May £8, 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
438 
potting the Auricula, some preferring the first or second week in May, 
but I recommend, without the least hesitation, ihaf it he done in 
August, for the simple reason that I think with early patting the 
})lants are apt to become too excited and grow too long before they rest 
for the winter; and at flowering time they look so ugly, with a long 
stem standing with only the least bit of foliage stuck on the top. I 
have plants now that have been potted in May and plants that have 
been potted in August, so I can speak on this subject now from practical 
experience. 
There are three very important points in potting Auriculas. Of 
course the principal one is the compost, which should be natural, simple, 
and sweet. Florists do not now treat the Auricula with such terrible 
composts as in former days ; goose-dung, blood, sugar-baker’s scum, and 
other unnatural stimulants are no longer used. Each cultivator differs 
a little from his brethren in the quantity of different ingredients used. 
Many kinds of composts, if natural, cool, and sweet, will grow the 
Auricula well. The ingredients which I should suggest, as I have found 
them the best, are equal parts of good fibry loam from an old pasture, 
C)w manure two or three years old, or manure from old hotbeds of the 
previous year, and the third material good pure old leaf mould. Of 
course you need not have the proportions minutely exact. If the soil 
looks heavy and sad I should add bits of charcoal about the size of peas, 
and a small allowance of sand, to keep it open, and you will soon be 
able to tell by the look of the foliage whether or not the plant is satisfied 
with its soil, and if so it will send out long white roots into the middle 
of the ball as well as to the sides of the pot. 
The second important operation in potting is that of preparing the 
plant, if an old one. After having turned it out of the pot in which it 
may have previously been growing, take away as much of the soil as 
will shake from the roots ; take hold of the plant in your left hand, by 
the stem, or neck, as it is called, and just at the base of the foliage ; be 
sure not to take hold lower or you may break some of the many young 
roots which will be pushing from nearly every joint on the old stem, 
or ‘'Carrot,” as it is sometimes called. Having the plant in this 
position, and being previously supplied with a sharp knife, clear away 
the old roots and try to detect the least unsoundness in the old stem, 
cut all decayed portions back until you get to a perfectly sound stem, as 
it is of no use leaving a partially decayed “carrot ” and a bunch of old 
inactive roots. Have a healthy stem at all risks, even if you have to 
carve out holes to get out a cankered piece, or if you have even to cut 
right up to the neck of the plant for it. This operation may appear 
very artificial to a great number of people, but nevertheless ic has its 
foundation in the natural habits of the plant, as from minute observation 
you will find that the Auricula periodically parts with a portion of its 
underground stem by a process of natural decay, which, however 
beneficial it may be in its wild state, would be very injurious to a plant 
of pot culture. After having followed out my suggestions with regard 
to the cutting, or tapping, I find it advisable to rub the wound with 
charcoal dust. 
We now have the compost and the plant all ready for potting, so that 
the next important detail is the pots to be used and the method of putting 
the plan s into them. The pots should be all clean washed and 
proportionate to the size of the plants to be placed in them. Some 
growers recommend potting in what I think are too small pots. I should 
suggest a 5 or 6-inch pot for an average sized plant, putting plenty of clean 
crocks at the bottom for drainage, then on the top of that a bit of 
cocua fibre, or a little of the roughest compost to keep the finer soil 
from being washed down amongst the crocks. Fill the pot to the proper 
height with the compost, which should not be too wet and sad as to 
stick clammily together, nor yet so dry as to refuse water, but just 
moist. Next spread the roots out evenly and carefully on the soil, and 
fill up to the collar of the plant, pressing the soil moderately firm. 
When potted place the plants in frames or houses for a week or a 
fortnight until they get well established in the fresh soil. Do not 
water them for a day or two, so that any of the roots that might have 
got broken or cut may have plenty of time to heal up. When the 
plants have begun to feel themselves at home give them plenty of air ; 
if in f/ames the lights should be taken off during the daytime, 
except during heavy rains or winds. Keep a good look out for green 
fly, and remove aU decayed foliage. I should advise following the 
above treatment all through the winter, only protect the house or 
frame at night with mats, or anything to keep off the keen frosts. 
Propagation. 
The Auricula is propagated by seeds and offsets ; by the former to 
ob’ain new varieties, and the latter to increase existing kinds. Offsets 
are the young growths formed in the axils of the leaves, and suckers 
from the old roots. These, if allowed to remain, may throw out roots on 
their own stem ; but sometimes it is found convenient to remove them 
before they can make the rootlets. If the offset has a heel it will 
soon form roots. Some growers say that offshoots will not develop 
unless rooted previous to their removal from the old plants. The Rev. 
F. D. Horner pricks his offsets round the sides of the pots in which the 
parent plant is growing, and nearly all his pots will be found fringed 
with offsets in this style. I used to take the offsets off and place them 
round the edges of pots, and cover with a bellglass. When they are 
sufficiently well rooted they should be potted singly into smaller pots, 
using a similar compost as recommended for the older plants. 
To obtain seeds and raise new varieties the flowers should be artifi¬ 
cially crossed, or fertilised as it is called. To do this take a small camel- 
hair brush and collect the pollen from the anthers and apply it to the 
pistil of the one it is desired to take seed from. Care will have to be 
taken to prevent any bees from getting to the flowers, as they have a 
tendency to carry pollen from one flower to another on their wings as 
they collect the honey. It is also best when fertilising to keep the 
classes separate. For instance, green-edged varieties should be crossed 
with green edge, grey and white edges with their respective classes, and 
seifs to be crossed with seifs. 
By the end of July or the beginning of August the seed will be ripe, 
and may be sown at once in pots or pans, u«ing the same compost as the 
general stock are grown in, only it should be rubbed very fine. Fill 
the pots to within an inch of the top, and press the surface firm and 
level. Scatter the seeds evenly over the surface, but do not cover with 
additional soil; place a piece of glass over the top to prevent evapora¬ 
tion, and stand the pots in a saucer of water, which must be replenished 
when it is all taken up. The young seedlings delight in a moist 
atmosphere in their early stage of growth, but on no account should 
they be kept too wet or too dry. I have no doubt many failures I have 
heard of with Auricula seed is the result of either burying the seed or 
of allowing the surface soil to be alternately wet and dry. In about 
three or four weeks some of the seed will germinate, but a portion will 
perhaps remain dormant until the following spring, so the seed pans 
should not be too hastily cast aside. 
When the young plants have made two or three pairs of leaves 
prick them out in other pots, and if they cannot receive daily attention 
it will be best to cover them with a piece of glass, the same as recom¬ 
mended for the seed pots, and as they get established give air gradually 
by propping the glass up on one side. Seedlings should now have very 
close attention, top-dress the large ones like old plants, and let the soil 
come up to the base of the leaves ; they will root ivery vigorously from 
that part, and sometimes even through the foliage itself. In all seed¬ 
lings under blooming size the object should be to get them to root 
strongly, as they will never go along until this is attained. A pot of 
neglected Auricula seedlings will be found very unsatisfactory. 
FRUIT PESTS. 
We gather from the Evesham Standard that the Fruit Pests Com¬ 
mittee appointed some time ago in the district have recently paid a visit 
to Toddington, when a conference was held respecting various experi¬ 
ments and investigations undertaken by the members and others. Mr. 
W. Gibbon presided, and those present were Messrs. J. Masters, C. D, 
Wise, J. Swift, F. Hooper. T. E. Doeg, J. C. Hiam, Malleson, 
Chichester, De Laune, and Pritchard. 
Mr. Bullock’s Experiments. 
Mr. Masters reported upon the experiments carried out at Wickham- 
ford by Mr. Bullock. He said he had little to report of his own fruit 
trees, as the general appearance of the whole of his plantation was very 
healthy, and apparently the caterpillar was not sufficiently numerous to 
affect the prospect of a large crop of fruit. But he had been much 
interested in watching and making observations on Mr. Bullock’s plan¬ 
tation. This time last year it would be scarcely possible to find trees 
worse infested with the caterpillars. He gave instructions what to do, 
and found out very speedily the efficacy of Paris green, and in a very 
short time appeared to exterminate the caterpillar on his fruit trees and 
bush trees. He found out some time after the application that some of 
his trees upon which several experiments had been made with Paris 
green and other insecticides were scorched in the foliage considerably, 
and that this season in these trees the blossom was slight, but on the 
trees where there was but one application of Paris green after the 
flowering season the crop of fruit last year was good, and the bloom this 
year is excellent. Although Mr. Bullock has grease-banded his trees 
last autumn, very few moths were captured, and his trees were remark¬ 
ably clean and free from caterpillar this season. He had sprayed his 
trees and bushes this year at the break of the bud from the wood with a 
mixture of 1 oz. of Paris green to 8 gallons of water. The machine 
used was the Eclair or Knapsack. He was so satisfied as to the efficacy 
of Paris green, that he hoped t > discontinue grease-banding. At the 
same time that the trees were sprayed he washed the trunks of his trees 
with nicotine in the proportion of one part to thirty parts of water. 
Mr. Bullock stated that he had found the nicotine at that strength 
efficacious in destroying the aphides. Some experiments he had made 
on some greenhouse plants had proved most satisfactory. Some few 
Tomato plants he (Mr. Masters) had syringed last night with the 
nicotine, and that morning most of the aphides were dead. The fluid 
should be about milkwarm. He had further discovered a very simple 
contrivance by which the value of the Eclair sprayer bad been much 
enhanced. It would be remembered by the Committee that the main 
objection to the Eclair was that its spray would not reach the large 
trees. The distance the jet would throw the fluid would be from 14 to 
15 feet. He first enlarged the small hole through which the fluid 
passed to about twice its size. Afterwards he placed two threatls across 
the mouth of the aperture. The effect of this simple contrivance was 
that it not only gave a fine misty spray, but getting to the windward it 
would emit the spray from 25 to 30 feet, sufficient to top the largest 
Plum trees. 
Mr. Hooper was rather disappointed t’aat Mr. Masters made no 
reference in his report to the strong liquid used last year on Mr. 
Bullock’s trees. It was so strong that the Committee could not possibly 
approve of or recommend it. 
