336 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  22,  1897. 
a  glimpse  at  their  mountains  of  Wallflowers,  Daffodils,  and  Poly¬ 
anthus,  nor  for  the  sweet  odours  that  steal  in  through  the  open 
window  a*  if  to  greet  the  pale  invalid  with  the  promise  of  spring. 
It  is  early  work  attending  the  market,  and  then  perhaps  half  a 
dozen  miles  to  journey  back  before  he  starts  on  his  beat.  Of 
course,  they  get  an  experience  in  their  dealing  with  flowers.  There 
are  miles  of  their  stalls  and  barrows  in  the  wide  thoroughfares  of 
south,  east,  and  north.  I  pause  at  one  of  the  barrows,  and  look 
over  his  stock.  A  favourite  flower  is  the  old  crimson  Clove,  but 
one  cannot  always  get  it  true.  I  take  up  a  root,  and  glance  at 
coster  inquiringly.  “Jacks  ?  ”  I  say.  “No,  sir,”  he  replies,  with  a 
significant  emphasis  on  the  “  No,”  then  takes  off  the  strip  of  bast, 
and  breaks  the  lumps  of  black  unctuous  earth.  “  See,  sir,”  says  he, 
pointing  to  the  root  to  show  that  it  was  from  a  layer.  “No,  sir  ; 
no  Jacks  here  !  ”  The  reader  will  remember  that  round  Hounslow 
there  are  acres  of  garden  ground  devoted  to  seedling  Carnations. 
These  find  a  ready  sale  among  the  costers,  and  are  known  as 
“Jacks  ”  in  the  trade.  They  are  purchased  at  about  4d.  per  dozen  ; 
then  sometimes  neatly  labelled,  and  sold  at  from  2s.  to  4s.  a  dozen. 
Some  of  these  itinerant  florists  get  little  plots  of  ground  for  them¬ 
selves,  and  become  expert  propagators.  The  most  delightful  bit 
of  gardening  in  London  is  the  long  strip  that  stretches  from  Hyde 
Park  Corner  to  the  Marble  Arch.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
example  set  there  has  been  of  service  to  gardeners  elsewhere.  One 
would  wish,  however,  to  see  here  and  there  a  bed  of  hardy  her¬ 
baceous  flowers,  such  as  an  amateur  might  grow  in  his  garden  at 
home.  There  are  scores  of  beautiful  old  flowers  that  one  scarcely 
ever  sees,  except  in  such  nurseries  as  Backhouse’s  and  Barr’s. 
Properly  chosen  one  could  have  continuous  flowering  from 
Christmas  Rose  and  Aconite  to  Michaelmas  Daisy  and  Chrys¬ 
anthemum. 
Much  more  might  be  done  in  enlivening  and  beautifying  the 
gardens  of  Londou  squares  ;  as  a  rule  they  are  almost  destitute  of 
colour,  worn,  and  neglected. 
I  have  been  lately  from  time  to  time  through  some  Sussex 
villages,  and  have  been  surprised  at  the  cheerful  effect  produced 
by  the  common  Euonymus  planted  by  cottage  wall*.  Close  by  is 
a  country  village — Angmering — of  a  rather  better  type.  The 
little  houses  are  limewashed,  and  beside  each  door  and  window  is  a 
tall  Euonymus,  kept  pretty  closely  trimmed.  The  plant,  as  the 
reader  is  doubtless  aware,  has  glossy  evergreen  leaves,  and  at  this 
season  is  making  its  early  spring  growth  of  a  light  yellow — almost 
a  primrose  colour.  There  are  long  hedges  of  it  by  the  Undercliff, 
Isle  of  Wight.  It  is  also  used  in  the  Scillies  to  protect  the  Daffodils 
from  wind  storms.  The  Escallonia  macrantha,  however,  is  now 
preferred.  Euonymus  would  make  a  capital  town  shrub,  keeping 
its  cheerful  verdure  all  the  year  round.  It  is  of  a  brighter  green 
than  Ivy,  and  therefore  of  a  more  cheerful  aspect.  The  shrub  may 
be  purchased  for  a  few  pence  in  Covent  Garden  and  from  the 
costers’  barrows,  and  is  suitable  also  for  window  boxes. — Hero 4. 
NATIONAL  AURICULA  SOCIETY’S  SOUTHERN 
SHOW. 
It  was  an  unfortunate  thing  that  the  fixture  for  this  meeting 
was  of  so  early  a  date,  but  it  could  not  very  well  be  avoided. 
It  simply  arose  from  the  very  late  date  of  the  second  Tuesday 
in  April.  The  Society  has  to  make  its  fixtures  coincide  with 
those  of  the  R.H.S.,  and  that  Society  cannot  very  well  alter  the 
dates  of  the  second  and  fourth  Tuesdays  of  the  month  for  its 
exhibitions.  Why,  it  may  be  said  then,  was  not  the  27th  fixed  on  ? 
I  believe  that  it  was  considered  that  this  would  be  too  late,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  a  day  midway  between  these  two  would 
have  been  more  suitable. 
I  may,  I  hope,  be  forgiven  if  I  dissent  from  the  opinions  that 
have  been  given  in  some  quarters  with  regard  to  the  excellence  of 
the  show,  for  in  the  first  place  the  northern  exhibitors  were 
entirely  shut  out,  and  those  who  know  of  the  pleasure  it  is  to  see 
the  fine  stands  exhibited  by  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  and  others  in 
the  North  will  at  once  recognise  what  a  loss  this  was  ;  a  loss  which 
was  felt  in  other  ways,  for  it  is  not  only  the  flowers  but  the  men 
themselves  whom  we  like  to  see  ;  and  though  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
Mr.  Horner’s  flowers  is  somewhat  of  a  tantalising  one,  for 
growers  are  not  likely  to  have  the  opportunity  of  obtaining  the 
plants  for  years  to  come,  yet  it  is  a  pleasure  that  only  a  florist  can 
appreciate  to  see  what  our  champion  Auricula  grower  can  do  in  the 
way  of  raising  new  flowers.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  there 
were  fewer  competitors  than  there  have  been  during  the  last  few 
years,  and  if  the  earliness  of  the  date  had  an  effect  on  the  quantities 
of  the  plants,  so,  I  think,  it  seriously  interfered  with  their  quality. 
Most  of  the  plants  entered  for  competition  bore  the  evidence  of 
being  subject  to  fire  heat,  and  I  do  not  think  that  Auriculas  will 
endure  this  without  resenting  it  ;  the  foliage  has  a  drawn  and 
flaccid  appearance,  while  the  trui*  of  flowers  is  in  too  many 
instances  loose  and  sprawly.  Of  course  I  may  be  considered  as  an 
old  fogey,  who  can  only  praise  things  of  the  past  and  not  of  the 
present,  but  that  is  not  so.  I  gladly  acknowledge  the  advance  that 
has  been  made  in  all  classes  during  the  past  twenty-five  years,  but  at 
the  same  time  I  cannot  but  notice  what  seem  to  me  defects  in  culture. 
I  do  not  know,  and  can  only  conjecture,  that  some  of  the  plants 
have  been  somewhat  highly  stimulated,  and  this  also  tends  to 
roughness  and  coarseness,  which  are  quite  out  of  place  in  the  refined 
and  beautiful  Auricula. 
Another  point  in  which  I  am  at  variance  with  the  present  taste 
is  that  of  the  number  of  pips  allowed  to  remain  on  each  truss  ;  it 
is  noted  as  a  meritorious  point  that  a  truss  had  fifteen  pips.  I 
believe  that  if  half  of  them  had  been  eliminated  according  to  the 
old  rule  that  an  edge  flower  ought  not  to  "have  more  than  seven 
pips  had  been  adhered  to  a  more  elegant  and  beautiful  plant  would 
have  been  shown  ;  in  the  old  times  seven  was  always  considered 
quite  large  enough  for  any  truss  of  a  Show  Auricula,  and  in  my 
poor  judgment  that  view  was  correct.  A  crowded  truss  does  not 
give  the  idea  of  that  refinement  which  ought  to  belong  to  the 
Auricula  ;  and  if  the  pips  had  been  closely  examined  as  the  Lan¬ 
cashire  men  are  wont  to  do  a  good  many  of  them  would  have  been 
defective. 
On  the  other  hand  one  was  sorry  to  see  in  the  Alpine  class  prizes 
given  to  flowers  which  had  not  more  than  two  expanded  pips. 
Another  cause  of  regret  which  was  universally  expressed  was  the 
retirement  of  Mr.  T.  E.  Henwood,  he  having  been  compelled,  owing 
to  ill  health,  to  part  with  his  collection.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this 
may  only  be  for  a  time,  as  we  shall  be  sorry  to  lose  permanently  so 
enthusiastic  and  successful  a  grower. 
With  regard  to  the  varieties  exhibited,  it  is  remarkable  how 
some  of  them  hold  the  field.  If  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  and  Prince 
of  Greens  are  in  good  condition,  no  other  green  edge  can  approach 
them.  I  do  not  include  in  this  Mrs.  Henwood,  which  promises  to 
be,  when  in  good  form,  a  formidable  rival  to  these  two  ;  then 
amongst  grey  edges  George  Lightbody  still  is  unsurpassed,  and 
some  of  us  would  say  unsurpassable.  Acme  amongst  white  edges 
holds  much  the  same  position,  although  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  a 
large  plant  of  it,  owing  to  its  tendency  to  break  up  into  offsets  ; 
while  amongst  seifs  it  would  be  difficult,  when  Heroine  and  Mrs. 
Potts  are  shown,  to  find  any  other  flower  that  will  beat  them. 
I  was  interested  to  notice  how  the  flowers  raised  by  my  late  friend 
Mr.  Woodhead  still  hold  a  prominent  place.  He  only  raised  four 
varieties — Black  Bess,  Mrs.  Dodwell,  George  Rudd,  and  Rachel ; 
and  when  one  looks  into  the  prize  lists,  one  is  sure  to  find  one  or 
other  of  these  flowers. 
The  same  cause  which  interfered  with  the  general  character  of 
the  show  interfered  with  the  production  of  seedlings.  Few  were 
exhibited,  the  most  conspicuous  being  a  green  edge,  named  Green¬ 
finch,  raised  by  Mr.  James  Douglas  and  exhibited  by  himself  ; 
this  is  a  flower  of  good  properties,  the  green  edge  being  good,  the 
body  colour  dark,  and  the  tube  bright.  This  flower  received 
Mr.  Martin  Smith’s  prize  of  half  guinea  for  the  best  green-edged 
seedling  and  also  a  certificate  of  merit,  the  worst  point  about  it 
being  its  name,  as  Mr.  Horner  exhibited  one  two  or  three  years  ago 
under  the  same  name. 
Of  the  newer  flowers  Mrs.  Henwood,  to  which  I  have  already 
alluded,  and  Abbe  Liszt  were  the  most  remarkablel  This  latter  is 
a  fine  flower,  but  there  is  a  narrow  thread  of  grey  round  the  edge 
of  the  petals  which  detracts  from  its  purity  as  a  green  edge.  The 
champion  prize  was  gained  by  Mr.  Phillips  for  a  fine  plant  of  the 
Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  showing  how  this  valuable  variety  holds  its 
own.  Such  are  the  impressions  of  an  old  Auricula  grower,  who,  it 
is  true,  has  been  brought  up  in  a  strait  sect,  but  who,  notwith¬ 
standing,  has  the  notion  that  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  earlier 
school  of  florists  was  not  far  from  being  right. 
I  have  said  nothing  about  the  Alpines  or  Fancies,  as  I  do  not 
profess  to  know  them  ;  but  I  cannot  but  allude  to  three  baskets 
in  which  Auriculas  (both  Show  and  Fancy)  are  exhibited  without 
pots  and  with  a  groundwork  of  the  smaller  foliage  Saxifrages, 
having  a  very  pretty  effect. — D.,  Deal. 
Fine  Seakale. — Mr.  Henry  T.  Martin  sends  us  from  the  Gardens, 
Stoneleigh  Abbey,  some  of  the  finest  Seakale  we  have  yet  seen — large, 
tender,  and  pure.  The  plants  must  have  been  admirably  grown,  and 
the  crowns  large,  for  some  of  the  heads  girthed  7|  inches,  and  were 
very  heavy  ;  length,  7  inches.  Mr.  Martin  observes  that  he  has  been 
cutting  30  lbs.  a  week  for  the  last  six  weeks,  and  there  is  not  much 
wonder  that  such  produce  should  be  in  great  demand.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  variety  is  different  from  that  generally  grown,  and  the 
point  can  only  be  determined  by  the  summer  growth.  We  rather 
attribute  its  excellence  to  good  management  as  we  have  seen  other 
heads  apparently  identical  in  character,  though  not  quite  so  large, 
