Mar. I THE FLOWER GARDEN. 805 



sown in a box of fine light earth, and thinly covered, as the 

 seeds are apt to lie dormant or rot when sown too deep. The 

 box should be placed in a warm sheltered spot, and carefully 

 defended fi'om heavy rains. As the plants advance they will 

 be readily conveyed fi*om one situation to another in boxes or 

 large pans, until they become sufficiently strong to be per- 

 manently potted off. These plants naturally, as well as the 

 whole Primula family, enjoy the shade ; care must therefore 

 be taken, throughout their whole culture, not to expose them for 

 any length of time to the scorching rays of the sun. Auricula 

 seeds will vegetate more quickly, if placed on a little bottom 

 heat, but as soon as they are sufficiently above ground they 

 should be removed to a warm sheltered spot in the open air, 

 for, by this means, they will be forwarded a little, and in cold 

 wet springs and unfavourable situations, it is necessary ; but in 

 situations naturally warm, and in good seasons, they will not 

 only come stronger, but a greater number of the seeds will 

 vegetate, if sown in the open air or with the occasional protec- 

 tion of a hand glass ; and the best sort of glass is that which 

 has the top or upper part separate from the lower, as in the 

 annexed figure. 



Polyanthuses^ in pots, will require the same mode of treatment 

 as has been already recommended for auriculas, and seeds of 

 them may also now be sown. As the common parent of the 

 numerous varieties of pol anthus is a native of our sunny banks 

 and warm sheltered fields, it is more hardy than its associate the 

 auricula, whose common parent graces similar situations in 

 Switzerland. A warm shaded border of light soil, moderately 

 enriched with rotten manure, having a northern exposure, will 



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