AUR 



[102] 



AYE 



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 giv- 

 ing 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 required : 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 morn- 

 ing, 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 appearance 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. Con- 

 stant 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 Feb- 

 ruary 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 them 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 pre- 

 viously. 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 pro- 



tected 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 greenfly 

 sometimes attacks the plants ; these can 

 only be removed individually by means 

 of a camel-hair pencil. 



Canker. The first symptom of the 

 disorder 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 plants in the same collection. This, 

 however, is no such proof, but merely 

 evinces that the whole have been ren- 

 dered liable to the disease by being all 

 equally mismanaged, as by having an. 

 unsuitable soil, &c. 



AVE'NA. A genus of the nat. ord. 

 Grasses, of which it is only necessary to 

 observe here that one of its species, A.vena 

 sativa, is the Oat. 



A'VENS. Ge'um. 



AVENUE, is a road bordered by trees 

 on each side, and being, as observed by 

 Whateley, confined to one termination, 

 and excluding every view on the sides, 

 has, when straight, a tedious sameness 

 throughout ; to be great it must be dull, 

 and the object to which it is appro- 

 priated is, after all, seldom shown to 

 advantage. Buildings in general do not 

 appear so large, and are not so beautiful 



