50 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 26, 1891. 
FIiOf*ICULlTUfSE. 
The Auricula in October. 
So many enquiries reach one in reference to the 
Auricula that it is easily perceivable the flower is 
steadily attracting public attention. What is required 
is that those who are embarking upon the task of 
growing Auriculas should start on right principles. 
This is a matter of supreme importance. The 
autumn is the time for obtaining plants of Auriculas. 
They can be had in pots — young stock, potted up, 
we will say, in May, and now nicely established ; or 
he may receive plants out of pots, With the soil 
shaken somewhat from their roots. It would be well 
for the beginner in Auricula culture ifire could have 
his plants in pots, provided they had been potted in 
suitable soil. If he has a cold frame in which to 
keep them, he should form a sort of stage, if the 
depth of the frame will admit of it, so as to bring 
the plants pretty near the glass and admit of air 
passing underneath them. They need an abundance 
of air ; and a gentle rain will not injure them, but 
they need to be screened from heavy showers. Unless 
they are very pot-bound they should be bloomed in 
the pots in which they were received. During the 
autumn and winter water is required very sparingly ; 
any decaying leaves may be removed, and the surface 
soil stirred occasionally. But on no account should 
the plants be allowed to become dry enough to flag. 
If the beginner in Auricula culture receives his 
plants shaken from the soil, he should procure some 
good fibry yellow loam, some leaf soil, and a little 
sand, mixing them together to the proportion of one 
third of the vegetable mould to two thirds of the 
loam, and pot the plants with it when it is nicely 
moist, but not wet and sticky. They will do for a 
week or ten days without water, indeed, none should 
be given until the plants show signs of requiring it. 
During severe frost the lights should be closed and 
the frames covered up, not because the Auricula is 
not hardy, but because the action of frost is to 
promote an expansion of the soil, which will some¬ 
times burst the pot in which the plant is growing. 
I find that the caterpillar, a small green fellow 
that is often very destructive among Auriculas at this 
season of the year, is unusually active this fall. It 
matters not whether it be Auriculas or any kind of 
Primula in pots, the caterpillar is among them, 
working its evil purpose. It does not matter much 
to lose a few of the outside leaves, but it is exas¬ 
perating to have the heart of a promising plant 
pierced, and the heart eaten out of it. This is a 
calamity indeed, because it makes a good truss of 
bloom in the spring impossible. No quarter should 
be given to such a marauder.— R. D. 
PRETTY ANNUALS FOR 
CUTTING. 
An annual has been described as a plant the seeds 
of which are sown, blooms, and dies in one year. It 
is quite true that some annuals may be converted 
into biennials by sowing the seeds in August and 
September, and then blooming in April and May, 
but the ordinary span of their life is not prolonged 
much beyond the summer period. Some biennials, 
and perennials also will bloom the same year if the 
seeds be sown early in a little heat, but they are 
nevertheless biennials and perennials. 
Sweet Peas. 
Now many who have small gardens like annuals 
because they can get a good variety of form and 
colour in a small space, a few plants of one variety 
sufficing ; and then, as they come very quickly from 
seed, a succession of bloom can be had with a little 
care. But a very large number of those who grow a 
few flowers do so mainly with a view of having 
something to cut from for the decoration of the 
sitting room ; and they should endeavour to grow 
only such as are of a fairly enduring character when 
cut. Foremost among these place the Sweet Pea, 
Lathyrus odoratus—that fragrant and interesting 
stranger from Sicily, where it -grows as a wildling, 
which came to our shores about 1700, and has proved 
a most valuable addition to our gardens. How easily 
grown ! How free ! How beautifully sweet! And 
how delightful in vase, epergne, posy, or bouquet! 
But those who grow Sweet Peas should aim to 
cultivate the larger and more varied varieties raised 
py Eskford during the past ten years, especially gg 
of pale rose, pink, and salmon shades, like Princess 
Beatrice. I saw, at the last Warwick Flower 
Show, a bouquet made wholly of this variety, 
and a more fitting floral present from a lover to his 
sweetheart could scarcely be conceived. And as the 
Edible Pea is much bound up with the traditions of 
love and the action of lovers, the Sweet Pea, with its 
manifold varieties, can be appropriately substituted 
for it. The Pea is sacred to the patron of marriage, 
and probably this has led to their use in divination 
concerning love affairs. 
Annual Chrysanthemums. 
Then there are the annual Chrysanthemums—the 
varieties of C. tricolour or carinatum, and of C. coro- 
narium, with the golden yellow oxeye or corn marigold, 
C. segetum—a British wild flower that is now largely 
grown as a cultivated plant for cutting from. The 
double varieties of C. coronarium are well worthy of 
being grown, not so those of C. tricolor, for they 
are ugly and uncouth, though the varieties shown by 
Messrs. Hurst & Son, at the last meeting of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, show a decided advance 
towards something better ; while the single varieties 
are varied and very beautiful. Conservatives can 
proudly grow Lord Beaconsfield, crimson-maroon 
with golden ring and dark disc, while Liberals will wax 
jubilant overW. E. Gladstone—crimson and violet—- 
described in one seed catalogue as “ brilliant but 
erratic but I should grow both, for they are equally 
delightful to me as flowers, and one is quite as erratic 
as the other as seen in their disposition to sport. 
Garden Marigolds. 
By these I mean the cultivated varieties of the 
common orange Marigold, Calendula officinalis, a 
native of the south of Europe, which has been grown 
in this country for over four centuries. There are 
single and double varieties ranging from sulphur 
white to the darkest orange. Some of the single 
varieties are very pretty, and if any one w'ould take 
the trouble to seed from the best of them—and I have 
seen in cottage and allotment gardens in Ealing some 
charming varieties—they could, in course of time, 
obtain some of a distinctly beautiful character, and 
fix them—that is, they would eventually come true 
from seed. There are three very fine double varieties 
that come quite true from seed—viz., Meteor, with 
lemon and white stripes on the petals ; Prince of 
Orange, rich orange, sometimes self-coloured and 
sometimes striped with white; and Sutton's miniature 
orange, a dwarf-growing type, with very large deep 
orange flowers of great beauty. 
Clarkias. 
Then there are the Clarkias,—hardy annuals from 
California and North West America,—named after 
Captain Clark. I think that ladies who study home 
decoration with flowers would do well to grow some 
of the Clarkias for the purpose. They are charming 
for vases and epergnes, and if the flowers are a little 
fragile—though if cut young they will last a good 
time—they are yet produced with remarkable free¬ 
dom, so that one can cut and come again. But 
they should prefer to grow the entire petalled vari¬ 
eties of C. pulchella integripetala, and not the type 
with its clawed petals. The best are integripetala, 
deep rose ; integripetala marginata, margined with 
white ; and the pure white variety also. 
Poppies. 
Poppies are very quick growing hardy annuals, and 
very showy ; but the flowers should be cut young, as 
they are more lasting. If allowed to remain until 
fully expanded, the petals soon fall. The Shirley 
Poppies, now so popular in gardens, are simply im¬ 
proved varieties of our common scarlet field Poppy, 
so plentiful among the wheat crops. The French or 
Ranunculus Poppies are double forms of these, but 
both single and double present many variations in 
colour. The Carnation Poppies are double varieties 
of the Opium Poppy, which produces the large heads 
seen in the windows of druggists’ shops. They are 
large, very double, and strikingly handsome ; but the 
flower should be cut when half expanded, and the 
plants kept clear of seed pods. P. umbrosum, a 
dwarf species with crimson flowers, spotted with 
black, is an excellent annual variety also for cutting 
from.— R. D. 
Stevia Eupatoria.— This Mexican herb is much 
more ornamental than several other species which 
one meets now and again in cultivation. The leaves 
are small and lance-shaped, or oblong, while the 
small flowers are at first pink, changing to white, and 
are borne freely in terminal panicled corymbs, not 
unlike those of a Eupatorium. It may be propagated 
by seeds, cuttings or division 
THE VERITABLE BARDEN. 
An Open-air Trial of Tomatos. 
The greater part of the Peach border in front of a 
south aspect wall, in the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s gardens at Chiswick, is this season occu¬ 
pied with a very extensive collection of Tomatos on 
trial. The cold and generally sunless nature of the 
past summer has been very unfavourable to the 
ripening of the fruits, and latterly the wet weather 
has favoured the spread of fungoid diseases. A fair 
quantity of the fruits have, however, already ripened, 
and what remaining fine weather we may have will 
greatly assist in bringing a considerable quantity of 
it into usable condition. By placing the fruits near 
the hot water pipes of a vinery or other heated 
structure, it has been determined that Tomatos grown 
out of doors become equally as good in quality as 
those which have been ripened under glass. It can 
hardly be said that Tomatos out of doors this season 
have had a fair trial, yet it may be urged that all 
have been on the same footing, and that the condi¬ 
tions have been a suitable test to determine the 
fruiting capabilities of the varieties under unfavour¬ 
able circumstances. 
About twenty sorts belonging to the old collection 
at Chiswick are planted at one end of the border by 
themselves ; while we counted something like ninety 
lots forming a new trial, and which have been brought 
together from various sources. A large proportion 
of them must of course be very similar to other kinds 
in cultivation, and some there are which it is impos¬ 
sible to distinguish from sorts grown under different 
names. In their present condition as to ripeness it 
would, however, be impossible to arrive at a definite 
conclusion as to the distinctness or otherwise of a 
considerable number of them. It will be sufficient 
here to indicate their general appearance, fruiting 
capabilities, and utility for out-door purposes. We 
noted them on the 12th inst. 
The undermentioned kinds constitute the new 
trial, or those that were specially obtained for the 
purpose last spring. That named Acquisition is 
dwarf habited, with compact and conspicuously flat 
leaves, whereas most other kinds have more or less 
curled leaves, or infolded at the sides. The fruits 
are medium sized, pinkish-red or ruby red, reminding 
one of the colour of Dedham Favourite, and borne 
in large heavy bunches near the base of the plant. 
There are two other kinds so like this in every 
particular that it seems impossible at present to 
separate them. They are Champion and Dwarf 
Champion, the latter from three different sources. 
The colour of the fruit would be somewhat against 
it, otherwise it crops well. An early kind is Dick¬ 
sons’ Cestrian, with medium to large sized, flattened, 
scarlet fruits, but the crop is not heavy. Northern 
Beauty has medium to large sized deep red fruits, 
and appears to crop well. Sutton’s Abundance crops 
well, and has red fruits similar in size and shape to 
those of Ham Green Favourite. On the other hand 
Sutton’s A 1., has a remarkably deep fruit resem¬ 
bling that of Chemin, and is a beautiful Tomato. 
Abundance (Hooper) bears larger fruits than those 
of Sutton’s Abundance, but they are more or less 
corrugated. Several sorts have oblong fruits, resem¬ 
bling the old Chiswick Red ; this applies to Italian 
Wonder, Merveille d’ltalie, and Yorkshire Wonder. 
American Hybrid has medium sized red fruits, but 
only a fair crop. Two plants only of each kind are 
grown, and in the case of Mitchell’s New the fruits 
were different on the two plants from some unacount- 
able cause. An even crop is borne by Heaton House, 
a globose red fruit, above the medium size. The 
fruits of Volunteer are medium sized, globose, red, 
smooth, but not produced in great quantity. Sutton's 
Earliest of All is a dwarf sort with a heavy crop of 
medium sized red fruits, the lowest bunch of which 
was ripe. A fair crop of medium sized, flat, red fruits 
is borne by a sort named Empress, and Stevens’ W* 
B. A. is only moderately fruited. 
A large number of kinds may be characterised as 
strongly resembling the Perfection type as seen at 
present. The fruits vary from a medium to a large 
size, smooth or without ribs, and although the crop 
is generally a good average one, yet it is late in 
ripening during such a season as the present. The 
quality would probably be equally good in each case 
provided the fruits were ripe. Some of this type are 
New Stone, Bryson’s Excellent, Daniels' Harbinger, 
Long Keeper, Daniels' Scarlet Perfection, p^ttiel'S 
