AUR 



[101] 



AUR 



blooming. Then, at the end of June 

 when the hlooming is quite over repot 

 them, in order to have a strong growth 

 to flower finely next season. Have your 

 compost of light loam, rotten cowdung, 

 and decayed vegetable mould, in equal 

 parts, with a portion of sand, about one- 

 eighth, well mixed, and in a state neither 

 wet nor dry, ready in such quantities as 

 your stock of plants may require. Turn 

 out of their pots your blooming plants ; 

 remove nearly all suckers that have 

 roots to them ; lay them on one side, then 

 shake off nearly all the old soil ; trim 

 the roots sparingly, and then your plant 

 is ready for the new pot. Place a large 

 crock, or broken piece of pot, or an oyster 

 shell, over the hole of each pot ; put 

 upon this a number of smaller crocks to 

 the depth of three quarters of an inch ; 

 then place upon them about half an inch 

 of the fibrous part of the loam, and upon 

 that a portion of your compost ; then 

 with one hand hold the plant rather 

 above the level of the rim of the pot, and 

 with the other fill in the compost amongst 

 the roots. Proceed thus until the pot is 

 filled, and then gently strike the pot upon 

 the bench to settle the soil, leaving hold 

 of the plant that it may settle with the 

 soil. This will bring the soil level with 

 the rim of the pot ; put a little more 

 soil around the plant, and press it gently 

 with your fingers, so as to leave the soil 

 a quarter of an inch below the edge of the 

 pot at the sides, and level with it in the 

 centre. Place them upon a bed of coal- 

 ashes, in a situation where the sun does 

 not shine upon them after ten o'clock 

 in the morning. The proper sized pots for 

 blooming plants is the size known as 32s; 

 they are about 5 1 inches in diameter, and 

 of proportionate depth. The suckers may 

 either be put singly into small pots, or 

 three or four in pots of the same size as 

 those for the blooming plants, and be 

 treated in a similar manner. The single 

 pot plan is the best if you have room to 

 winter them. Water them all in fine 

 weather, and look out for slugs and 

 worms which would injure them. Keep 

 them free from weeds, stir the surface 

 frequently, and keep them throughout 

 July, August, and September, beneath a 

 north wall, with a covering of oiled can- 

 vas, to draw down in very heavy showers. 



So soon as the cold nights and heavy 

 rains of autumn come on, the plants must 

 be removed to their winter quarters. 



Wintering. Dr. Horner, one of the 

 most successful of Auricula cultivators, 

 has employed for many years a frame 

 made purposely for protecting this flower 

 in winter, which he thus has depicted 

 and described : 



"It stands on legs between two and 

 three feet high ; the top lights slide, and, 

 as shown n the diagram, may also > > 

 propped up by means of an iron bar, per- 

 forated with holes two or three inches 

 apart ; and which catch on a nail pro- 

 jecting from the wood on which the light 

 rests when down. It is permanently 

 fixed to the sash by means of a small 

 staple, forming a movable joint, and when 

 not 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 pota 

 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 outof the middle ; 

 there is a space also left between 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, exposed 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, answer equally well. In either 

 of these set them upon a stratum of coal 

 ashes, two or three inches thick or, when 



