168 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r February 28, 
towards the goal—that even in the matter of a little flower—is 
beyond his ken and mine. —F. D. Horner, Burlon-in-Lonsdale. 
No. 3.— Notes on Culture. 
Having got together a fair collection of Auriculas, the next 
thing to be done is to grow them well. On this point I am to give 
solely my own plan of growing, which has for many years afforded 
me good results, as hundreds of those who have seen my collection 
can testify. There are so many different kinds of treatment, and 
so many different soils in different proportions recommended by 
writers in gardening magazines, that to mention them would only 
bewilder a young grower. This only shows how easily the Auricula 
adapts itself to different treatment, and is no proof of any particular 
grower’s plan being the best that can be adopted. I may mention 
that, in accordance with the idea which has always prevailed among 
Scottish growers, I have always grown my plants for refinement in 
the flower, and not for mere size of pip. For this purpose I have 
found the best compost to be three parts of fibrous loam, or turf 
from an old meadow, a year or two old, chopped fine with a spade, 
but not sifted ; one part of well-decayed cowdung, or other well- 
decayed manure, which I have found answer equally well; one part 
of leaf mould, and one part sand. If turf cannot be got (and for 
many years I had none of it), common garden soil out of the place 
where Potatoes have been grown answers very well, but of course, 
being necessarily i icher, a less proportion of dung will suffice. Mix 
well, and let it stand a couple of days. When making up the com¬ 
post pick out carefully any worms or grubs seen in it. For eight 
and twenty years I have practically proved that this soil suits the 
Auricula, and keeps them healthy. As a rule 4-inch pots are snffi- 
xient for the bulk of a collection, but a few of the stronger growing 
kinds will be better in 5-inch pots. Glazed pots only have of late 
years been used by some growers, as they save a good deal of trouble 
in watering. Not being porous the soil does not dry so quickly. 
For the last three years I have used partly glazed and partly porous 
pots, and after this trial I am of opinion that the plants like the 
porous pots best. The common porous pots are not so pleasing to 
look at when they grow green on the outside, but this does not 
seem to affect the health of the plants in any way—in fact, it 
seems to be advantageous, preventing too quick an evaporation of 
the moi-ture within the pot. 
About the proper time to repot Auriculas there is much diversity 
of opinion. Some hold that they should be potted as soon as 
possible after the bloom is over, and this plan is practised by many 
of the English growers. I know one gentleman in the south of 
England who likes his potting done before the month of May is 
oyer. Of course, every man is ready with a reason, satisfactory to 
himself, for bis own practice. I need not discuss the rea ons given 
for early potting, but I think it tends to produce autumn bloom, 
which is never desk able. I have found the best time to be from 
the middle of July to the end of August. During that period the 
plants are at rest, and in the best condition for preparing for next 
season’s work. While some of my friends in England, early 
potters, were writing in the past autumn of a profusion of blooms, 
I had only about 1 per cent, of autumn trusses thrown up. As 
soon as they are repotted the plants commence a new growth, and 
establish themselves in the fresh soil previous to their winter’s 
rest. 
The process of potting Aur iculas, from the nature of the plant, 
is one of some nicety, and should be carefully gone about. The 
pots must be thoroughly clean, whether glazed or unglazed. Cover 
the hole in the pot with a piece of broken pot or “ crock” of suffi¬ 
cient size, and over this place as many smaller pieces as you think 
are needed for good drainage. Many growers overdo this, filling 
the pot w.th 2 inches or more of crocks. This does not leave room 
enough for sufficient soil to let the plants root amongst. In my 
own practice I never have over an inch of drainage, and have 
always found this answer. Over the crocks place a little moss, or 
some of the fibre if you are using turf, or, failing these, some of 
the roughest of your soil, to keep the finer particles from working 
down among the drainage. Fill the pot nearly full, press down the 
earth at the sides, leaving a cone in the centre. The pot is now 
ready to receive the plant, which has been shaken clear of all the 
soil about the roots. Now carefully examine both the roots and 
the stem—the carrot, as some growers call it. Clear away all the 
decayed fibres found among the roots, and look particularly if any 
portion of the carrot is rotten, and if so, cut it clean away till the 
healthy white part is reached. Although the stem may be quite 
sound to the very tip, if it is too long cut it over to a proper 
length, and dress the end with powdered charcoal. Trim the 
fibres, leaving them about 2 or 3 inches long, then, after placing 
some powdered charcoal on the top of the cone in the pot, place 
the end of the carrot amongst it, spreading the roots evenly round 
the sides. Place it so that when the earth is filled in there may be 
about a quarter of an inch of the stem above it. Press down the 
earth firmly, as firm potting is what the Auricula likes, and it con¬ 
tributes much to keeping the plants in good condition. The earth 
should be half an inch below the rim of the pot to allow the plant 
to be watered properly. In the next step I differ in my practice 
from those growers who recommend that after potting no water be 
given, and that the plants should be kept close for some days. As 
soon as the plant is potted I give it a good watering, and place it in 
the open frame, which of course looks to the north, and it has all 
the air it used to get before potting. By this treatment I have 
never seen a leaf flag, and I have never lost a plant. 
When the plant is shaken clear of the soil it will be seen what 
offsets are rooted and ready to be taken off. If they have no 
fibres it is better to let them remain on the parent stem till next 
season. If offsets are of sufficient size pot them off singly, taking 
care to tally them correctly, but if there are one or two small ones- 
they may be put at the side of the pot beside their parent, or 
round the side of a separate pot. The after treatment of the 
plants will form the subject of the next paper.— J. M. ( Dundee■■ 
Courier'). 
WINTER CUCUMBERS AND VENTILATION. 
After perusing Mr. Ward’s reply to my criticism as far as the point'- 
where he figuratively leaves me to my arguments in an apparently 
mangled condition to do battle with another opposing correspondent, the- 
one idea impressed on my mind was that the copious quotations and the- 
method employed in placing them in a position particularly favourable- 
to himself, tended rather to show a greater ingenuity than strength of' 
argument. But as I am of opinion that it would serve no useful purpose 
to combat these rhetorical displays by a mere reiteration of what has- 
and what has not been said, I leave it to impartial readers to judge as to 
the alleged misrepresentation of fact staled by my opponent. 
I heartily concur with Mr. Ward in the hope that I shall live long- 
enough to learn that the respiration of fresh air as admitted to the 
forcing house by practical gardeners is such an essential of cultural 
detail, inasmuch as many of the practical gardeners of my acquaintance 
are more generally inclined to favour a heterodox system of procedure 
in many instances rather than the old orthodox way of past generations- 
of—as times went—successful cultivators, and if the wave of heresy in 
regard to old traditions continue to spread in the same way that I have,, 
even in my comparatively short career observed it to do, I question if 
my longevity will not be of a most remarkable kind if I live to see the- 
improved give way to the original. Still, to keep the question at issue- 
in a prominent position, I must turn to Mr. Ward’s statement, “ That 
experienced and thoughtful cultivators ventilate in accordance with 
circumstantial requirements and not by rote.” Granted that such is the- 
case, where would Mr. Ward relegate those cultivators that, neither in 
accordance with circumstantial requirements or dogmatic formula, but 
persist in a course of treatment that to the ideas of the “ regulation 
practical gardener is nothing short of madness ? Yet such is the case in 
many market establishments where the production of quality as well as 
quantity is a monetary consideration. What strikes me as a remarkable 
feature in these establishments is the absence of undue attention to- 
minor details that in similar private practice generally resolve them¬ 
selves into ‘‘fads.” I know I am on delicate ground in apparently 
casting a slur on attention to details, but in these times of keen com¬ 
petition those who make work pay can generally hold their own, and it is 
a notorious fact that the average gardener would cut but a sorry figure if 
compelled to run his practical experience alongside his more rough-and- 
ready neighbour ; and this, I think, should be considered the acme of a 
successful practitioner. It is easy enough for even an ordinary 
cultivator to produce crops of fruit and flowers where no expense is 
spared either in the preparation of suitable structures or attention to 
labour in their cultivation ; and yet we often give the man credit for- 
being a clever and skilled gardener. So he may be, but when we sea- 
another obtain as good and sometimes superior produce under less 
favourable circumstances and widely different treatment there cannot 
be much doubt as to who should be titled “ the better man.” 
Mr. Ward’s second paragraph being merely a repetition of the 
principles of plant respiration as stated in my previous note calls for no 
comment, with the exception of where he states “ that it is an indis¬ 
putable fact that the respiration of plants fresh air during all favour¬ 
able occasions is absolutely necessary to the health of plants.” This I 
may venture to say is somewhat a severe view of the facts under notice,, 
implying that I have in the course of my arguments against winter 
ventilation of plant houses laid down an impracticable theory that 
plants can almost exist in a vacuum, or at least, a space where air is-- 
limited in quantity. But this would be against all reason. True, Filmy 
Ferns will thrive for a time in absolutely air-tight receptacles, yet they 
must have a certain amount of air that will suffice for their require¬ 
ments for an exceptionally long time, owing no doubt to their respira¬ 
tory organisation being less developed than some other members of the 
vegetable kingdom. Though this illustration of my meaning it may 
be condemned as an extreme case, yet it shows that some plants do not 
require fresh air in such quantities as are generally supposed, even very 
small quantities requiring an almost incredible time to become vitiated,, 
especially in the case of plants grown in even modern built plant 
houses. No structures that I have as yet been fortunate enough to- 
come across were constructed on such air-tight principles as necessitated 
