(Primula Auricula.) This is a popular Florist's flower, and animated contests take place for the premiums annually offered by the English provincial Horticultural Societies.

Varieties

Mr. Slater, Florist, of Cheetham Hill, Manchester, says, "For an amateur's first collection, procure of Green-edged: Rider's Waterloo; Pol-litt's Standard of England and Highland Laddie; Ollier's Lady Anne Wilbraham; Oliver's Lovely Anne; shown also in grey-edged class. Grey-edged: Grimes Privateer; Kenyon's Ringleader; Warns Union; Sykes Complete; Thompson's Revenge. White-edged: Taylor's Glory; Leigh's Bright Venus; Taylor's Favourite; Kenyon's Lord Chancellor; Leigh's Pillar of Beauty. Selfs: Grimes, Hovas, Flag; Berry's Lord Primate; Whittaker's True Blue. Alpines: Em-merson's Favourite; Fieldhouse's Fair Rosamond.

2d. "As an addition to his collection, obtain of Green-edged: Booth's Freedom; Leigh's Colonel Taylor; Yates's Morris; Green Hero; Page's Champion; Ashton's Prince of Wales; Clough's Dolittle; Barlow's King; Lit-ton's Imperator; Howard's Nelson; Pearson's Badajos; Pollit's Ruler of England; Buckley's Jolly Tar; Faulkner's Ne Plus Ultra. Grey-edged: Fletcher's, Mary Anne, and Ne Plus Ultra; Waterhouse's Conqueror of Europe; Thompson's Bang-up; Taylor's Ploughboy; Pearson's Liberty; Howard's Sweepstake; shown also in green-edged class. White-edged: Ashworth's Rule All and Regular; Taylor's Incomparable; Wood's Delight; Popplewell's Conqueror; Potts' Regulator; Ashton's Bonny Lass; Cheetham's Countess or Wilton. Alpines: King of the Alps;

Queen Victoria; Conspicuous; Rising Sun; Fair Helen; Kettleby's True Blue. Selfs: Redmayn's Metropolitan; Ne-therwooiPs Othello; Berry's Lord Lee; Clegg's Blue Bonnet; Kay's Jupiter; Kenyon's Freedom; Gorton's Stadt-lioldcr, (yellow,) Hufton's Squire Hun-day. Lastly, these are worthy of a place in any collection. Green-edged: Hopworth's Robin Hood; Moore's Jubilee; Lightbody's Star of Bethlehem; Stretch's Alexander. Grey-edged: Atcherley's Alpine Shepherdess; Metcalfe's Lancashire Hero; Ashworth's Newton Hero; Simpson's Lord of Hallamshire; Kent's Queen Victoria. White-edged: Lily of the Valley; Wild's Bright Phoebus; Leigh's Earl Grosvenor. Selfs: Oddie's Rest, Goldfinch, (yellow,) Faulkner's Hannibal; Bradshaw's Tidy. I ought to have stated that the amateur's first collection comprises such as are not high priced, and yet good; but it must not be forgotten that the second addition contains all the first-rate varieties in cultivation, with very few exceptions." - Card. Chron.

Characteristics Of Excellence

"In its general appearance, the foliage should be well grown and healthy, covering a space about equal to double the width of the head of bloom. The 6tem should be firm, erect, and sufficiently strong to support the truss without assistance,and to carry it well above the foliage. The foot-stalks of the pip should be strong and of such a length as will allow the flowers to open without one overlaying another, the whole forming a compact globular head of well expanded flowers equal in size and similar in properties.

"The addition of one or two guard-leaves, standing up at the back of the truss, gives a finish to the whole, and adds considerably to its beauty by the contrast they form with the vivid and lively appearance of the flowers.

"The qualities which the individual pip should possess consist in its being perfectly round, flat and smooth on the edge; the divisions which form the segments of the corolla should be but slightly indented, thereby rendering the circles more perfect.

"The tube or centre must be round, of a yellow colour, filled with the anthers or thrum.

"The eye or paste round the tube should form a perfect circle of a dense pure white, clean on its edges, even, and free from blemishes.

"The band of colour surrounding the eye should be dark, rich, or bright, joining the margin with a feathery edge, equally distributed all round, but never encroaching so much upon the edge as to pass through to the rim.

"The margin or outer edge must be of a permanent green or grey colour. The circles which compose the face of the pip are considered of the finest proportion when they are of a uniform width, that of each circle being half the diameter of the tube." - Gard. Chron.

Propagation is effected by taking slips from and dividing roots of approved varieties, after the seed has ripened in July and August.

Diseases

The auricula is liable to have its roots ulcerated or cankered if the pots are not well drained. This is best done by having the pots one-fourth filled with rubbly charcoal, and the soil not too much divested of pebbles. At the blooming time the aphis or greenfly sometimes attacks the plants; these can only be removed individually by means of a camel's-hair pencil.