100 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 1. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
(Continued from page 130.) 
THE AURICULA. 
NEW VARIETIES. 
Ax eminent florist, Mr. Holland, in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Manchester, writes me, in reply to an inquiry— 
i “ CJieetlmni's Lancashire Hero Auricula stands pre¬ 
eminent in this neighbourhood, having taken all the 
first prizes, and is decidedly the finest Auricula ever 
I raised. At the Botanical Gardens here it was in the 
first pan, and was first in its class (grey-edged) at Roch¬ 
dale and Middleton, surpassing all others. 
“ Fincllaysoris John Bright, a new green-edged variety, 
will, I think, be first in its class; the green being excel¬ 
lent, paste and tube good, and a large flower; its only 
fault is, as it has come with me, it is a little flushed in 
the body colour. 
“ Spalding s Blackbird, a self, has been extra fine here 
; * spring, and will make a desirable addition to this 
class; and I think, when more plentiful, will run a 
J tight race with the old good variety, Nethenrood’s 
I Othello." 
Jo amateurs, growers of Auricula, the above in¬ 
formation will be welcome. I know Mr. Holland well, 
and can assure our readers that his judgment and integ¬ 
rity may be safely relied upon. 
In addition to the above, I can recommend the fol¬ 
lowing, though not exactly new, but scarce, good varie¬ 
ties :— 
GREEN-EDGED AURICULAS. 
Beeston s Apollo; a fine, bold flower; always winning 
in its class when in good condition. 
! Dickson's Dale of Wellington, raised by the late Mr. 
Dickson, of Acre Lane; a good variety, with every good 
property. j 
Lightbody’s Lord Lynedoch; new and excellent. 
GREY-EDGED. 
Headleys Stapleford Hero; a beautiful variety, with 
' riie edge broad and beautifully covered with a grey 
powder; has won many prizes. 
WHITE-EDGED. 
j This is my favourite class. The edge, or border, is of 
a pure clean white surrounding a dark body ground, 
giving the flower a very beautiful appearance. 
, Ashton’s Bonny Lass; a clean, well-defined flower, 
| medium size, and a good grower. 
j Heap’s Smiling Beauty ; very excellent, flowers large, 
with every good property. 1 think it the best of its ! 
class. 
Lightbody’s Fair Maid; also very good in its class; 
; ec ‘o e very pure, body colour excellent, form good. 
SELFS. 
Ivay s Jupiter; a noble, dark flower, but sometimes! 
rather thin in substance; requires plenty of air to over- ] 
come that slight defect. 
Lightbody s Admiral of the Blue; ahold flower, stout 
j lu substance, aud fino in colour. The best of the blue 
seifs. 
Lowes Jvanhoe; a dark self; large blooms, and ex- \ 
cellent form and substance. 
A SELECTION OF TIIE REST OLDER VARIETIES. 
GREEN-EDGED. 
Booth’s Freedom; very excellent in form aud sub¬ 
stance, but scarce. 
Dickson s Matilda; a good variety. 
Heath’s Emerald; clear green edge, bold in outline, 
aucl good in form and substance. 
Leigh s Colonel laylor; a well-known, excellent 
variety, but is still scarce in the trade. 
! Page’s Champion ; also well-known amongst growers 
as an excellent variety. 
GREY-EDGED. 
Buckley’s Surprize; a good, stout flower, of good pro¬ 
perties. 
I letcher’s Be Plus Ultra, form good, colours distinct, 
paste and tube excellent. 
Grime’s Privateer; a good old variety; requires to 
be kept rather warm, to bring up the bloom to perfection. 
Page’s II dterloo; as good a variety as any in its class, 
j Warris’s Union ; a good old variety. 
WHITE-EDGED. 
Buckley’s Miss Ann ; form good, colours well defined; 
a fine variety. 
Cheetham’s Countess of M ilton. This raiser has been 
1 very successful in obtaining first-rate varieties, and this 
is one of his best of its class, 
i ( ampbell s Robert Burns; a good variety. 
J aylor’s Favourite; a fine, bold flower, but rather un¬ 
certain. 
SELFS. 
A self Auricula is one that has the petals of one clear 
colour, the stamens and eye only being yellow. The 
prevailing colours are blue and dark maroon. 
Berry’s Lord Primate. 
Barker’s Nonsuch. 
Clegg’s Blue Bonnet. 
Dickson’s Apollo. 
Grime’s Flora's Flag. 
Kenyon’s Freedom. 
Netherwood’s Othello. 
Redman’s Metropolitan. 
Womersley’s Desdemona. 
ALEINES. 
This class is distinct from all the rest. The colours, 
instead of breaking ofF at a given line, shade beautifully 
into each other in a most pleasing manner. They are 
great favourites with some growers, and are very hardy. 
I here are no new varieties. The following are the best 
at present known: 
Crompton’s Blue Bang-up. 
Captain Fraser. 
Fletcher’s Fair Helen. 
Mellor’s Jenny Lind. 
Queen Victoria. 
Willison’s Dan O'Connell. 
- - Climax. 
T. Applery. 
(To lc continued.) 
THE BLACK CURRANT, AND ITS FAILURES 
THIS SEASON. 
Ihat the Black Currant should be affected by a 
somewhat similar disease as that which has proved so j 
fatal to the fruit crops (so nearly related to it) in the | 
sunny islands of the Mediterranean, need afford no 
great surprise, since the Potato disease seems as widely 
known; but I am in hopes the Black Currant is not j 
suffering severely, yet, as most other fruits seem very 
abundant this season, and promise very well so far, 
it is somewhat remarkable that one esteemed the : 
hardiest ot the lot should be the first to shew 
disease; but such is the case, and that in too general 
a manner to have been affected by some mere local or I 
accidental cause. The bunches of fruit which, in an 
ordinary way, ought to have from seven to twelve berries 
on them, have rarely more than three, anct many of 
them look as il they would drop, being so uneven in 
i 
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