584 THE PLEASURE, OR [Dec. 



Care of Auriculas and Carnations. 



Your choice auriculas and carnations must now be defended from 

 heavy rains, frost, and snow; but large portions of air must be 

 admitted to them at every favourable opportunity, otherwise the 

 auriculas will start to flower at an untimely season, and the carna- 

 tions will draw, become weakly, and be good for nothing. Neither 

 of them are very tender, and consequently should not be kept too 

 closely shut up. 



Polyanthuses and Double Primroses. 



The fine polyanthuses and double primroses require exactly the 

 same treatment as the auriculas and carnations, which need not be 

 repeated; the common polyanthuses and primroses will succeed 

 very well in the open borders, but will be the better of a slight 

 covering of straw during the continuance of severe frost. 



Solving Anemone and Ranunculus Seeds. 



The double varieties of the Anemone hortensis, or broad -leaved 

 garden anemone, and Anemone coronaria, or narrow-leaved, as 

 well as of the Ranunculus persica, or Persian ranunculus, being 

 generally extremely beautiful, are peculiarly deserving of attention; 

 as all those delightful flowers, displaying such a diversity of shades 

 and colours, are only seminal varieties, and as the number of them 

 may be annually increased, and superior varieties obtained, no good 

 florist will neglect to sow seeds of each sort every year. 



The seeds of either kind should be procured from semi-double 

 flowers, for the full double seldom bear any, and those produced 

 bv the single rarely give double flowers. Care should be taken to 

 save the seeds from flowers possessed of good properties, that is, 

 such as have tall strong stems, a considerable number of well- 

 formed petals of rich, good and brilliant colours. 



The seed of the ranunculus should remain on the plant till it has 

 lost its verdure and becomes brown and dry, it may then be cut oft" 

 and spread upon paper in a dry room exposed to the air; when 

 perfectly dry it should be put into a paper bag and kept free from 

 all dampness till the time of sowing, otherwise it would be in 

 danger of contracting a mouldiness that would infallibly destroy it. 

 The anemone seed must be gathered from time to time as it opens; 

 for being very downy and light, it will otherwise be blown away 

 by the first breezes of wind, or fall to the ground and be lost. 



It would be found very difficult to sow anemone seed in a regular 

 manner: it is united with, and enveloped in a downy substance, 

 that, upon being put together in quantity, adheres in such a manner 

 as to render it necessary to rub it between the hands for a consi- 

 derable time in dry sand previous to sowing; otherwise the young 

 plants would rise in clusters, and not have space enough to form 

 their roots. 



