56 
On the Cultivation of the Auricula. 
of; for if there be any one branch of Horticulture which in thi.> re¬ 
forming age stands in need of Radicjal Reform, it is that of Landscape 
Gardening. Another time, if this be approved of, I may point out a 
few of what I conceive to be glaring faults, and leave you and your 
correspondents to suggest a remedy. 
Nottingham, June i 
9th, 1831. S 
I remain, Gentlemen, 
Yours respectfully, 
A. J. 
Article VI. — Floriculture .— On the Cultivation of the 
Auricula. By Mr. John Retell, of Pitsmoor, near 
Sheffield. 
Gentlemen, 
I HAVE long considered the Auricula to be one of our greatest 
ornaments in the spring, and as much deserving of care and attention as 
any plant we possess; the richness and variety of its colours have often 
brought to my recollection those beautiful lines of Thomson, where he 
says, 
-“Who can paiut 
“ Like Nature? Can imagination boast, 
“ Amid its gay creation, hues like hers? 
“ Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, 
“ And lose them in each other, as appears 
“ In every bud that blows.” Thomson's Seasons. 
In order to bring this plant to any degree of perfection, I have found 
it necessary, that it be grown in an airy situation, and well sheltered 
from heavy and continued rains. I know many are in the habit of allow¬ 
ing them after the blooming season, (that is, from the end of May to the 
end of November,) to stand exposed to all the rain that falls, but this 
method I by no means approve of, as by such exposure the wet pene¬ 
trating to the hearts of the plants, of course, rots them, and thereby, as 
I myself have witnessed, the whole stock perishes. 
The plan I w'ould recommend is, that as soon as the blooming season 
is over, the plants be set in a shady situation and protected from the rain, 
watering them round the edges of the pots as you may see occasion: also 
that the offsets which are rooted be taken off and potted in the same 
compost as the parent plants, giving them the same treatment. The 
soil I have found them to thrive best in is composed of 
Two barrowfulls of fresh yellow'-loam, 
One- 
-of old ants’-nests, 
One - 
-of rotten horse-dung’, 
One - 
-of river-sand. 
mixed well together, and not used until at least two years old. 
About the end of May, the plants should be potted in the above com- 
yjost, the old soil should never be completely shaken from the roots 
