360 THE PLEASURE, OR [APRIL 



sisting of beeswax and pitch, in equal quantities, melted together 

 and laid on when soft, but not hot, to make it adhere more firmly. 

 Place a hollow oyster shell, or the like, over the hole in the bottom 

 of each pot, with the convex side upwards, and then more than half 

 fill it with the compost; let it be higher in the middle than at the 

 sides : the plant is next to be placed thereon, with its fibres regularly 

 distributed all around, and the pot filled up, adding a little coarse 

 sand close around the stem of the plant, on the surface ; the bottom 

 of the pot should then be gently struck two or three times against 

 the ground, in order to close the earth about the roots, this will 

 cause it to sink about half an* inch below the top of the pot, which 

 will prevent the loss of water when administered. 



N. B. The true depth to plant an auricula, is within about half an 

 inch of the bottom of its lowest or outside leaves. 



Any offsets that have formed one or more fibres, of an inch or two 

 in length, may be slipped off the old plant, and replanted around the 

 sides of large pots, or singly in small ones, filled with the same com- 

 post ; and if hand-glasses are placed over them, such will cause their 

 fibres to grow more rapidly ; but they ought not to be long continued 

 on, lest the plants should be drawn and weakened thereby. 



After potting, give each plant a little water, and place the pots in 

 a shaded situation, where they may have the morning sun till ten 

 o'clock, and the afternoon from four or five, but by no means under 

 the drip of trees ; there they are to remain till October, taking care 

 to keep them regularly watered, and free from weeds. The pots may 

 or may not be plunged in the earth, but in the latter case they will 

 require more attendance. Those who wish to grow auriculas and 

 polyanthuses without all the trouble of potting, may do so by plant- 

 ing eight inches apart, in the fall, in a common garden-frame, and 

 after blooming, plant them out in an open but shaded situation. 



CARE OP SEEDLING AURICULAS. 



Seedling auriculas which were sown last autumn or this spring, 

 now demand attention ; these plants when newly come up, or while 

 quite young, must be carefully protected from the full sun in the 

 heat of the day, and frequently refreshed with water. 



The boxes or tubs in which they are growing should be removed 

 to a shady border, toward the latter end of this month or beginning 

 of next ; the place should be open to the morning sun till about nine 

 o'clock, but shaded the rest of the day, and the plants watered fre- 

 quently in dry weather. As soon as any of them appear with six 

 leaves, such should be carefully taken out from the rest and planted 

 in pots or boxes filled with compost, about two inches asunder ; and 

 if grown by the beginning of August so large as to touch each other, 

 they may then be transplanted into separate small pots, to remain 

 all winter. 



POLYANTHUSES. 



Polyanthuses blow at the same time, and the fine kinds require 

 nearly the same treatment as auriculas, both with respect to soil and 



