400 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTACE  GARDENER. 
May  7,  190?. 
Specialists  like  Mr.  Douglas  make  a  good  many  crosses  every 
year  in  order  to  secure  advanced  forms,  yet  out  of  all  their  seed¬ 
lings.,  if  they  can  get  one  really  good  novelty  per  year,  they 
consider  themselves  suecessful.  And  when  one  reflects  that  the 
cult  has  been  keenly  “  at  the  game  ”  for  fifty  years  or  more,  and 
that  so  few  standard  sorts  are  even  now  recognised  and  reliable, 
we  find  that  the  raising  of  “gems”  is  quite  the  exception,  and 
of  intermittent  occurrence. 
In  his  catalogue  Mr.  Douglas  describes  as  exhibition  Show 
Auriculas  eleven  green-edged  varieties  (these  never  have  mealed 
foliage) ;  twelve  grey-edged ;  fourteen  white-edged ;  and  eleven 
seifs,  a  total  of  forty-eight. 
The  general  collection,  of  course,  includes  numbers  of  very  good 
sorts.  Seeds  are  saved  from  these'  select  Show  varieties  each 
year,  and  is  obtainable  by  amateurs.  The  flowers  at  the  present 
time  are  all  carefully  hand  pollinated  by  means  of  a  very  fine 
artist’s  brush,  and  by  the  end  of  June  or  July  the  seed  vessels 
are  ripe.  The  flowering  plants  are  in  4in  and  5in  pots,  on 
cinder  stages,  in  an  ordinai-y  span-roofed  house,  and  are  quite 
a  long  way  from  the  glass,  or,  let  me  say,  at  the  ordinary 
stage  distanoe.  Watering  has  to  be  vei’y  carefully  attended  to. 
This  is  not  the  place,  however,  for  cultural  details,  and  I  would 
commend  the  novitiate  to  remarks  under  this  head  in  Mr. 
Douglas’s  catalogue,  and  to  all  who  are  interested  in  this  ex¬ 
quisite  old  English  florists’  flower. 
A  few  words  on  the  distinctive  charactenstics  and  qualities 
cf  Show  Auriculas  may  be  of  use  and  interest.  First,  then,  the 
terms  employed  in  describing  an  Auricula  are  thrum,  the  ring  of 
anthers  showing  beyond  the  throat;  pin-eAied,  Avhen  the  pistil 
.‘hows  beyond  the  throat;  paste,  the  white  circle  next  to  the 
tube  in  a  florist’s  flower;  ground-colour,  the  circle  next  to  the 
paste,  being  the  distinctive  colour  of  the  variety ;  edge,  outer 
circle  or  border;  pip  is  a  single  flower;  a.nd  truss,  a  number 
of  flowers  on  a  single  flower-sta-lk,  it  being  desirable  there 
should  not  be  less  than  seven. 
The  pip  should  consist  of  four  circles,  formed  at  equal  dis¬ 
tances  round  a  given  point.  The  first,  the  tube,  round,  of  a 
yellow  colour,  the  thrum  rising  a  little  above  the  eye,  or  paste. 
The  paste,  pure  white,  dense,  and  round.  The  ground-colour 
shoukl  be  dense  and  distinct,  perfectly  circular  next  the  paste, 
and  only  slightly  feathered  towards  the  edge.  The  edge  should 
be  distinct  in  colour,  whole,  and  circular  instead  of  stari'y  in 
outline.  The  whole  pip  must  be  round,  flat,  and  smooth  at 
the  edges.  All  the  pips  in  a  truss'ought  to  show  boldly,  without 
overlapping.  The  stem  should  be  strong  and  the  foliage  healthy. 
The  Fancieis,  which  I  have  heretofore  mentioned,  clo  not 
seem  to  be  listed  in  the  Dougla.s  catalogue.  The  section  con¬ 
tains  twenty-four  named  sorts,  and  is  distinguished  by 
the  sweetne.ss  and  blendings  of  the  soft-tinted  colours.  Even 
the  Edenside  grower  finds  it  difficult  to  define  the  Fancies. 
They  are  devmid  of  a  distinctive  body  colour,  have  no  special 
edge-hue,  but  are  simply  very  much  refined,  and  pleasingly 
beautiful,  variously  coloured  flowers.  The  Fancy  section  was 
institutecl  by  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  Barlow,  J.P.,  of  Stakehill 
House,  Manchester,  and  it  certainly  deserves  to  be  developed. 
Rolt’s  Red  is  one  of  the  prettie.st  varieties,  having  a  inagenta- 
purple  zone  around  the  paste,  and  a  green  edge.  Doris  has  a 
brownish-yellow  body-ground,  and  greyish-green  edge.  Old 
Gold  is  bronzy-red  in  the  middle  of  each  eegnient,  the  edge 
being  old  gold. 
My  concluding  .sentence  will  be  to  express  a  wish  that  the 
love  and  care  for  the  Auricula,  both  Shows  and  Alpine®,  may 
never  recede ;  but  that  year  by  year  fresh  recruits  may  be 
added  to  the  band  of  charming  personalities  Avho  have  already 
laboured  loyally  for  the  improvement  and  the  greater  popularity 
of  one  of  the  fairest  flowers  of  this  terrestrial  globe. 
Notes  on  Narcissi. 
On  the  occasion  of  the  recent  exhibition  of  the  Midland 
Daffodil  Society,  I  had  the  opportunity  to  a.sk  Mr.  J.  W.  Cross,  of 
the  Old  Grammar  School,  Wisbech,  how  many  bulbs  he  grows. 
Mr.  Cross  has  eighteen  acres  under  bvdb  culture,  and  according 
to  his  statement  grows  about  6,000,000  Daffodils  and  Tulips.  Of 
these,  about  2,000,000  are  lifted  for  sale  and  other  u.ses,  each 
year.  During  the  flowering  season  he  sends  large  consignments 
of  cut  flowers,  packed  flat,  in  boxes,  to  the  markets  at  Newcastle, 
Edinburgh,  London,  Birmingham,  and  elsewhere.  Round  the 
Wisbech  neighbourhood,  the  amount  of  ground  having  bulbs  as 
one  of  the  staple  crops  amounts  to,  roughly,  2,500  acres. 
Quantities  of  bulbs  are  grown  under  the  fruit  trees  in  orchards. 
Speaking  of  market  varieties,  Mr.  Cross  praises  Narcissus 
Victoria ,  a  favourite  bicolor,  of  fine  bold  form  and  possessing  plenty 
of  sub.stance.  Also  Madame  de  Graaff,  which  will  become  useful 
when  more  plentiful,  and  thirdly,  Madaine  Plemp.  These,  he 
thinks,  will  displace  Empress,  Horsefieldi,  and  probably  others. 
The  latter  likes  a  change  of  soil  in  order  to  do  well,  and  this 
seems  to  be  an  objection  with  market  men. 
Among  the  new  Daffodils  certificated  during  the  present  year, 
the  following  seem  to  me  to  be  the  best:  Moonstone,  a  white 
incomparabilis,  shown  by  Miss  W’'illmott.  N.  Broadwing,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  best  of  Mr.  Engleheart’s  seedlings.  The 
length,  breadth,  purity,  and  subistance  of  the  segments  surpass 
any  of  the  other  forms  in  the  same  (Engleheartea)  section — 
poeticus  hybrids. 
N.  Royal,  although  doubtless  classed  ivith  the  advanced 
improved  forms,  did  not  please  me,  being  so  large.  It  may  be 
stately,  but  it  is  not  elegant.  King  Alfred  I  would  a  thousand 
times  rather  have.  N.  Adour,  a  rich  yellow  trumpet  variety,  is 
good,  but  not  sufficiently  distinct,  but  in  Mrs.  George  Barr  we 
have  certainly  an  advance.  This  I  would  place  as  the  best  white 
Ajax  of  the  year.  It  is  a  different  sort  of  flower  than  N.  Peter 
Barr,  and  is  exceedingly  graceful,  and  wonderfully  pure  in  colour. 
The  season’s  three  gems  are  Mrs.  Geo.  Barr,  Broadwing,  and 
Moonstone. 
On  the  opposite  page  we  are  able  to  illustrate  the  six  premier 
flowers  (being  two  each  from  the  three  sections,  magni,  medio, 
and  parvd-coronati)  exhibited  at  the  exhibition  of  the  Midland 
Daffodil  Society  on  April  16  and  17.  The  society  offers  a  silver 
medal  for  the  premier  magni,  medio,  and  parvi-crowned  flowers 
in  the  competitive  classes,  and  another  silver  medal  for  each 
premier  seedling  of  these  sections.  Incognita  was  the  best  parvi- 
coronati  in  the  seedlings,  and  was  .staged  by  Miss  Willmott, 
V.M.H.  ;  Southern  Star  was  the  premier  parvi  in  the  competitive 
classes,  and  came  from  Messrs.  Pope  and  Sons.  White  Queen 
(medio),  in  competition,  was  also  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Pope  and 
Sons,  and  Robert  Berkeley  (medio),  a  seedling  from  Miss  Will- 
mott’s  garden.  King  Alfred  (magni),  from  A.  S.  Leslie-Melville, 
Esq.,  stood  fir.st  in  the  competitive  clas.ses ;  and  Francesca  (magni) 
was  the  best  seedling  Ajax,  and  was  set  up  by  Messrs,  de  Graaff 
Bros.,  of  Leiden.  To  Mr.  Herbert  Smith,  one  of  the  honorary 
secretaries  of  the  society,  we  are  indebted  for  the  photograph. — 
Wandering  Willie. 
“The  Book  of  British  Ferns.”* 
No  author  of  recent  years  has  laboured  more  assiduously  for 
the  advance  of  his  pet  hobby  than  has  Mr.  C.  T.  Druery,  the 
editor,  and  virtually  the  author,  of  this  “  Book  on  British  Ferns.” 
Mr.  Druery'  is  an  untiring  botanical  observer  and  practitioner  in 
Fern  culture,  and  having  been  one  of  the  chief  supporters  of  the 
British  Pteridological  Society  for  years,  he  has  neces.sarily  accus¬ 
tomed  himself  to  make  his  hobby  a  close  study  as  well,  and  to 
keep  abreast  with  the  discoveries  and  advances  in  pteridology. 
He  is  the  man  absolutely  for  the  editorship  of  such  a  book  a.s 
this. 
The  cult  has  entluLsiastic  adherents,  but  few  of  them.  Ferns, 
both  exotic  and  British,  are  without  doubt  a  greatly  and  un- 
pardonably  neglected  order  of  plants,  and  we  are  ready  to  admit 
that  this  is  largely  for  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  charms  of  many 
Ferns ;  possibly,  too,  there  is  an  inherent  impatience  in  the  ranks 
of  garden  patrons  ivith  Ferns,  Cacti,  and  “  hardwooded  ”  sub¬ 
jects,  who.se  progress  is  either  slow,  uncertain,  or  little  varying. 
The  books  open  with  an  unqualified  eulogy  on  the  surpassing 
excellencies  of -British  Ferns,  species,  and  their  varieties.  “In 
no  other  part  of  the  world  has  a  tithe  of  such  diversity  (as  our 
home  Fenis  possess)  been  found  to  exi.st,”  says  the  editor. 
“They  are  essentially  fitted  to  be  the  pets  of  all  classes,  their 
perfectly  hardy  nature  precludes  the  necessity  of  any  heating  in 
the  winter,  they  do  not  rank  as  expensive  plants  to  procure,  and, 
finally,  with  a  little  attention  to  their  needs,  they  are  practically 
everlasting.” 
Throughout  the  book  there  is  a  brightness  and  force  of  expres¬ 
sion  and  simile  that  is  typically  “  Drueryan.”  Even  in  discussing 
such  an  abstruse  subject  as  Fern-crossing  and  hybridising,  the 
editor  violently  lays  hold  of  metaphor  when  describing  the  fertili¬ 
sation  of  the  oosphere  by  the  microscopic  antherozoids.  a  dozen 
of  which  would  lie  within  the  space  of  a  pin’s  head.  “  These,”  he 
.says,  “  are  the  elements  the  Fern  crosser  has  to  deal  with,  and  to 
carry  out  his  ideal,  he  should  carefully  lift  one  of  these  tadpole 
bodies  (the  antheridia)  just  when  it  bursts  its  round-headed  con¬ 
tainer  and  starts  on  its  journey  across  the  ocean  of  a  dewdrop, 
and  then  carefully  convey  it  to  another  and  distant  bride  selected 
for  it,  in  lieu  of  the  maiden  close  at  hand.”^ 
Essays  on  apospory,  and  one  on  Weismann’s  Theory  of 
Heredity  and  its  Relation  to  British  Ferns,  by  Dr.  F.  TV. 
Stansfieid,  are  included  in  the  Appendix,  with  illustration 
plates.  The  figures  exemplifying  the  development  of  the  young 
Ferns  from  the  shedding  of  the  spores  through  all  stages,  is  very 
complete,  understandable,  and  neatly  executed. 
The  book  is  one  that  will  afford  sure  guidance  to  veiw  many 
amateur  British  Fern  lovers,  and  will  stimulate  reflection  in 
the  minds  of  others,  whose  experience  with  Britannic  members 
of  the  Order  is  already  somewhat  extended. 
»  “The  Book  of  British  Ferns,”  by  Chas.  T.  Druerv.  V.M.H.  F.L.S. 
President  of  the  British  Pteridoiogical  .Society.  London;  Offices  of  “Country 
Life,”  and  Geo.  Newnes,  Ltd.  ;  3s.  6d.  net. 
