Jhme W, 1888 J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
483 
-very few, and this is one great disadvantage of living so far away 
from the “busy haunts of men.” Were I residing on the out- 
■skirts of London, for example, I could have many an opportunity 
of seeing other people’s collections, and of having them to visit my 
own garden, but this is denied me, and I must take it as one of the 
^ cons” against the many “pros” of a country life. However, 
one has the advantage of not being in the feverish state which 
seems inseparable from the very calmest exhibitor. I am in no 
worry as to whether this or that plant may be in bloom by the show 
day, or whether this other will be over, or whether I should put 
this one under a cap glass, as used to be sometimes done to open it 
better. Still there are undeniable pleasures in exhibiting, and were 
it nothing else, it brings one into close contact with those of a 
kandred spirit I have, unfortunately, neither the patience nor the 
neat-handedness necessary for the hybridiser, and consequently I 
miss the pleasure of seedhng raising. Besides, when one has 
reached the allotted span, seedling raising is, I fear, a vain dream, 
reminding me of a sturdy baronet in my neighbourhood who met 
with an accident in breaking in a horse for his own use when he 
was verging upon eighty. However, Auriculas have for fifty years 
given me many an hour of pleasant enjoyment, and I am quite as 
fond of them as I have ever been. My own collection is not a 
large one, but it contains, owing to the kindness of friends, most 
of the good sorts which I should not otherwise have had, for I do 
not care to pay highly; and while there are some of the old ones that 
1 may perhaps discard if my stock of the better sorts increases, I 
cannot but feel how problematical it is that this will ever be in 
the few years which at best I can hope to see. 
A dead set seems to have been made on the “ friends of our 
youth,” but I should be wanting in gratitude if I did not lift up 
Tuy voice for some of them, and of those, too, whose acquaintance 
I made in middle age. I hope that I am not prejudiced, and I 
fully recognise the very great beauty of many (although not by any 
means all) of the flowers which have been raised of late years, and 
which have received honours. There may be, perhaps, some of the 
“ sour grape ” feeling, but withal that I, being obliged to grow 
many of the older varieties, still find beauty in them. There is 
no reason why the rate of progress should not hold good with the 
Auricula as with other flowers. It presents, it is true, gi-eater 
difficulties, but that only requires greater patience. We have seen 
(at least I have) the beautifully round and brilliant coloured flowers 
ef the Pelargonium, and can recollect such flowers as Garth’s Joan 
ef Arc, which created a furore in its day, a flower we should now 
stigmatise as starry and ill-shaped. We have seen the small 
Tuberous Begonia so improved as to become almost too large 
for our requirements, and so on ; but then there is this difference, 
we may soon expect, when we hear of anything remarkable in such 
plants, to get them for ourselves. Now those who raise seedling 
Auriculas are few in number, and I do not see why they, setting 
before themselves a high standard, should not be able to reach the 
same height of success as some have already attained ; but we look 
on and admire, but do not expect to add them to our collections. 
Auriculas cannot be propagated as other plants. There may be 
some which by nature are prolific in giving offsets, such as Acme, 
Conservative, Traill’s Beauty, and many of the seifs ; there are 
others which will hardly give one in a year, and I fancy few care to 
cut the head off a fine plant in the hope of iis yielding offsets, 
and hence the high price which many still maintain, even although 
they may have been in commerce for twenty years or more. 
I have ceased to have any anxiety about the woolly aphis which 
some years ago so bothered me, not that I am free from it, for on 
turning out my plants I found it still with me, but I am doubtful 
as to its injurious effects if ordinary care is given to the plants. 
If they are not potted too low, and the collar weU kept above the 
soil so that it can be watched, the effects of the aphis on the roots 
is not injurious. Doubtless if they were not disturbed, but allowed 
to work their own sweet will, it would be otherwise. Not only 
does the Auricula afford them a home, but I have found them on 
the plants of many species of Primula which I obtained from a 
well-known nursery in the North, and I have found them on 
Lettuce roots, and even on weeds in my garden, so that I do not 
see much prospect of getting rid of it, and as the general character 
of my collection last year was healthy, I must submit to what, I 
fear, is the inevitable. 
I lost a few of my larger plants by rot or canker, which seems 
to attack them for no reason whatever that I can see, and I have 
often wondered whether it may not be a constitutional defect 
belonging to the Primulas, or at least to some of them—i.e., whether 
they are not really more shortlived than we imagine. There are 
many species which are used in the rock garden which, although 
described as perennial, are little better than biennials, and of which 
it is necessary to keep up the stock by continual sowing of the 
seed. On wild Primroses it is very difficult to speak, they are 
continually seeding, and seedling plants spring up around the 
habitat of the parent, but whether it dies or not I do not know^ 
but P. rosea, for example, becomes, with me at any rate, very 
inferior after a couple or years or so, and apparently requires to be 
treated almost as a biennial, although it does not absolutely die 
after the second year of flowering. I had some fine but oldish 
plants of Richard Headly, which for some reason or other last year 
dwindled away. They did not die, but neither did they live ; at 
least did not show much signs of life, and did not flower this 
spring, and as they were treated in the same manner as the others, 
I can only conclude that it is something of this kind of consti¬ 
tutional old age which has weakened them ; at least I can discover 
no other cause than this. I will next refer to varieties.—D., Deed. 
(To be continued.) 
VEGETABLES FOR EXHIBITION. 
CUCUMBERS. 
For exhibition purposes Cucumbers must be quickly grown, 
straight, even sized, short necked, dark green in colour, and carry¬ 
ing a good bloom. Very rarely can old plants be made to produce 
fruit meeting nearly or quite all these requirements, and in most 
instances it is advisable to raise a few plants especially for the 
production of exhibitioia fruit. The majority of provincial or 
local shows are held late in July and early in August, and long 
before that time the plants started in the winter or spring months 
are in an exhausted state, and most pi'obably infested with red 
spider. Instead, therefore, of relying upon these to yield present¬ 
able fruit, it will be found far better to sow seed about nine weeks 
before the date of the show, singly in 3j-inch pots, and set in 
gentle heat to germinate. They should be raised and kept growing 
well clear of any other plants likely to be infested with any kind 
of insect pest, and if the site is not ready for them by the time the 
pots are becoming filled wuth roots give them a shift into 6-inch 
or larger pots, using a fairly rich loamy soil. These precautions 
are necessary, as to start with either dirty or badly rootbound 
plants is to court failure from the first. 
Whether the plants are eventually grown in houses, frames, or 
pits, must depend upon circumstances. They are certainly more 
under control, and produce the cleanest and straightest fruit in a 
house, but capital produce can also be had from plants in pits and 
frames. They succeed admirably on the north or shadiest side of 
a span-roofed house, or on the back portion of a three-quarter 
span-roofed house. Melons being grown if need be on the front 
or sunniest side of the structure. If a slight hotbed is formed this 
will give the plants a strong start, and the roots will soon take 
possession of the heating material. With good attendance they 
will thrive for a time quite as well in mounds of soil only, placed 
on a slate or treUised bench. A heavy clayey loam is altogether un¬ 
suitable for them, this better suiting Melons ; but if it must be used 
let it be as rough and turfy as possible, and add plenty of burnt soil, 
charcoal, and leaf soil. If light turfy loam is available little else 
need be used, and in any case no partially decayed manure should 
be added, this soon clogging the soil, and also is a frequent means 
of introducing the tiny worms which cripple the roots so badly as 
to cause a complete failure. The plants may be placed out about 
4 feet apart, and mounds equal to about two bushels of compost 
is ample for each at the outset. Plant as soon as this is warmed 
through. Rub out side shoots until the trellis is reached, when 
the plants may be stopped and encouraged to form two or three 
strong shoots, which, in their turn, may be stopped at the third 
or fourth joint, the breaks following upon this stopping being 
sufficient to lay the foundation of a profitable plant. Do not 
let the plants bear heavily, if at all, long before the date of the 
first show, and about ten days before they are wanted select four 
or five of the best formed young fruits, and after these have 
flowered and made sufficient progress to guide the cultivator in his 
selection, reduce the number to two or three fruits on each plant. 
Stop the branches at the second joint beyond the fruit before the 
use of a knife is necessitated, and also thin out superfluous growths 
so as to avoid unduly crowding the foliage. This treatment being 
persevered in, the plants will continue to produce handsome fruits 
suitable for any purpose. Tne roots ought not to be confined 
to the small heaps of soil, and should receive occasional light 
surfacings of turfy loam or as fast as the old compost is filled with 
them. 
If only a few fruits are wanted, and that quickly, they may be 
either planted in tubs, large pots, or in mounds of soil about 3 feet 
apart, and taken up the roof without stopping, or much as Melons 
are trained. The laterals will be thrown out at each joint, and in 
most instances will form a cluster of fruit at the first and second 
joints. Stop at the leaf beyond these, and also freely thin out the 
young fruits, not leaving more than two or three of one age to 
