July 15, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
565 
A DECORA IVE _ 
JAPANESE EVERGREEN. 
(Nundina domest-ica). 
OCCASIONAL 
-e I NTERVI EWS e- 
To those who require a neat, ornamental 
shrub of reasonable dimensions for the decora¬ 
tion of glass-covered corridors, verandahs, or 
other sheltered but unheated places tins is a 
valuable plant. , 
j t i s a Japanese evergreen of compact, erect 
habit the foliage being lightened up by a 
pleasing ruddy hue that gives the plant a 
lively and novel appearance. 
It bears rather small white flowers, with 
yellow anthers, and these are followed by 
small "lossy berries, so that at all seasons of 
the year the plant is full of interest and 
decorative value. There is every likelihood, 
in our opinion, of the plant proving suffi¬ 
ciently hardy to withstand the winter m shel¬ 
tered otardens of the southern counties, and it 
would "be interesting to learn whether any ot 
our readers know of it growing in the open, tor 
its value would be greatly enhanced were it 
known to be hardy, although if no more than 
half hardy it is too good a plant to be ignored. 
Heather Bell. 
Mr. JOHN ANDREWS, F.R.H.S., 
Hon. Secretary oj the Wc odbridge Horticultural Society. 
Portions of Suffolk might well be reincar¬ 
nated under the title of the Garden of Eng¬ 
land were it not that that title has been 
already appropriated. Certain it is that 
wide districts of this county are as beautiful 
as any to be found in the kingdom. So I 
felt as the train sped me towards Wood- 
bridge, and my eye took in the moving pano¬ 
rama of rich, gently-undulating, well-wooded 
and plentifully-watered farm and garden 
lands of this arcadia by the North Sea. Wood- 
bridge itself is a delightfully-situated little 
town, with streets and sidewalks so immacu¬ 
lately clean as to be reminiscent of Holland, 
and with an air of substantial comfort that 
is not belied by the facts. Leisurely it is, 
I was ushered into a miniature, exquisitely- 
arranged museum, for that was really what 
the room in which I found myself at Mr. 
Andrews’ residence appeared to me to be. 
Tastefully and even luxuriously furnished, 
the walls, the mantelpiece, and innumerable 
small tables, and, in fact, every' available 
foot of space, with the grudging exception of 
a limited area of the floor, was crowded with 
a most interesting, varded, and costly collec¬ 
tion representing some of the hobbies which 
have from time to time occupied a trifle of 
Mr. Andrews’ superfluous energy. That gen¬ 
tleman was not immediately visible, and in 
the interim a lady of very engaging presence 
and manner acted the part of cicerone in my 
-♦- 
AURICULAS 
FOR AMATEURS. 
An old florist once very happily described 
the Auricula as a “ beautiful and fascinating 
flower.” It is so in every sense of the word. 
But unfortunately with many it has come to 
be regarded as a flower that can be success¬ 
fully cultivated only by proficients, and much 
that has been written respecting the Auricula 
has tended to deter rather than encourage 
lovers of this flower to attempt its culture. 
It is a flower that the amateur should 
take in hand, for if only the necessary atten¬ 
tion be paid it, it can be grown with compara¬ 
tive ease. Nor is it necessary, as some have 
said, that it should have a pure, sweet, un¬ 
tainted country air, though of course this is 
a decided advantage, for we have seen collec¬ 
tions of Auriculas in thickly-populated, smoky 
districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire growing 
freely and flowering finely ; indeed, it is a 
subject that can be grown in the neighbour¬ 
hood of cities and towns where many other 
things would fail. It does not require much 
space to be grown in—an ordinary glass frame, 
with the bed raised above the ground-level, 
so as to secure as far as possible a dry 
bottom ; or a small house in a north or west 
aspect will suit the Auricula well when grown 
in pots. We have seen 10-in. pots o: 
Auriculas standing on the outside of a base¬ 
ment window—large, vigorous, healthy plants 
flowering with great success in spring. Let 
no assumed difficulties, therefore, dissuade 
anyone from attempting its culture. We have 
seen in Lancashire a few plants growing in odd 
comers where it would scarcely be believed 
they could exist, but tended with loving care, 
and this attention neutralised all the disad¬ 
vantages of position. 
Fifteen or twenty years ago this pretty 
flower was not nearly so largely, grown by 
amateurs as it is to-day, and, as we have said, 
many still refrain from cultivating it because 
of supposed difficulties. As the Auricula is 
a mountaineer, and can stand frost and 
snow, there is really no need of artificial heat. 
too, with a smack of bygone days which is 
charming in the extreme to one who detests 
the rush and turmoil and the madding crowds 
of the modem over-populated haunts of men. 
At this momentous period of the year—for 
is not the Woodbridge Show held on the 13th 
inst. !—we are reminded by the great local 
entrepreneur, by means of pictorial posters 
staring us in the face through half the county- 
side, that all roads lead to Woodbridge 
and the veriest toddler in the streets of 
Woodbridge would find no difficulty in direct¬ 
ing the stranger to Mr. John Andrews’ house, 
for, as I was soon to find out, Mr. Andrews 
is persona grata in this immediate part of the 
world. 
look round this extraordinary accumulation 
of rare, curious, and entertaining objects. 
These included a grand collection of M orces- 
tershire and Staffordshire ware ; there were 
several hundreds of those crudely-made and 
decorated milk-jug cows and goats with the 
proper generic name of which I confess I am 
ignorant, not being a connoisseur, even re¬ 
motely, of such things. A mutilated speci¬ 
men of the old spotted cow, being the first of 
this odd kind of ware, was pointed out as 
something very special. I could not mention 
a tithe, or less, of the remarkable things 
which filled this room. On a table I noticed 
several large albums which contained a col¬ 
lection of postage stamps that would have 
