398 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  30,  1696, 
THE  NATIONAL  AURICULA  SOCIETY. 
(Southern  Section.) 
We  have  the  high  classical  authority  of  Mrs.  Malaprop  for 
saying  “that  caparisons  are  oderous,”  and  therefore  I  forbear  from 
comparing  the  exhibition  of  Tuesday,  21st  inst.,  with  its  predecessors, 
for  it  is  of  course  very  difficult  to  carry  one’s  mind  back  to  the 
details  of  even  a  few  years  ago,  but  I  think  we  may  safely  say  that, 
whether  as  regards  quantity  or  quality,  this  was  an  excellent  show. 
Yet  there  were  circumstances  which  made  one  tremble  before¬ 
hand.  Most  Auricula  growers  have  heard  of  the  terrible  calamity 
which  had  overtaken  our  champion  southern  grower,  Mr.  T.  E. 
Henwood.  His  collection  was,  probably,  the  most  select  in  the 
South  of  England.  It  contained  not  a  great  many  varieties,  but  a 
number  of  plants  of  some  of  the  very  best  ;  and  last  year  it  will 
be  recollected  he  carried  all  before  him,  while  this  year  he  did  not 
even  put  in  an  appearance  for  the  best  twelve.  The  fact  being 
that  in  May  of  last  year  when  he  was  repotting  he  found  a  quantity 
of  woolly  aphis  on  the  roots.  In  order  to  get  rid  of  this  pest  he 
sent  his  man  to  get  some  softsoap,  of  which  he  made  a  solution, 
dipped  his  plants,  and  repotted  them.  Finding  that  they  made  no 
way  he  turned  up  one  of  the  pots,  and  found  the  roots  completely 
black,  on  seeing  which  his  man  exclaimed,  “  Why,  master,  they  are 
paralysed  !  ”  and  probably  no  better  description  could  be  given  of 
them.  He  could  only  account  for  this  by  the  fact  that  his  man 
instead  of  going  to  the  chemist  had  gone  to  a  drug  store,  and 
obtained  some  crude  softsoap,  such  as  painters  use,  and  owing  to 
this  he  lost  nearly  400  plants. 
Now  anyone  who  knows  what  Auriculas  are  and  the  difficulty 
of  increasing  them  will  be  able  to  estimate  the  force  of  this  blow, 
which,  as  I  heard  a  lady  say  on  its  being  recounted  to  her,  “  It  is 
enough  to  break  one’s  heart.”  Still  he  has  a  few  left,  and  carried 
off  the  first  prize  for  the  best  six.  This  misfortune  brought  to  my 
remembrance  a  «omewhat  similar  one  to  myself  many  years  ago, 
when  on  returning  home  from  a  short  absence  I  found  that  the  old 
man  who  had  charge  of  my  small  garden  had  kept  the  frames 
tightly  closed  and  my  plants  were  all  withered,  which  he  ascribed 
to  some  maggot !  Another  reason  why  one  might  have  doubted 
what  the  character  of  the  show  would  be  was  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Ben  Simonite  had  had  his  Auriculas  so  crippled  by  a  couple 
of  days  of  severe  weather,  which  had  also  brought  with  it  the 
pestilential  air  of  Sheffield,  so  injuring  his  blooms  that  he  had 
nothing  to  bring  up  ;  yet  notwithstanding  these  two  defections 
there  were  seven  exhibits  in  the  class  for  twelves.  Here  the  Rev. 
F.  D.  Horner  carried  off  the  first  prize.  These  were  all  his  own 
seedlings,  and  it  is  a  proof  of  the  excellence  of  his  strain  that  he 
was  able  to  out-top  all  the  best  leading  varieties.  Mr.  Henwood 
occupied  the  same  place  in  the  class  of  sixes,  and  one  of  the  plants, 
Mrs.  Henwood,  claimed  the  premier  prize  for  the  best  Auricula  in 
the  show.  I  think  that  green  edges  on  the  whole  were  remarkably 
well  shown,  though  a  few  of  the  best  kinds,  such  as  Prince  of 
Greens,  were  but  scantily  represented.  Grey  edges  on  the  other 
hand  were  weak,  and  that  finest  of  all,  George  Lightbody,  was  not 
exhibited  at  all  as  it  used  to  be  ;  indeed,  the  highest  authority 
perhaps  in  Auricula  growing,  Mr.  Horner,  says  that  he  cannot 
grow  this  or  Lancashire  Hero  as  he  used  to  do.  White  edges 
were  tolerably  good  ;  notwithstanding  the  many  new  ones  that 
have  claimed  attention  Reed’s  Acme  took  nearly  all  the  prize*  for 
single  plants  in  the  white  edged  class. 
In  the  same  way  in  seifs,  there  are  two  varieties  against  which 
when  they  are  in  good  form  no  other  variety  is  able  to  contend, 
I  mean  Heroine  and  Mrs.  Potts  (of  the  latter,  out  of  the  seventeen 
plants  exhibited  fourteen  were  of  this  variety).  They  are  both 
beautiful  flowers,  but  the  latter  has  a  bad  habit.  Its  flower  stem 
is  very  long  and  weak,  and  the  flower  stalks,  which  compose  the 
truss,  are  of  the  same  character,  and  consequently  instead  of  the 
truss  being  compact  it  straggles  about  in  all  directions.  The  colour 
of  the  flower  i*  lovely,  and  it  is  a  great  pity  that  this  habit  detracts 
so  much  from  its  value.  I  have  again  to  notice  how  very  useful 
are  the  flowers  raised  and  sent  out  by  the  late  Mr.  Woodhead,  and 
it  must  be  a  source  of  great  pleaiure  to  his  good  sister  that  they 
still  hold  so  high  a  position,  for  in  most  stands  one  or  other  of 
his  flowers  found  a  place,  and  no  grower  would,  I  think,  care 
to  do  without  Geo.  Rudd,  Rachel,  Mrs.  Dodwell,  and  Black  Bess. 
Although  I  am  a  very  rigid  old  florist  I  cannot  without  injustice 
pass  over  the  varieties  of  what  are  called  Fancy  Auricula*.  They 
are  curious  and  quaint,  and  I  think  they  must  bring  one  back  to 
the  times  when  the  Dutch  grew  them,  and  when  some  of  their 
quaint  forms  figured  in  the  pictures  of  the  old  Dutch  flower 
painters. 
There  will  always  be,  of  course,  a  certain  amount  of  interest 
attaching  to  seedlings,  though  there  is  little  chance  of  anyone 
except  the  raiser  seeing  any  of  them  for  many  a  long  year  to  come. 
There  are  some  which  are  of  vigorous  constitution  and  increase 
freely,  one  of  these  is  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  and  this  accounts  I 
think  in  some  degree  for  its  being  so  often  exhibited.  A  stock  of  it 
may  soon  be  obtained,  while  of  such  varieties  as  Prince  of  Greens 
you  may  wait  for  years  before  you  get  offsets.  It  is  well  known 
that  seifs  more  readily  increase  than  the  edge  varieties,  but  not  all. 
Thus  Mr.  Horner  told  me  that  that  fine  dark  sslf  Melanie  raised 
by  him  in  1886  has  increased  so  slowly  that  even  now,  after  eleven 
years,  he  has  only  got  two  blooming  plants  ;  and  that  fine  white 
edge  Magpie,  raised  by  him  some  years  ago,  is  not  yet  I  believe  in 
commerce.  Yet  with  all  that  fanciers  like  to  know  what  new 
varieties  there  are,  even  though,  like  the  Grapes  in  the  fable,  they 
are  very  sour. 
There  can  be  no  question  of  the  excellence  of  Mrs.  Henwood 
(No.  1,  fig.  66),  which,  as  I  have  said,  obtained  the  premier  prize  for 
the  best  bloom  in  the  show.  It  is  a  green  edge  of  surpassing  excel¬ 
lence  ;  was  railed  by  the  late  Mr.  Barlow  from  a  pod  of  seed  sent 
him  by  Mr.  Horner  ;  all  the  parts  of  the  flower  are  well  proportioned, 
the  body  colour  is  regular,  and  the  paste  solid  ;  the  constitution  also 
appears  to  be  good.  It  was  shown  first  by  Mr.  Henwood  in  1890,  and 
obtained  first  prize  as  a  seedling,  and  also  a  first-cla*s  certificate. 
At  the  Westminster  Aquarium  show  in  the  same  year  he  exhibited 
it  in  his  stand  of  twelve  ;  it  took  the  first  prize,  and  was  again 
awarded  a  first-class  certificate.  It  will  be  thus  seen  that  it  has 
obtained  two  first-class  certificates,  one  premier  prize,  one  first 
prize,  and  been  in  two  first  prize  stands.  Another  fine  green  edge 
is  Shirley  Hibberd  (Simonite)  ;  it  is  a  first-class  flower  of  high 
promise,  and  the  habit  is  strong.  Dolphin  (Horner)  is  also  hopeful  ; 
it  seems  to  be  a  first-rate  flower,  and  we  must  only  hope  in  future 
years  to  see  it  fulfilling  its  early  promise.  I  think  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  promising  of  Mr.  Horner’s  seedlings  is  the  Rev.  Cecil 
Dalton  ;  the  edge  a  vivid  green,  body  colour  intense  black,  the 
paste  solid,  and  the  tube  deep  yellow. 
Dinham  is  a  large  grey  edge  raised  by  Miss  Penson  at  Ludlow, 
but  I  fear  inclined  to  exhibit  that  fatal  defect  in  the  eyes  of  a  true 
fancier — coarseness.  As  in  Roses,  we  have  no  objection  to  size  in 
Auriculas  provided  they  are  not  coarse  ;  but  it  is  very  difficult  to 
get  the  one  without  the  other.  Lustre  (Horner),  on  the  other  hand, 
is  a  fine  flower,  well  proportioned  and  by  no  means  coarse.  There 
was  a  very  fine  self  exhibited  by  Mr.  Horner  under  the  name  of 
Midnight  (No.  2,  fig.  66),  very  dark,  deep  maroon  almost  black,  very 
smooth  and  bold  looking  flower.  This  may  well  take  the  place 
among  dark  seifs  as  Heroine  has  done  amongst  the  purples.  It  is 
as  dark  as  Black  Bess,  but  smoother  on  the  edges.  The  other 
seedlings  exhibited  by  Mr.  Horner  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  brought 
forward  again. 
Although  I  have  limited  my  observations  to  the  classes  which  I 
know  best  and  most  prize,  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  beauties  of 
others,  and  certainly  the  Alpine  section  has  attained  to  a  great 
degree  of  excellence,  while  the  greater  ease  with  which  they  are 
cultivated  must  render  them  grateful  to  those  who  do  not  care  to 
take  all  the  trouble  involved  in  the  cultivation  of  the  Show  section. 
By-the-by,  we  may  ask  with  wonder  who  writes  the  horticultural 
notices  for  the  “  Times.”  Here  is  what  is  said  on  Wednesday  last 
about  Auriculas,  “These  flowers  are  grown  with  but  little  trouble  ; 
they  do  not  occupy  much  room,  are  not  liable  to  many  ailments, 
and  are  not  exacting  as  regards  pureness  of  air,  so  that  they  can  be 
cultivated  with  much  success  even  in  or  near  towns.” 
One  feature  of  the  Auricula  show  is  that  we  meet  growers  from 
different  parts  of  the  country,  and  are  able  to  compare  notes  and 
have  “  a  crack  ”  over  our  favourites,  and  I  do  not  think  we  shall 
get  anyone  to  agree  with  the  statement  that  they  are  grown  without 
much  trouble.  One  was  glad  to  see  our  northern  champion  as 
enthusiastic  as  ever,  and  taking  as  great  delight  in  his  favourites  as 
he  has  ever  done,  and  were  only  sorry  that  he  was  not  as  heretofore 
accompanied  by  good  Ben  Simonite.  Altogether  it  is  pleasant 
to  u»  to  find  that  this  refined  and  beautiful  flower  increase*  in 
the  estimation  of  horticulturists  in  the  South  of  England.  — 
D.,  Deal. 
[To  the  two  varieties  figured  and  appreciatively  referred  to  by 
the  veteran  amateur  we  add  a  third  one  of  Mr.  James  Douglas’s 
bold  and  brilliant  crimson  and  gold  Alpine,  Dean  Hole  (No.  3, 
fig.  66),  which  was  much  admired  by  many  visitors  at  the  show.] 
YOUNG  GARDENERS. 
Their  Hours  and  Habitations. 
Since  penning  my  former  notes  on  the  above  subject,  which  everyone 
will  admit  is  one  of  considerable  importance,  I  have  studied  with  interest 
the  opinions  offered  by  various  writers  on  the  half  holiday  question  for 
young  gardeners,  and  in  summing  up  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
instead  of  treating  the  matter  from  a  general  point  of  view  it  has,  for 
the  most  part,  been  looked  at  somewhat  one-sidedly,  and  only  from  the 
aspect  in  which  gardeners  see  it  in  their  own  particular  establishment. 
This  seems  hardly  fair  when  treating  with  a  question  of  such  magnitude, 
