1876. ] 
THE AUEIOULA.—CHAPTER VIII, 
273 
late—a week or two before the Salway. The above-named yellow-fleshed 
Peaches are mentioned in their order of ripening, and no collection can be said to 
be complete without growing some of them. 
The Salway and Comet with me this year ripened very heavy crops on a glass- 
covered wall, and were used for preserving in bottles, as in former years they 
were found to keep better than the white-fleshed kinds. Crawford^s Early and 
the Exquisite do well in pots in orchard-houses where attention is paid to fertilising 
the blossoms, for both are rather shy setters in some seasons.— William Tillery, 
Welheclc, 
THE AURICULA. 
Chapter VIII.— The Plants at Rest.—Election of the Best Varieties. 
^HE first sharp touch of frost has come, and all the warm tints of yellow, 
red, and brown have died out of the trees like a sudden sunset; and 
distant woods, that stand out against the sullen sky, look only banks and 
drifts of darker cloud. 
To recall an autumnal touch by Thomas Hood, 
“ Boughs aro daily rifled 
By the gusty thieves, 
And the Book of Nature 
Getteth short of leaves ! ” 
Just as old-fashioned village folk will keep the house-clock half-an-hour too fast, 
so I, too, am ever putting time forward a little on the face of these papers; and in 
this one to the stroke of December, while the true time is only half-past 
November. 
That tattered month is in his sorriest rags, and who would not rather reckon 
him our midwinter, than the month which Christmas comes to brighten ; or the 
next, in which the tide of daylight turns perceptibly from ebb to flow, and we 
begin to look for snowdrops, whose nodding bells—if they have tongues to speak 
in fancy’s ear—surely ring in a New Year to our flowers ? 
Auriculas have now completely sunk to rest, though there is no more a 
mere idleness in their sleep than in that of a wearied man. 
To a watchful eye the plants will not be motionless, though leaf-growth is 
indeed, suspended. There is a glow of life about the heart; and it gathers 
shape and substance as, behind those leafy curtains drawn so close, the wondrous 
powers of Nature work on, arranging all in readiness for the Transformation- 
scene of Spring. 
Still Auriculas are at rest. Let them sleep on, the sounder the better now. 
Fear no natural influences that tend to keep them quiet. Dry overhead, and not 
wet at the roots, no frost can harm them whilst they sleep. 
In fact there is no kindlier winter nurse for our hardy pet than rough Jack 
Frost, though he handle' it leaf and root. Only do not let him catch Auriculas 
mistreated, either by neglect or killing kindness. Do not annoy them with what 
they do not want. The presence of untimely food is only nauseating ; therefore. 
