THE FLORISTS' FLOWER GARDEN. 



809 



be set a foot apart each way, a circumstance 

 that will determine the breadth of the bed. 



OeneraZ culture. — During winter, shelter ought 

 to be afforded them, the surface of the soil 

 stirred up, and no weeds allowed to appear. 

 Some mvjch their beds over during winter 

 with littering manure, but this has a very un- 

 tidy appearance. Sifted coal-ashes, to be re- 

 moved in spring, are at once the neatest and 

 most effectual protector. When the flower-stalks 

 begin to shoot up, neat iron supports, made of 

 No. 4 wire and painted, should be placed to 

 each plant, and the flower -stems secured to 

 them with soft matting or worsted thread. The 

 same precautions should be used to prevent the 

 flowers from bursting as have been recom- 

 mended for carnations. While in bloom they 

 require protection from strong sunshine, and 

 also from dashing rains. The beds must also 

 be kept in a proper state as regards humidity at 

 the roots, but no water should be spilt on either 

 the foliage or flowers. The florists' flower gar- 

 den should always be proof against the attacks 

 of hares and rabbits. To those, however, whose 

 beds are not so protected, it will be well to use 

 some means or other, for an hour's visit of a 

 hare or rabbit will endanger the whole stock. 

 Traps of sliced potato, &c., must be set for wire- 

 worm, and snails and slugs subdued by some of 

 the means we have repeatedly pointed out in 

 various parts of this work. 



The auricula. — The type of this very beauti- 

 ful tribe is the Primula auricula, a native of the 

 mountainous districts of Switzerland, Austria, 

 Syria, and the Caucasus — not an inhabitant of 

 the rocks, but of the grassy patches at then- 

 base, or amongst them. It was cultivated in 

 Britain prior to 1597. It appears a taste for 

 the cidtivation of this plant as a florists' flower 

 began vrith the English, who long supplied the 

 florists of Holland with plants, and they in 

 after years repaid the compliment by supplying 

 us. For a long period the auricula was a great 

 favourite amongst florists ; it afterwards fell 

 into disrepute, but has again regained a very 

 favourable position. The small space required 

 for its cultivation is convenient for many of 

 limited means, and its capability of with- 

 standing the smoky atmosphere of towns ren- 

 ders it a favourite with those whose garden 

 accommodation only extends to their window- 

 sill or the leads on the top of their house. Flo- 

 rists have divided them into the following sec- 

 tions—viz., Green-edged, Grey-edged, White- 

 edged, Selfs or One-coloured, and Alpines, the 

 outer edge of whose petals is shaded by a mix- 

 ture of two colours, not separated as in the 

 edged varieties; the paste around the tube is 

 also yellow, instead of white, as in the other 

 divisions. The auricula is propagated by seed 

 for the creation of new varieties, and by division 

 of the plant for general purposes. 



Propagation by seed.— The parent plants se- 

 lected for breeding from should be healthy and 

 strong, possessing flrsUate properties as to size, 

 form, and colour. Cut out with a pair of sharp- 

 pointed scissors all the anthers or male parts 

 of the mother-plant just before the pips are 

 quite open, dust the pistil with the pollen of 



the father-plant, by removing and applying 

 it with a fine camel-hair pencil. ' Cover the 

 mother-plant, after being thus operated upon, 

 with a bell or hand-glass, to keep the flower im- 

 pregnated dry, and also to prevent the pollen of 

 any other flower reaching it. Keep this covering 

 on until the flower begins to fade, after which no 

 impregnation can take place, when they may be 

 exposed to the action of the air. If impregna- 

 tion has taken place, the seed-pods will begin to 

 swell, and by June or July the seed will be 

 ripe and fit for gathering. Place the seed-pods 

 on clean paper in a place exposed to the sun, 

 but secured against wet ; and when they be- 

 gin to burst open, rub out the seed, and sow 

 about the beginning of September. Some re- 

 commend keeping the seed in the pods in a dry 

 place till March, which they consider a better 

 time to sow it. It is well to sow the seed in 

 pans or flat pots in light soil, placing them 

 under glass in a cool pit or frame in rather a 

 shady situation. Cover lightly, as the seed is 

 small; a quarter of an inch will be sufficient. 

 When the seedlings have attained the size of 

 four or five leaves, transplant them into a cool 

 shaded border in light soil, setting the plants 6 

 or 7 inches apart each way. The spring follow- 

 ing they will flower, when their merits will be 

 ascertained, and such as are of sufficient merit 

 to be taken into the collection should be potted, 

 and placed along with the potted stock. Some 

 pot their seedlings at once, as soon as they have 

 made four or five leaves, using pots 4 inches in 

 diameter, setting one plant in each. This is no 

 doubt the best plan, when high expectations are 

 entertained of the quahty of the plants, and 

 where there is room to spare. Be careful not to 

 throw away the weakly plants; they very often 

 turn out to be the very best varieties. 



Propagation by division of the plant. — At the 

 annual re-potting, about the end of June, when 

 the flowering season is past, remove the suckers 

 that have roots to them, where they can be 

 spared without injury to the plant, as each 

 plant is turned out of its pot. Pot them either 

 singly into small-sized pots, or set two, three, 

 or four into larger ones, according to their size 

 and strength, and treat them afterwards just as 

 the estabfished plants. We prefer keeping them 

 in single pots, which renders their shifting into 

 larger pots at a future period more safe. 



Soil. — Mr Lightbody, an eminent auricula 

 cultivator at Falkirk, has used for the last 

 twenty years a compost composed of two wheel- 

 barrow loads of cow-dung at least two years 

 old, one barrow-load of leaf-mould, and one 

 of pure light loam from an old pasture. These 

 ingredients are thoroughly mixed, and to them 

 a sufficient quantity of fine silver-sand is added, 

 to keep the mass open and secure drainage. 

 Mr Lightbody seems to attach some importance 

 to having this compost frozen through during 

 the winter, and removes the frozen surface as it 

 occurs to an open shed, where it is kept for use. 

 This is a very safe recommendation for soil. 



Mr Cooke, an eminent florist at Coventry, 

 recommends the following compost : About one- 

 half old hotbed manure, and one-half sound 

 fibrous loam well turned over; and, like Mr 



