JULY. 
195 
habit is to be impure, and besides, with the colour overpowering the 
edge and spoiling the symmetry of the flower. There are several 
others that sometimes come pure and throw a first-rate truss; Headly’s 
Conductor and Excellent do, the latter having a dull but deep green 
edge; Hepworth’s Robin Hood, Lightbody’s Fairy Queen, Ashton’s 
Prince of Wales, which last, from its angularity, narrowness and 
dulness of body colour, and want of smoothness, must rank low with the 
connoisseur notwithstanding; Franklin’s Colonel is often pure, though 
light green in the edge, but then it has no two pips with the very 
smart colour like polished Spanish mahogany of equal breadth; Prince 
Albert I have seen pure, and then if caught before the tube bleaches 
it is first-rate, though of light green ; Lord Lynedoch may be pure and 
deep, but so may Mother Bunch ; Star of Bethlehem stares at you like 
a vulgar minded, but not bad looking, milkmaid, all eyes and cheeks; 
Howard’s Lord Nelson is better, but seldom gives a truss for an exhi¬ 
bition table; Hogg’s Waterloo is pretty, but only Apple green; and 
Clegg’s Lady Blucher is light green in the edge and angular throughout. 
Of the newer ones, Lycurgus, if it ever shakes off its beading, will go 
into the front rank, and General Neil bids high for a good place; but 
time is wanting to judge correctly of these. I do not remember to 
have seen any other sorts with a pure edge at any time. But there 
are many good flowers remaining in the class notwithstanding, some of 
them far better in their impure state than most of the above. Camp¬ 
bell’s imitations of Booth’s Freedom, Admiral Napier, and Lord 
Palmerston, are both good, the former very large and bold, the latter 
more correct, but with a light and transient eye; Matilda is perfect 
in form and beautiful in colour, but the edge is light and the eye 
transient, also, it forms a bad truss; John Bright has a bleaching eye. 
Emerald too small a one; Freeman is not pleasing, though sometimes 
very fine; Sir John Moore is brilliant and effective, and easily satisfied; 
Moore’s Violet is among the loveliest of the lovely; Oliver’s Lovely 
Ann is useful and lasting; Lord John Russell is lively and good; Trail’s 
General Havelock is good; Pollitt’s flowers have far too many petals 
(lobes), and are anything but smooth, but are not to be despised ; 
Partington’s Trafalgar is useful; Smith’s Waterloo is of doubtful green 
and thin paste, but I cannot part with it. 
In this enumeration I have left out some that I grow, but the only 
one worth mentioning is Strong’s Sir Isaac Newton, which, though an 
old flow^er, is very rare, and not first-rate either. 
And now to conclude. Where are we to look among them all for 
the type of a green edge such as we want ? I confess I know not. Is 
not Page’s Champion the best we yet possess? “ D. of Deal ” thinks 
it is, “ <I> ” says it is, and I am forced to admit that it is. And there¬ 
fore it is the best, for who in the Auricula world shall pit his dictum 
against such a trio ? But then I say shame to seedling raisers if it is. 
But I believe it is, notwithstanding. If Dr. Plant would teach us to 
grow Booth’s Freedom as he can grow it, with nine or eleven pips, 
if/at would be second. Shall I confess to the mortifying fact that I 
fear Wilbraham ought to stand third ? Dickson was supposed to have 
achieved a revolution in these matters. But though every flower of 
