May  lO,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
403 
National  Auricula  Society,  Nortliern  Section. 
May  4th. 
The  annual  exhibition  was  held  in  the  Coal  Exchange,  Manchester, 
on  Friday,  May  4th.  The  date  chosen  for  the  show  was  perhaps,  on  the 
whole,  the  best  that  could  have  been  selected,  for  although  the  edged 
varieties  would  have  been  better  with  a  few  days’  more  growth,  the 
quality  of  the  seifs,  Alpines,  and  Polyanthuses  left  little  to  be  desired. 
The  exhibitors  were,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  A.  Brown,  of 
Birmingham,  all  northern  growers,  and  they  turned  up  in  good  numbers. 
The  competition  in  the  Alpine  classes  was  very  keen,  but  edged 
Auriculas  were  not  well  shown,  as,  with  the  exception  of  those  staged 
by  Mr.  Lord,  of  Todmorden,  they  seemed  to  be  a  full  week  short  of 
their  best.  It  is  hard  to  say  how  this  comes  about,  for  Todmorden 
cannot  be  considered  an  early  locality.  What  Mr.  Lord’s  secret  is  one 
can  only  guess,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  if  the  superb  varieties 
raised  by  Messrs.  Horner  and  Simonite  were  procurable,  Mr.  Lord  would 
provide  us  with  a  floral  treat  that  we  should  remember  a  very  long  time. 
There  are,  however,  signs  that  others  can  raise  Show  Auriculas 
besides  Messrs.  Horner  and  Simonite,  and  it  was  pleasing  to  see  Mr. 
Lord’s  green  edged  seedling  Abraham  Barker  in  even  better  form  than 
last  year.  It  has  now  won  the  premier  two  years  in  succession.  Mr. 
Midgley  also  showed  a  most  promising  seedling  self,  with  almost  all  the 
properties  of  a  flrst-rate  variety.  Mr.  Horner  was  represented  chiefly 
by  seedlings,  of  which  may  be  mentioned  Waterfly,  a  large  and  hand¬ 
some  white  edge,  but  sadly  rough  as  shown,  probably  through  being 
too  young,  as  one  pip  was  flat  enough ;  Lysander,  a  magnificent  green 
edge ;  Eurydice,  an  almost  perfect  black  self  ;  Bed  Rover,  a  fine  red 
self  ;  Ossian,  green  edge  ;  Orient,  a  perfect  model  of  a  green  edge,  but 
shown  too  young  ;  Favourite,  a  grand  dark  purple  self ;  Dryad,  a  nearly 
black  self ;  Melanie,  deepest  brown  self,  but  not  flat  enough  as  shown  ; 
and  Gauntlet,  a  grand  dark  red  self  of  exquisite  shape  and  proportions, 
perhaps  the  finest  self  ever  raised  ;  if  it  has  a  fault  it  is  that  the  anthers 
are  insignificant,  causing  the  tube  to  look  a  little  too  naked.  Miranda, 
shown  by  Mr.  Simonite,  was  a  white  edge  short  of  body  colour,  giving 
the  flower  a  wan  and  ghost-like  appearance.  Cleopatra  is  a  pleasing 
self  of  a  novel  plum-purple  colour,  a  seedling  of  Mr.  Simonite’s. 
Achilles,  a  bold  and  handsome  green  edge,  but  like  many  other  large 
growing  sorts  not  without  faults,  was  well  shown  by  Mr.  Gorton.  Mr. 
Midgley  had,  besides  the  seifs  mentioned,  a  seedling  green  edge,  which 
was  well  grown  and  with  some  good  properties,  but  the  paste  was  too 
narrow,  and  the  flower  too  much  cupped  to  ever  make  a  first-class 
variety  it  is  to  be  feared.  Mr.  Midgley  also  showed  a  white  edge 
seedling,  very  large  and  fine  but  rather  rough. 
It  was  fortunate  that  there  were  so  many  novelties  to  take  one’s 
attention,  for  the  older  varieties  were  mostly  far  from  good.  Geo. 
Lightbody,  Geo.  Rudd,  and  Acme  were  perhaps  the  best.  In  Alpines 
there  were  many  good  things,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Dr. 
Durnford,  Pluto,  Nonesuch,  Cecil  Rhodes,  Prince  Charlie,  Patience, 
Beauty,  and  one  or  two  of  Mr.  Gorton’s  seedlings.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  the  Auricula  Society  have  never  formulated  rules  for  judging 
Alpines,  and  as  a  consequence  everything  depends  upon  the  personal 
inclinations  of  the  judges,  whether  one  is  high  or  low  in  the  prize  list. 
For  instance,  there  is  the  exhibitor  who  brings  enormous  plants,  each 
carrying  ten  or  twelve  pips  of  large  and  more  or  less  rough  flowers  ; 
and  there  is  the  grower  who  shows  smaller  plants,  with  perhaps 
only  five  medium  sized  pips,  but  flat  and  well  proportioned  ;  and  the 
question  is,  which  of  these  is  to  win  ?  Mr.  Lord  certainly  solved  the 
problem  by  combining  both  size  and  quality,  but  it  was  not  pleasant  to 
see  the  refined  exhibits  of  Messrs.  Gorton  and  Brown  relegated  to 
obscure  places  by  plants  whose  chief  recommendation  was  size  and 
good  growth.  Another  matter  that  should  be  mentioned  is  the  fact 
that  some  exhibitors  seem  to  forget  that  Alpines  should  be  shaded,  and 
it  would  be  well  if  they  discarded  such  varieties  as  Dr.  Knott  and 
Emir,  for  handsome  as  these  varieties  are,  they  do  not  possess  this 
important  property. 
In  Polyanthuses  the  chief  thing  of  note  was  that  they  all  came 
from  Middleton,  Lancashire,  and  that  there  were  growers  there  who 
could  still  produce  good  seedlings ;  but  why  should  Middleton  have  the 
monopoly  of  Polyanthuses  ?  The  judges,  Messrs.  Mottershead  &  Geggie, 
of  Sale,  Cheshire,  made  the  following  awards  : — 
Show  Auriculas. 
Class  1.  Six  dissimilar  Auriculas. — First,  Mr.  T.  Lord,  Todmorden, 
with  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  Abraham  Barker,  Mrs.  Dodwell,  Acme,  George 
Lightbody,  and  Mrs.  Potts ;  second.  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  Burton  in 
Lonsdale,  with  Shirley  Hibberd,  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  Lysander,  Red 
Rover,  Eurydice,  and  Waterfly  ;  third,  Mr.  W.  M.  Shipman,  Altrincham, 
with  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  Abbe  Liszt,  Heatherbell,  Beauty,  Ruby,  and 
Mrs.  Potts;  fourth,  Mr.  J.  W.  Bentley,  Middleton,  with  Rev.  F.  D. 
Horner,  Hibernia,  George  Rudd,  Acme,  Gerald,  and  Red  Peifection. 
Class  2.  Four  dissimilar  Auriculas. — First,  Mr.  Lord  with  Rev. 
F.  D.  Horner,  Mrs.  Potts,  Geo.  Lightbody,  and  Acme ;  second,  Mr. 
W.  H.  Midgley,  Halifax,  with  Geo.  Lightbody  and  three  seedlings ; 
third,  Mr.  B.  Simonite,  Sheffield,  with  Dinham,  Ossian,  Miranda,  and 
seedling ;  fourth,  Mr.  W.  M.  Shipman,  Altrincham,  with  Dr.  Kidd,  Abbe 
Liszt,  Geo.  Rudd,  and  Mrs.  Potts. 
Class  3.  Fairs  of  Auriculas. —  First,  Mr.  T.  Buckley,  Staley  bridge, 
with  Geo.  Rudd  and  Acme  ;  second,  Miss  Woodhead,  Halifax,  with  Rev. 
F.  D.  Homer  and  Acme ;  third,  Mr.  R.  Gorton,  Eccles,  with  Achilles 
and  Ruby ;  fourth,  Mr.  B.  Simonite  with  Heatherbell  and  Cleopatra  ; 
fifth,  Mr.  W.  Kershaw,  Ashton-under-Lyne,  with  Heatherbell  and  Rev. 
F.  D.  Horner  ;  sixth,  Mr.  J.  Stelfox,  Staleybridge,  with  Heatherbell  and 
Sapphire ;  seventh,  Mr.  A.  R.  Brown,  Birmingham,  with  Acme  and  Ruby. 
Class  4. — No  exhibit. 
Class  5.  Single  Green  Edges.  —  First,  Mr.  Lord  with  Abraham 
Barker  ;  second.  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  with  Orient ;  third  and  fourth,  Mr. 
Lord  with  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  and  Mrs.  Henwood ;  fifth.  Rev.  F.  D. 
Horner  with  Shirley  Hibberd  ;  sixth,  Mr.  Gorton  with  Achilles  ;  seventh, 
Mr.  Simonite  with  Ossian ;  eighth,  Mr.  Gorton  with  J.  Hannaford. 
Class  6.  Single  Grey  Edges. — First  and  second,  Mr.  Lord  with  Geo. 
Lightbody  and  Geo  Rudd  ;  third.  Miss  Woodhead  with  Rachel ;  fourth, 
Mr.  Lord  with  Richard  Headly;  fifth,  Mr.  Gorton  with  Lancashire 
Hero  ;  sixth,  Mr.  Bentley  with  Dr.  Kidd. 
Class  7.  Single  White  Edges. — First,  second,  third,  fourth,  and 
fifth,  Mr.  Lord  with  John  Simonite,  Traill’s  Beauty,  Mrs.  Dodwell, 
Acme,  and  Elaine ;  sixth.  Miss  Woodhead  with  Smiling  Beauty  ;  seventh, 
Mr.  Lord  with  Heatherbell ;  eighth,  Mr.  Simonite  with  Miranda. 
Class  8.  Single  Selfs. — First,  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  with  Favourite ; 
second  and  third,  Mr.  Lord  with  Mrs.  A.  Potts  and  Gerald ;  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth.  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  with  Dryad,  Melanie,  and  Gauntlet ; 
seventh,  Mr.  Simonite  with  Cleopatra. 
Premier  Auricula  of  the  whole  show. — Mr.  Lord  with  Abraham 
Barker. 
Alpine  Auriculas. 
Class  9.  Six  dissimilar. — First,  Mr.  Lord  with  Dr.  Durnford,  Pluto, 
John  Ashton,  Bright  Eyes,  Judith,  and  Patience;  second,  Mr.  Beswiok 
(Middleton),  with  Nonesuch,  John  Allen,  Dr.  Durnford,  John  Ashton, 
Dr.  Knott,  and  a  seedling;  third,  Mr.  Stelfox  with  Dr.  Durnford,  John 
Allen,  John  Ashton,  Forest  Queen,  Bright  Eyes,  and  seedling ;  fourth, 
Mr.  Brown  with  A.  W.  Jones,  Mrs.  Martin  Smith,  Mabel,  W.  L.  Walker, 
Winifred,  and  J.  J.  Keen;  fifth,  Mr.  Wood  with  Dr.  Durnford,  Dr, 
