196 
THE AURICULA. 
mon sense or themselves. We have, however, 
grown Auriculas in the compost recommended 
by Justice ; that is to say, four parts good 
loam, three parts rotten cow-dung, and one 
part sand, and we have been successful almost 
beyond our hopes ; but we have seen, not 
three miles from us, a good gardener using, 
or fancying he was using, the same composts, 
and failing ; an examination of the loam 
showed us the difference lay there, and that 
nothing he could have done would have suc- 
ceeded with the same loam ; it was hungry 
stuff, and although from under an old pasture, 
was certainly not what Justice meant by free 
fresh loam. We have been somewhat prosy 
upon this part of our subject, because to the 
soil, or rather the compost employed, may be 
attributed a large portion of the failures that 
have discouraged the cultivation of Auriculas ; 
and the use of improper compost may be 
attributed to that innate love of quackery 
which pervades all classes, and the extent to 
which it was indulged in by the writers of an 
early period ; nor is there a much more diffi- 
cult task at this period, than that of persuading 
the young aspirant to floral honours, that the 
older writers could put in print anything that 
was not sound and proper advice ; a' feeling 
that is increased by the unfounded notions still 
entertained by many, that our forefathers cul- 
tivated the Auricula better than the growers 
of the present day. It may, however, be 
assumed, that the only safe mode of bringing 
up a young florist, is to teach the most 
simple modes of culture, and the use of the 
most harmless composts, and let actual expe- 
rience do all the rest. We therefore recommend 
the adoption of a compost that cannot mislead, 
a compost that will keep plants in healthy 
growth, give a good average bloom in every 
situation, and never lead to failure. The only 
ingredients we have used for the general com- 
post is simple, well understood, easily procured, 
and will answer in any situation. We may 
premise, that, considering it mattered but little 
how vegetable mould (which is a necessary 
ingredient in the composts for Auriculas) was 
procured, we have cared but little whether we 
had rotted leaves, or rotted wood, or any other 
rotted vegetable, and therefore have always 
preferred for our loam the turves themselves, 
cut about three 1 inches thick and rotted alto- 
gether, which they will do in about a year ; 
and as the top two or three inches of any 
pasture is invariably the best, the mass, when 
rotted together, forms of itself a compost 
which would be about two-thirds loam and 
one-third vegetable mould, which would of 
itself grow almost any potted-plant in the 
country, at all events it would be a fine staple 
soil with which to mix every other necessary 
ingredient. After these turves have lain a 
year together, they may be chopped down and 
turned over a few times, to get rid of any 
vermin it may contain ; and if it be freed from 
these we may be sure there is nothing perni- 
cious in its composition, for the mould formed 
of rotted vegetables cannot be ill adapted for 
any growth. All this requires when used, is 
to be rubbed through a very coarse sieve or 
skreen, so as to clear it of half-decayed turves, 
and the coarser portions of the roots. It will 
be found sometimes that we can only get the 
top spit of the soil, and that we are obliged to 
make that do. In this case, if the loam be 
good rich friable stuff, all we have to recollect 
when we use it is, that there is a much less 
portion of vegetable mould in it, and that this 
deficiency has to be supplied by other means, 
or at least taken into the account, when mix- 
ing up a compost for use. If the top spit of 
loam be laid together to rot, the vegetable 
mould in it will not be more than one-tenth, 
in fact, scarcely enough to calculate on at all, 
considering that an excess of vegetable matter 
is the least consequence of anything. If the 
loam be composed of turves, cut in the usual 
way, it will require no vegetable or other 
manure. If three inches thick and rotted 
together, it will require no other vegetable, 
and very little of any other manure ; and if 
the top spit, which is seven or eight inches of 
soil to the one thickness of turf, we should 
count the rotted turf as of very little impor- 
tance. And in this case we should not mate- 
rially alter the compost from that recom- 
mended by Justice, of half of this loam, and 
the other half composed of three parts well 
rotted cow-dung, and one part of clean sand, 
for we should merely put three parts loam and 
one of vegetable mould instead of four parts 
loam ; and the only way to make sure of clean 
sand, is to submit whatever we use to sufficient 
washing, to remove all extraneous matter ; 
those who are very particular use silver sand, 
which is naturally more free from any salts or 
foreign matter than any other, unless it be 
clear river sand. With regard to cow-dung, 
the best is that dropped on the pastures, and 
taken up after the sun has baked it; this should 
be laid together in a heap to rot, and is better 
two years old than one, in which time it forms 
a very rich mould, easily mixed with the other 
compost. In the absence of cow-dung, we 
have used horse droppings, taken from pastures 
in which the food of the animal is grass, and 
there are those who insist that one is as good 
as the other. It may be so, and we should 
not hesitate to use it, though from our extra- 
ordinary success with cow-dung, we should 
prefer it, if both were equally handy. If we 
have the rotted turves with no more than the 
thickness of two inches of loam to them, there 
will be such a large proportion of vegetabl 
