44 



You must then let the plants be exposed to gentle, 

 but by no means to very heavy rains ; take care 

 to keep them clear of weeds, and the sooner you do 

 this the better, before the iVuricula roots spread so 

 as to be liable to be disturbed by weeding. A very 

 little attention will serve to distinguish the young 

 weeds from the seedling plants. When the seedling 

 plants are young, consequently tender, they should 

 be kept entirely from the sun ; for when they first 

 appear, an hour's strong sun would destroy the 

 crop ; nor should they have the sun during the sum- 

 mer months, after ten or eleven o'clock, even if they 

 are growing strong. The Auricula delights in cool 

 shade, under a north wall or pales, &c., but by no 

 means under the droppings of trees, and in the winter 

 season only requires the comfortable and invigorating 

 heat of the sun. As ^oon as the plants appear with 

 six leaves, they should be carefully pricked out, 

 into pots about five inches over, or what are called 

 about London, forty-eights, filled with the same sort 

 of compost they were sown in, about four or five in 

 a pot. Early in the spring following they should be 

 again removed ; the best time is the 1 st to the 1 2th 

 of March ; put them singly into small pots, or what 

 are called upright sixties (and there to remain for 

 bloom), which will be of a sufficient size to carry 

 them through the summer, particularly the strong 

 platns ; those that are very weak, keep two or three 



