532 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 22, 1893. 
FLtOHlCUliTUKE. 
Auriculas. 
According to Mr. R. Dean, the perfect man in 
Auricula growing must be difficult either to imagine or 
describe. If any one is a steadily successful exhibitor 
for a series of years, the thing is a dreary monopoly. 
If he fail once or twice to secure every high honour, 
the days have ceased " in which he held his own.” 
It may be, as it is in the Southern Auricula schedule, 
that the classes are not so open to all as they were 
in earlier years ; and it may be that the show does 
not, every season, catch the strength of a collection in 
bloom. But these are chances and changes not 
dreamt of in Mr. Dean’s philosophy, and need no 
more be allowed for than ripples of the sea in the 
course of an Atlantic liner ! 
Perhaps I knovv my Auriculas better than “ R. D." 
can, and therefore may be [allowed to state that 
Kirkby Malzeard days have not been their best. 
There are other tests than that of exhibition, which 
is one not always practicable; but presuming (which 
I do not) that Mr. Dean would care to examine all 
the prize lists of the Southern Auricula Shows, it 
would hardly appear that Auriculas at Lowfields 
have fallen, to the depth of his inferences, below 
those of Kirkby times. 
'* Mr. Douglas is candid,” says “ R. D.” " in regard 
to his practice. He makes no secret that he employs 
artificial heat.” I do not take up the inferred com¬ 
parison further than saying that I have been candid 
also about my practice, not omitting my failure with, 
and objections to, giving the Auricula artificial heat 
rather than a more natural protection against un¬ 
seasonable cold. Mr. Dean could certainly see the 
heating apparatus in the houses where I used to 
flower Auriculas at Kirkby, for when these went out 
to summer quarters those houses were occupied with 
Peach and Nectarine trees in pots. Mr. Simonite 
and I tried concurrently the experiment of heat for 
Auriculas and gained nothing but harm by it; there¬ 
fore we discarded it. I am not at all sure that our 
Reading friends are as partial to heat for Auriculas 
as they may have been at first. In fact I have the 
most authentic information that, with a single ex¬ 
ception, not one of them has any heating apparatus 
for Auriculas. Yet, that they have, is largely the 
grounds on which Mr. Dean “ substantiates his 
assertion” that artificial heat both is, and must be, 
resorted to by any grower who would “ hold his own ” 
at the National Shows ! That is the way “ how not 
to do it,” and the idea is exploded in the North. 
We ought to have had better sense ! We ought to 
have known and recollected that the Auricula expects 
cool nights in March and April, though for the sake 
of its flowers it should feel no frost. A -night mini¬ 
mum of 40° is quite safe, and I find that even 35 0 
does no harm, but of course 40® leaves a wider mar¬ 
gin of safety. That it is not well for the Auricula to 
be misunderstood on the point of artificial 
heat was shown by the letter of a correspon¬ 
dent 11 H.” in these pages recently. He had con¬ 
cluded, from Mr. Dean’s remarks on the question, 
that we were foolishly trying to force Auriculas, like 
Rhubarb and other vegetables, and wondered why 
we should choose to subject a hardy Alpine plant to 
such treatment. ” H.” did not seem to know that 
the edged Auricula, as we have it, is not to be found 
wild on any Alpine height, but is a pure creation of 
culture, far removed from its wild ancestry, both in 
properties and constitution. Still, he had been per¬ 
plexed on its cultural requirements. 
” Heat” of another kind than that of fire or water, 
appears in Mr. Dean’s last communication —the un¬ 
fortunate heat of friction. With a few not compli¬ 
mentary nor exactly “ parliamentary ” words we hear 
of his severance from the National Auricula Society. 
It is, he says, a society of “ pettifogging ” ways, and 
of ‘‘obscure "existence. So, with respect to the 
position he held in it, Mr. Dean is extinct. Seem¬ 
ingly, not without some touch of reluctance and re¬ 
morse, for he had aforetime asked permission to 
withdraw his resignation, and it was kindly granted 
him. Does he include that act of mercy among the 
"pettifogging” ways of the society, which he is 
pleased to rather awkwardly call “ obscure,” consi¬ 
dering his own long connection with it ? He deems 
its obscurity to largely lie in its numerical smallness. 
But smallness and obscurity are not convertible terms. 
Mere size is no test of quality in a society any more 
than it is in the florist Auricula. Where the growers 
of a plant are few their society cannot be a very 
large one. 
Does “ R. D.” comprehend the case? A scarce 
plant, few growers, fewer experts on its points and 
quality, the necessity of the flower being judged by 
those conversant with what are virtues and what are 
faults in it ? There are many good judges of a more 
popular and more common flower,but not so of such 
as the Auricula or the Tulip. In the northern 
section of the National Auricula Society we choose 
the judges from among ourselves, on the show day. 
The flowers are waiting all around, and everyone 
knows weil enough whose plants are there, and 
which they are, for all have had a look round as the 
plants were unpacked. There is at any rate nothing 
“ obscure ” here, and the very openness of it all is 
probably shocking to Mr. Dean, who seems as full of 
suspicions as the London air is of smoke or fog. 
But this freedom is safe, because we have men whom 
we can trust for special knowledge and for fairness. 
The thing is strange to him who reckons not the 
exigencies, necessities, and the amenities of these 
" obscure ” florist societies. There are few strangers 
among us. All seem known to some, and Mr. Dean’s 
comparison with the ways of great and general 
shows is, as regards those of the florist Auricula, 
only as a scarecrow upon which the birds of 
discernment will come and sit. It looks plausible in 
the abstract; passable as a lay figure, having some 
queer semblance, stiff or limp as it may please you, 
to a thing alive or real. If Mr. Dean had given 
names in the instance he adduces to illustrate his 
views (names not obscure to Auricula men,) the 
matter would have exposed itself. I have myself 
both lost and won under my old friend that same 
judge, and his colleague. Mr. Dean nearly, if not 
quite left the colleague out! Our judges prefer not 
to be single-handed, and we do not leave them so.— 
F. D. Horner, Lowfields, Burton-in-Lonsdale. 
Quality in the Alpine Auricula. 
A fine Alpine Auricula, apparently perfect in every 
other respect, was passed by the Floral Committee 
of the Royal Horticultural Society at its last meet¬ 
ing, because, so it was stated by the one or two 
experts who have seats upon that body, the pistil 
was just visible above the anthers. The latter filled 
up the tube—they were not below the level of its 
opening, but were all that could be desired. Still, 
the pistil protruded just above them, but to such a 
limited extent as to be visible only to any one look¬ 
ing attentively at the flower, because so small and 
unobtrusive. But its presence sealed the fate of the 
variety as far as its chances of obtaining an award 
on that occasion. I may say further of this particu¬ 
lar flower that the pip was large, of perfect shape, 
very smooth, laying itself out symmetrically and 
flat, without the necessity for anything in the way 
of dressing ; that the ground colour was dark plum, 
shading to mauve ; that it belonged to the creamy- 
white centred section, of which there are but very 
few good varieties, and therefore deserved considera¬ 
tion on that ground. But nothing, no properties 
however distinctly prominent and pronounced, 
availed against the defects of the pin eye, and it 
was passed. I was all the more astonished because 
of late years awards have been made to a good 
number of Alpine Auriculas in which the pistil was 
seen surrounded by the anthers, and possessing the 
further serious defect of a jagged edge, or with the 
segments distinctly notched. So much then for the 
preamble of their statement. 
A little discussion upon the points of quality in an 
Alpine Auricula may prove advantageous just now, 
at the time the Auricula Shows are being held. I 
have never to my knowledge seen them distinctly 
put forth, and it is desirable some attempt be made to 
give clear and distinct expression to them. As a matter 
of course it is necessary in laying down the properties 
of all Alpine Auriculas to estimate them from an 
exhibitor’s point of view. In doing so it is necessary 
also to state that the Alpine Auricula for exhibition 
purposes is divided into two sections—golden centres 
and white and cream centres. In all the white 
centred flowers the centre is almost invariably the 
weakest point, and it is subject to three defects, 
viz :—it is not pure, and therefore liable to change 
in certain stages of the development of the bloom. 
It becomes pallid and actually dies before the 
marginal colour fades, and it is occasionally too 
narrow in width when compared in breadth with the 
marginal colour. Let any fancier of the Alpine 
Auricula closely scan the white centred flowers that 
will be staged in the Drill Hall, Westminster, on 
Tuesday next, and the defects just mentioned will 
be more or less apparant. One main fault of the 
cream-coloured flowers is that the tint is not uniform; 
while the centre may be of a bright cream in a young 
pip, in a more developed one it will approach to a 
white, which is an aspect of confusion. Mr. 
Gorton's Diadem is a case in point, and so in regard 
to the cream centred flowers. As in that of the 
white centres, it is highly important the colour of the 
ground be uniform, and in matured pips as in young 
ones. It is also important that the centre be flat, and 
not convex, as in the case of some varieties; it 
should be perfectly smooth, and, as a matter of 
course, quite destitute of meal, as this is the one 
supreme characteristic which differentiates the 
Alpine from the edged and self show varieties. 
What proportion should the width of the centre 
bear to the marginal colours ? I use the term colours 
because the traditional Alpine Auricula as an exhibi¬ 
tion flower should have a shaded margin. In the 
North the unshaded margin is clearly regarded as a 
defect if not a disqualification, and herein lies also a 
marked point of difference between the alpine and 
the show self Auricula. In the case of the latter it 
is essential the margin be uniformally of one tint ; in 
the case of the Alpine, a darker ground colour should 
shade to a lighter one on the circumference of the pip. 
I think that if the diameter of the zone of colour 
forming the centre, whether white, cream, yellow, or 
gold, be of the same width as the marginal colour it 
is too obtrusive, and therefore, I think a better pro¬ 
portion would be a little over one-third in the diame¬ 
ter of the centre, and a little under two-thirds in the 
diameter of the margin. To reach something like a 
proper conclusion I placed a few named Alpine 
Auriculas side by side for the purposes of comparison, 
and drew my conclusions therefrom. This is a matter 
fairly open to discussion, and I hope it will be well 
considered by growers. 
I think the deeper the yellow or gold in the centre 
the more effective is the flower generally, and 
especially so where any tint approaching crimson is 
present in the marginal colour. Gold appears to me 
to supply the best contrast all round. 
As a matter of course, a stiff, erect truss-stem is 
important, and whether a support be employed or 
not, it is a matter of moment. Some Alpine Auri¬ 
culas otherwise perfect, have the pedicels or foot¬ 
stalks of the flowers too long, with the result that the 
truss becomes irregular in appearance, and its 
symmetry spoilt. This a matter of importance from 
the exhibitors’ point of view, because effectiveness 
counts for something in a collection of plants. 
Taking the items of quality in their order, I am 
disposed to place highest, first, a circular margin, 
without a trace of indentation ; second, smoothness 
and flatness in the pip ; third, the thrum eye; fourth, 
uniformity and durability in the colour composing 
the centre ; fifth, relative proportion in the diameter 
of the zones of colour, and sixth, symmetry in the 
truss of bloom. What do others say ? — R. D. 
-- 
MR, E. S. DODWELL. 
That advantage be taken of the celebration of the 
golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Dodwell, to 
present them with some token of regard and rever¬ 
ence from their numerous circle of admirers and 
friends, is eminently proper and appropriate. In 
doing so honour is paid to the head of the family, 
who through a long series of years has ever attracted 
to himself the confidence and regard of the great 
body of florists, and particularly of those who 
appreciate and cultivate the Carnation. A tribute is 
also paid to the father of the Carnation world who 
for more than half a century has been associated 
with the development of this popular flower, and 
has more than any other living man led the Carna¬ 
tion on from stage to stage of improvements ; raising 
it to higher levels of excellence, extending and 
popularising its types, and drawing to it a large 
number who interested in its characteristics and 
culture have made it equal with the Rose in the 
estimation of the flower-loving public. 
To have been associated — and successfully and 
honourably associated — with the development of a 
particular flower for half a century, is an occurrence as 
unusual as it is remarkable. We can, by means of 
early pictorial representations of the Carnation, 
imagine what it was like when our dear old friend 
