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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  16,  1899. 
As  one  draws  towards  the  close  of  life  one’s  views  ought  to  be 
larger,  kinder,  and  more  charitable  than  they  have  ever  been ;  we 
become  more  conscious  of  our  own  shortcomings,  and  are  therefore 
more  inclined  to  deal  gently  with  those  of  others.  My  earliest  years 
were  passed  in  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  “  dear,  dirtv  Dublin.” 
I  am  sometimes  asked  when  and  how  I  became  a  florist,  and 
I  suppose  I  must  answer  in  the  spirit  of  the  immortal  Topsv,  “  I 
suppose  I  grow’d.”  About  the  year  1829  we  removed  to  a 
place  called  Mount  Andrew,  where  we  lived  in  a  villa  residence,  while 
a  larger  house  was  building  for  us  in  Dublin.  I  do  not  think  that 
even  then  the  virus  of  floriculture  had  affected  me,  but  one  day  a 
schoolfellow,  whose  uncle  lived  in  an  adjacent  villa,  took  me  to  see  his 
garden,  and  there  I  saw  what  I  have  never  forgotten,  and  of  which  I 
do  not  think  I  have  ever  seen  the  like — viz.,  two  beds,  about  20  feet 
long  and  4  feet  wide,  filled  with  Persian  Ranunculus.  Where  the 
owner  obtained  the  tubers  I  do  not  know,  but  the  flowers  were  certainly 
fair  to  behold.  They  were  of  all  colours,  from  pure  white  to  a  deep 
black  ;  they  were  edged,  spotted,  and  striped ;  they  were  of  colours 
very  unusual  amongst  flowers,  some  being  olive  green,  and  others  of 
the  very  deepest  crimson.  I  see  them  now  before  me,  and  although  it 
may  be  the  idea  of  a  boy,  who  never  in  after  life  eats  such  Apples  as 
those  he  prigs  from  his  schoolmaster’s  garden,  and  for  which  by-the-by 
he  suffered  ignominiously,  yet  I  must  say  I  think  I  am  not 
exaggerating.  Apples  remind  me  | of  one  variety  that  used  to  be 
abundant  iu  those  days  around  Dublin,  and  which  one  very  rarely 
sees  on  this  side  of  the  Channel — the  Irish  Peach,  and  the  most 
delicious  I  think  of  all  early  Apples. 
So  it  happened,  I  think,  from  that  forwards,  gardening  was  one  of 
the  chief  pleasures  of  my  life.  We  soon  moved  back  into  Dublin,  and 
there  I  became  acquainted  with  a  band  of  very  earnest  and  energetic 
florists  ;  se  me  were  growers  of  Carnations,  others  of  Tulips,  and  others 
of  Auriculas.  They  were  the  days  when  the  enthusiasm  for  florist 
flowers  was  at  high  pitch.  Well  do  I  remember  one  enthusiastic 
grower  of  Carnations,  who  cultivated  a  small  piece  of  ground  attached 
to  the  Neath  Hospital,  and  invited  a  few  of  us  to  spend  an  evening 
wdth  him  and  inspect  his  flowers.  In  those  days  the  luxurious 
practice  ct  growing  them  in  pots  had  not  come  into  existence,  and  the 
two  beds,  which  I  so  well  remember,  were  in  the  open.  The  main 
object  of  the  invitation  was,  I  think,  to  see  a  couple  of  plants  in  flower 
of  Twitchett’s  Don  John,  for  which  he  had  paid  2  guineas.  Well,  it 
was  a  very  handsome  flower  ot  the  scarlet  bizarre  section,  but  who 
Twitchett  was,  and  where  he  lived,  I  do  not  know,  but  the  flower 
had  a  very  short  reign  of  popularity;  it  was  evidently,  like  many 
others  of  the  section,  a  bad  grower,  and  so  soon  passed  out  of 
cultivation. 
Some  years  after  this  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  one  of  the 
most  skilful  amateurs  I  have  ever  known — Dr.  Plant  of  Monkstown, 
near  Dublin.  He  had  by  this  time  introduced  the  practice  of  growing 
Carnations  in  pots,  and  some  of  the  older  varieties,  such  as  Flora’s 
Garland,  Sarah  Paine,  Lady  Lily,  and  several  of  Mr.  Ruxley’s  flowers, 
were  exceedingly  well  grown  by  him.  This  latter  gentleman  was  a 
mine  owner  in  South  Wales,  but  he  was  also  in  part,  if  not  whole, 
proprietor  of  the  extensive  copper  mines  in  Castletown,  Beerhaven,  in 
the]county  of  Cork,  and  finding  the  air  of  Swansea  not  so  suitable  to 
the  growth  of  his  favourites  as  that  of  Ireland,  he  used  to  send  his 
plants  over  to  Beerhaven  to  be  grown.  I  do  not  think  he  was  ever 
an  exhibitor,  but  grew  his  plants  from  sheer  love  of  them. 
My  recollections  of  Dr.  Plant,  however,  were  chiefly  associated 
with  the  Auricula,  and  some  of  the  flowers  which  he  grew  then  I  have 
never  seen  equalled  :  how  seldom  one  sees,  for  instance,  plants  of  Booth’s 
freedom  and  Page’s  Champion,  yet  I  have  seen  them  by  the  dozen  in 
the  Monkstown  collection,  and  well  do  I  recollect  plants  of  the 
former  with  seven  large  pips,  exhibiting  no  sign  of  coarseness,  but  a 
sight  to  behold  of  beauty  and  refinement.  He  was  a  constant  exhibitor 
at  the  shows  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  of  Ireland,  and  I  felt 
very  proud  when  I  found  that  I  had  beaten  him  at  one  spring  3how,  a 
plant  of  Fletcher’s  Ne  Plus  Ultra  being  of  such  exceptional  merit  that 
the  judges  could  not  get  away  from  it ;  it  was  large,  very  large,  but  I 
am  afraid  that  had  I  it]now  before  me  I  should  call  it  coarse.  There 
was  another  flower  that  he  used  to  grow  so  well  that  I  have  never 
seen  since,  called  Hey’s  Apollo,  a  fine  purple  self.  His  system  of 
culture  was  rather  peculiar  ;  his  plants  were  all  grown  in  large  pots, 
somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  Lancashire  “  mugs,”  and  would  be 
considered  nowadays  much  too  large,  but  he  used  always  to  say,  “  If 
you  want  your  boys  to  grow,  you  must  give  them  plenty  of  room  to 
grow]  in,”  a  practice  which  no  one  nowadays  would  commend,  but 
which  was,  as  I  have  said,  eminently  successful.  When  I  used  to  go 
down  in  the  spring  to  see  his  collection  it  was  a  day  always  to  be 
marked  with  the  whitest  of  white  chalk. 
There  were  not  mauy  growers  of  the  Auricula  about  Dublin  then, 
and  it  may  certainly  claim  to  be  the  most  aristocratic  among  florists’ 
flowers,  but  I  think  there  was  as  keen  an  interest  among  the  select 
few  as  ever  I  have  seen.  To  the  outside  world  it  appeared  a  very 
absurd  thing  to  see  three  or  four  men  poring  over  a  little  plant  of 
Auricula  and  discussing  the  various  minute  points  of  correctness  and 
incorrectness  of  both  colour  and  outline,  and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  in  those  days  we  had  no  George  Lightbody  or  Prince  of  Greens, 
and  I  do  not  think  that  many  of  the  prizewinners  of  those  days  would 
be  found  in  our  winning  stands  now.  I  always  feel  glad  at  the  recol¬ 
lection  of  them,  and  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  flower  which 
creates  so  long  and  lasting  an  interest  in  the  mind  of  the  grower  as 
the  Auricula. — D.,  Deal. 
(To  be  continued.) 
THE  FLORAL  SEASON. 
( Concluded,  from  page  383.) 
Another  item  of  management  that  increased  labour  to  a  serious 
extent  during  the  season  was  the  long  time  it  was  necessary  to  continue 
the  application  of  water.  IN  ever  previously  has  there  been  occasion  to 
water  so  late  in  the  year,  and  though  the  plants  that  were  watered 
were  limited  to  those  that  would  have  failed  without  it,  including 
such  as  Phloxes,  PeDtstemons,  Hollyhocks,  Begonias,  Cockscombs  and; 
Calceolarias,  and  allowing  such  as  Asters,  “Geraniums,”  Chrys¬ 
anthemums,  Marguerites,  Helianthus  and  many  more  to  exert  their 
own  powers  to  gain  sustenance,  it  proved  through  its  long  continuance 
a  great  leakage  of  labour.  It  became  apparent  early  in  summer  that 
water  alone  was  going  to  be  insufficient  to  produce  a  vigorous  growth, 
so  occasional  applications  ot  super,  and  less  frequently  of  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  were  given  with  very  happy  results. 
It  seems  to  be  a  fact  that  pure  water,  if  applied  at  frequent 
intervals,  may  become  decidedly  prejudicial ;  supplemented  by  manure 
in  some  form  it  becomes  valuable.  Growth,  instead  of  remaining 
almost  stationary,  becomes  robust  and  strong;  foliage  assumes  a  dark 
green  instead  of  a  yellowish  hue,  and  flowers  develop  full  proportions 
with  deep  or  pure  colouring  in  place  of  being  small  and  in  many  cases 
insipid  in  hue ;  but  I  think  one  needs  be  very  careful  to  not  over 
enrich  soil  with  manure,  and  so  induce  a  sappy,  unsatisfactory  growth 
in  flowers,  and  on  that  account  flower  borders  are  treated  to  manure 
only  at  longish  intervals.  A  most  important  factor  in  their  successful 
treatment,  and  one  very  patent,  at  least  to  myself,  is  a  due  breaking 
up  of  the  soil,  no  matter  how  deeply  it  is  stirred.  Judging  from  the 
inattention  paid  to  this  matter  by  young  men  who  come  to  me  I 
conclude  that  this  part  of  digging  is  almost  always  left  undone. 
Reverting  to  flowers,  a  selection  of  dwarf  Cockscombs  has  given 
us  great  satisfaction.  I  have  not  previously  attempted  planting  these 
outside,  though  Celosias  have  done  well  for  several  years.  Among  the 
more  pleasing  varieties  is  one  very  dark  crimson  in  colour ;  it  is  a  most 
effective  form,  and  is  plauted  with  Canary  Creeper  as  a  groundwork. 
Equally  pleasing,  though  less  striking,  is  that  with  rose  coloured  heads. 
For  this  Wave  of  Blue  Lobelia  was  employed  as  a  carpet.  A  pretty 
and  effective  bed  was  largely  composed  of  a  variety  of  colours,  the  best 
of  which,  including  the  two  already  referred  to,  was  a  deep  orange. 
In  this  instance  a  soft  yellow  variegated  form  of  Erysimum  prsecox 
was  used  dotted  among  the  Cockscombs.  I  tried  Cockscombs  also 
without  any  other  plants  in  conjunction,  but  these  were  not  so  satis¬ 
factory.  In  a  series  of  borders  the  prevailing  tone  of  which  is  orange, 
Bobbie’s  Orange  African  Marigold  has  proved  of  great  value.  The 
plants  were  not  placed  direct  into  the  borders,  but  were  lifted  when 
coming  into  bloom  from  a  reserve  bed  ;  and  this  treatment,  with  ut 
affecting  their  blooming  qualities,  has  kept  the  plants  dvvarfer  than 
they  are  usually  found. 
Among  other  common  flowers  that  have  been  very  satisfactory, 
and  still  continue  to  be  so,  are  some  white  and  red  Verbenas  from  seed, 
among  which  a  few  plants  of  the  delicately  flowered  Eragrostis  elegans 
are  dotted.  Montbretias  in  masses  have  also  proved  of  great  decora¬ 
tive  value.  M.  sulphurea  latterly  working  itself  into  a  foremost  place 
>  in  one’s  estimation.  All  the  Montbretias  are,  however,  most  effective 
