THE FLORIST. 
293 
to have been made in this class, for few of the trade catalogues con¬ 
tain any addition to the old notched varieties, such as King of the 
Alps, Queen of Ditto, Fair Phillis, &c., which, at the best (although 
large and showy flowers), can only be recognised as border varieties. 
During the last spring, I had the gratification of inspecting a very 
splendid collection of this class of flowers, principally seedlings raised 
by Mr. Willison, of the New Gardens, near Whitby, which exhibited 
considerable advance on the varieties above alluded to; the flowers 
yvevQ perfectly circular, and comprised almost every tint of colour,—and 
the colours were rich in the extreme. Some of the flowers, however, 
appeared rather wanting in size; but this fault did not apply to all, for 
many of them possessed both good size and substance. From the 
marked improvement which was manifested in those seedlings, I feel 
persuaded that the Alpine Auricula might, by judiciously impregnat¬ 
ing with, and saving seed from, the best productions, be brought to 
that perfection which would entitle it to a prominent position in our 
spring floricultural exhibitions. With a view of promoting this 
object, and hoping that the cultivators of this class may benefit by 
Mr. Willison’s experience and observations, I requested him to 
furnish some particulars as to the course he had adopted, and which 
appear in the present Number of The Florist. 
The culture of the Alpine Auricula is similar to that of the 
Auricula proper, and Mr. Neville’s monthly calendar in The Florist 
may be consulted with advantage. Let the compost be tolerably 
rich but simple, eschewing all nostrums and exciting stimulants. 
Adopt the soils recommended in No. VI. of this work, p. 138. 
If any of the southern growers cultivate this class of Auricula, 
perhaps they would favour the readers of The Florist with their 
observations thereon, and notice a few of the best varieties which 
they have in cultivation. 
Whitby^ Oct. 10, 1848. M. Woodhouse. 
WILLISON ON THE ALPINE AURICULA. 
Observing that the Alpine Auricula was more calculated to strike 
the eye of the casual observer than any of the other classes, from its 
richness of colour, and remembering well that it was the Alpine 
that struck me the most when 1 was first introduced to a fine collec¬ 
tion of Auriculas, I often wondered, after I had become an Auricula 
grower, why the Alpine did not rank in equal merit with the other 
classes. However, on observing that the segments of the corolla 
were less or more slit, and that, in many of the most esteemed 
varieties, the eye was any thing but circular, I was, on finding the 
Alpine thus wanting in those two very essential points, more re¬ 
conciled to the indifference with which it appeared to be treated by 
florists generally; still I thought that, although it could not deserv¬ 
edly rank with the Auricula proper, Wcis it not possible to make it 
