1877. ] 
THE AURICULA.-CHAPTER IX. 
9 
among tlie green foliage. I plant it out in the beds during the first week in 
June, taking care not to disturb the ball more than is necessary. It will be 
found to contrast beautifully with Sedum glaiicum. The habit of the Sedum is 
so neat, and the colour so soft, that it suits the Nertera well. The Nertera 
must be raised a little above the ground-level, to allow the foliage of the Sedum 
to be kept down close under it, in order that the berries may be seen just above 
the foliage. The berries of the Nertera begin to colour about the middle of July, 
and by the end of the month they will produce a good effect. Growing the 
Nertera in warmth causes it to berry too soon, and consequently the plants will 
not last the season through. It seems that we have had it berried here more 
freely than it has been seen elsewhere, and ever}’- one is pleased with its charming 
effect.—G. Legg, Cleveland lloiise^ Ckq:>liam Parle. — {Abridged from the 
Gardenerd Chronicle.^ 
THE AURICULA. 
Chapter IX.— Notes by the Way.—Election Lists (continued). 
^^HERE are many more cheerful things in a day’s work than having to get 
lJ) up in the raw dark of a winter morning to catch the earliest train. It is 
day by the clock, but blind night to the eye ; and yet who has not, for all 
that, thrown open the shutters downstairs for the first streak of morning 
grey or red to gladden him at his untimely candle-light breakfast! And when 
thus pressed into a highly unseasonable activity, have none of us horticulturists 
felt a humorous kind of S 3 ’mpathy with our forced rhubarb, seakale, mushrooms, 
and other disturbed vegetables ; as if we, too, knew what it was to be “ forced,” 
and could understand the discomfort they must go through in their vegetable 
way, in being compelled to “ get up ” before their usual time, like ourselves 
blinking in the candle-light, to find the world wintry and dark I 
Of all our florist flowers, the Auricula is almost the lightest sleeper, and a 
very early riser. With it, January is like the hopeful hour within which the 
winter day will break ; and as the month grows old, wo begin, on the same prin¬ 
ciple as opening the shutters in the dark, to look earnestly for the first faint tinge 
of colouring that tells of the bright spring growth. By the end of the month, 
the plants will become excitable, and in a spell of open weather one here and 
there may show the green which there is no mistaking, or a leaf may spring back 
from the heart that has seemed so still. Do not, however, be tempted to change 
winter treatment yet. 
There will be no growth for the next six weeks to require more water than 
the strict winter supply. This should never be so short that the plants flag. If 
they have to show that sign of distress, with foliage short and thick, and little 
evaporation to cause thirst, they will have been in want for some time ; for at 
this season they will bear more than is good for them before they express suffering. 
I have the pleasure of appending some election lists, which, for various 
