58 



it, and extract all its noxious qualities ; and if your 

 compost is even completely rotten, and two years old, 

 still, before you use it, lay it thin as before mentioned 

 for a week or ten days, raking it once a day or oftener, 

 as it is not worth while to run a risk of losing a single 

 plant that is scarce and valuable, by not having the 

 compost perfectly sweet and wholesome ; for he says 

 he had observed that mould, if it is laid in a heap any 

 time, will create an acidity which is prejudicial to 

 plants in general, and which can be only removed by 

 being spread thin, and turned frequently, before pot- 

 ting. {Emmerton^ 64.) 



GENERAL CULTURE FOR BLOOMING. 



The treatment of the superior varieties of the Au- 

 ricula, solely for the sake of their bloom, may be ad- 

 vantageously considered in three separate subsections, 

 the attention they require being very different at their 

 three annual periods of life. 



L The Winter, or period of rest. — The objects to 

 be attained at this time of their cultivation, is freedom 

 from excessive wet, protection from intense frosts, and 

 the admission of air freely. This period extends from 

 the close of October, or beginning of November, ac- 

 cordingly as the severity of the season may begin, 

 early or late, to the end of Jannary. The late Dr. 



