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tiie amateur’s flower garden. 
It is a first-rate plant for a sunny border and for a rockery. 
Treat it as recommended for arabis. The best for the border 
are A. Oampbelli and A. deltoidea. Of the latter there are 
several fine varieties, one of which has variegated leaves. It 
is a lovely plant for the rockery, or to grow in a pot with 
alpine plants. 
Auricula (Bear’s-ear).—The great care bestowed upon the 
valuable named varieties, that is to say, the florists’ auriculas, 
appears to place this plant at a disadvantage as one adapted 
for the borders. Yet we have not a finer border plant, pro¬ 
vided it has proper treatment. The common border, in which 
all sorts of plants are grown, will suit them very well, as a 
peep into almost any cottage garden will suffice to demon¬ 
strate. But to enjoy them in an especial manner as border 
flowers, prepare for them a selected spot, facing north, open 
and breezy, and shaded from the mid-day sun in summer. There 
need not be any elaborate preparation of the soil, but a deep, 
well-drained, sandy loam is absolutely needful. If the plan¬ 
tation is to be a large one, it will be desirable to raise a stock 
of plants from seed, and then the question arises, how to 
obtain it ? Shop seed of auriculas is, generally speaking, poor 
stuff; but there may be somewhere a trader who can and will 
part with a pinch worth sowing. As w T e are bound to give 
direct advice, we counsel the amateur to purchase a few of the 
named varieties of every class—seifs, white, grey, and green- 
edged, and alpines. Grow these in frames the first season, and 
save as much seed as possible. Sow the seed in pans filled 
with fine sandy loam, and keep them in frames always moist, 
until the plants appear, bearing in mind that you will have 
to wait for them a considerable time. When the seedling 
plants are as large as a bean, carefully transplant them into 
pans or boxes, or into a bed in a frame, always giving plenty 
of air, the use of the frame being advisable, because insuring 
the plants more attention than they might obtain if planted 
out in the open border in a very small state. When the stock 
has increased sufficiently, plant out old and young in the 
border, in the month of August, a foot apart, and leave them 
to take care of themselves, remembering that the auricula is 
one of the hardiest plants known, that drought is death to it, 
that damp in winter is only a little less injurious. From the 
time the first blooms of the seedling plants appear, a severe 
selection must be made. Instantly, upon a bad flower 
