136 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ June, 
Another very important point in the culture of these plants, is the soil.' Old 
rotten cow-dung has generally been considered an excellent thing for Auriculas ; 
but I have determined to abandon the use of it, in consequence of its sometimes 
containing a most destructive small white grub, which secretes itself under the 
soil, and unobserved will divest the plant of every root it has, thus causing it to 
become sickly and to die away gradually. • I have sometimes found these grubs 
to be very numerous, and was obliged on one occasion, in the spring, to shake 
out and repot every plant in order to get free from this most troublesome pest. 
The following compost will be found very suitable for these plants, viz., 4 
bushels of good mellow loam, 1 bushel of old rotten leaf-mould, 1 bushel of 
very old rotten stable manure, 1 bushel of peat, and half a bushel of silver-sand. 
After the plants are repotted, place them in a shady situation ; keep them 
moderately watered during the summer months; and always allow them to have 
as much air as possible, at the same time protecting them against heavy rains. 
They should be divested of all decaying foliage, and should green-fly attack them, 
this should at once be brushed off, since cleanliness is a very essential point 
towards keeping the plants in a growing, healthy state.— John Ball, Slough. 
FORSYTH’S LEVEL AND PLUMB-RULE. 
S HE science of Horticulture hath its schemes, and the practice of that 
ancient craft requireth tools. This instrument for levelling and plumbing 
W belongs to the practical department; and I will now name the several 
uses to which it may be turned. No article has been found so serviceable 
as a prop for tall-growing flowers, such as Dahlias, Hollyhocks, and the like, as a 
good square oaken stake, painted dull green, so as not to be conspicuous. What 
coiacerns the present subject is the driving or planting of these stakes, so as to 
have them parallel to the curves of the beds, and at the same time perfectly 
upright from east to west, and from north to south. If any one has watched a 
carpenter setting up a pair of square gate-posts, thereon to hang a gate so as to 
swing freely and close accurately, he will understand the difficulty of setting up 
some thousands of square poles on a piece of pleasure-ground, where highly 
educated persons are accustomed to look for beauty, and are not likely to brook 
deformity. Were the stakes to be set up indoors, or in calm sunshine, the 
mason’s plumb-rule would do it to perfection, but the wayward wind bloweth not 
only where it listeth, but when it listeth, and therefore the plumb-line is seldom 
a safe guide out-of-doors. The usual way is to carry a plummet, about the size 
of a game-fowl’s egg, with a fine line, such as silk-fishing line, attached. 
In planting tall trees the plumb-line is needed as well as in planting stakes, 
as no guess can be so reliable as the plumb-line. My level and plumb-line is, 
like the spirit-level, covered in from the weather, and is a veritable sand-glass. 
Its action is instantaneous, and never doubtful, like the spirit-level, where we 
have to wait for the air-bubble to stand midway between the rise and fall before 
we can tell how the land lies. It is also made continuous by turning it as soon 
