THE CULTURE OF THE AURICULA. 



29 



cordingly placed on the side of the house 

 opposite to that which contains the en- 

 trance or front door. 



The plan of the principal floor, suffi- 

 ciently explains itself. The large and 

 handsome drawing-room, — far better in 

 effect than two rooms, connected by sliding 

 doors, is the summer apartment ; while the 

 rest of this plan gives the ordinary accom- 

 modation of the family. The rooms in 

 this story are 13 feet high. 



The second story, fig. 68, shows only a 

 moderate bed-room accommodation, — the 



wings being only one story high. By 

 treating these wings, however, as we have 

 indicated in the left-hand wing of fig. 68, 

 that is, lighting them with a sky-light in 

 the roof, two more low bed-rooms may be 

 had in each wing. 



This plan is designed for a piece of 

 sloping ground, where the surface on the 

 veranda side falls off rapidly enough to 

 allow of kitchen and other necessary base- 

 ment apartments on that side of the house, 

 almost wholly out of ground, and yet in the 

 basement. 



ON THE CULTURE OF THE AURICULA. 



BY R. B. LEUCHARS, NEW-HAVEN, CT. 



There is scarcely any class of florist 

 flowers that possess so much real interest- 

 ing attractiveness as the Auriculas ; and 

 I will venture to say that there is no class, 

 possessing equal claims to our notice, that 

 are so little cultivated, and their cultiva- 

 tion so little understood. 



There are many gardeners who are tho- 

 roughly proficient in every branch of prac- 

 tical gardening, and are, nevertheless, very 

 deficient in knowledge of those subjects, 

 which have, by dint of care, culture and 

 hybridization, been drawn gradually out of 

 their natural and simple state into objects of 

 astonishing loveliness. Some of these have 

 been so much improved by artificial means, 

 as to render the original species, pretty as 

 they are in their natural wildness, poor 

 and worthless by comparison. The ori- 

 ginal colours of the corolla are yellow and 

 purple, with a mealy-like dust on the up- 

 per surface, which contributes greatly to 

 their beauty. The culture of Auriculas is 

 carried to a great height in England, where 

 some collections contain upwards of 500 



distinct varieties, — consisting of selfs, or 

 one coloured flowers, of double flowers, and 

 of painted or spotted flowers ; of which 

 latter division I will chiefly treat, as being 

 those that are more- especially esteemed 

 by florists. The same culture, however, 

 is applicable to the whole genus. 



Growing them from Seed. — Seedlings 

 are raised for the purposes of procuring 

 cross-breeds and new varieties. The seeds 

 should be well ripened, and collected only 

 from the most approved sorts. Sow them 

 in pots or boxes, in a compost of leaf mould 

 and sand, thoroughly mixed and sifted. 

 Place two or three inches of drainage in 

 the bottom, a little moss over it ; fill with 

 the compost to within half an inch of the 

 rim, and cover the seeds about a quarter 

 of an inch deep ; place into a warm frame, 

 if you have it, or under a hand glass. 

 They will quickly germinate ; and as soon 

 as they are large enough to be removed 

 from the seed pot, prick them separately 

 into others, one inch apart. In about a 

 month more, they will be large enough 



