80 



from filling up the interstices between the crocks, and 

 are acceptable to the roots of the plants.* Next fill 

 up the pot, within about two inches or so, with the 

 compost, leaving it shghtly coned ; put a little sand, 

 and on this place the end of the tap-root, and ha\dng 

 disposed the roots regularly over it, let the pot be 

 filled nearly to the brim, so that the soil just covers 

 the base of the lowest leaf. Now strike the pot 

 smartly two or three times on the ground, and then 

 remove it to its summer quarters, having a north or 

 north-east aspect, when water must be given just suf- 

 ficient to moisten the soil, and repeated at the end of 

 a week, not before. In filling the pot with compost, 

 put in about three fingers full of decayed leaves, not 

 leaf-mould — a pinch here and there. The following 

 year, in repotting, an unusual mass of roots will be 

 found piercing these decayed leaves ; they evidently 

 afford to the plants very acceptable nourishment and 

 drainage. Previously to the operation of potting, the 

 plant must be prepared, by carefully crumbling off 

 the old soil with the fingers, and then washing the 

 roots in water, in order that any decay or disease 

 may be detected, in which case it should be effectually 

 cut out with a sharp knife, and the main root should 



* In Lancashire they very generally use rushes instead of 

 leaves. They are cut into small pieces, and the roots of the 

 Auricula certainly seem to delight in them, often penetrating 

 the pith of the rushes. 



