Book II. AURICULA. 



851 



top, which will give room for the shutters to move backwards and forwards without difficulty or danger 

 of slipping out. Both sides are thus to be provided with stakes and shutters, the upper edge of the latter 

 should meet over the centre of the platform (e), when the plants require to be covered with them in the 

 form of the ridge or roof of a house, well fitted and sloping equally on both sides, so as to throw off rain 

 without even admitting it to drip through upon the plants in any part It is necessary that a rail, or row 

 of stakes, of a proper height and strength, should proceed from the ground between the two' middle 

 rows of pots, to support the shutters when closed or closing, especially as it is usually more convenient to 

 begin to cover or uncover on one side first, and finish on the other ; without a support of this kind, in 

 such case, the shutters must fall down upon the plants : a similar exterior rail, or row of stakes, is 'ne- 

 cessary on each side, to support the shutters when open, with the same degree of slope, in a contrary di- 

 rection than when closed ; by which means the plants will have a free communication with the air 

 whether covered or open ; nor are they entirely deprived of light, when the shutters are closed, because 

 the lower edge of the shutters is as high or higher than the top of the plants at all times. The peculiar 

 advantage arising from this plan is, that when the plants require to be shut up from excess of rain, they 

 have at the same time the advantage of a continual supply and free circulation of fresh air, which passes 

 amongst their leaves in all directions ; whereas those who are obliged to shut up their plants in a close frame, 

 to exclude excess of rain from them, oftentimes shut them up in a wet state, as soon as it is judged they 

 have had a sufficiency : this is a very dangerous, though not unusual practice, and often produces a mildew 

 which is attended with the most destructive consequences. The importance of a properly constructed re- 

 pository, and suitable treatment of the plants, for the summer season, will sufficiently apologise for any 

 prolixity in the description : it cannot, indeed, be too strongly impressed on the mind of the cultivator of 

 this delicate flower that his success more particularly depends on the health and vigor of his plants towards 

 the end of summer, than at any other period of the year. The plants, after being placed in the summer 

 repository, are to be kept moderately moist j if the rains that happen are not sufficient, they must be occa- 

 sionally watered with soft water, by a small pot with a round curved spout, taking care not to let any water 

 fall into the heart or amongst the interior leaves of the plant, as it could not speedily dry up in that part, 

 and, of course, would endanger a decay; any water lodging in the heart of the plants in spring, when the 

 blossoms begin to make their appearance, cannot fail to injure them considerably. The plants are to re- 

 main in their summer situation till September or October, as the weather may be more or less favorable, 

 or until the heat of the sun has considerably decreased." 



6372. Emmerton places his pots, after the plants have done flowering, in a shady situation, and full north 

 aspect He sets them on bricks placed on a bed of ashes, in the same manner as Maddock ; but he pro- 

 vides no covering to exclude the rain. {Treatise on the Auricula, &c. 143.) 



6373. Hogg removes his auriculas which have blown in spring from the show-stage to a north-east aspect, 

 to avoid the scorching rays of the summer sun. He then sets them upon thin boards or thin slates, lying 

 on a bed of coal-ashes. {Treatise, &c. 115.) 



6374. Justice sets his plants in a full northern exposure, and without covering, to the 20th of October. 

 Whichever of these plans be adopted, the plants must be kept clear of weeds, the soil gently stirred 

 when it gets hard or mossy, water supplied in dry weather, and the leaves, as they become yellow, drawn 

 off close to the stem. 



6375. Winter repository. In the end of September or beginning of October, Maddock removes his au- 

 riculas to the winter repository, " which is to be constructed in a manner exactly similar to that for the 

 summer season, with only one exception, viz. that the south side of it should consist of frames of glass 

 {fig. 604. d), instead of the wooden shutters : these are to act in the same manner, but will admit of light 

 when the plants are of necessity shut up from adverse weather, which so frequently occurs during winter ; 

 the admission of light at such times is indispensably necessary to the wellbeing of the plants, especially 

 when the long continuance of rain, or severe frost, renders it requisite to keep them covered, sometimes 

 perhaps for a day or two, with little or no intermission. In the first favorable weather that occurs in 

 February, it is necessary to divest the plants of their decayed exterior leaves ; and by the middle of that 

 month, the operation of earthing up, as it is termed, should commence ; that is to say, the superficial 

 earth of the pots should be carefully taken away, about an inch deep, and fresh compost with the addi- 

 tion of a little loam, to give it more tenacity, should be substituted in its stead: this will contribute 

 greatly to the strength of the plants, and the vigor of their bloom : at the same time it will afford a fa- 

 vorable opportunity to separate such offsets as shall appear possessed of sufficient fibre, to be taken off at 

 this early season with safety: these offsets, when properly planted in small pots, should be placed in a 

 frame, in some warm sheltered situation, till the roots are established.. The auricula is by no means a 

 tender plant, yet it will be proper to cover the repository with mats, in case of severe frost ; for although 

 it probably would not destroy the plants, unless it happened in an extreme degree ; it would, however, in- 

 jure them, and perhaps spoil their bloom, particularly early in the spring, when the stem begins to rise ; 

 it would certainly, at that period, destroy or render the pips or corollas abortive. If any plant is possessed 

 of more than one or two principal stems, it is advisable to pinch off the pips of the smallest and weakest, 

 in order to render the blossoms of the remaining one larger and more vigorous than they would be if this 

 was omitted to be done in due time. It is a curious fact, that those sorts which are naturally possessed of 

 a fine green on the edge, or margin, of the flower are often known to lose that property, when the stem 

 proceeds from the very heart or centre of the plant ; whereas those stems that proceed from the side pro- 

 duce larger pips, possessing their true natural colors in much greater perfection : these last are called tha 

 winter stems, because they are usually forwarder, and produce their flowers rather earlier in the season 

 than those which proceed from the centre of the plant. When the pips become turgid, and begin to ex- 

 pand, they must be preserved from rain : nor should they remain any longer in a situation exposed to cold 

 winds ; on the contrary, such plants ought to be selected from the rest, and removed to a calm shady cor- 

 ner, where they should have small hand-glasses suspended over them in such a manner as to preserve the 

 bloom from rain, &c. and yet admit a free circulation of air, both to the plant and to the blossom, it being 

 equally necessarv for the one as for the other." 



6376. Emmerton, about the middle of October, makes choice of a full southern aspect, and in general 

 puts his pots of plants into small frames of about three and a half to four feet long, and each light about 

 three feet wide. So soon as they are placed in their winter situation, during the autumn and winter months, 

 even down to the 5th of April, or thereabouts, he exposes them, during the day, to as much air as possi- 

 ble, by leaving the lights entirely off. It is necessary they should be kept very dry, in November and 

 December, as in case of a severe frost the weather has less power on the roots of the plants. During 

 January, and most likely the greater part of' February, much depends upon the depth of snow and the in- 

 tense frost. Some winters are more favorable than others : if the season has now the appearance of open 

 weather, you may treat your plants nearly in the same manner as the two last months ; but if you have 

 snow, and the weather is now a severe frost, you must be rather more cautious as to the exposure ; a 

 trifling frost is of no serious consequence to these hardy plants, but the mould should not be severely fro- 

 zen in the pots, as by the end of January the bloom is formed, although very low in the heart of the plant ; 

 he therefore covers with mats till the weather becomes mild and open, giving air, however, a few hours 

 in fine days ; but no water till natural rains fall. {Treatise on Auricula, &c. p. 85.) In February he top- 

 dresses with rich compost, and transplants offsets intended to bloom, from small pots into larger ones. He 

 exposes the plants to all the gentle rains of this month, at the same time carefully defending them from 

 frost and hail-storms, or long continued rains. From the 10th or 12th of March he covers up with " warm 

 clothing," to defend the coming bloom against frosts. -ii- i 



6377 Hogg puts his auriculas into frames in October ; the frames are placed on a bed of ashes, and are 

 raised on bricks to admit a free current of air under them ; but when the frost sets in, about Christmas, 



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