854 
[ May 4, 1893. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
paragingly of the exhibits, and at other times I ha?e been told that 
my faint praise was worse than downright censure. I have pleaded 
in extenuation that I was brought up in a very rigid school of 
florists, and that I could not bear patiently the more lax views 
entertained of recent years. By those old world ideas I still hold, 
and my notes of the Exhibition of last Tuesday must be guided by 
them, as they have been in former years. 
I, however, think that there will not be anyone, either of the older 
or modern school of florists, who will be prepared to deny that the 
exhibition on Tuesday last was an inferior one, and was another 
instance of the old saying “ Never prophesy till you are sure.” 
Very glowing anticipations were indulged in, if I remember rightly, 
in the pages of the Journal as to the splendid prospects of the 
Show, and perhaps in many quarters these were well founded ; 
but it was not strange that in this absolutely unique season they 
should have been all falsified by the enchanting weather of March 
and April, and while many would have hailed a date a week earlier 
than usual it so happened that the Show was nearly a week later, 
and these two factors led to the result which I have already men¬ 
tioned, and this, if noticeable amongst the Auriculas, was still more 
so amongst the Primulas. A friend of mine came up all the way 
from Torquay on purpose to see these, and of course was grievously 
disappointed ; true, he had plenty of other things to look at, but 
for the one special object of his journey there was, comparatively 
speaking, little to compensate him for his trouble. Another proof 
of the earliness of the season was the appearance in several cases 
of fine trusses of that latest of all Auriculas Richard Headly, 
which is certainly one of the best grey edges in cultivation, its 
rich gold-coloured eye giving it a bright and lovely appearance. 
It well commemorates the raiser and the grower, after which it 
is named, as does George Lightbody, raised by Mr. Headly. 
As the list of prizewinners has already been given, I shall in 
my notes dispense with repeating them, and refer only to special 
points. Of course, we naturally look for the best flowers in 
those staged by that “ past master ” in Auricula growing, the 
Rev. F. D. Horner, and in his stands are pretty sure to find 
some of the best flowers in the Show. Nor was this year an 
exception. The premier plant was to be found here, and one 
which also obtained Mr. Smith’s special prize for the best green- 
edge, to be superior to any of those already in cultivation. The 
flower which gained this distinction was a seedling of Mr. Ben 
Simonite’s, bearing the honoured name of Shirley Hibberd—had it 
been in France it would have been called “Souvenir de Shirley 
Hibberd.” It a beautiful flower with a brilliant green edge, and 
is apparently of the same series as Ben’s other fine flower, the Rev. 
F. 1). Horner, but the paste seemed to me to be better, and therefore 
the body colour was not so apt to come through as it does sometimes 
in that fine flower ; the green-edge is a scarce class. Col. Taylor, 
a very old flower, has several failings. Prince of Greens has a 
brilliant edge, but a pale watery eye, and Imperator is rarely 
seen in good exhibition form. Booth’s Freedom has almost gone 
out of cultivation. We may perhaps include in this class Lancashire 
Hero, which sometimes as a green edge is the most beautiful of all, 
but then it is not truly a green-edged flower ; there is nothing else 
to compare with these two flewers of Ben Simonite’s, the Rev. 
F. D. Horner and Shirley Hibberd. There was also in this stand 
a fine bloom of Alexander Meiklejohn ; in fact, the finest I have 
seen for some years, as also Magpie, which I have already informer 
years written of as the best flower Mr. Horner has raised, and 
probably the best white edge in cultivation. Mr. Horner had also 
a very fine seedling called “ Dusk,” which promises to be useful in 
its class. There were few examples of that finest of all Auriculas 
Geo. Lightbody, although one or two excellent blooms of it were 
shown. 
I was very much pleased to see the position which the flowers 
raised by my late lamented friend Mr. Woodhead, whose early 
death was so great a loss. He only raised, or rather sent out, four 
flowers—Black Bess, Rachel, Geo. Rudd, and Mrs. Dodwell ; yet 
these were to be found everywhere in the winning stands, and in 
two notable cases occupied a very favourable place in the class for 
single seifs. The first of these (Black Bess) carried ofE the first 
and second prizes, beating that very much cracked-up flower, Mrs. 
Potts, which, though beautiful and almost perfect in its flower, is 
so hopelessly ungainly in its growth as to deprive it of most of 
its value. It out-tops all other plants, and moreover the footstalks 
are so long that the blooms sprawl about. By-the-by, that fine 
flower Heroine was completely out of court. It is an early flower, 
and I do not recollect seeing a plant of it in the Exhibition. 
Again, in the class for two plants the first prize was taken by two 
of Mr. Woodhead’s flowers, Rachel and Mrs. Dodwell, a grey and 
a white edge. I am sure these facts must be most gratifying 
to Miss Woodhead, while to myself it is also pleasant to find 
that the estimate I had formed of these flowers was a correct 
one ; and one cannot cease to regret that a grower who had 
so evidently hit upon the right plan for hybridising had been so 
prematurely taken from amongst us. In this connection recurs 
to me an observation made by one of our best growers, who 
pathetically said to me at the Drill Hall, “Ah, my dear D., who 
is to succeed us ? ” Well, the prospect is perhaps somewhat 
gloomy, but there are some who will take up the running, although 
I fear that those who will occupy the place of the speaker are 
not in evidence. The Auricula is not popular, like the Rose, 
the Chrysanthemum, or the Carnation. It is the flower of the 
few, not of the many ; the estimate of it even amongst gardeners 
is just what I overheard the other day. Three persons, who 
seemed to me to be gentlemen’s gardeners, were standing opposite 
a collection of Calceolarias, very beautiful, but very common 
things, when one addresses his fellows, “ See those men over 
there,” pointing to a group of florists who were discussing the 
merits of some Auriculas, “ why they will stand there all day dis¬ 
cussing those things, and yet will not give a look at these beautiful 
plants.” 0 tempora ! &c., to compare the Auricula with a Calcy, or 
listen to the ladies. A few of them will call them loves, &c., but 
the general idea is expressed by “ Oh ! I don’t think much of tlwn; 
they are so stiff and formal, and then you know you can’t cut them, 
and they are no good for bouquets.” 
Yet withal there has always been a select few to whom the 
Auricula is very precious, and I confess to being one of them. 
They are associated with my earliest days of horticulture ; 
they have formed a bond of union with many a brother florist, 
and they give a zest to meetings such as those on Tuesday, when 
we see friends we are not likely to see at any other time, and find 
topics of conversation in the flowers we love so much. 
Such are a few of the things which strike me in connection with 
this Show. It has not been a good Auricula year. Many plants 
did not bloom at all. Many threw small trusses ; and I was glad 
to see that this did not condemn a plant; nor did a truss of twelve 
or thirteen, half of which had better been away, commend a plant. 
And so another season has passed. The younger growers will look 
hopefully on ; the older ones, like myself, will ask themselves with 
sobered thoughts. Shall I ever see another ? But we must do our 
best to encourage others, and tell them what a fund of enjoyment 
there is in the cultivation of this refined and beautiful flower.— 
D., Deal. 
DRY WEATHER. 
1 HAVE a distinct recollection of the hot and dry weather experienced 
during the summer of 1868, not perhaps so much from my horticultural 
remembrance of it, although in some respects this was the case. I 
cannot say that I recorded the number of rainless days, but I know they 
were many. During June of that year I was suffering from illness, 
which interfered with my annual visit to the grand Yorkshire Glala held 
that month in my native city. 
“ An Old Gardener” (page 329) may be surprised to learn that I, so 
early as thatyear, did make a few Chrysanthemum cuttings. The method 
of growing the plants differed much in those days to the present fashion, 
and so did the varieties. On reference to my diary of that year I find , ■ 
noted such sorts as Queen of England, Venus, and Aigle d’Or. It was 
deemed necessary then to employ as many stakes as the plants had 
blooms, numbering hundreds to each. 
Referring to our rain table of the present year, from February 1st 
to April 21st, as requested on page 329, I find recorded 3 84 inches, 
0-35 inch, and 0-04 inch, or a total of 4-23 inches for the three months. 
This is considerably in excess of the total recorded by “ An Old 
Gardener,” February keeping up to its reputation of “ Fill dyke.” 
During the quoted period rain fell on twenty-four days, none whatever 
falling on fifty-one of that period. It will thus be seen that the rain 
during two of the months quoted—March and April—is less than one- 
third of the quantity which fell in 1868, and really for horticultural 
purposes the total rainfall for the three months of this year is of less 
benefit than that quoted by your correspondent; 3 inches of rain, fall¬ 
ing at intervals of an inch at a time, is of more benefit to growing 
crops than the same quantity falling at once. With the exception of 
0'04 inch, recorded for April 16th, and 0'02 inch on the 29th, we have 
up to the present time (May 1st) had sixty-five rainless days from 
February Ist, and at present the prospect is a continuance of the same 
order. Looking over the records taken during the last ten years, I find 
1892 credited with the greatest number of dry days—253. The year 
1889 follows next, with but six less. Singular to relate, the years 1883 
and 1884 record the same number of days upon which rain (O'Ol inch) 
fell—135, giving a total for each year of 230 dry days. 
The total rainfall here for the last ten years is 300 69 inches, the 
average being 30'06 inches, which is a fairly good one considering the 
altitude, 390 feet above sea level. In spite of the unusual drought so 
early in the year the crops and trees look remarkably well in the strong 
land of this neighbourhood, except Grass and Clover. Tri folium is now 
in flower, and but a few inches high. Even the Brassica tribe have 
not yet taken on that blue tint of the leaf which betokens a suffering 
from want of moisture at the roots. It is the newly sown and planted 
crops that need attention in the matter of watering, mulching, and 
surface stirring. I can manage without complaint all garden crops, but 
