ON THE AURICULA. ITS CULTURE, PROPERTIES, ETC. 105 



portions of fine fresh light soil and river sand. These three ingre- 

 dients, thoroughly amalgamated together, are quite sufficient to 

 secure the health and prosperity of Auricula plants, and to grow 

 them to the satisfaction of the competing florist ; so that all that he 

 has to do is to preserve a sufficient stock of this manure in store, that 

 it may always have the ahove-mentioned appearance when wanted. 



Some florists may perhaps object to this mixture as being too rich ; 

 but, as I speak entirely from the experience I have had in cultivating 

 my own plants, and as I am thoroughly determined to use no other 

 in future, I feel that it may be recommended to the beginner as per- 

 fectly safe; and if any of the readers of the Cabinet should be 

 sceptical on the subject, I would recommend them to try it with a 

 few of their most worthless varieties ; and their rapid prosperity 

 would, I think, soon be considered a satisfactory proof that the 

 opinion that the compost for their successful cultivation should con- 

 sist of five or six ingredients is nothing but a visionary chimera. It 

 seems to me just as reasonable to imagine that the human frame 

 cannot continue hale and healthy without fifty or sixty different sorts 

 of food, as to assert that the Auricula cannot grow vigorously except 

 in a compost of five or six ingredients. Yet the good old Lewis 

 Cornaro attained the age of a hundred, on very simple fare ; and the 

 Auricula does not sicken and die when growing in the simple soil of 

 its native mountains. 



But until a more extensive knowledge of chemistry is disseminated 

 among us, and has become a regular part of youthful education, it is 

 probable that the same difference of opinion, as regards the qualities 

 of the different manures, will continue among us, both in floriculture 

 and agriculture. Till we are thoroughly acquainted with the chemical 

 properties of the different manures, and their action on the various 

 soils when amalgamated with them, it is impossible to arrive at any 

 satisfactory conclusion ns to what will be the most stimulating, yet 

 safe, food for plants. Till then, every amateur will probably suffer 

 losses, more or less, till he finds out, from home experience, a compost 

 which he can use with safety and success. 



Culture. — With respect to the culture of the Auricula, there seems 

 to be less difference of opinion than there is respecting the compost 

 in which it ought to be grown. All that seems necessary is to imitate, 

 as closely as possible, its situation upon its native mountains. The 



