P R I 



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should be removed upon a stage (built with 

 rows ot shtlves, one above aaolhtT, and covered 

 on the top, to preserve iheni from wet : this 

 should be open to the morning sun, but shel- 

 tered from the heat ot the sun ni the middle of 

 the day) : in this position they will appear to 

 much greater advantage than when they stand 

 upon the ground ; for, their flower,' being low, 

 their beauty is hid ; whereas, when they are ad- 

 vanced upon shelves, they are fully seen. In 

 this situation they may remain until the beauty 

 of their flowers is past, w hen they must be set 

 abroad to receive the rains, and have open free 

 air, in order to obtain seeds, which will fail if 

 they are kept too long under shelter. When 

 the seed is ripe it should be gathered when it is 

 perfectly dry, and exposed to the sun in a win- 

 dow upon papers, to prevent its growing moul- 

 dy, letting it remain m the pods till the season 

 for sowing. 



It is observed by the editor of Miller's Dic- 

 tionary, that " those who are very nice in rais- 

 ing Auriculas, direct the compost to be made of 

 one half rotten cow-dung two years old ; one 

 sixth fresh sound earth of an open texture ; one 

 eighth earth of rotten leaves ; one twelfth coarse 

 sea or river sand ; one twenty-fourth soft de- 

 cayed willow wood ; one twenty-fourth peaty 

 or moory earth ; one twenty-fourth ashes of 

 burnt vegetables, to be spread upon the surface 

 of the other ingredients. This compost is to be 

 exposed to the sun and air, turned over once or 

 twice, and passed as often through a coarse 

 screen or sieve ; then be laid in a regular heap 

 from fifteen to eighteen inches thick, and in 

 this state remain a year, turning it over two or 

 three times, and keeping it free from weeds." 



It is added, that " the pots for Auriculas 

 should be hard baked : the inner diameter of 

 the top be six inches and a half, of the bottom 

 four niches, and they should be about seven 

 inches deep, for common-sized blooming 

 plants : but smaller plants and offsets should 

 have smaller .shallower pots, and very large 

 plants should have larger pots in proportion ; 

 the bottom should have a small degree of con- 

 cavity, and the hole should be half an inch in 

 diameter : the rims should project about half an 

 inch, m order to take up and remove them with 

 greater ease and safety. The pots should be bu- 

 ried in wet earth, or mmiersed in water three or 

 four days or a week, before they are wanted, to 

 take oft' their absorbent property." 



In the after-management of the plants, they 

 should be potted annually soon after bloom ; 

 curtailing their fibres, if grown very long, and 

 cutting off the lower part of the main root if 

 loo long or decayed. The offsets at tins season 



strike freely, and become well established be- 

 fore w inter. The plants should be carefully ex- 

 amined, and where any unsoundness appears, 

 be cut out entirely with a sharp penknife, ex- 

 posing the wounded part to the sun, and when 

 it is quite dry, applying a ceinent of bees-wax 

 and pitch in equal quantities, softened in the 

 sun or before a fire. If the lower leaves be yel- 

 low or dried up, they should be stripped off in a 

 direction downwards. Having put the hollow 

 shell of an oyster over the hole of the pot, three 

 parts of it should be filled with compost, highest 

 in the middle, placing the plant there, with its 

 fibres regularly distributed all round ; then filling 

 the pot up with the compost, adding a little 

 clean coarse sand close round the stem on the 

 surface, and striking the bottom of the pot 

 against the ground or table to settle the earth. 

 The true depth of planting is within half an inch 

 of the lowest leaves, as the most valuable fibres 

 proceed from that part ; and the offsets will be 

 thereby encouraged to strike root sooner. When 

 these have formed one or more fibres of an inch 

 or two in length, they may, by means of a piece 

 of hard wood, or by the fingers, be separated 

 with safety, and planted round the sides of a 

 small pot, filled with the same compost, till 

 they are sufficiently grown to occupy each a se- 

 parate pot : if a small hand glass be placed over 

 each pot it will cause the fibres to grow more ra- 

 pidly ; but if it be long continued, it will draw 

 up and weaken the plants. And in the begin- 

 ning of May, as soon as the operation of pot- 

 ting is finished, the plants should be placed in 

 an airy, shaded situation, but not under the 

 drip of trees. Here they may remain till Sep- 

 tember or October, when they should be re- 

 moved into shelter. 



The plants should, in the first favourable wea- 

 ther in February, be divested of their decayed 

 leaves ; and by the middle of that month earth- 

 ing them up; that is, taking away the super- 

 ficial mould of the pots about an inch deep, and 

 putting in fresh compost, with the addition of a 

 little loam, to give it more tenacity. This con- 

 tributes greatly to the strength of the plants, 

 and the vigour of their bloom ; at the same time 

 it affords a favourable opportunity to separate 

 such of}"-sels as appear to have sufficient fibre to 

 be taken off at this early season. The pots with 

 these ofl-sets should be placed in a frame, in a 

 sheltered situation till their roots are established. 

 Though frost, unless it be very rigorous, will 

 not destrov the plants, it will injure them, and 

 perhaps spoil the bloom, especially early in the 

 spring ; ihey should therefore be covered with 

 mats in a severe season. When any plant has 

 more than one or two principal stems, it is ad- 



