AUCUBA. 



AURICULA. 



If grown in pots for the sake of deco- 

 ration within doors or in the greenhouse 

 or conservatory, as small plants will be 

 required for this purpose, they should be 

 planted in small pots, well crocked for 

 drainage, in good yellow loam, which 

 must be lightened by the addition of a 

 little sand, coarse sand being preferable 

 to any of the very fine kinds. They 

 must be watered freely when growing, 

 and when the end of spring arrives they 

 should be taken out of doors and the 

 pots placed and hidden in the ground 

 until the summer is over and they are 

 required again for interior decoration. 

 Plants are male or female, and it is the 

 female plants only that produce berries, 

 so when both kinds are in stock, but it 

 is found that for some reason or other 

 the blossoming of the female plant is 

 backward, care should be taken to pre- 

 serve pollen of the male plant for the 

 fertilisation of the female plants' blos- 

 soms. This, we are told, may be effected 

 by transferring pollen of the male plant 

 to a piece of dry glass by means of a 

 camel-hair pencil and covering this with 

 another piece of glass. By this means 

 the pollen may be kept until it is wanted 

 for impregnating the female flowers. 



Auricula (nat. ord. Primula'cesj). 



Classification. This attractive flower, 

 which is one of those that are popularly 

 known as florists' flowers, has been brought 

 by cultivation to a high degree of perfection. 

 Auriculas are divided into two classes, 

 namely, Show Auriculas and Alpine 

 Auriculas, the latter being more hardy 

 and easier to grow and manage than the 

 former. The distinction between Show 

 Auriculas and Alpine Auriculas is easily 

 explained. Taking a pip, or individual 

 flower, from the truss, the name given to 

 a collection of pips on one large flower 

 stalk, we find round the central tube, or 



thrum, a circle of white, which is called 

 the eye or pasle ; surrounding this is another 

 band, called the ground colour, and beyond 

 this again another zone called the margin 

 or edge. Show Auriculas are classed 

 according to the colour of the edge, there 

 being White-edged, Green-edged, and Grey- 

 edged varieties. If there be no edge beyond 

 the ground colour, it is called a self. Thus 

 there are four classes of Show Auriculas. 

 In the Alpine Auriculas the eye or pasle is 

 yellow ; there is no edge, but the ground 

 beyond the eye is generally shaded, the 

 lighter colour near the eye deepening in 

 some to a darker colour or shade round the 

 edge. 



AURICULA. 



Soil, &*<:. Various composts have been 

 recommended for the auricula, but the best 

 seems to be a mixture of one part of good 

 fibrous loam, and one part of well-decayed 

 spent manure, with a liberal addition of 

 road sand or silver sand, and a sprinkling 

 of charcoal or wood ashes. The pots must 

 be well drained, and small pots should be 

 used, the auricula never doing so well in 

 large pots as in small ones. Thus 4-inch 

 and 5-inch pots are large enough for any 

 full-sized plants. Seedlings and small 

 plants should, of course, be placed in much 

 smaller pots. 



Propagation, &*c. When it is desired to 

 raise plants from seed, the seed should be 

 sown in pans at any time from January to 

 March, on the surface of light rich mould. 



