90 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[June. 
otlier has not yet flowered. The drawing of 
Kingfisher referred to does not depict it as so 
bright in the centre as Lancer. I think that 
all who are growing the old-fashioned gold- 
laced Polyanthus would do well to look after 
and preserve all the coloured illustrations that 
can be met with, as they will be of assista.nc 0 
in testing the identity or otherwise of any that 
may come under notice. 
The Polyanthuses staged for exhibition at 
Manchester carried but one truss of flowers, 
the same as in the case of Auriculas. If it be 
a good rule in relation to the showing of the 
Auricula, and especially in so far as it secures 
the highest refinement in the pips, it is as 
desirable in the case of the Polyanthus. In the 
North I did not see a single plant staged for 
exhibition with more than a single truss, and 
the fine character of the flowers was very 
striking. The sorts were few, but they were 
all good, viz.. Lord Lincoln; Exile, in rare 
form; Cheshire Favourite; Lancer; President; 
and William LV. The former has a sin¬ 
gularly bright and effective golden centre, 
not so deep as Exile, but yet quite luminous, 
and the pip being of fine shape and the lacing 
perfect; it was very pure and good. It is a 
dark variety that will take a lot of beating. 
Exile was very fine, pure in colour, and flat 
and well-formed in the pip ; a little manipula¬ 
tion had something to do with this in all pro¬ 
bability, but it was richer altogether than we 
get in the South. Cheshire Favourite was 
large and beautifully laced, the rich glossy 
black ground contrasting with the golden 
lacing. Lancer was finely shown—so bright 
and effective, and with the most regular lacing 
of all the named varieties ; it is a very strong 
red ground : taking it altogether, I look upon 
it as the best named Polyanthus I grow. 
Hilton’s President, which for three years in my 
own experience has been deficient in the lacing, 
was this year nearly perfect. When caught in 
good form, it is very bright in the centre, 
an excellent grower, and a model trusser, 
with a strong stiff erect flower-stem, and a 
regular well-displayed truss. 
We hear sometimes of overpotting Auriculas 
and Polyanthuses, but it was interesting to 
note the large size of the pots in which the 
Polyanthuses were growing in the North. Mr. 
John Beswick’s first prize three were in 24- 
sized pots ; they were in excellent health and 
very robust, but yet without any taint of 
coarseness. Mr. Beswick grows his plants in good 
sweet fibrous loam, sand, and thoroughly de¬ 
composed manure, keeping them in a cold frame, 
and giving them a little weak liquid-manure 
made from cowdung, at blooming time. The 
trusses of bloom contained from five to seven 
or eight pips—pips of the right size, and well 
displayed. This is the way in which gold-laced 
Polyanthuses should be shown; it displaces 
mere bulk, and puts correct development in 
its stead, and puts growers on a better footing 
of equality on the exhibition table. 
When Polyanthuses are grown in large pots, 
they should be potted as early in the summer 
as possible, even to the sacrificing of seed— 
that is, if they are not planted out. I am keep¬ 
ing some of my plants in pots, but they have 
been shifted into a smaller-sized pot than that 
in which they flowered; and they will get 
another slight shift in September. Some I am 
planting out, to be lifted and potted about the 
end of August. 
The impetus given to the culture of the 
gold-laced Polyanthus in the South by the 
establishment of the Southern Section of the 
National Auricula Society, is reacting on the 
North. A very few years ago and but few 
plants of gold-laced Polyanthuses could be seen 
at the Northern Auricula Show. Now there is 
a decided change for the best—the competing 
examples have increased, the number of ex¬ 
hibitors doubled, and the raising of seedlings 
is being pursued with avidity. The two new 
varieties that came to the fore at Manchester, 
viz., Brockhanh’s John of Gaunt and Bolton’s 
Seedling, will not displace any existing varieties, 
but they illustrate the activity that is at work. 
The establishment of a class for the best seed¬ 
ling Polyanthus is a step in the right direction, 
and it would be well if a similar class were 
added to the schedule of prizes of the Southern 
Section of the National Society. There is some 
talk of a class for the best seedling Auricula 
being placed in the schedule of prizes of the 
Southern Section, which will make a capital 
feature. Perhaps a class for the best seedling 
Polyanthus will follow in due course. Mr. 
Samuel Barlow, of Chadderton, is this season 
blooming a number of seedlings raised from 
some good crosses, and has already secured 
three or four flowers of much promise. With 
others travelling along the same line both North 
and South, there is much hope of the future. 
—E. Dean. 
PULTEN^A EOSEA. 
S PEETTY, compact-growing, slender, 
heath-like, greenhouse evergreen shrub, 
a native of Australia, which was first 
described by Dr. Mueller under the name of 
Burtonia suhalpina, and subsequently under that 
here adopted. It is of very distinct character, 
and will be quite an acquisition amongst hard- 
wooded plants on account of its novelty, and 
