212 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
f March 14, lSSf. 
those that were retained, and the latest, also the strongest or most 
sappy shoots, which, from the tendency to later growth, required 
longer time to form and perfect the buds, were in similar ultimate 
condition to the base buds on the-weaker shoots —i e., the buds were 
retained, or a less per-centage lost ; in brief, the fat buds, the 
triple and highly developed or plumped buds, in all cases that fell; 
therefore I arrive at the deduction that the early forced tree 
loses its buds mainly through too prolonged a period of the exciting 
or growing stage, hence the necessity of lessening the period of 
bud-swelling, so as to avoid the evils of premature development 
or over-ripening. Notwithstanding the anxiety consequent on buds 
falling, there usually is a good set, a safe stoning, and high finish of 
the fruit, the result proving that there is nothing radically wrong 
with the trees, only there is the probability that the buds may fall 
to an extent jeopardising a full crop, and which may be obviated 
by promptly according to the trees the rest Nature demands when 
the buds are perfected in embryo, which, as regards early forced 
trees, it is best to have under rather than overdone, as the trees 
have advantages of further development, even when they are fully 
exposed, which later ones have net.— Utilitarian. 
NOTES ON AURICULAS. 
No. 4. —Their Culture. 
If Auriculas are grown in a house they should be removed as 
soon as the bloom is over into frames facing the north. When I 
first began to grow Auriculas the instructions were to remove the 
plants altogether from the frames and place them in the open air 
in a shady place, and there let them to remain till potting time. A 
couple of seasons let me see the fallacy of this plan. My losses 
were serious from the change to the plants themselves, from the 
less care naturally given them, and from the lashing rains. From 
that time my plants have been so placed that they could be covered 
at once if necessary. After the plants are repotted put them back 
into their places, and their only requirements are attention to 
cleanliness, watering, and proper ventilation. 
During the summer months (indeed, it may be said all the year 
through j the plants are liable to be infested with green fly, more 
especially if the frames are near hedges. I have always found the 
readiest and most effective plan to clear off the pests is to crush 
them between the finger and thumb, and if any remain in the heart 
of the foliage a small pointed stick will soon remove them. The 
great cause of an abundance of green fly is the keeping of the plants 
in too close an atmosphere. During the summer and autumn as 
much air as possible should be given ; the sashes, in fact, should 
either be removed altogether in fine weather, or kept open to their 
full extent, and during rain they should only have as much slope as 
keep the wet from falling upon the plants and lodging in the heart 
of the foliage. Any plant which is badly covered with the fly, and 
it may be the surface of the soil as well, should be held below a 
water pipe, washing off the whole brood, and then replacing the 
soil washed away with fresh stuff. The next object of the growers, 
watchfulness, particularly in the months of May and June, is a 
small green caterpillar with a black head, which if not noticed in 
time eats out the heart of the plant, and thus prevents the next 
year’s bloom. He is easily discovered by the web which he wraps 
about himself, and when found give him short shrift, Jeddart 
justice, or immediate execution in fact. I do not know his Latin 
title, but I believe he is the grub of the “daddy donglegs.” I 
have caught “daddies” sitting flat to the tally with their egg- 
depositors down by the side beneath the soil, and on examining 
the tally found a cluster of eggs on it. I make it a point to take 
out the tallies frequently during summer, and have my reward in a 
minimum of these rascals next season by destroying their eggs. 
Of late years a pest called the “ woolly aphis ” has appeared in 
the English collections, but fortunately it has made no headway in 
Scotland. A person unacquainted with its appearance would at first 
sight take it for a speck of mildew on the stem immediately above 
the soil, but a minuter examination will reveal a tiny greyish insect 
among the wool-like substance, which is the “aphis.” If it is 
found on the neck of the plant it is sure to be found in patches at 
the roots. On receiving a plant from England the soil should be 
altogether shaken from it on a newspaper, and either burnt or 
carried a couple of hundred yards away from the garden, and left 
where it will do no damage. Wash the roots of the plant very 
carefully, and repot in your own clean compost. If a plant is put 
in the frame with “woolly aphis” on it the pest will rapidly 
spread. 
After the plants are repotted the large lower leaves grow yellow, 
and when they are completely withered take them off. If they are 
removed too soon the stem is apt to bleed, and thus the commence¬ 
ment of a spot of rot may be made. If the little black spot indi¬ 
cative of rot be perceived on the stem above the soil (and it is 
easily known), cut the affected part out with a knife until the 
wound be quite clean and white ; and I have sometimes seen it 
necessary to go half way through the stem. Then fill the wound 
with pow r dered charcoal, when it will soon heal, and the plant show 
itself little the worse. 
When repotted the plants soon begin to establish themselves 
previous to' their winter’s rest. In a very short time, by tilting th& 
pot, strong roots will be seen pushing through the ball to the sides- 
of the pot. This is what the grower likes to see, as it is a sign of 
good health. All through the year much damage can be done to 
the plants by careless watering, or by giving water to a plant which- 
is not requiring it. Though a general watering is sometimes needed,, 
it more frequently happens that only a number are so dry as to 
need watering. The experienced eye knows at a glance what pots 
to pass. Great care must be taken when giving water not to wet 
the leaves nor allow a drop to fall iu the heart of a plant. If this 
should happen blow the water clean out from amongst the leaves. 
No strict rule can be given for watering, the state of the soil in the 
pot, -whether during summer or winter, must be the guide. The 
plants must never be allowed to get what is called “ dust dry,” or 
be allowed to flag, for if once an Auricula flag it is long in recover¬ 
ing, and it may never recover. I give my plants water all the year 
round, summer and winter, when they require it, if there is no frost- 
I know this is not according to the directions given by some growers, 
nevertheless I do it, and find it suits the plants. Watering and. 
giving plenty air will not do damage. It is watering and keeping 
close which damps them off. Damp is the great enemy of the- 
Auricula, and there are more deaths in a moist open winter than in. 
a severe one with frost. The pots may be frozen as hard as a brick 
for weeks, and the plants will come out all right, and not one be 
lost. 
From the time when the plants are repotted on to that of 
blooming, the surface of the soil must be occasionally stirred with 
the finger or with a tally when it becomes green or hard. Top¬ 
dressing—that is, the removal of an inch or more of the surface 
soil, and replacing it with a rich compost—-used to be a favourite- 
pastime in February with the old growers, under the impression; 
that it made a finer bloom. Among many growers of the present 
time this is an exploded idea. One year, by way of experiment, I 
top-dressed half of my plants, but I could perceive no difference 
at blooming time, either in size or quality, between the dressed and 
undressed. With that exception, since I began to grow Auriculas,, 
eight and twenty years ago, I have never practised top-dressing,, 
considering it only a waste of time. All that is really required i3 
to add a little soil to the surface if the earth bas sunk below the 
old level, leaving the stem longer than is needful. In my next and' 
concluding paper, I will mention some of the peculiarities of the 
Auricula, and give the names of select varieties which a beginner 
should get, and all of which may be got, either from friends or in 
the market. All of them would not take prizes at a show, but 
they will delight the eye of the man who grows the flower for the 
love of it.—J. M. ( Dundee Courier.') 
I do not know what “J. M., Dundee," means when he says- 
that Mr. Horner’s “ fame is great as a grower of seedlings, and not 
as a grower of a collection.” I have seen Mr. Horner's collection 
for several years when at their prime—namely, a week before the 
London shows, and I have no doubt in saying that, with the excep¬ 
tion of Mr. Douglas of Ilford, they are as many in quantity as any 
grower in England or Scotland, and greater in quality by far. 
Mr. Horner has grown the old varieties, and does now ; but when 
he finds better he does like everyone else would, “ wear a new boot 
when the old one is worn out.” Will “J. M.” say that the old 
varieties of Auriculas are as good now in constitution as they were 
in Mr. Lightbody’s time ? or can he point to a seedling of Mr. 
Lightbody’s raising that is of any use on the show board ? Even his 
Richard Headley has the greatest defect in the eyes of Lancashire 
growers of what they call “ a china body ground,” or one that 
fades away, or when young opening jet black, and then as the 
flower gets older dies, or changes to any colour from black to- 
a watery plum. Ido not know what “ J. M.” means about Mr. 
Horner’s seedlings. Does he know that Heroine was raised by Mr. 
Horner, and that Mrs. A. Potts is also from his strain ? 
I would advise “ J. M.” to take a trip to the London or Man¬ 
chester exhibitions in April. We should be pleased to see him if 
only to show him what has been done to improve the Auricula by 
the skill and foresight of Mr. Horner and others, and see what he 
thinks of the washy seifs of forty years ago—the white edges with 
plum to anything ; body grounds, the edge neither white nor grey ; 
the greys, with the exception of Headley’s George Lightbody, with¬ 
out flat pips (even Lancashire’s Lancashire Hero, neither green nor 
grey, has seldom flat pips, or else if so too much body ground) ; the 
green edges with pale watery tubes, &c. I think he would find a 
great improvement, and that he would have a great many old 
