July 6, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
461 
Auriculas and their C U 1 ti Vclti O Pi. 
Propagation. 
Soils for Potting. 
Watering. 
Insect Pests, &c. 
guarantee that we shall name them. It is 
a matter of memory, and we cannot grow 
all the Roses, Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, 
Carnations, etc., in a town garden. The best 
way would be to visit a Rose nursery.— 
(Winchurn) A hybrid China Rose which we 
cannot name. See previous answer.— 
(A. B. T.) 1, Phyllanthus pulcher (often 
named Reidia glaucescens in gardens); 2, 
Phyllanthus nivosus; 3, Gazania splendens 
variegata; 4, Sedum sarmentosum carneum 
variegatum.—(G. Haltett) Syringa Josikaea, 
or Countess von Josika’s Lilac. — (C. B. G.) 
Gymnadenia conopsea, also known as Ha- 
benaria conopsea—(A. C. D.) 1, Campanula 
latiloba; 2, Helxine Solierolii (belongs to 
the Nettle family and not a moss); 3, Medi- 
cago scutellata, or Snail Medick, a native of 
South Europe, but it may be cultivated on 
the northern hills of India.—(H. Parish) 1, 
Erica mediterranea; 2, Spanish Broom (Ge¬ 
nista hispanica) ; 3, Berberis Wallichi; 4, 
Berberis aristata, apparently, but you should 
send flowers or fruits; 5, Phillyxaea lati- 
folia rotundifolia.—(E. Felix) 1, Sedum 
roseum linifolium; 2, Sedum roseum; 3 and 
4, Saxifraga umbrosa (we do not think they 
are permanently different, hurt merely small 
states of the plant due to crowding and poor 
or dry soil; anyway, we are growing similar 
ones to prove it); 5, Sedum acre (only the 
flowering stage with large leaves); 6, 
Helxine Solierolii from Corsica and Sar¬ 
dinia, possibly also Gibraltar, or planted 
there. The flowers are minute and green, 
some being in full bloom on the specimen 
sent.—(W. F. W., Croydon) 2, seems a 
small bloom of Rose Her Majesty. 
-- 
Drugging Plants 
The commercial uses of treating plants 
with anaesthetics are dealt with in the 
July World's Work by G. Clarke Nut- 
tall, B.Sc. Briefly, the process is as fol¬ 
lows : A good-sized box is taken, which 
must be absolutely air-tight and capable 
of being hermetically sealed. At the 
bottom is placed a bed of dry sand, and 
on this are laid the plants it is desired to 
treat. The temperature . of the box 
should be about 62 degrees F., and the 
plants should be as dry as possible. Just 
under the lid of the box a small vessel 
is hung to receive the anaesthetic (we 
will suppose it to be etherl, which is 
poured into it through a small hole in 
the lid. 
Directly the ether is in the vessel, the 
whole must be securely closed. The 
ether volatilises at once, and as the fumes 
are heavier than air, they sink to the bot¬ 
tom and envelop the plants lying there. 
It is on account of this density that the 
ether vessel is hung high up in the box, 
the fumes thus spreading and descend¬ 
ing. The box is left untouched for 
about forty-eight hours, during which 
time the plants are being thoroughly 
saturated with the vapour; then it is 
opened, and they are taken out and put 
into a cool greenhouse, where the ordin¬ 
ary garden treatment begins. 
The net result is that directly they are 
released — and sometimes indeed before 
■—they begin to put forth buds and de¬ 
velopment goes on apace. In fact, they 
may almost be seen to grow! 
When grown in cool, fairly moist soil, 
Campanula abietina flowers grandly. 
Auriculas are not so frequently seen in 
the gardens of to-day as they were in 
those of our fathers, but why they have 
been so neglected of late years is more 
than I can understand. Certainly they 
have received more attention as regards 
their culture for exhibition,, during the 
last few years, but as a spring flower in 
the open, they stem to have been sadly 
neglected. Many of us can remember 
the fine show we used to be able to see 
each year in the springtime in the old- 
fashioned gardens of our young days. I 
myself can remember a border of them, 
planted just in front of a long Rose bor¬ 
der in my father’s garden, and recall to 
mind the fine show they made when that 
part of the garden seemed to be so dull 
and bare. 
It is not my intention in writing this 
article to give a detailed course of in¬ 
struction on how to grow Auriculas for 
exhibition, though I shall touch lightly 
upon that subject and give a few hints to 
those who may think of exhibiting. I do 
not, however, intend to occupy space with 
a list of named varieties, as anyone can 
easily obtain a catalogue from any nur¬ 
seryman who makes a speciality of them 
and so can make his own selection. 
The kinds that are usually exhibited 
are divided into four different classes, 
but at almost all Auricula shows there is 
a separate class for alpines ; each of the 
other classes are known as the green 
edged, grey edged, white edged, or seifs, 
as the case may be, and each of these 
classes has features which cannot be 
overlooked. The marking of a green- 
edged Auricula, for instance, must be 
even, and next to that is a band of col¬ 
our, which is considered to be very 
choice, if it is of a dark shade. It is of 
the utmost importance (if the show card 
is to be marked with a prize) to stage only 
those flowers that are as near to being 
perfectly even in the markings as it is 
possible, especially on the inner edge. 
Next comes the ; p aste >” and this should 
be perfectly clean, and upon no account 
should flowers that are “pin-eyed” be ex¬ 
hibited, for that will greatly lessen the 
chance of a prize. 
The remarks made about the green- 
edged class apply to all the other classes 
excepting the seifs, which, as the name 
leads one to understand, should be all 
of one colour beyond the paste. 
Propagation may be effected in two 
ways, either by sowing seeds, or by 
means of offshoots. I will deal first with 
raising from seed, and will follow the 
culture through until the time comes to 
mention propagation by means of off¬ 
shoots. 
The best time to sow the seed is as soon 
as it is ripe, if it can be obtained from 
the seedsman at that time, but if not sow 
in March in well drained pans of sandy 
soil; it is best to give the soil a soaking 
of rain water a few hours before the seed 
is sown. The seed should be sown very 
thinly, and lightly covered with a sprink¬ 
ling of glass sand, but not too much, or 
the soil will become green and sour, and 
that would be injurious to the young 
seedlings when they appear. 
Some of the seedlings will probably 
make their appearance in a month or six 
weeks' time from sowing, but the majority 
of them will not appear for two, three, 
or even twelve months, but those that 
come last should have especial care, for 
it often happens that the best varieties 
will be found among those seedlings that 
were longest in making their appear¬ 
ance. The best place to put the pans of 
seed to germinate is in a frame, if sown 
in March, but if sown as soon as the seed 
is ripe, under a shady wall. As soon as 
large enough the seedlings should be 
pricked out singly into pots or pans of 
sandy soil to strengthen, and afterwards 
each one should be potted up into thumb 
pots as they grow to a suitable size. 
They may be flowered in the thumb 
pots, or they may be potted on to make 
larger plants before flowering. When 
they are in flower a selection should be 
made, only retaining the best varieties, 
and the rest thrown or given away to 
friends, as choice may decide. 
No one knov^ the fascination that 
there is in a batch of seedling Auriculas, 
until one has raised and flowered them. 
The amateur, however, is often tempted 
to retain a lot of useless stuff by him, 
until he has had experience, and can tell 
which are worth keeping and which are 
not. 
Watering is the one great thing in 
the successful cultivation of all members 
of the Primula class, and it is particu¬ 
larly so with Auriculas; carelessness in 
this matter resulting in a decided failure 
to do any good with them, and then 
people will say they are “hard doers,” 
whilst all the time they are to blame for 
their own carelessness. During the 
growing period, an abundance of water 
will be required, in fact they should not 
at any time be allowed to become dust- 
dry, but on the other hand during the 
winter time, and more especially so dur¬ 
ing bad weather, they should never be 
watered unless they really need it. In 
watering great care must be taken that 
no water lies in the crown of the plant, 
or decay will set in and a good plant 
may be lost ; the same remarks apply to 
the foliage of the plants; never let water 
stay on the leaves. 
The importance of rainproof frames is 
seen at once, and also the necessity of 
keeping all decaying matter picked off 
the plants, especially during the winter. 
About the end of February or early in 
March, when the new growth commences 
the surface soil should be removed for 
about an inch, and a top dressing of 
good soil given. 
A good compost for the purpose is two 
parts of turfy loam, one part of dried 
cow manure, and one part of good sweet 
leaf mould. If preferred a little fertili¬ 
ser may be added. In using the cow 
manure, it is best to choose it from that 
which has been used as a mulch for fruit 
