48 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



intend to raise auriculas from seed, therefore, may buy with safety, 

 provided they go to the most respectable seedsmen, and pay the most 

 respectable price. Cheap seed of any florists' flowers is not worth 

 sowing. If cheap seed were given me, I would only burn it. When 

 the collector has a good collection, seed may be saved at home, and 

 every cultivator prefers seed that has grown under his own inspec- 

 tion ; to say nothing of the additional interest that is created by the 

 process of hybridizing. I conclude that you have the seed, and now 

 for the disposal of it. 



In the essay on the Auricula in " Grarden Favourites" — the only 

 essay on the subject in any modern work that is worth reading — 

 Mr. Hibberd recommends sowing one part of the seed as soon as it 

 is ripe, and the remainder in the month of February following. 

 This is excellent advice, and indeed it would be better for the 

 veteran cultivator to sow all his seed as soon as dead ripe. But for 

 beginners, and those amateurs who wish to reduce to the least 

 possible amount of labour their several gardening pursuits, sowing 

 in February or March answers very well. To sow in the open 

 border is almost as bad as throwing the seed away. Procure some 

 large shallow pans or wooden boxes — they must he sJialloiv — cover the 

 bottoms of these receptacles with an inch or two of small crocks, 

 and over that lay a mixture of three parts mellow hazel loam, one 

 part turfy peat, one part leaf-mould, and one part sharp sand. Fill 

 nearly to the edge of the box or pan, and then press the soil quite 

 firm with a flat piece of wood ; sprinkle the seed thinly all over, and 

 cover with an eighth of an inch of the sand soil, and press down again 

 with a piece of board. 



I suppose the soil to be in a moderate state of moisture, so that 

 it will not require watering. It is well to manage so that there will 

 be no need to water till the plants are up. This cannot always be 

 done. There are just two advices suitable in reference to this matter. 

 The first is, lay a sheet of common window glass over the seed-boxes 

 or pans to check evaporation, and as soon as there is a lair sprinkling 

 of green upon the soil, owing to the sprouting of the seed, take the 

 glasses ofi. The second is, if the seed-pans want water, fill some 

 large vessel with water, and gently lower the seed-pans into it. The 

 water will flow over the soil, and wet it through, without disturbing 

 a particle of soil or seed. This is a golden rule for watering seed- 

 pans. The last point to be considered is, whether w^e shall submit 

 the seeds to heat or not. My advice is, be content to keep the 

 seed-pans in a frame or pit, safe from frost, wind, and sunshine, and 

 wait. If the seed is good it will all germinate in time. Still, a 

 gentle heat may be used, and the result will be a more uniform and 

 quicker sprouting of the seed. The danger is that now and then the 

 heat may be too much, and to avoid that danger I have always pre- 

 ferred to wait till the increasing warmth of the season causes the 

 seed to germinate without artificial help. 



Some time between the sowing of the seed and the first appear- 

 ance of the plants, make up a bed to receive them. The best way 

 is to make up this bed in a frame, so that a light can be put on for 

 the winter. But this may be dispensed with. In any case, the 



