May 8, 1873. ] 



JOUBNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



3G7 



AUEICULA CULTUBE. 



^.W!"® ITH the permission of tlie Eev. F. D. 

 Horuer I forward you his letter, wliich, 

 without any view to its publication, he so 

 kindly wrote me. — Beauoh.vmp Stannus. 

 " I wUl answer your inquiries on the 

 Auricula in the order they arise, and in 

 what I write I simply give you what I 

 know, by long practice, to be successful. 



" The Auricula undeservedly has a bad 

 name for being of difficult culture, and 

 for requiring mysterious treatment, but it is in truth a 

 flower very simple in its habits. 



" I. 'What mixture of soil suits it best ?' Loam, leaf 

 mould, and very old dung in equal quantities, with rough 

 sand enough to keep it oj^en. The best loam is a fibrous 

 kind, yellow or darker, but not peaty : if you could procure 

 the top 4 or 6 inches of a pasture where Cowslips grow, 

 you could not do better for Auriculas. There is no 

 objection to the loam being rather heavy, but it must 

 be mellow and full of fibre. Dung to be so old as to 

 be a black earth. I have used both cow and horse ; they 

 do well in either. Frequent turning over of old hotbed 

 dung, where wet weather cannot reach it, soon mellows 

 it down to earth. Dvmg so fresh as to show any crude 

 material is not safe. Do not use silver sand, but some 

 rough clean-washed sand from a brook side, or, better 

 stni, charcoal the size of sjilit peas. 



" II. ' Is pot-cultm-o recommended ? ' There is no 

 other method in use for the high-bred varieties. The 

 Auricula is a plant jieculiarly adapted for this. Though 

 a strong rooter, it does not care much for pot-room. 

 Then, again, in the dormant periods of its life it requires 

 careful protection from wet and damp, and this is best 

 afforded by pot-cultm-e. In June and July — the summer 

 rest — they require a diminished supply of water, and 

 hardly any at all in November, December, and January. 

 " III. ' What sized pots '? ' A .5-inch pot, inside mea- 

 sure, wUl grow almost all full plants : very few will 

 require more, though when in full fohage the plant will 

 well cover tliis. I have a few very large plants in 6-inch 

 pots ; younger plants in 4-inoh. I do not care for less than 

 3-inch pots. Plants too small for 3-inch pots I place at 

 the edge of that size, and two or three to the pot. 



" IV. ' "Water, much or little ? ' Never much. Over- 

 watering is the most fertile source of mischief. In No- 

 vember, December, and January keep them, not indeed 

 dust dry, but certainly dry ; a little water round the rim of 

 the ]pot once in three or four weeks is generally enough. 

 If the fohage is flaccid, it is a sign of thirst. Do not 

 let this occur if possible. In February the heart begins 

 to look fresh and unfurls, then give them a moist, but 

 not wet, soil, and top-dress them with rich old cow dung 

 and a Httle leaf mould, removing an inch of old soil till 

 you come to the fibres ; be careful to hm't none of these. 

 In March, April, and Hay keep them in full growing 

 moisture, but not sodden wet, and not watered with 

 manm-e water. A good watering to go through the ball 

 No. 632 —Vol. XXIV., New Series 



will last some time. Drainage to be as perfect as pos- 

 sible. Crocks plenty, covered with long moss, or, better, 

 rough, flaky, decayed leaves. 



" V. ' Is a north wall of use '? ' It is nothing less than 

 necessary. They may even be grown the year round in 

 a north aspect, George Lightbody's plants were ; mine ai'e 

 under a north wall in fi-ames from the middle of May 

 to the middle of October. From the middle of October 

 to the middle of May they are in their blooming house, 

 which has a south aspect. Shade is requh-ed from strong 

 sun from the middle of March to the middle of May. 

 They must never be exposed to sun that causes them 

 to flag. 



"VI. 'Removing offsets?' These are fit to remove 

 as soon as they have lost a few leaves, and have there- 

 fore a neck, and the best time to remove them is just 

 before the spring gi-owth. "Wait till you see the old plant 

 stir, at the end of Febniary or just before, and then 

 remove any offsets with neck, rooted or not. August, 

 just before the autumn growth, is another good time; 

 this is the time for the offsets iiot fit in the spring, as 

 spring is the time for those not fit in the autvimn. Cut 

 them off the parent at theu' connection, which is often 

 slight, rub the wound of both with charcoal dust, as 

 styptic and antiseptic, and pot the offsets, keeping them 

 in a close fi-ame and moist till they get roothold; give 

 au' in quiet warm weather, and freely when rooted. 



" Do not plunge Auriculas. The plant is by no means 

 liable to disease imder a common-sense treatment. Bear 

 in mind it is an Alpine plant, fond of pure free air, and 

 delighting in a sweet open compost moderately rich, fi'ee 

 fi'oni nostrums, and made firm in the pots. Its wants 

 are few — sweet soil, sweet ahr and plenty of it, sweet 

 water, but never much of it, and never much sun. 

 Damp is its worst foe. The Auricula can bear any cold 

 of our winters, but none of our hea\'y wet. Frame treat- 

 ment is but to secure artificially what Alpine winters 

 give naturally — a dry rest imder the snow. There is, 

 of course, something to be said for the dehcacy produced 

 in cultivating the Auricula up to types that do not occiu- 

 in vrild nature, and would not long survive in a struggle 

 for supremacy on a mountain side. Our modern speci- 

 mens wUl not bear what wild ones will, but it is safest 

 to follow nature as far as possible. — F. D. Horner, 

 Kirkhi/ Malzeard, Bijjon." 



FEUIT TEEE BLOOMING— SUPEEFCETATION 



OP PEAR BLOSSOMS? 

 I WISH to ask whether there is anything unusual in the 

 blooming of the fruit trees, especially Plums, this season ? 

 In this neighbourhood (Chtheroe) — I am now more espe- 

 cially rcfen-ing to my own trees — the usually abundant 

 bloomers Victoria and Prince of "\\'ales have scarcely a 

 bloom upon them, whilst on seven Damsonfi, four of 

 thrim of large size, I have not been able to discover a 

 single blossom. On the contraiy, the Purple Gage, which 

 seldom blooms profusely with me, and Coe's Golden Drop 

 have been covered with bloom, and almost every bloom 



No. 1281.- Vol. XLIX., Old Series. 



