The Primrose, 295 



dollars a week, to give two guineas for a new variety of Auric- 

 ula, with a view of crossing it with some other, and raising 

 seedlings of new properties. Much has been written as to the 

 soil proper for cultivating the Auricula — and some highly arti- 

 ficial compounds of bullocks' blood, sugar-bakers' scum, night 

 soil, fullers' earth, &c, have been recommended.* An expe- 

 rienced American florist gives the following directions, which 

 can be put in practice without great trouble. 



« To cultivate the Auriculas to advantage, they should be 

 protected from heavy rains, (which injure them, by washing 

 the powdery bloom off their leaves), and shaded from the sun 

 tn summer. Where any number of them is grown, it is a good 

 plan to plunge the pots in a north border, and protect them by 

 a garden frame, raising up the back of the sash to admit air, 

 and watering them as they become dry. When the plants 

 have done flowering, which will be about the month of May, 

 they should be re-potted in a compost of loam, decayed ma- 

 nure, and sand, in doing which, pick off the dead leaves; and 

 if it is desired to increase them, divide them with the fingers, 

 and break off the old stump at the bottom, but do not cut them 

 with a knife, as it injures them very much. When potted, 

 give them a little water, and place them in the frame for sum- 

 mer. In the fall, previous to taking them in for winter, take a 

 little of the old soil from the lop of the pot, and replace it with 

 fresh compost ; and if they require a larger pot, shake them 

 out and put them into a larger one with the same ball entire, 

 filling up the pot with fresh soil, and giving them a little water; 

 then place them in a cool, shady part of the house, and keep 

 them rather dry, till they begin to grow, and when in flower 

 they may be watered pretty freely." 



The names which florists have given to different varieties 

 are innumerable, and entirely arbitrary, as are their rules for 

 judging of the beauty or merits of a variety. All the Auriculas 

 are divided by them into three classes ; those which have a 

 green border and white centre ; those with a gray border and 

 white centre ; and those of a single color. The variety repre- 

 sented in the plate is one of the finest of the first class. 



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* Loudon. Enc. PI. 



