ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE AURICULA. 145 



and retards their growth, and makes them have a sickly, unhealthy 

 look ; if the trees are not kept clean of that insect, little good can he 

 expected where they are. I keep my trees perfectly clear of that 

 insect with three dressings in one year, by taking 'soft soap half a 

 pound, flour of sulphur a quarter of a pound, nux vomica half an 

 ounce, add to these six quarts of hot water, keep stirring till the soap 

 is dissolved ; when cold, take a sponge, and wash every leaf on the 

 upper and under sides ; three days after I find the insects all dead. I 

 take the engine and throw pure water all over them, which washes 

 all clean off ; the trees look healthy and keep clean for about three 

 months. The temperature of an Orange-house "should not exceed 

 fifty or fifty-five degrees in winter. In summer I give the trees fre- 

 quent artificial dews, by throwing water over them with the engine, 

 which, I think, causes the fruit to be thinner in the skin than it 

 " would be in a dry heat ; the watering greatly adds also to the health 

 and beauty of the trees. 

 May 15, 1840. 



ARTICLE V. 



ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE AURICULA. 



BY A NORTH BRITON. 



The Primula Auricula, according to the Linnaean system, belongs to 

 the fifth class Pentandria, and the first order Monogynia, and is a 

 native of Switzerland, which is a mountainous country. The Auricula 

 is found growing in its natural state near the bottom of those large 

 mountains called the Alps, where the soil is fruitful ; but, on account 

 of the extreme height of these mountains, the sun never shines on the 

 Auricula, and many other plants, for several months ; and we learn 

 from geography the ungenialness of the seasons in that country. The 

 natives are often reaping on one side of the mountain while they are 

 sowing on the other. Every cultivator of plants ought to be acquainted 

 with the climate of which the plant that he has in charge is a native, 

 and the nearer he approaches its nature the greater will be the suc- 

 cess. My method of cultivating the plant in question is as follows : 

 —Take them when they arc offsets from the old plant, in August, 



