AUB 



[ 91 ] 



AUR 



used, lies along its lower edge, and is 

 there secured. The front lights let down 

 on hinges ; the ends are also glass; and 

 in the back, which is wood, there is a 

 door, for the convenience of getting to 

 the pots behind, and also for thorough 

 ventilation. There are five rows of shelves, 

 graduated to the slope of the glass ; they 

 have a piece, an inch wide, sawn out of 

 the middle ; there is a space also left be- 

 tween them; so that the bottom of the 

 frame is quite open, for the abundant 

 admission of air to circulate thoroughly 

 around the sides and bottom of the pots. 

 By letting down the front light only, the 

 plants may be left, for days together, ex- 

 posed to all the advantages of light and 

 air, without care or notice ; and when it 

 is desirable to give them the benefit of a 

 shower the top lights are removed." 



But it is not at all necessary to incur 

 the expense of a frame thus constructed, 

 as a common cucumber-frame, set on 

 bricks, or cold pit, answers equally well. 

 In either of these set them upon a stra- 

 tum of coal-ashes, two or three inches 

 thick; or, when expense is no object, 

 upon a stage of boards slightly raised. 

 The plants ought to be within six inches 

 of the glass. Careful attention is required 

 to two points giving air and watering : 

 very little, if any, is required of the latter. 

 If the weather is dry, and a good deal of 

 sunshine occurs, a little water will be re- 

 quired. This should be applied in the 

 morning, to allow the surface of the soil 

 in the pots to become dry before night. 

 A fine, sunny morning, therefore, should 

 be chosen to water these plants. Of air, 

 abundance should be given. On all fine 

 days the lights should be drawn entirely 

 off; but, should there be the least ap- 

 pearance of rain, let the frames be closed 

 instantly, giving air then either at the 

 back, by propping up the light, or by 

 propping up the lights in the centre of 

 each side, so as to allow a full current of 

 air to the plants. Constant search must 

 be made for slugs, woodlice, and other 

 destructive insects, and the surface of the 

 soil kept free from moss by frequent 

 gentle stirring. 



Spring culture. At the close of Febru- 

 ary, top-dress the soil in the pots with 

 a compost of very rotten cowdung, two 

 years old, at least, and some rotten leaf- 

 mould and light loam. If these are not 

 dry, use means to make tbem so. Mix 

 them with the hand well together, and 



add a little sand ; then have your plants 

 in some convenient place, remove a por- 

 tion of the old soil, clear away all decayed 

 leaves, and apply the top-dressing of 

 fresh compost, very nearly filling the 

 pots ; press it rather closely to the stem 

 of each plant, give a gentle watering with 

 a fine-rose watering-pot, to settle the new- 

 earth; replace the plants in the frame, 

 and attend them carefully, as directed 

 previously. This top-dressing greatly 

 strengthens the plants, and, consequently, 

 the blooms. Continue to give air freely, 

 as above directed. When the trusses of 

 flowers show themselves, which will be 

 about the end of March, give air freely 

 only during very fine days, and keep 

 them rather warmer both by night and 

 by day, giving at night a thick covering 

 of mats, or other warm material. Water 

 abundantly now, but only on the soil: do 

 not wet the leaves. When in flower, 

 shade them from the sun, or remove 

 them to a cool, shady situation, but quite 

 protected from rain by some kind of 

 glazed shelter. This will prolong the 

 time of the blooming. When the bloom is 

 over, place them on coal-ashes, to keep 

 worms out of the pots, and in a situation 

 where the sun does not shine upon them 

 after ten o'clock in the morning. 



Diseases. The Auricula is liable to 

 have its roots ulcerated, or cankered, if 

 the pots are not well drained. This is 

 best done by having the pots deep, and 

 one-fourth filled with rubbly charcoal, and 

 the soil not too much divested of pebbles. 

 At the blooming-time the aphis, or green- 

 fly, sometimes attacks the plants. These 

 can only be removed individually by 

 means of a camel-hair pencil. 



Canker. The first symptom of the dis- 

 order having attacked an Auricula is its 

 loss of green-colour, and its assuming a 

 yellowish, sickly appearance. Soon after, 

 it decays on one side, and becomes 

 crooked, or else the main root of the 

 plant rapidly decays quite through, and 

 the head drops off. In fact, the juices of 

 the plant are vitiated at the time the 

 leaves begin to appear sickly ; so that no 

 time must be lost in cutting away en- 

 tirely the cankered part, fresh potting it 

 into proper soil, and removing it to a cool, 

 shaded situation. This is the only likely 

 method to recover the infected plant. 

 Some florists have thought the disease 

 epidemic and contagious, because, when 

 it does appear, it usually attacks many 



