194 
THE FLORIST. 
in appearance as much as in name. Inspect a collection, and even an 
habitue may ask to which class a given specimen belongs. 
To produce the full effect of its class superiority there is necessary, 
besides the form and general markings required in all, that a green- 
edged Auricula have its edge pure, that is, free from a particle of meal, 
and of a deep and vivid green, for some are light and seme Apple green, 
and some, though deep and pure, are dull. The best and purest in 
these respects, if you except its pointed form, is the old Lancashire 
flower Leigh’s Colonel Taylor, which came out nearly fifty years ago; 
and its contemporary, Booth’s Freedom, is but little behind it in that, 
and before it in most other properties. Page’s Champion came out 
not very long after them; and when to these you have added others. 
Lady Ann Wilbraham, Litton’s Imperator, and Beeston’s Apollo, I am 
at a loss what other I can name that has been long enough in hand, 
with me at least, to rank with them as pure and perfect green edges. 
And of these how far fi’om perfection is the best! Something of this 
deficiency may be owing to their being members of the highest and 
most perfect class, for the ideal type in such will always be further 
beyond ordinary reach than in lower classes. But more is due to the 
actual falling short of any fair standard in the varieties themselves, 
which is much more conspicuous in these than in the greys or in the 
seifs. Yates’ Morris Green Hero, though permitted to take a low 
prize this year at Middleton, I cannot consent to include among show 
flowers at all; its green is so dull and so broad, with a mere thread of 
colour, that it has made a long approach in returning to its original 
condition of a leaf. Its purity of edge once deceived me into thinking 
well of it; but after I had grown it a year or two I completely gave 
in to the general opinion of its demerit and discarded it. 
No doubt there are other long-established flowers besides the six 
mentioned that are undeniable in purity of edge, of which perhaps the 
best is Hudson’s Apollo; but unless under superior cultivation its want 
of size and its form of truss render it insignificant, and its green is not 
nearly deep enough. In a good trainer’s hands it may be made a 
first-rate flower, but it requires special attention, and is besides of 
delicate constitution. You must be careful how you play tricks with 
it, to get more body colour and a more vivid green; if indeed they ever 
succeed, the tricks I mean, good cultivation does. Of Matley’s Super¬ 
intendent, I can only speak irom one year’s experience; Mr. Lightbody 
says it is too angular. I sent a pair to London, and not a pip on 
either had an angle in it. Its fault was that the paste was weak and 
thin. In a good year like this, it need not fear being shown against 
the Champion itself The question really is, how often do these years 
come? And that cannot be answered without longer trial. Dickson’s 
Duke of Wellington after all deserves its London popularity, for it does 
its best to please; it is showy, it is hardy, it is prolific, it is not particular 
as to treatment, and always looks well and striking; and in the ten 
years I have grown it, and that by the dozen, I have seen it with a 
pure green edge of tolerable breadth —once 1 And what is more it 
was then fit to show at Middleton. But it would be absurd to rank it 
with the pure green edges because it can sometimes be seen pure. Its 
