done this week. 
The consequence of all this was that most of the flowers 
showed manifest signs of distress from their being rushed into 
bloom, the foliage in some cases being flaccid and thin, entirely 
lacking in that firmness which is so characteristic of the 
Auricula, and which makes a collection of plants, even when not 
in bloom, so pleasant to the eyes. Of the backwardness of the 
season there could be no better proof than the fact that the Rev. 
F. D. Horner, the champion grower of Auriculas, only exhibited in 
the class for two plants, where he obtained a fourth prize, and yet 
he applies heat ; but then he grows them so far north that even 
with that he had very few flowers. Then the Reading contingent 
was nothing to what it was last year ; and Mr. Henwood, though he 
made a gallant fight, was far below the standard he previously 
attained. In the classes for single Auriculas there was not the 
competition there ought to have been, and a number of very 
mediocre flowers obtained prizes, which in other years they would 
have failed to do. 
The twelve plants with which Mr. Douglas obtained the first 
prize were, I think, as good as he ever showed, and were very 
striking in appearance, but he knows that this is not the style of 
truss that finds favour with old fogies, brought up like myself 
in the rigid and puritanical northern school. To me an Auricula 
with twelve pips is simply out of character. You can rarely get 
pips in this case to lie flat; they are crimpled or cupped, and besides, 
you do not see the correct character of the flowers. The older 
florists always mentioned that an edged Auricula should not have 
more than five, nor a self more than seven pips, and I do not think 
that they were far wrong, at any rate they were very jealous for 
the honour of the plant they loved. It was somewhat curious to 
see some very old flowers staged, such, for instance, as General 
Bolivar, an old grey edge, and one which, I think, nobody looking 
at could fail to recognise as one of the parents of George Light- 
body. On saying this to Ben Simonite, he agreed with me, and 
said that he thought the other parent was Kent’s Queen Yictoria. 
This flower still retains, and I think will long retain, the position 
of being the best and most perfect flower grown, and yet we should 
like to see even it improved by a little more body colour. Magpie 
(Horner) maintains still the character I assigned to it last year as 
being the best seedling that Mr. Horner has raised. Selfs still 
maintain their pre-eminence ; Horner’s Heroine, Barlow’s Mrs. Potts, 
and Woodhead’s Black Bess were all in the first prize collections, 
and are all additions to this most attractive—to the general public— 
class, and all appear to be good doers. Mrs. Potts is, perhaps, the 
most perfect flower of the three, but its stems and footstalks are so 
weak that the former needs a support, and the latter cause the 
pips to hang about in a loose manner, spoiling the symmetry of 
the truss. A small plant of John Simonite was shown, but very 
inferior to the fine one shown by Mr. Henwood last year. 
With regard to seedlings, there is apparently some degree of 
confusion. Prizes are offered for the best, and one, a green edge, 
was awarded the first prize. It was named Commander, raised by 
Mr. Horner, and was a flower of great promise. But I read in last 
week’s Journal that several others obtained first-class certificates. 
Of these I know nothing, and was greatly surprised to see that they 
had been awarded. Surely it would be better that all seedlings 
should be grouped together, and that those which obtain the prize 
should also have the first-class certificate awarded ; not that I think 
it much matters, and it must be years before these plants come into 
commerce. Perhaps they never will, and even if they do they will 
be well nigh forgotten. The fate of seedling Auriculas is peculiar. 
Sometimes in flower they entirely belie the character of their 
youth, and as they advance become coarse and disagreeable ; at 
other times the constitution of the plant proves to be so indifferent 
that commercially it is utterly valueless, while in other cases it 
is so slow to give offsets that one’s hair is apt to turn grey 
before we see any produce. If we could only get some first-rate 
greens that would break as freely as Traill’s Beauty we should be 
pleased, but I think at the same time that great caution ought to 
be used in giving either prizes or certificates for seedlings. The 
one class in which we are especially in want of good flowers is the 
green edge, for beautiful although some of those we already possess 
are, there is something wanting in them all. Thus Colonel Taylor 
is sometimes angular, and the paste so thin that the body colour 
shows through. Then Prince of Greens, lovely as are its paste and 
edge, has a watery eye, which gives it a dull appearance. Imperator 
is foxy in colour ; and the Rev. F. D. Horner, in many respects a 
grand flower, has yet the demerit of not opening flat, and good 
constitutioned plants in this class will always be acceptable. 
I should like to make one or two suggestions with regard to 
arrangements. In the first place I do not think that sufficient 
space is allowed in the single classes ; there ought to be space 
to allow, say, the best eight plants in each class to be taken out 
and ranged in line, and then when judged to be placed in the order 
in which the prizes are awarded. Now for this there was no 
convenience, and consequently it entailed both trouble and incon¬ 
venience to the judges. I think also that some better plan should 
be adopted for marking the ownership of these single classes 
than at present. If an exhibitor has a single green edge, for 
example, he has a card which is placed under the pot containing 
the plant, but when the judges have to remove the plant to 
compare it with others he has to move the card also. The case is 
worse where, as it often happens, the same exhibitor has two 
plants, and these are placed on the one card. Now could not 
all this be obviated if each exhibitor had a number printed on a 
green label, which he could place on each pot, this number to 
correspond with one against his name in the entry book ? The 
clerk would then simply have to mark against the name of the 
exhibitor the prize he has obtained, and so all confusion would be 
avoided. I think some arrangement of this kind, and the fixing 
of the date a week later, are matters which are well worthy the 
consideration of the Committee.—D., Deal. 
WATERING TREES AND CROPS. 
I DO not remember so much watering ever being necessary out of 
doors during the months of March and April as has been required 
in our somewhat light soil during the last six or seven weeks. 
Newly planted trees and shrubs and freshly laid turf have had 
several waterings, as also have our Peach, Nectarine, Cherry, 
Apricot, and Green Gage Plum trees trained against walla. I am 
of opinion that wall trees annually suffer more from dryness at the 
roots than many persons are aware of, and to that cause may be 
attributed many of the unfavourable symptoms in such trees which 
we read of from time to time in the horticultural press. 
Even during wet summers it is very rarely that trees growing 
against south, east, and west walls receive sufficient water at the 
roots from the skies to maintain them in a healthy growing state. 
This is easily accounted for. The 3 feet wide alley between the 
wall and border—which usually slopes outward and downward, and 
is cropped with French Beans, Lettuces, Strawberries, &c.—is 
almost as hard as the adjoining gravel walks, and has to be 
loosened on the surface with a digging fork before giving water. 
Moreover, the heat-conserving and moisture-absorbing nature of 
bricks and mortar tends to rob the roots of the trees of the 
moisture reaching the soil about them. The walls, too, very often 
prevent the trees growing against them from being benefited by 
rain. The foregoing remarks will amply show the necessity for 
giving copious supplies of water at the roots of wall trees occupy¬ 
ing such positions as those indicated during the growing season. 
I generally water my Morello Cherries on north walls twice during 
the summer after the soil has been loosened, and a good surface 
dressing of short manure is then applied round the trees. 
In order to secure the best results in the way of crops from 
kitchen garden and field plants the soil should be kept uniformly 
