540 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 25 , 1891. 
—— 
National Auricula Society (Southern Section). 
The annual exhibition, held at the Drill Hall on 
Tuesday, was an agreeable surprise to the admirers of 
the Auricula who put in an appearance there—and they 
were many. The late season undoubtedly told its tale 
on both numbers and quality, but still the exhibition 
was a much finer one than was anticipated by the most 
sanguine southern grower. The flowers are so late in 
the north that neither the Rev. F. D. Horner nor Mr. 
Barlow could show a bloom, and the absence of these 
gentlemen was keenly felt by the floral brotherhood. 
Mr. Ben. Simonite and Mr. J. S. Hedderley were the only 
northern florists present, but the midlands were much 
better represented than usual. In the absence of Mr. 
Horner’s plants the competitions, especially with the 
edged flowers, resulted in a complete walk over for the 
Reading growers, Mr. T. E. Henwood especially dis¬ 
tinguishing himself. 
In the premier class for twelve show Auriculas Mr. 
T. E. Henwood was well first with finely-grown and 
well-bloomed examples of Rev. F. D. Horner (Simonite), 
Mrs. Dodwell (Woodhead), Prince of Greens (Trail), 
Black Bess (Woodhead), Lancashire Hero (Lancashire), 
Reliance (Mellor), Abbe Liszt (Douglas), Mrs. Potts 
(Barlow), George Rudd (Woodhead), George Lightbody 
(Headly), Heroine (Horner), and Acme (Read). Mr. 
Douglas, with a very neat lot, came in second ; Mr. 
A. J. Sanders, gardener, Bookham Lodge, Cobham, 
third ; and Mr. P. J. Worsley, Rodney Lodge, Clifton, 
fourth. For six show Auriculas the awards went as 
follows :—First, Mr. Henwood, with Rev. F. D. Horner 
(Simonite), .Heroine (Horner), a blue-purple self, 
Mrs. Dodwell (Wcodhead), George Rudd (Woodhead), 
and Lancashire Hero (Lancashire). Second, Mr. 
Douglas ; third, Mr. A. J. Sanders ; fourth, Mr. P. J. 
Worsley ; fifth, Mr. R. Dean, Ealing. In the limited 
class for four show Auriculas another Reading grower 
took up the running, and secured first honours with 
Mrs. Potts, Mrs. Dodwell, Rev. F. D. Horner, and 
George Rudd. This was Mr. G. W. Wheelwright; 
and second to him came Mr. W. Smith, Bishops 
Stortford, with Mrs. Potts, Rev. F. D. Horner, 
Heatherbell (Simonite), and Rachel (Woodhead). Mr. 
W. Badcock, Oxford Road, Reading, was third ; Mr. 
C. Phillips, Reading, fourth ; and Mr. W. L. Walker, 
Reading, fifth. The first four prizes for pairs also went 
to Reading, Mr. G. W. Wheelwright being first with 
George Rudd and Rev. F. D. Horner ; Mr. C. Phillips 
second with George Rudd and Heroine ; Mr. W. 
Badcock third with Rev. F. D. Horner and Mrs. 
Potts: Mr. W. L. Walker fourth ; Sir John T. D. 
Llewelyn fifth ; and Mr. W. Smith sixth. 
In the single specimen classes Mr. Henwood was 
again well to the front. In green-edges he was first 
and second with Rev. F. D. Horner ; Mr. Wheelwright 
being third and fifth, and Mr. Douglas fourth with the 
same variety ; Mr. Douglas sixth, with his Abbe Liszt ; 
Mr. Worsley seventh with Rev. F. D. Horner, and the 
Rev. R. L. I food, the Rectory, Marrow, eighth, with 
General Neill (Trail). Grey-edges : First, Mr. A. J. 
Sanders with Geo. Lightbody ; second, Mr. Wheel¬ 
wright, with W. F. Brockbank ; third, Mr. Worsley ; 
fourth, Mr. Henwood; fifth, Mr. Douglas ; sixth, 
Mr. W r . L. W r alker, with George Lightbody ; seventh, 
Mr. Henwood, with George Rudd ; eighth, Mr. Sanders, 
with Mrs. Moore (Douglas). White-edges : First, 
Mr. Henwood, with John Simonite (Walker) ; second, 
Mr. Wheelwright, with Acme ; third and fifth, Mr! 
Douglas, with Conservative ; fourth, Mr. Henwood, 
with Acme; sixth and seventh, Mr. Sanders, and 
eighth, Mr. W. Smith, with Acme. Selfs : First and 
second. Mr. Henwood, and third, Mr. Wheelwright, 
with Mrs. Potts ; fourth, Mr. Sanders, with Bkck 
Bess ; fifth, Mr. Wheelwright, with Mrs. Potts ; sixth, 
Mr. W. Badcock, with Blue Beauty, a lovely rich blue ; 
seventh, Rev. R.. L. Flood, with Clipper (Turner) ; and 
eighth, Mr. Worsley, with Black Bess. Mr. Douglas 
and Mr. Turner exhibited nice groups of fifty plants, 
and took the awards in the order named. 
Alpines :—In these classes, as was to be expected, 
the Slough collection, so rich in home-raised seedlings, 
asserted its superiority, Mr. Turner securing the 
premier award for twelve, with T. E. Henwood, 
Exquisite, Phoebe, Harry Furniss, Roland, Sunrise’ 
John Bright, Peter Flower, F. Knighton, Mungo 
McGeorge, Sensation, and Magnet, all varieties of his 
own raising. Mr. Douglas came in second ; Mr. J. 
Weston, gardener to D. Martineau, Esq., South Road, 
Clapham Park, third ; and Messrs. Paul & Son, 
Cheshunt, fourth. For six alpines, Mr. T. E. Henwood 
again secured first honours with well-bloomed examples 
of Lovebird (Douglas), Defiance (Turner), C. Turner 
(Turner), Mrs. Martin (Henwood), May Frances 
(Henwood), and Mrs. Douglas (Henwood); second, Mr. 
Turner; third, Mr. Wheelwright ; 4th, Mr. W. L. 
Walker; and fifth, Mr. Douglas. In the class for four, 
Mr. Wheelwright came in first with Defiance, Hotspur, 
Pallas, and Garnet ; second, Mr. Henwood ; third, 
Mr. W. L. Walker ; fourth, Mr. A. J. Sanders ; fifth, 
Mr. C. Phillips. In the single classes, gold centres, 
Mr. Turner was first with H. M. Pollett ; Mr. 
Henwood second, with Florrie Henwood (Henwood); 
third, Mr. Sanders, with Diadem (Gorton) ; fourth, 
Mr. J. Weston, with Sunrise (Turner) ; fifth, Mr. 
Douglas, with Scylla (Douglas). White or cream 
centres: First, Mr. Turner, withMaudFellowes(Turner); 
second, Mr. Turner, with Countess ; third, Mr. Hen¬ 
wood, with Paragon ; fourth, Mr. J. J. Keen, with 
Edith ; fifth, Mr. Wheelwright, with Albion. 
Though we missed Mr. Barlow’s flowers the gold- 
laced Polyanthuses seemed to be more numerously 
represented than usual, but still made only a small 
display. Mr. Douglas was first for six with Cheshire 
Favourite, George IV., Exile, Lancer, Formosa, and a 
seedling; second, Mr. J. Weston ; third, Mr. R. 
Dean. For three plants Mr. Douglas again secured 
premier honours with George IV., Lancer, and 
Cheshire Favourite ; second, Mr. Sanders ; third, Mr. 
Weston ; and fourth, Mr. R. Dean. Single specimens : 
—First and third, Mr. Douglas with George IV. ; 
second and fourth, Mr. Melles with Lancer. 
Mr. Douglas and Mr. R. Dean had the best fancy 
Auriculas in the order named ; and Mr. Douglas also 
scored again with twelve double Primroses ; Mr. R. 
Dean, being second ; and Mr. D. T. Hodges, Lachine, 
Chislehurst, third. In the corresponding class for 
singles, Mr. Dean and Mr. Douglas changed positions, 
both showing gay collections. Mr. Dean also had a 
very fine basket of Primroses ; and Mr. Douglas beat 
Sir John T. D. Llewelyn with a dozen species. 
New Varieties Certificated. 
The only show Auricula certificated was a remarkably 
promising green-edged seedling of Mr. Barlow’s, named 
Mrs. Henwood, and shown in a robust healthy condition 
by Mr. Henwood. It has a neat bright tube, good clean 
paste, and fine edge of rich'deep green. It promises to 
make a valuable addition to an otherwise weak class. 
The Alpine varieties certificated were as follows :— 
Primrose Queen (Turner), golden centre, surrounded 
with crimson-maroon, shading off to reddish mauve. 
John Bright (Turner), golden centre, body colour 
crimson-maroon, shading off to red. Mrs. Harry Turner 
(Turner), cream centre, body colour very dark maroon, 
shading off to clear rosy purple. Maud Fellowes 
(Turner), creamy yellow centre, body colour maroon- 
purple, shading to reddish purple. H. M. Pollett 
(Turner), yellow centre, body colour maroon-crimson, 
shading to reddish purple. Mrs. Douglas (Henwood), 
yellow centre, body colour crimson-maroon, shading to 
rosy pink; and William Walker (Henwood), yellow 
centre, maroon body colour, shading off to bright 
crimson-red. —•_ 
The Alpine Auricula. 
Ox Tuesday last we saw at the Drill Hall, Westminster, 
and on Wednesday next we shall see at the Royal 
Aquarium, the Alpine Auricula in all the richness of 
development we have seen it assume in recent years ; 
and we are able to perceive how much has been accom¬ 
plished by the persevering florist. It is mainly to the 
enterprise of the late Mr. Charles Turner that we owe 
the later improvements in the flowers. He produced very 
choice material which other raisers have employed and 
are still working upon, with the result that they also 
are affecting the future of this beautiful flower. 
I have in my collection a plaDt of the old Conspicua. 
I should think it is nearly fifty years since it was 
raised. To the best of my knowledge it was obtained 
by the late Mr. William Willison, of Whitby, of Tulip 
renown ; and though it has fallen somewhat behind the 
newer varieties of our day, it is yet of an interesting 
character. 
Mr. Willison had his attention called to the Alpine 
Auricula by observing that it did not rank in equal 
merit with the edged flowers and the seifs, which we 
denominate show varieties. The segments of the 
corolla were more or less slit (Conspicua has this 
defect, and it could be seen to some extent in some of 
the new varieties shown on Tuesday last), and in some 
of the best esteemed varieties of that day the centre 
was star shapel, which is also a defect not quite 
tbliteratel. Here then were two important points, in 
reference to which the Alpine Auricula was susceptible 
of improvement, and to the remedying of these defects 
Mr. Willison devoted himself. What lie aimed at was 
smoothness in the segments of the corolla, circularity 
in the centre, stoutness of substance, richness of 
colour, well shaded, and the pip perfectly flat. In 
those days, and still in the north, Alpine Auriculas 
were and are shaded flowers. Self flowers found no 
favour in the eyes of the florists of those days, and 
still find no favour in our day with the northern 
growers of the Auricula. There is no doubt Mr. 
AVillison laid the foundations of the work which Mr. 
Turner some years later commenced and carried on 
with so much success. 
Florists were not in entire agreement in Mr. Willison’s 
days, though they never differ in opinion in our own. 
There existed a controversy as to whether all Alpine 
Auriculas should have the golden centre or the cream 
and white centre also. Mr. Willison advocated the 
atter. He contended that there should be two classes 
of centres, and his view became universally adopted. 
In those days—the days of Willison—there was the 
white centre with the violet and purple shading, and 
the bright yellow centre with rich crimson and black 
shading. The most rich and beautiful shades of mauve, 
violet and purple are still found surrounding the white 
or cream centre, but the crossing of the two types has 
led to a mixing of these characteristics. I have now in 
flower an Alpine Auricula with a bright gold centre, 
and a shading of the prettiest tint of blue I ever saw on 
an Alpine. It is a seedling which bloomed last autumn 
for the first time, and I have it marked as possessing a 
white centre. It is possible two labels became mis¬ 
placed at the time of potting. 
I do most decidedly hold the opinion that our raisers 
of Alpine Auriculas have been paying a little too much 
attention to size, and with enlarged parts has come a 
certain amount of coarseness. Some of the newer 
varieties open in beautiful character, and then, as they 
increase in size, change for the worse. Exhibition 
Alpines are grown strongly to get large trusses, and 
some coarseness is, I fear, inevitable. A grower can 
apply liquid manure to Alpine Auriculas with safety, 
but it is a very risky practice to do so to the edged and 
self show varieties. Last year I saw at the Royal 
Nursery, Slough, a very promising batch of seedling 
white-centred Alpines which had bloomed for the first 
time. I am looking forward with much interest to see 
how they show their characters this spring.— E. D. 
-- 
THE COLT’S-FOOT. 
The Colt’s-foot (Tiissilago farfara), a truly British 
plant, is now flowering abundantly on railway em¬ 
bankments and in cuttings, on heaps of clay thrown 
up from excavations, in clayey fields, on banks, and in 
other places it inhabits. It puts up in abundance its 
starry, sweet-scented flowers early in spring. Each 
stalk is crowned with but one flower, with the centre 
and rays bright yellow. Every experienced botanist 
knows it well, but the beginner is apt to confound it 
with the Dandelion. The Dandelion, however, has a 
rosette of green leaves, aud the flower stalk is perfectly 
free from scales and hairiness. The Colt’s-foot, on the 
other hand, comes into bloom before a single leaf is 
developed, and the stem that bears its golden flower is 
thickly covered with imperfectly-formed, leaf-like 
organs, called bracts. As soon as they bloom the 
heads droop, remaining in this position till the seeds are 
ripe, which is usually not until May. Then the stalk 
grows tall, and the heads become spheres, white, and 
shining as the finest satin, and large bronze-green 
leaves, the size of the palm of the hand, are abundant at 
the base. Not two objects can be more dissimilar than 
the yellow and leafless flower in March and April, and 
the white globe, with its abundant foliage of six weeks 
later. It is in some respects such a striking and hand¬ 
some plant that it is a pity it is such a precarious 
weed. It has many fibrous roots, which creep horizon¬ 
tally far and wide, and will grow freely in the most 
sterile clay, and when once in the soil, it is extremely 
difficult to eradicate it. No long since, a bunch of its 
golden blossoms was brought to one of the meetings of the 
Royal Horticultural Society in London by a person 
who believed he had discovered a rare and compara¬ 
tively unknown plant. 
The generic name of this plant—Tussilago—was 
probably compounded from the Latin tussis, a cough, 
amd allccvo, to reduce. The specific name is also 
Latin, Farfarum, Farferum, and Farfarns beiDg 
used by Apuleius and others as the name of a plant 
supposed to be our common Colt’s foot. This, the 
