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VILLA AND COTTAGE

FLORISTS' DIRECTORY:

BEING A FAMILIAR TREATISE ON

FL©^a©yLTy!RE^

PARTICULARLY

Ci^e ilHanactfincnt of t^e test ^tagr, ISelr, anlr ISorlrer
FLOWERS

USUALLY CULTIVATED IN BRITAIN.

TO WHICH AUH AUJJEIJ

DIRECTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF

Wdt €ilreen--5ouse, i^ot=6ouse, anlr ODonsErbatory

WITH THi:
IMFKERENT MOOES OF RAISING AND PROPAGATING

INTERSPERSED WITH MANY NEW PHYSIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
AND VARIOUS USEFUL LISTS.

SECOND EDITION.

BY JAMES MAIN, A.L.S.

LONDON :
WHITTAKER AND CO., AVE-MARIA LANE.

1835.

634, ^

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
Duke Street, Lambeth.

^^// '^ By trajQBler rrot-
PAt. Office Ll> .

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Preface v

Introduction 1

Physiology of Bulbs 2

Tubers 9

Fibrous roots 11

Of the Colour of Flowers 20

Of the Scent 29

Of Soils 31

Of Coverings 40

Of Insects 45

Of Diseases 50

Cultivation of the Tulip 51

Hyacinth 75

Polyanthus-Narcissus .... 93

Anemone . 101

Ranunculus 114

Auricula 120

Polyanthus . . '<.v .... 147

Carnation ....... 153

Picotee 178

Pink. 181

Exotic Plants — Hot-house 189

Green-house 209

Conservatory ....... 227

Forcing-pit .236

Of the Lapidium, on Rock-work 238

Of the Aquarium 240

Of the Physiology of Trees 241

A List of Border Flowers 279

A Catalogiie of esteemed sorts of Bulbs, &c. . . . 291

PREFACE.

Floriculture has become the study and
amusement of all ranks. Is it because it em-
bellishes the dwellings of the rich and great, or
forms the gayest ornament of the villa ? Or is it
because it receives the regard, and employs the
pencils, of the most refined and fairest of Nature's
works? Yes; for all these; but, most of all,
because it decorates, while it endears, the poor
man's cottage.

To the superior classes of society, who have
" all appliances and means to boot,'' the know-
ledge and possession of flowers form but a small
part of their enjoyments ; but the humble and
homely man, who, when relieved from the ema-
ciating toil and noxious air of a factory, betakes
himself to the refreshing exercise of raising his
favourite flowers, feels new life ; his attention is

vi PR 1<: FACE.

drawn to objects which are beautiful in them-
selves, and to results the most innocent and ra-
tional. Turbulent emotions can hardly disturb
the mind which is intent on rearing tender seed-
lings ; the very expectations of success alleviate,
if they cannot remove, the cares and crosses of
life ; and while such employment, as amusement
only, refines the mind, it adds not a little to the
real enjoyment of rational existence.

The knowledge of this fascinating art is mostly
confined to professional men, or lies hidden in
a thousand volumes, beyond the reach of the
humble though ardent florist. He, and he
only, needs the assistance which is practically
offered in the following pages ; which, though
written chiefly for those who are neither pro-
fessional nor opulent, it is hoped will be not
unworthy of a perusal by all who are interested
in the subject.

As to the ability of the writer for such a task,
he may be permitted to say, that the experience of
fifty years, directly and indirectly, in the cultiva-
tion of flowers, is at least something in his favour.

PREFACE. vii

But, independently of this, it is impossible that he
should have been contemporary with a Maddock, a
Hogg, a Sweet, and many other eminent modern
florists, without knowing somewhat of the art.
Where his own knowledge or practice may be
defective or confined, his judgment at least will
enable him to recommend with safety and direct
with propriety.

How this will be done remains to be seen.
His intention is to condense the whole system of
professional floriculture into a concise compen-
dium, which will embrace every thing essential
to the subject: and, as it will also contain direc-
tions for the propagation of all sorts of tender
exotic flowering plants, it will be particularly ser-
viceable to those who have rare and valuable
collections.

INTRODUCTION

Before entering upon the methods of culture
and manai^ement necessary for the different bed,
border, and stage flowers intended to be briefly
set forth in the pages of this work, it may be
proper, perhaps, to advert to some circumstances
which belong either to the knowledge of the
plants themselves, or to particulars relative to
their general treatment. By so doing, repe-
titions will be avoided, and the directions will
be less encumbered by collateral observations.

As the principal part of our bed flowers are
bulbs, it may not be irrelevant to describe the
constituent parts of these curious vegetable
bodies. Every florist should be acquainted with
the physiology of the plants he cultivates ; for
though not so absolutely necessary, perhaps
to successful management, it may neverthelessi

u

2 INTRODUCTION.

be useful in enabling the practitioner to account
for many circumstances which will occur in the
course of his practice.

Botanists have classed bulbs into the different
distinctions of scaly, coated, solid, and caulinar.
A scaly bulb is such as the common white lily.
It consists of a vital membrane, called the radical
plate or basis. This member appears to consist
of an indefinite series of dividual germs, which
are annually brought forth in succession. The
first, or highest in order, is, in the autumn before
it is developed, composed of a surrounding en-
velope of thick fleshy bodies, like scales. These
scales are abbreviated leaves ; the outer ones are

stationary, doing the office of hybernacla ; while

the inner are attached to the flower-stem, rise
therewith, and are expanded into full form dur-
ing the spring and summer. From the lower
part of the radical plate, and particularly from
its edges, the roots are produced ; which descend
into the earth in search of the nutriment required
for the expansion of the plant, and which mostly
die off during the repose of the bulb.

INTRODUCTION. 3

While these processes of the senior part of the
radical plate are developed in the air, and the
radicles or fibres in the earth, the next vital prin-
ciple of the incipient series becomes every day
larger in size, swelling and protruding into form
its imbricated envelopement of scales, resembhng
a short cone, its apex containing the embryo
fructification of the following year. Besides the
second of this aggregation of principles, the third,
fourth, or even more (according to the vigour of
the plant) of the series, are sometimes produced,
and which take the name of offsets, which may
be separated without injury to the plant. This
vital organ always appears as belonging to the
largest individual of the train, continuing to
produce and throw off progeny ad infinitum.

This curious organisation of the bulb is, when
duly considered, truly astonishing! that a ve-
getable body, no bigger than a grain of mustard,
should contain a train of distinct germs without
number, and, in favourable circumstances, with-
out end; and which are always in a gradual
train of progress; the first fully developed to

B 2

4 INTRODUCTION.

perfection, and perishing this year, to be suc-
ceeded in following years by the junior successors
in endless train !

A coated or tunicated bulb is exemplified in
the hyacinth. This is a distinction without a
difference ; it being only a pecuhar modification
of the foregoing. The bulb being formed by the
gouty bases of some of the last and this year's
leaves, embracing those, together with the stem
and flower, which are to be expanded in the
next.

These bulbs have also a radical base or plate,
which produces the proper roots belonging to the
senior portion of the plant then in the course of
developement ; but which are deciduous soon
after the decay of the stem and leaves. Thus
shewing, that each division of the bulb is fur-
nished with its own radical base, roots, leaves,
stem, flower, and fruit.

In the case of these or similar bulbs, if in any
year they are permitted to perfect their seeds, the
viviparous powers of the system are less active ;
their formation, satisfying as it were the impulse

INTRODUCTION. 5

of reproduction possessed by that generative
organ. , On the contrary, when no seeds (which
are the oviparous produce) are perfected, the
effort at reproduction by offsets is increased.
This observation should be always kept in mind
by the florist, in order that he may have re-
course to it when necessary for the purpose of
increasing either seeds or offsets, as he may wish.
Solid bulbs have been described by botanical
physiologists, and the tulip is given as an in-
stance (Principia Botanicd). But this is a mis-
take ; the bulb being evidently composed of ab-
breviated leaves, enclosed within a thin integu-
ment or covering, similar to the hyacinth, only
fewer in number. These leaves are mostly
elongated, and accompany the rising stem to
which they peculiarly belong ; in which effort
they become exhausted, and die along with the
stem, or when the seeds are ripe. During the
growth of the parts just mentioned, as well as of
the roots which supported them, the next year's
bulb is formed to carry on the succession. It
has been advanced by some writers, that the

6 INTRODUCTION-

principal use of the expanded leaves is to elaborate
nutritious materials for the formation of the suc-
ceeding next year's bulb ; or, that the substance
of the old is somehow transferred into the new
one. This idea is at least questionable ; because
the bulb of the tulip lying- in a drawer, where no
developement or expansion of leaves can take
place, will, notwithstanding, put forth its new
offset bulbs, with no other assistance than what
its feeble fibres, produced at the same time, can
collect in this unnatural situation ; and if it be
intended to produce a numerousprogeny of offsets,
half the old bulb (the upper half) is cut off before
it is planted, to produce this effect. Young
tubers, as the potatoe, are produced without the
assistance of leaves. True it is, that when a
part, or the whole organisation of a plant is in
motion, there is a reciprocity of assistance from
any one to all the others ; but this does not
appear to be the peculiar office of the leaves more
than it is that of the roots, if indeed so much.
Checking th€ oviparous principle will stimulate
the viviparous, or vice versa. But, except re-

INTRODUCTION. 7

ducing the number of parts or ramifications of a
plant for the benefit of the remainder, no kind of
mutilation can be serviceable.

Bringing to perfection the roots, stem, leaves,
flowers, and the new bulb or bulbs, is the effort
of the radical plate every year; it being the
radius from which they all diverge. There they
previously exist, and, after complete develope-
ment, all but their seeds, or succession-bulbs,
vanish away.

Caulinar bulbs are so called, because, instead
of being upon or under the surface of the ground,
they are produced in the air and seated on dif-
ferent parts of plants producing them. They are
frequently seen on the flower-stems of the ge-
nus Lilium, protruding from the axils of the
leaves from which they are deciduous. They
partake of the conformation of both seeds and
bulbs, possess their essentials, and become perfect
plants. Bulbs are said to be buds under ground ;
so buds may be called bulbs out of the ground.
There cannot be a more natural definition ; both
may be transferred from one station to another

8 INTRODUCTION.

uninjured, and both contain the pre- requisites of
perfect plants. The stem-bulbs of the lilly, as
they take the usual place of buds, may very
naturally be considered as such.

Bulbs and buds may therefore be considered
as synonymous. The first only requires to be
placed in the soil to produce a perfect plant ; the
second to be inserted into the bark of another
tree by the skill of the inoculator, whence it is
developed in perfect form.

Other instances of aerial bulbs appear on the
tree onion, and on several others of the same
tribe. These, however, are no other than the
seeds commencing growth before they are sepa-
rated from the seed-vessel. Though this vivi-
parous property is constantly seen among the
onion tribe, and particularly in moist seasons,
it is also casually observed in other kinds of
plants ; even common wheat will sometimes
f^prout before it is perfectly ripe.

But the most remarkable instance of the for-
mation of bulbs is that mentioned in the Trans-
actions of the Horticultural Society, stating,

INTRODUCTION. 9

that from a broken leaf of the Lachenalea discolor,
perfect bulbs were formed from the oozing sap !
There are other instances of this generative
power of plants, as exemplified in the Hcemanthus,
the malaxis, and ornithogalum. Buds are always
seated on or proceed from the woody or vascular
tissue of the plant ; and those above-mentioned,
though not woody, contain vascular membrane
in their leaves, partaking of the nature of stems ;
these, therefore, when under favourable circum-
stances, or thrown out of their regular course
of developement by accident, exhibit those un-
common modes of reproduction.

The other descriptions of flower-roots are the
tuberous and fibrous. Tubers, according to their
form and divisions, are characterised by different
appellations ; as irregular, truncated, digitated,
jointed, &c.

The irregular tuber is exemplified in the ane-
mone. It increases itself by the protrusion of
blunt processes from the first seed-tubercle,
each containing buds which in time come into
action. The vital principle is not always seated

10 INTRODUCTION.

at the point of these divisions, but on the sides ;
from these the leaves and flower-stems arise in
greater or lesser numbers and strength, according
to the size and health of the principal tuber.
The fibres for collecting food issvie from various
parts of the tuber, and die off annually.

The ranunculus presents what is called a
digitate, or finger-formed tuber. These finger-
shaped appendages are produced in succession ;
and seem to be depositories of the food of the
plant. The crown divides itself by lateral branches
from what may be called its shoulder ; the young
offsets being almost always somewhat higher
than the parent when this happens to be placed
too deep, or lower, if not deep enough. When
these offsets have formed one or two fingers,
they may be separated from the original, and
henceforth become distinct plants.

The truncated tuber is shewn in the poly-
anthus and auricula. That of the former remains
in a compact form, throwing out radicles below,
and its leaves and flower-stems from the crown
above, developing themselves in succession.

INTRODUCTION. 11

The tuber of the latter is more elongated, rising
out of the ground and increasing itself by side-
shoots crowned with leaves, which, being slipped
off, become new plants.

^-. The bundled or pendulous tuber is that of
the Dahlia^ &c. The lateral tubers are vivi-
parous progeny, and are produced at the same
time the principal is developed, each having one
or more buds on or near the apex.

"" Fibrous roots, or those having neither bulb
nor tuber, are well exemplified in the pink and
carnation. From the under-side and edges of
the crown, thread-like fibres descend and spread
themselves around ; they are also divided and
subdivided, in their progress, into very many
slender filaments. The crown of such kinds of
plants is a flattened conical body, composed of
many smaller ones, the bases of partly advanced
or incipient shoots, each surrounded by several
pairs of radical leaves, which mostly remain sta-
tionary on the body of the parent plant. The
younger leaves are seated on, and rise in pairs
with the flower-stems; these last being elongated

12 INTRODUCTION.

by the growth of the internodial parts. Accord-
ing to the strength or age of the plant, a greater
or lesser number of flower-stems rise, blow, and
die. The rest remain till the next or following
years ; and of these layers, cuttings, or pipings,
are made for the purpose of propagation.

All roots, whether designated fibrous, bulbous,
or tuberous, put forth thread-like fibres, which are
the chief agents for collecting the nutritious
qualities from the earth for the use of the plants.
They are of very curious and delicate structure,
impatient of dry air, or of any change of tem-
perature or humidity. Their growth is always
cotemporary with the other motions of the plant,
and, indeed, the ascending and descending ex-
pansion of vegetable life seem to receive counter
impulses from each other. Fibres cannot be
produced, it appears, without some internal force
or excitement ; so neither can any material ex-
pansion take place in the air but by their as-
sistance. The tender shoots and some of the
fibres of shrubs and trees become woody in time ;
but, in most kinds of bed and border flowers,

INTRODUCTION. 13

the active fibres are renewed and shed annually.
Some are thick and of considerable length, as
narcissus and hyacinth ; others are extremely
attenuated.

It has been a question among florists, how far
the flower and leaves of a plant are nourished by
its bulb or tuber, that is, whether they yield
nourishment as well as protection. The outer
coverings of narcissus, hyacinths, bulbous iris,
&c. appear to be only the remains of former or
unexpanded leaves, which continue to act as a
covering, as before observed, till the slough of
the radical plate from which they sprung falls
off. The interior of these bulbs is occupied by
the flower, stem, and leaves, in the winter ; all
of which are expanded in the spring and summer.
As these go forth, their former space is gradually
filled by the next year's bulb. Now, all these
expanding parts being previously formed, their
developement cannot be said to depend entirely
on themselves, but on some other part of the
system which can assist their expansion, namely,
the roots, which imbibe elemental food. Can

14 INTRODUCTION.

the growing parts derive any benefit from the
outer covering, except protection ? most probably
none. With the new bulb the older one, which
is in the act of expanding, has no other con-
nexion than being seated on the same base.

From the fibrous roots chiefly, and from the
qualities and influences of the air on the exposed
parts, are derived all the nutriment required by
the expanding parts, as well as the smaller por-
tion required by the incipient bulb. When the
stem and leaves are withered, their bases are
compressed and pushed aside by the new-formed
bulb, and their wasted remains are lost in the
exterior envelope. The tulip is not, like the
foregoing, constantly invested with the remains
of former leaves ; they are completely exhausted
in the summer growth, and the new bulb is only
left covered by a thin integument.

The changes which take place in permanent
tubers, such as the anemone, are not so easily
detected as those in bulbs. That they are not
diminished in volume by the production of their
summer growth is manifest from the circum-

INTRODUCTION. 15

stance, that they are increased in magnitude
during that period. It is true, that the places of
the first developed buds are the first to decay ;
but then the new buds become more numerous
and dispersed over the enlarged body of the tuber

Fugitive or annual tubers are such as the
orchis. They are perennial by succession, not
by duration, like the anemone. A single tuber,
before its developement, contains two distinct
principles ; the first is expanded in the air, to
produce seed ; the second is formed into a new
tuber in the earth, to be perfected into leaves
and stem, &c. the following year. When the
first has ripened its seed, the whole dies ; leaving
its successor completely formed, to undergo the
like changes in due time ; so that, in fact, it is
only a modification of perpetual reproduction to
continue existence.

But all tubers, whether permanent or fugitive,
are furnished with active fibres, which mainly,
if not entirely, assist in furnishing the necessary
supplies for expansion of the plant, whether in
the air or in the earth.

16 INTRODUCTION.

The duration of flower and other roots is
commonly designated by the terms annual, bien-
nial, and perennial.

Annuals, properly so called, are such as per-
petuate themselves by seeds only ; the whole
plant dying when these are perfected. Some of
this description, however, may be perpetuated by
art, perhaps, for ever, were it a necessary ex-
pedient ; for instance, the balsam among flowers,
and the melon and cucumber among cultivated
fruit. Annual bulbs are exemplified in the cro-
cus ; and annual tubers are such as the orchis
and potatoe. In these instances the identity
vanishes ; that is, the tuber of this year perishes
along with the leaves and stem, while a new
tuber or tubers are formed. Certain parts of
almost all plants are annual or temporary as to
existence ; the fibres, perhaps, of all plants which
are seasonal ; — bulbs and tubers as above noticed;
— the flower-stems of all perennial herbs ; — and
the leaves, flowers, and fruit of shrubs and trees.
We remember no instance of biennial roots
in the flower garden ; but, among culinary vege-

INTRODUCTION. 17

tables, the turnip and carrot, tubers differing
only in form, are examples. If the seeds of these
plants be sown when Nature intends they should,
viz. when they are ripe, the plants are half
formed in the autumn of the first, and perfected
in the summer of the following year. It is said
that the size of these bulbs or tubers are en-
larged by the action of their system of foliage ;
this generating and ^A/-oz67«g- down supplies which
are destined to swell the bulbs and perfect the
seeds in the ensuing season. For this purpose
it is said the leaf-stalks are provided with de-
scending sap-vessels in the first, though they
must be unnecessary in the second, year of their
growth. The knowledge of this remarkable
change in the petiole of the leaves is a discovery
of microscopic examination. To naked practical
eyes this formation is never visible ; and when
this doctrine is practically considered, we must
conclude therefrom, that all individual plants,
having the largest growth of leaves, must also

have the largest roots. But the reverse of this

c

18 INTRODUCTION,

is the case, especially with regard to the two
roots above mentioned, as well as the radish and
many others. The last-named tuber, and turnip
also, are either annuals or biennials according
to the time of the year they are sown.

Perennial flower-roots assume very many dif-
ferent habits. By duration, as the anemone,
which is propagated by enlargement of the
tuber, in which there is an annual subdivision of
the crown. The ranunculus is perennial, partly
by duration and by offsets. The hyacinth, tuhp,
&c. are perennial, from containing in their ra-
dical plate an interminable series of individuals,
which are developed in succession. Fibrous-
rooted flowers are perennial by multiplication of
their crowns, diverging from the first centre.

The modes of increase are also various. Dis-
tinct tubers are in some instances produced on
the lower part of the stem, and just above that
of the former year, as crocus, gladiolus, &c. At
the lower part, as in some sorts of arum ; — from
the body in irregular processes, as anemone ; —

INTRODUCTION. 19

at the shoulders, as ranunculus ; — and at the
edges of the radical plate, as in bulbs and many
other herbaceous plants.

That the flower-stem rises from, and is closely
connected with, the crown of the plate in nar-
cissus, is manifest from the circumstance, that if
the peduncle or flower-stem be forcibly pulled
out of its socket before the flower expands, and
immediately planted in the ground, it will not
only produce fibres to enable it to perfect the
bloom, but also be based by a new bulb, which
will become a perfect plant.

Bulbous-rooted plants, which seldom produce
offsets, may be excited so to do, as before ob-
served, by slicing- off the upper half of the bulb.
This mutilation, taking away the demands of the
flower and leaves, gives an energy to the vivi-
parous principle which sends forth little bulbs
from the sides of the plate, as in hyacinth, or at
the margin of the outer coat, as in hsemanthus.

c 2

20 INTRODUCTION.

OF THE COLOUR OF FLOWERS.

Colours are said to be the gift of light, or of
the form of tlie reflecting surfaces, or rather of
the position of the atoms which compose the
surfaces of bodies. The same substances reflect
different rays of light according as they are
changed in position, exterior form, or constitu-
tional texture. Natural productions are variously
composed, and accordingly reflect almost all the
various rays which compose the stream of light.
Hence the variety of the chromule, or colours of
flowers, and of the different shades of colour in
the same flower. And though the substance of
a variegated petal appears to the eye as perfectly
uniform in its texture, and though no microsco-
pic assistance can detect the difference in the
coloured matter, yet we may be certain that a
difference exists, and also that it is a transferable
quality. The least pressure or touch on a de-
licate vegetable body instantly changes, in some
cases, one tint to that of another.

INTRODUCTION. 21

We are almost ignorant of" the cause of these
different conformations. Philosophers assert
that not a particle of light can be lost, but only
changed by entering into chemical combination
with other bodies, and producing, by means of
oxygen, a certain acidification of the colourable
recipients. Florists have long wished for the
power to change, as they could wish, the colours
of their flowers. Some approach has been made
towards the accomplishment of this desirable
faculty in some few cases; and there is no doubt
but that, in time, such discoveries will be made
as will in some measure invest the florist with
this necessary knowledge.

By art we can change the colours and forms
of flowers, and give new qualities to fruit, by
the well-known expedient of cross impregnation
(which shall be fully described in the sequel) ;
but in the case of full flowers, which rarely ad-
mit of such manipulation, recourse must be had
to other expedients, and which, it is presumed,
will sooner or later be furnished by the excellent
science of chemistry.

22 INTROUUCTiON.

The running of fine double flowers, that is,
suddenly returning to their whole or original
colour, has long been the plague and puzzle of
florists. They have never been able to account
for the circumstance satisfactorily. Some ima-
gine that the change is caused by too much or
too rich dress ; others assert that an over-lean
or sandy soil produces the same effect ; and it
appears clearly proved, that in very dry and
warm summers such mutations of colour take
place, even more extensively than in ordinary
seasons.

As relating to this circumstance, may be men-
tioned a very general opinion amongst the culti-
vators of flowers, that the richer the soil the
deeper will be the tints of the bloom. The co-
lour of the hydrangea hortensis can be changed
by the qualities of the mould in which it is
placed ; and the natural colour of the common
primrose is very soon changed to a pink or yel-
lowish brown by being planted in cow-dung.
On this account it is, that the pure droppings of
animals have always been preferred as a priuci-

INTRODUCTION. 23

pal ingredient in flower composts ; because ob-
servation and experience have proved, that the
tints of flowers become more vivid from the qua-
lities contained in such substances. Chemists
tell us that oxygen gas gives colour and scent to
flowers and leaves, as well as to every other part
of vegetables. An analysis of the compost in
which they succeed best would greatly assist the
florist ; indeed, it may be presumed that chemis-
try applied to floriculture would be productive
of the best results. I know not a better o})por-
tunity afforded to a chemist, who may be fond of
flowers, than the usual custom of growing bulbs
in water. With them he might try many ex-
periments, by impregnating the water with va-
rious chemical bodies, and marking the results.
I have never tried such experiments myself, but
recommend them to the notice of the curious.

The mutability of the colours of flowers in
cultivation has been long noticed by naturalists.
M. DecandoUe, a French botanist of eminence,
has written on this subject; and has particularly

24 INTROUUCTION.

marked the transitions of one colour to anothen
lle says, —

" The colours of flowers are variable, but only
within certain limits. Lively yellow are the
least variable ; dull yellow in general become
white or red, but never blue ;" and adds, that it
is not likely we shall ever see a blue Dahlia.

In proportion as plants are cultivated, and
undergo the constant and various manipulations
of the florist, so are they changed in habit and
colour. Bulbs, as being- of all others most easily
transported, and yielding- readily their fine con-
spicuous flowers, have always had an extra share
of the care and regard of mankind. Placed in
closely planted order in the garden, they imparted
and received all the chances and influence of
cross impregnation by accident. As favourites,
they had always the best and richest composts to
invigorate and encourage them, and in which
various qualities existed that would change their
natural hues, or add to the brilliancy of their
original colours. These circumstances suffi-

INTRODUCTION. 25

ciently account for the vast variety of forms and
colours among; our stage, bed, and border flowers
now in cultivation ; and from these consequences
it may safely be predicted, that all our new or
lately introduced bulbs, still bearing their natural
forms and colours, may be, by artificial manage-
ment, changed and broken into all the variations
of colour, of which, according to M. DecandoUe,
they are susceptible.

In former times, when the botanical philoso-
pher was called upon to account for the variega-
tion of the leaves or flow^ers of plants, he answered
that it was owing to a disease in the habit. Jf
it be a disease, it is a mild one ; the growth or
stature of the plant is not affected ; and it is not
until it gets aged that the imputed malady
generally disappears. Like a disease, it is trans-
ferable from one plant to another ; and must be
either a malformation of the structure, or a change
of the qualities of the sap. If of the former, the
change of tint, which depends on form, may be
rationally accounted for ; but if of the latter, it

'26 IXTRODUCTIOX.

becomes a puzzling question, as connected with
other physiological facts.

In breaking flowers by impregnation the fol-
lowing means must be used. Any flower of a
fine form and size, but destitute of high or deep
colour, is fixed on to be improved ; and also the
high-coloured flower whose tints are wished to
be imparted. The two parents are such as it is
likely will blow on the same day. If both are
well watered (if needful) the day previous, it will
assist the operation. Soon as the plant destined
to be the female opens its blossom in the morning,
let it be immediately deprived of its own stamens
by a pair of fine pointed scissors.

Soon as its stigma or stisrmas are fullv de-
cs o •/

veloped, which may be known by their glisten-
ing appearance, bring the ripe stamens of the
intended male parent, and therewith dust and
cover the stigmas of the female, and immediately
shade from direct sunshine, and shelter from
wind, if either be necessary. This should be
repeated several times in the course of the same

INTRODUCTION. 27

and following' day. If the impregnation has
taken place, the flower will soon fade ; but if not,
it will remain longer in vigour ; in which case
the stigmata may be again dusted with pollen to
ensure success. The pod or pods so impreg-
nated should have every care bestowed to bring
the seeds to perfection, by being kept guarded
from accidents and from exhaustion by other
pods on the plant.

Should seeds come to perfection, be sowed,
grow, and be reared to a flowering state, the
major part of them will be found to have inherited
the form and size of the mother, and blended
with or wholly of the colour of the father plant.
In most plants which have been subjected to this
process, the result is very uniformly as above
stated. It is a curious and interesting expe-
dient, and particularly useful to the commercial
florist. It gives scope for the most extensive
improvements in floriculture : it presents a pros-
pect of how much Nature may be varied and
improved by art, and of the flower-gardens of
futurity, which will be embellished by new de-

28 INTRODUCTION.

scriptions of floral beauty, never hitherto con-
templated by the most enthusiastic of Flora's
votaries.

All flowering- plants which perfect the two
most essential parts of fructification, viz. the
stamens and stigma, whether single or semi-
double, are capable of being fecundified in a lesser
or greater degree by each other. The families of
lilies, pinks, &c. &c. are particularly susceptible
of such manipulation; and though the Dutch,
French, and several English florists have brought
cross-impregnation to great perfection, the art
may be said to be still in its infancy.

The aim and objects of the florist are very
different from those of the mere botanist and
such as are admirers of simple unassisted Nature
only. By the latter, double flowers are considered
monstrous — as aberrations from the simple
elegance of Nature. But as admiration is be-
stowed on every branch of imitative art, why
should not the talent and ingenuity of the florist
receive his share of commendation for the pro-
duction of realities, which is so readily given to

INTRODUCTION. 29

and lavishly bestowed on pencilled representations
of the same objects? Monstrosities in animate
nature can yield no pure pleasurable ideas ;
they are only valued, from motives of curiosity,
for their singularity as a lusus naturae ; but such
incidents in the flower-garden are surely admis-
sible ; for there they are only an exuberance of
elegance, in forms and colours ; in short, an
excess of sweetness. Flowers, indeed, may be
uninviting or uninteresting ; but they never can
be positively ugly.

OF THE SCENT OR AROMA OF
FLOWERS.

The fragrance is one of the most attractive
and agreeable properties of flowers. Some plants
emit an odoriferous effluvia from their leaves and
stems at all times; but it is chiefly while they
are most interesting to the sight that they are also
most dehghtful to the smell. Many flowers are
scentless, and several are disagreeable ; but the

30 INTRODUCTION.

great majority of them, if not extremely fragrant,
are always in some degree refreshing to the sense.

As the atmosphere conveys this quality to a
considerable distance, it must be a fugitive body
sufficiently material, though invisible, to be in-
corporated with common air in a gaseous or
other highly refined state. It seems to be yielded
most intensely from the centre of the flower ;
hence it has been supposed to be a kind of
vapour from the honey or nectar; but it is also
contained in the other parts, as detached calyces,
petals, stamens, style, and pericarp, as well as the
seeds, which carry with them the aroma more or
less intense.

Scent may be discharged and transferred by
contact, detrition, maceration, dilution, &c., and
combined with other substances, in which it may
be preserved ; of course, it is intimately united
to the essential oils, aqueous juices, or fibrous
components of the plant.

The state of the air has considerable influence
in regard to the intensity of floral scent. In a
fine, still, dewy morning, the air is as it were

INTRODUCTION. 31

surcharged with it ; but soon as the suq's heat
increases evaporation, or should sweeping- winds
prevail, the scent is dispersed far and wide.

A curious circumstance, lately noticed, shows
that the fragrance of flowers is capable of being
exalted by qualities placed, or which happen to
be, in the near neighbourhood. Onions growing
near roses improve their scent. This seems to
be a proof that there is an intro-susception of
the extraneous quality ; and, moreover, confirms
the old idea, that strong or pungent applications
to the roots exalt, not only the colour, but the
scent also.

It has been noticed, of the common ever-
flowering Chinese rose, that, when first introduced,
about 1793, it was, as the little darker- red one
still is, almost scentless ; though now, 1829, with
many of its varieties, highly fragrant.

OF SOILS

The surface of our planet is composed of
various descriptions of matter, all arranged and

32 INTRODUCTION.

disposed by the action of fire and water. These
deposits declare the universality, force, and direc-
tion of a general mighty current, and also the
courses and effects of partial currents, generated
while the waters were receding from the deluged
earth. The eastern sides of all mountains, hills,
or any considerable elevation of surface, are less
precipitous than the western ; the latter being
more abrupt and washed bare by the general
current, which evidently flowed from the west.
Hence we find the finest of the detritus of the
antediluvian surface carried to, and deposited on,
the eastern slopes, especially that description of
soil called loam. It also appears that, during the
time when the flood was passing off, partial cur-
rents were in action, falling from the higher to
the lower ground. The larger valleys were
partly formed by, while they conveyed, the larger
currents ; receiving the inferior streams along
their sides ; these forming smaller valleys, ravines,
and all those beautiful undulations of surface
which exist at this day.

The depth and rapidity of a current gives cha-

INTPtODUCTIOX. 33

racter to its channel. If deep and slow, whatever
particles of earth it contains are deposited in the
consistence of mud. If shallow and rapid, the
lighter earthy matter is washed away, and the
bottom is covered with stones, which become
boldered by their action on each ether. So the
snrface of the earth is now found to be sand,
gravel, loam, clay, or bare rock, according- to the
depth or rapidity of the currents which passed,
and in passing deposited them.

Although the general surface was formed by
the action of the deluge, there has been formed,
since, other descriptions of soil, which are parti-
cularly useftd in the cultivation of flowers, and
which will be noticed in their place.

Sand. — This is composed of stones of the
smallest dimensions, equal in size and figure,
semi-transparent, and light enough to be carried
along by action of water, which washes it clean
from other earthy matter, and deposits it in
beds below the shelves of the channel. It is a
residuum from lighter earths, or the detritus
of rock or gravel, separated by a lively current,

D

34 INTRODUCTION.

and precipitated when the current is in a certain
degree moderated. It is found of many different
colours ; contains but little vegetable food ; but
is an indispensable component in all composts.
The pure white, or lightest coloured, usually
found on commons, is the best for the florists
and all horticultural purposes : the deep-brown
or black, often containing ferruginous qualities,
is hurtful to most plants. Sea or river sand
may sometimes be used with propriety and ad-
vantage when pure pit sand cannot be had.

Clay — In its general character, is composed
of very minute particles of earth reduced to their
ultimate degree of fineness ; consequently closely
compacted, adhesive, impervious to air or water;
hardens in the sun, and burns to a red earth.
Clay is changed into loam by cultivation, and
the addition of sand, lime, and other friable sub-
stances.

Loam. — Soils, commonly so called, are supe-
rior to all other for the purposes of the florist.
It is a well-proportioned mixture of fine clay
and sand, containing as much of the former as

INTRODUCTION. 35

gives mellow compactness, and no more of the
latter than makes it sufficiently absorbent of
water and receptive of every influence from the
atmosphere. It is usually found of considerable
depth, and reposing" on rock, or clay, and some-
times, though more rarely, on gravel. Loam, in
its natural state, is of various colours ; on some
elevated situations it is red ; in valleys, it is
almost black; but on gentle declivities, pale
brown or hazel. That best suited to the culture
of flowers is found in old pastures, on commons,
and in natural woodlands ; either composing the
surface, or in pits of considerable depth. When
obtained pure from such wastes it is called
maiden loam, because it has not been exhausted
by crops, and because it contains a certain quality
which has yet no name among cultivators ; a
quality, which is, beyond all others, favourable to
vegetation — this luxuriating when that is pre-
sent, and faihng when it is fled. This maiden
quality exists in different degrees in all kinds of
loam, and indeed in all kinds of soil when first
broken up.

d2

36 INTRODUCTION.

Marl — Is a species of clay or loam mixed
with lime, and often \ery suitable for forming
heavy composts.

Bog, moss, or ijcat earth — Is not a diluvial
deposit, but an accumulation of decayed vege-
table matter, in hollows of stagnant water.
This should be very cautiously employed by the
florist, and never but as a medium for other
qualities, after its own hurtful principles have
been dissipated.

Moor earth — Is that thin turf of fine sand
and decayed vegetable matter found on com-
mons or waste land where heath usually and
naturally grows. This is the favourite soil of a
very numerous and beautiful division of plants,
and is an indispensable auxihary of the florist.
Where it cannot be conveniently obtained, it
may be w^ell imitated by mixing equal parts of
fine white sand and leaf mould.

Leaf mould. — This is composed entirely of
rotten leaves, decayed wood, twigs, bark, and
other wreck of vegetation. It may be found in
old saw-pits, in woods, or procured by collecting

INTRODUCTIOy. 37

leaves in the autumn, keeping- them heaped to-
gether in a pit or shady place, and, if occasionally
moistened with manured water to hasten decom-
position, a most valuable material would be ob-
tained for every purpose of the florist.

These are the various soils and substances
which Nature presents to the horticulturalist, and
of which, and other substances, he compounds
his composts, according to their nature and capa-
bilities of receiving assistance from art. That
different plants require different descriptions of
soil is an universally acknowledged fact. When
a plant is first taken into cultivation, the culti-
vator generally takes a lesson from Nature, parti-
cularly as to the kind and qualities of the soil of
the native habitat ; rightly judging that his
artificial compost shoald be similar, in order to
expect and secure success in the management.
And though an exact resemblance in constitu-
tion and quality would be sufficient for the mere
existence and ordinary growth of the plant so
translocated, yet the florist is not merely content
with its existence : he will study to pamper it

38 INTRODUCTION.

into extraordinary growth — to increase the mag-
nitude of its flowers — heighten or vary its colours
— and augment the number of its offspring.
For these purposes, he supplies his favourite, not
only with the simple materials of its native bed,
but each constituent in increased proportion.

The proper apphcation of these succedaneums
is the result of observation and experience. It
is a specific portion of horticultural knowledge
which has descended from former to the present
race of florists ; and that it may be more widely
known, and handed down to posterity, is one
purpose of this little work.

The pre-requisites of flower-beds and com-
posts, are depth, friability, and necessary rich-
ness.

The practice of trenching the sites of flower-
beds to the depth of three feet is found to be
of great service ; not that any of the fibrous
roots can reach so low, but because the bed
should be quickly drained after much rain, and
that in dry weather the roots may be invited to
run as deep as they have a tendency to go

INTRODUCTION. 39

There is another reason for deep trenching",
which is no doubt as beneficial to flowers as it
is to all other plants ; viz. they receive a greater
share of that genial moist warmth which is at
all times rising from the interior of the earth to
its surface. This is a circumstance not enough
attended to; and by many practitioners quite
unheeded : it is, nevertheless, a great assistant
to vegetation. According as we descend, the
temperature increases. In the winter and spring
months, it is by several degrees warmer at
the depth of three feet than at or near the
surface. The ground being opened to that
depth, therefore, permits the ascent of this warm
steam in cold weather, and allows it to rise like
a refreshing vapour when the weather is hot and
dry ; in both seasons of much advantage to the
roots.

Friability. — That flowers may have every en-
couragement from the constitutional texture of
the compost they are placed on, it is prepared by
being compounded, aerated, and screened, till it
is free from stones, clods, &c. and all of a uniform

40 INTRODUCTION.

consistence. It should not be liable to knead in
working, nor run together under heavy rain. By
the addition of" sand, rotten dung, or leaf mould,
it must be sufficiently porous to receive, and as
readily discharge, any excess of water, as well as
allow the penetration of every quality from the
air, which is beneficial to plants.

Enriching. — The high fertility of the soil in-
tended for flowers is one of the principal pro-
visions to be made for their prosperity. In the
compost every ingredient should be present that
experience has discovered to be useful, and every
quality added which successfid practice sanctions,
or even what rational ingenuity may suggest.
The luxuriance of the plants depends on the
suitableness and temperament of the compost ;
and the richness of the tints depends on the qua-
lities contained in it.

OF COVERINGS, STAGES, &c.

For the defence of fine bed-flowers from in-
clement weather, and to preserve them in beauty

INTRODUCTION. 41

as long as possible, the florist who wishes to excel
in the art, and derive the utmost satisfaction from
the pursuit, should provide himself with every
necessary appendage for the purpose. The means
of temporary protection against rain, hail, or
snow, and awnings for the preservation of the
full-blown flowers, are both necessary.

Stages, as well as beds, require these apper-
tinents. Few lovers of flowers, who take delight
in their cultivation, can grudge the expense of
proper means for both shade and shelter. Com-
mercial florists have arrangements for these pur-
poses on an extensive scale, embracing all the
advantages of convenience and utility : the ama-
teur, or flower-fancier, adopts as much of these
contrivances as is sufficient for his more limited
designs.

For all bed-flowers, particularly hyacinths
and tulips, the beds should be surrounded by
boarding from twelve to thirty-six inches high,
to give, for ease of examination, the necessary
elevation to the flowers. Staples driven in at
the corners and alone; the sides of this boardinc:

42 INTRODUCTION.

serve to admit wooden or iron hoops, which,
connected along the centre and at the eaves with
slight laths, form a sufficiently firm and effective
frame to bear any covering of mats or canvass.

Carnation stages are either single or double ;
that is, having one or both sides composed of
graduated shelves. In the one case, a walk in
front is sufficient ; in the other, the walk is
carried all round. Those for auriculas are
similar ; both being raised on feet, each of
which stands in pans of water, to prevent the
visits of creeping insects, which very frequently
molest the florist.

When the fohage of the plants has advanced
so far as to be in jeopardy from frost, &c. the
hoops are placed, and the coverings got ready to
be employed as the weather directs. Tulips are,
much more than others, liable to be injured, es-
pecially during the months of February, March,
and April. They are then most easily damaged
by hail, or by water resting near and afterwards
frozen round the flower-bud ; and, though every
care should be bestowed to protect the plants

INTRODUCTION. 43

from such casualties, yet they must not be de-
prived of the full air too long at a time, as this
would injure by enfeebling them. So much is
over-covering to be guarded against, that some
most inteUigent cultivators use only small -meshed
nets as a defence, which they maintain is suffi-
cient against every change of weather.

When the flowers begin to show colour, pre-
parations must be made to erect the awning.
This is intended to shade them from the sun, and
shelter them from high winds. The frame should
be as light in its construction as is consistent
with its stability against blowing weather. It
is either a permanent erection of slender columns,
eaves-plate, rafters, and ridge-board, or a tem-
porary framing of similar scantlings, screw-bolted
together for the purpose. The former are pre-
ferred by the commercial florist ; the latter by
private growers.

No directions need be given for a permanent
structure that any common carpenter can sup-
ply and execute. But for those who only need
a temporary thing of the kind, the following

44 INTRODUCTION'.

description of a very suitable and convenient one
may be useful.

The bed is surrounded by a fine g-ravel or sand
walk, tv/o and a half feet wide : on the outside
of the walk, oaken trunks, sixteen inches long,
having- central openings tvv^o inches square, are
sunk and firmly rammed in the ground, their
tops level therewith. These trunks have each a
capped stopper, to be put in when the frame is
taken away; they remaining- always in their
places, and serve as sockets to receive light
columns six feet high, turned out of three-inch-
square stuff, having a two-inch-square tenon to
fit into the trunk, and also a smaller tenon at
top, to pass through the eaves-plate, and also
receive the foot of the rafter which rests upon it.
The rafters meet on a ridge-board to which they
are fastened by a screw-bolt and nut. Besides
the corner columns, intermediate ones are added
according as the length of the bed requires.

The canvass for the roof is in one piece, fixed
by its middle to the ridge-board ; the two sides
being moveable on rollers or otherwise, and rolled

INTRODUCTION. 45

up or let down at pleasure. The ends and sides
are closed by curtains, and hung on headed studs
driven into the end rafters and eaves-plate, by
eyelet-holes worked in the upper leech of the cur-
tains ; at the bottom, they are fastened down by
tenter-hooks or ties. Such a frame and avv'ning;,
if care be taken to lay it up dry in a spare room,
will last for many years; and, when in use, may
be made, by ornaments fixed at the ends of the
ridge and at the tops of the columns, not at all
an unsightly object, even in the flower-garden.

OF INSECTS, &c. DESTRUCTIVE TO
FLOWERS.

The florist has continually to guard against
the depredations of enemies that feast on and
disfigure his choice flowers. Snails {Helix) and
slugs {LimcLx agrestis) are the most common and
destructive to both flowers and foliage. They
are easiest got rid of by watering the ground or
places where they harbour with lime or salted

46 INTRODUCTION.

water; care being taken that the last be not too
strong, nor reach the roots of the plants in any
great quantity. Another most effectual remedy
s dusting the plants and ground among them
with hot lime. The most convenient way of
doing this is by putting recently slacked lime
into a small bag, about eighteen inches long,
made of thin canvass, and filled about half full.
This, held by the mouth in one hand, and
quickly jerked towards the plants, a cloud of the
finest of the lime will be forced through the bag,
and, reaching every cranny, will fall hghtly and
equally on every surface. This will drive every
slug, snail, and earth-worm from the place, or
make them retire as low as they can into the
earth, where they will remain motionless for
several days ; nor will they again venture out
while the lime retains any portion of its caus-
ticity. This dressing repeated occasionally, and
especially after rain, wall keep all such depre-
dators at a proper distance. Dry oat or wheat
chaff laid round favourite plants is also a great
baulk to the snails or slugs in their motions.

INTRODUCTION. 47

Two species of wire-worms, as they are called,
prey on the roots of flowers. One appears to be
a minute species of Scolopendra ; the other is the
larva of the springing beetle {Elater castajieus?);
and a third I have lately noticed, as destructive
to tulips, is a Styphalinus. I am not acquainted
with any application which is either fatal or
noxious to those hardy worms. Lime or salted
water is the only thing- I would suggest to offend
them : only, if applied sufficiently powerful for
this purpose, it risks the well-being of the plants.
But, as the former of these insects are mostly
seen in half-decayed nodules of vegetable or
animal matter, and the latter often in the fresh
loam, complete aeration of, and rejecting recent
animal substances from the compost, are the only
precautions to be taken to banish these plagues,
as well as many other species of ground insects.

Woodlice (Oniscus armadillo) burrow about
the roots of flowers, and appear to gnaw the epi-
dermis of plants. An old shoe, filled with hay
sprinkled with sugared water, forms a good trap
for them. This also acts well as a lure for ear-

48 INTRODUCTIOX.

wigs* (For/icula auricularici) , which are very de-
structive to the blossoms of stage-flov/ers. Both
these are, in some measure, guarded against by
setting the stage feet in pans of water; but, as
earwigs fly when young, they can easily alight on
the plants. Yet it is only when they are old that
they are so voracious ; and then, as they never
fly, the pans of water so placed may be useful.

The green-fly {Aphides) frequently seat them-
selves on flowers, particularly the carnation.
They are easily dislodged : but the means are
not a pleasant application for objects whose high
recommendation is their scent. An infusion, the

* Earwigs can only be got rid of by capture. Bean-
stalks or reeds are too fragile and perishable for the purpose.
I recommend, for the preservation of wall-fruit (and flowers
also), a trap made of twenty tin tubes, one quarter of an inch
diameter, each having a stop or division in the middle, and
eight inches in length, all soldered together in a plane, side to
side. This, fust dipped in honeyed or sugared water, and
placed close to the wall, behind a branch, will at once attract
the insects to feed, and induce them to remain in the lubes;
out of which they may be shaken into a pail of hot water, as
often as necessary. Such traps will cost about four shillings
each, or according to size.

INTRODUCTION. 49

powder, or smoke, of tobacco, are all fatal to these
honey- dew- making insects. In this case, the
florist's duty is the same as the fruit-grower's :
they both should endeavour to prevent the
attack rather than wait to perform a cure. If
the insects appear before the flowers, tobacco
may be used without fear of injuring their
sweetness: and, whether they have showed
themselves or not, a good fumigation about a
week before they blow will probably keep the in-
sects off during the bloom. Anticipating thus
the attack of the fly is an excellent expedient in
the culture of fruit, as well as of flowers ; and,
were it a rule in practice, constantly and timely
observed, many beautiful flowers and much fine
fruit would come to perfection which are every
year spoiled and lost. The fumigation should be
done with- bellows designed for the purpose ; and
if the plants be first sprinkled with water, the
smoke will adhere more readily.

Grubs of different kinds, the larva of moths
and beetles, are sometimes found to prey on
bulbs J but there is no remedy or defence better

50 INTRODUCTION.

than frequently turning and exposing the com-
post before it is used, and now and then adding
a sprinkling of hot lime, which will prevent its
being chosen either as a retreat or nestling-place
by the insects.

DISEASES OF FLOWER PLANTS.

There is no disease peculiar to bed-flowers
which is not common to almost all other vege-
tables. Bulbs, particularly of tulips, are subject
to a kind of canker, which is not easily accounted
for. It appears in putrefying specks on the out-
sides of the bulbs and leaves, and is soon covered
with a blue mucor, and probably is the seizure
of a fungus. It is soon fatal if it extend to the
radical plate after the bulb is in the ground ; dy-
ing off as onions are often seen to do. When ob-
served on the bulb, the speck should be cut out,
and the wound exposed to the sun to heal it. It
should also be cut from the leaves to prevent its
spreading.

CULTIVATION.

TULIPA GESNERIANA.

GARDEN TULIP.

Class, HEXANDRIA. Order, MONOGYNIA.

NaTURAI> OllDER, LILLI^.

The tulip has long been a cultivated favourite.
The simple elegance of its form, and the splen-
dour and variety of its colours, have deservedly
ranked it as " the queen of the flower-garden."
Being one of the harbingers of summer, there
are many pleasing ideas associated with its ap-
pearance. As a child of returning spring, and
v;hen all Nature revives, it is connected with
the hopes of man. Hence the tulip has always
had a distinguished place as a domestic ornament;

E 2

52 CULTIVATION.

and no vegetable ornament repays the care of its
protector with more various beauty than this.

To increase the magnitude and improve the
form, to add to the number and brilHancy of the
tints, the florist has recourse to various expedients
to produce the desired results. He propagates
by seeds and offsets ; and, when these have ar-
rived at a proper age or size, treats them in the
way now to be briefly detailed.

In propagating by seed, the rule is to procure
the best-ripened seed from what are called,
amongst florists, " breeders ;'' that is, strong-
growing, robust plants, with well-formed cups,
having clear bottoms, either white or yellow.
The sorts from which valuable seedlings have
been obtained are, according to the ingenious
Mr. Hogg, Louis, Charbonniere, Davey's Tra-
falgar, and some others in high repute in the
profession.

The seed should be sowed in the latter end of
January, or the beginning of February, in twenty-
four-sized pots. The pots should be well drained
by lime-core or rubbish, to keep away earth-

GARDEN TULIP. 53

worms, which are hurtful to the plants. The
soil should be good, and carefully freed from
wire-worms, grubs, or other insects that may ac-
cidentally harbour in it. Cover the seeds about
half an inch with sifted mould, and keep the
whole body of earth in the pot rather moist than
otherwise. The seed-pots must have the protec-
tion of a frame and glazed sash, and be defended
from severe frost. When the seedlings are up,
they should be gradually inured to the open air
and mild sunshine mornings and evenings.
Watering must be moderately continued while
the leaves continue to grow, or remain green;
and, when dead and withered, the pots must be
kept dry for a short time before the little bulbs
are taken up, to be dried and stored in the usual
manner.

This is the common practice. But Mr.
Sweet advises another plan, which will very
much expedite the period of their flowering.
He sows immediately as the seeds are ripe : and
giving the seed-pots or pans a winter protection
in a frame, the seedlings come up in the spring.

54 CULTIVATION.

As soon as they are fit to handle, they are pricked
out on abed of sandy soil. When the leaves die,
the bulbs are taken up, and immediately planted
in a fresh bed (no time bein^ lost by storing) ;
and thus, by keeping them constantly in motion,
Mr. Sweet has no doubt but that they may be
brought to shew flower the third year.

A bed of suitable soil should be prepared for
the seedling bulbs, in the open ground, before
the middle of October, the usual time for re-
planting. Tn this they should be neatly drilled,
ordibbed in, about two inches deep ; and, during
their progress in the following spring and sum-
mer, be carefully guarded from insects, slugs, &c.,
and receive every encouragement from cleanli-
ness, occasional watering, and the like.

Such attention and treatment are necessary
every following year, in order to accelerate the
period of their flowering. The florist must re-
member, that the first flower is actually formed
in the seed, enveloped in a certain number of
leaves; which leaves must be all developed
before the flower can possibly come forth ; so

GARDEN TULIP. 55

that the stronger the seedling grows, or rather,
the more leaves it has power to put forth in any
one year or years, the sooner will it present its
flower. All this time the anxious florist must
wait, and remain in ignorance whether, as Mr.
Hogg observes, he has got a prize, or only a
progeny of blanks !

It may be just remarked here, in respect of
seeds, that the choicest coloured flowers are bad
breeders, and that when they do yield seeds,
give offspring of less value in every respect than
such as are nearer to their natural state. This
circumstance seems to indicate, that the further
they are from their natural character, the less
powerful are they to perpetuate their respective
semblances. This, however, is not a singular
characterestic of the tulip; but is observable
in mLiny other instances amongst cultivated
plants.

The propagation of tulips from seed is an
attempt that nothing but the ardent enthusiasm
of a thorough-bred florist could undertake. The
suspense of four or tive years would be intolera-

56 CULTIVATION.

ble to an ordinary mind, where there are so few
chances of success. But the thing is done, and
constantly, by commercial florists, to whom a
new beauty is of considerable importance.

Propagating by offsets is the usual and most
certain method of increasing the stock, and per-
petuating the favourite varieties of the tulip.
As has already been noticed in the introduction,
they, when in vigorous, or even ordinary, health,
produce, besides the principal successor-bulb, one,
two, or more junior bulbs, which, .in the manage-
ment of the principal, it is necessary to displace.
Such viviparous progeny are planted in nursery-
beds by themselves, and are reared and forwarded
to a flowering state in the same way as directed
for seedlings. They come into flower, sooner or
later, according to their size or age ; they then
become principals, and are ranked and cultivated
therewith. It has also been before noticed, that
if the principal be deprived of its flower-stem
early in the season, the offset progeny will be
increased; and this kind of mutilation is carried
so far by the Dutch florists, as before observed,

GARDEN TULIP. 57

that, when they wish a new variety to be ex-
traordinarily prolific in offsets, they cut off the
upper half or apex of the bulb, to produce this
effect.

But the management of perfect bulbs is the
principal business in floriculture, and now falls
to be noticed : — and, first, of the compost. This
should consist of, —

Three barrowfuls of rich mellow loam ;

One barrowfnl of fine leaf-mould ;

One barrowful of old and perfectly rotten
dung; and

Half a barrowful of sea, river, or white pit sand.

This compost should be collected and tho-
roughly incorporated several months before it
is wanted; turned from time to time, kept in a
shady place, and from too much rain. It con-
tains the most suitable substances for the incite-
ment and support of the plant : the loam and
dung yield the nutriment ; the leaf-mould and
sand give that porosity and openness which all
bulbs more or less require.

Some florists imagine that the soil, which, in

oS CULTIVATIOX.

its constitutional temperament, is suitable for the
bulb, may not be rich enough for the radicles
which supply the flower and leaves ; and there-
fore advise one kind of compost for the surface,
and another and richer for the bottom. Mad-
dock, for instance, directs that the natural soil of
the bed be taken out to the depth of twenty
inches, and filled with sound fresh loam to the
heig-ht of ten inches ; upon this is laid a stratum
of two years' old rotten cow-dung and loam
mixed together, twelve inches thick ; and above
all another layer of loam, three inches thick, to
form the surface. There is reason in thus com-
posing the bed ; because, as any kind of animal
manure is foreign to the plant, it should only be
offered to them ; that is, put within their reach,
and if suitable, they will find and partake of it ;
and if not, there w^ill be no risk of injury from it
being forced upon, or placed in contact with, the
bulbs, which, from its property of retaining wa-
ter, and inviting insects, might be, perhaps,
detrimental to them. And even if placed at a
greater depth than their roots can ever be ex-

GARDEN TULIP. 51)

pected to reach, yet the gaseous qualities of the
dung, ranging far round its actual place, may
reach and assist the plants.

The Lord Mayor's day, 9th November, has
been long on fixed by London florists as the
proper time for planting the tulip. In doing this
no other attention is required than placing the
bulbs regularly about six or seven inches apart,
and about three and a half inches deep. Placing
each bulb in a cone of sand is a usual practice ;
it may do good by keeping otF damp and insects
from the bulb while it is inert; and it can do no
harm by impoverishing the soil of the bed. In
order that the business of regulating and plant-
ing the bed may be done with accuracy and de-
spatch, I shall endeavour to describe Mr. Groom's,
of Walworth, (one of our most eminent florists)
excellent method of doing it ; and though it be
not necessary every where, it deserves imitation
wherever it may be applied.

Mr. Groom's principal tulip-bed is four feet
wide within, and one hundred and twenty or more
feet in lens-th. It is raised fifteen inches above

60 CULTIVATION.

the surface of the surrounding- walks, by neat
boarding. For the purpose of levelHng the surface
for planting-, marking the places of the bulbs, and
regulating the surface afterwards, he has invented
a gauge called a strike. This strike is made of
a thin light board, one foot longer than the width
of the bed, and about seven inches broad. Its
under edge, which is used for levelling the bed to
receive the roots, and marking their places, has
notches, three and a half inches deep, near each
end, which fit on the upper edge of the side
boards ; and, on being moved backwards or
forwards by a man at each end, lays the surface
in the desired form ; the lower edge being
curved for the purpose, so as to leave the surface
of the mould about two inches higher in the
middle than at the sides. Thus levelled, the
bed is ready to receive the bulbs ; their places
are marked by means of the strike. Seven rows
are planted lengthways of the bed, at the dis-
tance of seven inches between ; leaving three
inches at each side betwixt the outside rows and
the boards. The places of the rows are marked

GARDEN TULIP. 61

on the strike, and at these points small staples,
one above the other, are fixed on the face of the
strike ; these receive seven small pegs, or dib-
bers, which, when the strike is put dovvn at each
mark regulating the distances between the cross
rows (the same as that between the long rows),
marks the exact places of the bulbs.

The roots, being placed, are now covered up
with the proper compost, which is usually of a
lighter description than that in the bottom, and
the surface is smoothed off by the strike reversed;
the upper edge of which, for this operation, is also
cut with a curve, having shoulders at each end
taking in the whole width of the bed and side-
boards ; upon and against which the shoulders
slide, while the strike is moved onward to take
otf the redundant covering, leaving the surface
about three inches higher along the middle than
at the sides.

From this description, an idea may be had of
how easily and expeditiously the planting is done.

Such a mechanical method of planting and
arranging a flower-bed is certainly preferable to

62 CULTIVATION".

mere random proceeding ; it should certainly be
adopted where there is much to do ; though any
thing on a small scale may be done accurately
enough without either boarding or strike.

In preparing the bulbs for planting, it is re-
commended by some writers to divest them not
only of their offsets, but also of the brown in-
tegument with which they are covered. I never
heard, nor am I aware of any good reason for
this ; and therefore think it a refinement amongst
florists which may just as well be omitted. If
the bulbs be sound, and free from any loose re-
mains of the last year's bulb, it is enough *.

In general, it is the practice to have either
seven, five, or only three rows on a tulip-bed.
The largest bulbs, or rather the tallest growers,
are placed in the middle row ; the intermediate
next ; and the dwarf, or lowest growers, at the
sides of the bed.

* There is one reason given for divesting the bulb of the
brown covering, viz. that it sometimes prevents the protru-
sion of the side roots.

GARDEN' TULIP. 63

The bed should be placed in an open part of
the garden, usually in front of the conservatory
or greenhouse, which is its proper place. There
it will have full air, and all the natural shelter it
requires.

As soon as the planting is finished, or soon
as the points of the leaves appear above ground,
the hoops should be fixed and the covering ready
to be used against hail-storms, snow, or long-con-
tinued rain. This care and attention must be
continued till all danger from wintry weather is
over.

The bed should be allowed to have a thorough
soaking in the spring. Tulips are never sup-
posed to stand in need of hand-watering ; and,
therefore, a provision should be made, in forming
the bed, to meet any lack of moisture caused by
a dry spring, or first months of summer. Deep
trenching the bottom of the bed, and putting in
a good layer of rotten dung at a proper deptli,
are both judicious practices for retaining mois-
ture in the bed ; because a body of dung holds
moisture much longer than any of the other in-

64 CULTLVATIOX.

gredients of a flower-compost. It becomes a
reservoir of humidity, from which exhalation is
ever rising, most refreshing to fibrils that des-
cend in quest of it.

Having defended the plants from the rigours
of the winter and early spring months, the next
thing is preparing to give them the necessary
protection while they are advancing to, and con-
tinue in, bloom. The expedients for doing this
have already been adverted to : and, now the
collection being in full perfection, the different
distinctions of the varieties composing it are to
be noticed.

Tulips are regarded in two grand divisions,
viz. early and late blowers. The former, though
they are the first to regale the eye, are the least
esteemed by the florist ; because they are more
diminutive, more fugitive, and less richly varied
in colour. It is the latter description on which
so much care and admiration are bestowed, and
to which our observations specially refer. It is
divided into grades by the florist, and dis-
tinguished by the names following, viz. — 1. Byb-

GARDEN TULIP. 65

loemcns. 2. Primo haguets. 3. Bagiiet rigauts.
4. Incomfcirable verports. These have white
bottoms or grounds. 5. Roses. And 6. Bizards.
Which last variety have yellow bottoms, or
grounds ; i. e. the general colour of the petals is
yellow, with markings or streaks of other tints.
The roses have white grounds, with rose-coloured
margins, spots, and streaks.

There are, besides, in the extensive family of
the tulip, peculiar varieties of all the above ;
which are valued for singularity of form or
colour. Such are those called parrots, from the
odd mixture of tints and irregular form and po-
sition of their petals. Double-flowered, sweet-
scented, &c., all which varieties, though not ad-
mitted to the distinguished honour of a place in
the principal tulip-bed, are, notwithstanding,
highly ornamental gems of the border.

To preserve neatness and order among the
flowers, it is necessary they be tied up, to pre-
vent them falling from their place. Small green
lines are extended from end to end of the bed,
ranging with the rows ; these stretched tightly

F

66 CULTIVATION.

and supported by intermediate slender props, if
necessary, serve to tie the stems to, with green-
coloured- worsted .

When the beauty of the flowers is over, and
the greater number have lost their petals, the
awning and frame, if it be a moveable one,
should be taken away, the stoppers put on the
trunks, and the hoops again fixed in their places
to allow of occasional covering against excessive
rain. All the seed-vessels should be cut off as
soon as the petals drop ; because, as seeds are not
wanted from the fine flowers, and as this part of
the plant exacts a considerable portion of the
vigour of the system, it is only a waste of it, if
expended on an unnecesary production. It is
perfectly consistent with physiological facts, that
this dismemberment should have the effect al-
leged. It has been already shewn, that there
is an intimate connection between the oviparous
and viviparous organization of bulbous-rooted
plants — a reciprocity of action, balancing the
crescive powers of either. From the moment
the seed-vessel is broken off, the viviparous prin-

GARDEN TCLIP. 67

ciple receives a new impulse ; and that impulse
is to enlarge the next bulb in succession, as well
as the other ofFset-bulbs that may have been pre-
viously formed. The peduncle or stalk, now no
longer useful, begins, like the leaves, to lose its
vitality ; and, shrinking, changes colour, and
gradually withers away.

There is a critical point, during this decay of
the leaves and stem, which experience has proved
should be particularly observed by the tulip
grower ; viz. — when the stem in withering be-
comes of a purple colour, it is a sign that its
connection with the radical plate and fibres (for
with the new bulb it has none v/hatever) is cut
off, and that the new bulb is an independent
being, having " thrown off its mortal coil," and
therefore may be taken out of the ground with
safety. If taken up before this connection is
dissevered by Nature, the new bulb " will be
weak and spongy ;'' and if taken up later it,
by being kept in the ground, continues in a state
of excitement and premature growth, which is

v2

68 CULTIVATION.

injurious to the purity and distinctness of its
colours in the succeeding year.

This sign on the stalk and leaves usually ap-
pears in about three or four weeks after the time
of full bloom ; during which time the bed only
requires to be kept rather dry than otherwise.

When a tulip-bed is regarded as one of the
principal ornaments of a garden, it is an exhibi-
tion of which every friend or stranger has a
view ; and, on the premises of a professional
florist, his tulip-bed is a show to which every
customer is invited. In such cases, next to the
excellence and condition of the flowers is the
precise order of their arrangement. Every
individual having its right place, according to
its height, colour, &c., and, above all, that there
be no unsightly blanks. But with the utmost
care a bulb now and then will die, or send up an
imperfect flower. To remedy such defects, sub-
stitutes from the open ground are brought to fill
up the vacancies. For this purpose an instru-
ment is used, called a transplanter. Two of them

GARDEN TULIP. 69

are necessary in the operation. They are made
of a piece of best tin plate, eighteen inches
by twelve, bent into the form of a cylinder,
or tube, twelve inches long-. The two edges
that meet are not soldered together, but mounted
with counter, or rather alternate placed, loops,
which range with each other when the tube is
closed to admit a wire to pass through them,
thereby connecting the whole securely together.
On the sides, at the upper end, two substantial
wrought-iron handles are riveted, and which
serve to press the tube into the soil containing
the plant to be moved. It is then drawn up,
plant and earth attached, without disturbing the
roots. When this is discharged in its new place
(and which is ready opened by the other instru-
ment), the connecting wire is drawn out of the
loops, which allows the tube to spring open a
little, and easily to quit its charge.

There is another and easier plan, practised by
florists, for filling up gaps in their show-bed.
Phials of water are sunk below the surface in the
vacant spaces, and flowers only Ironi the borders

70 CULTIVATION.

are stuck in from time to time, to make up the
deficiencies.

When the bulbs are taken up, " they should
be gradually dried, and placed in a situation
where they remain so." About the end of
August they may be looked over, and divested
of their loose skins, dead fibres, and the offsets,
which come off easily. The last should not be
torn off rashly froi^i the radical plate, as this
would make large wounds, hurtful to the organi-
zation, or allow its juice to escape.

As the best bulbs are all named, it is neces-
saiy they should be kept unmixed. For this
purpose, the plan of Van Osten is as convenient
as any other. It is a press, or box of shallow
drawers, having folding doors; the bottom of
the drawers is divided into square compartments,
each only large enough to hold a single root.
Corresponding numbers on the compartments
and in a book ruled in squares, and both similar
to the arrangement and stations of the bulbs
in the bed, and a numerical list, are sufficient
for identifying the kinds at all times.

GARDEN TULIP. 71

The usual way of placing the bulbs in the
bed is by a regular mixture of the kinds, so
that two of a kind or colour shall not stand
together, and this for the purpose of giving
variety. But regular mixture is not variety.
Instead of a bybloemen, bizard, rose, &c. con-
stantly repeated in the same row, and then crossly
placed in the next, and again in the third, it
would be better, perhaps, that the different kinds
were grouped together ; not so much from such
disposition being agreeable to Nature, because a
flower-bed is too artificial an object to receive
any such character, but because it would be
more convenient for the purpose of comparison.
In looking at tulips, we compare those of the
same kind with each other — bybloemens with
bybloemens, bizards with bizards, &c. ; and,
therefore, to see their identical or comparative
excellencies, they should be placed in juxta-
position. But as this is merely a matter of per-
sonal taste, it may be done properly either way.

Description of a Jine Tulip. The florist's
taste differs from that of the common observer:

72 CULTIVATION.

it is an acquired portion of knowledge ; and
founded on a standard fixed by a general con-
currence amongst cultivators. A flower may be
ample, splendid in colours and appearance, and
yet have no merit in the estimation of a florist.
He can only admire what approaches his stand-
ard ; he must have a certain form, colour, and
disposition oi colour. Whether the forms and
tints so admired be also the most perfect com-
binations of form and colour is, perhaps, ques-
tionable ; but, as such objects have an extra
value, the attainment of them is a pleasing
pursuit to the amateur, and the possession a
profitable one to the professional florist.

The properties of a first-rate tulip are thus
described by Maddock ; viz. — " The stem should
be strong, elastic, and erect, and about thirty
inches above the surface of the bed.

" The flower should be large, and composed
of six petals : these should proceed a little
horizontally at first, and then turn upwards,
forming almost a perfect cup, with a round bot-
tom, rather widest at the top.

GARDEN TULIP. 73

" The three exterior petals should be rather
larger than the three interior ones, and broader
at their base ; all the petals should have per-
fectly entire edges, free from notch or serra-
ture ; the top of each should be broad and well
rounded : the ground colour of the flower at
the bottom of the cup should be clear white
or yellow ; and the various rich coloured stripes,
which are the principal ornament of a fine tulip,
should be regular, bold, and distinct on the
margin, and terminate in fine broken points,
elegantly feathered or pencilled.

" The centre of each petal should contain one
or more bold blotches or stripes, intermixed with
small portions of the original or breeder colour,
abruptly broken into many irregular obtuse
points. Some florists are of the opinion, that
the central stripes or blotches do not contribute
to the beauty and elegance of the tulip, unless
confined to a narrow stripe, exactly down the
centre, and that they should be perfectly free
from any remains of the original or breeder
colour : it is certain that such appear very beau-

74 CULTIVATION.

tiful and delicate, especially when they have a
reg-ular narrow feathering- at the edge ; but the
greatest connoisseurs in this flower unanimously
agree that it denotes superior merit when the
tulip abounds with rich colouring, distributed in
a distinct and regular manner throughout the
flower, except in the bottom of the cup, which,
it cannot be disputed, should be a clear bright
white or yellow, free from stain or tinge, in order
to constitute a perfect flower."

75

HYACINTHUS ORIENTALIS.

GARDEN HYACINTH.

Class, HEXANDRIA. Ouder, MONOGYNIA,
Natur.u. OiiDTAi, ASPHODKLE/E.

The eastern or garden hyacinth is one of our
principal bed-flowers. So much and so long has
its cultivation been prosecuted, that it forms a
staple commodity of commerce from certain parts
of Holland to all the other states of Ei^rope. The
Dutch florists excel in the business of raising
hyacinths and other bulbs, and on a scale more
hke agriculture than horticulture. They have, in
fact, engrossed almost the whole trade in bulbs. In
this they have been no less fortunate in possessing
a peculiarly suitable soil than they have been

76 CULTIVATION.

from a very general belief, in surrounding; coun-
tries, that bulbs can be no where else cultivated
with success. This idea, so favourable to the
Dutch trade, has, however, been doubted, and
now is proved to be fallacious. For, though
there is no where else in Europe such exten-
sive tracts of comparatively rich sand as they
have in Holland, which could be appropriated
to the cultivation of flower-roots, yet, for all
the purposes of the British florist, the soil can be
imitated with but little expense or trouble. It is
not the natural soil that the Haarlem florists
trust to ; they form their compost for the propa-
gation of, as we do for flowering, them ; and
there is no question, but that hyacinths, as well
as other bulbs, may be as well cultivated in
England, especially near the coast, as they are
in Holland.

One circumstance, however, must not be for-
gotten : full-sized bulbs imported from Hol-
land, or from any other country, will thrive bet-
ter, only from change of air and other circum-
stances, than home-bred bulbs, roots, or seeds of

GARDEN HYACINTH. 11

any Idnd ; exactly as English bulbs, &c. would
do if exported to Holland. But, independent of
change of place, hyacinths may be cultivated any
where in the same latitudes, provided they are
properly treated. This has been confirmed by
many men of the first ability and veracity.

The most suitable soil for this plant is a free
rich sand, or sandy loam. This is evident from
the character of that preferred for it in Holland,
and the experience of those in this country who
have made the cultivation of the hyacinth their
study. Saline qualities, which impregn the air
in Holland, and also the soil, which has been
chiefly reclaimed from the ocean, are supposed to
be peculiarly necessary and favourable to the
growth; and, from a recent trial by the ingenious
Mr. Hogg, as published in the Gardener's Maga-
zine, No. X, it seems to be clear, that a mode-
rate quantity of salt employed in the compost is
a suitable ingredient.

That water contains much of the elemental
food of the plant is evident from the perfection
in which they are flowered in it. The practice is

78 CULTIVATION.

therefore perfectly right, in storing- the compost
with matters retentive or attractive of that ele-
ment, which both rotten cow-dmig and salt de-
cidedly are ; and placing a stratum of the former
at ten inches below the bulbs is also most rational.

The soil prepared for the hyacinth in this
country is an imitation of that used by the Dutch
florists; it is comyjosed of four barrowfuls of fresh
maiden sandy loam ; one ditto well rotten cow-
dung ; two ditto leaf-mould, well reduced ; two
ditto sea or river sand ; and to this is added one
barrowful of old night-soil, all well incorporated
together. This is said to retain its virtues for
three years ; but an annual addition of the in-
gredients near the surface will always be accept-
able to the bulbs, more especially to those reared
on the same spot.

Haddock's compost is made of one barrow-
ful of coarse sea or river sand ; one ditto sandy
loam ; half ditto rotten cow-dung two years old ;
and a quarter ditto of leaf-mould.

Mr. Campbell, in Gardener's Mag., No. VIII.,
asserts, as a general axiom, that wherever the

GARDEN HYACINTH. 79

onion will thrive, the hyacinth will succeed. A
well-trenched free soil, with a liberal allowance
of rotten dung turned in, as well as laid three
inches thick over the surface, are the only means
employed by this successful florist to insure fine
bloom, unfailing' bulbs, and luxuriant true pro-
geny.

Hyacinths may be raised from seed ; but it is
a tedious process, and the chance of obtaining
superior sorts very precarious. Seeds are chosen
from the handsomest single, or rather semi-
double, flowering plants, when the capsule be-
comes yellow and the seeds black. The stem
with the seeds should be kept in a dry and airy
place till the time of sowing-, which may be done
either in the end of October or begining of
March. A deep box, filled with the common
compost, serves as a seed-bed ; the seeds, when
sown, are covered about half an inch. The box
must be kept in a warm place during winter, and
defended from frost. After two years, and on
the approach of winter, the little bulbs should
have an additional covering of compost, and in

80 CULTIVATION'.

the third year may be taken up, and afterwards
managed as offsets.

Offsets are managed by being kept in nursery-
beds till they become of full size, which they
usually do in the third or fourth year.

Hyacinths, whether raised from seeds or off-
sets, have an infancy, youth, and mature age.
The first is that from the time they are inde-
pendent beings till they flower ; the next stage is
from their first flowering till they arrive at their
utmost vigour and volume; and the last is that
natural size which they continue to assume so
long as they continue in health and free from
accident, and which (barring accidents) may be,
by the assistance of art, prolonged for ever. It
is true, that a full-grown bulb shews at last a
kind of decrepitude ; but this appears to be
caused by mismanagement, or want of change
of soil or situation, rather than to any natural
exhaustion of the vital principle.

It is quite rational to conclude, however, that
the hyacinth, like all other vegetables, may fall
into a kind of old age, and at last become extinct.

GARDEN HYACINTH. 81

Even the sturdy oak, the towering; produce of
five hundred years, though its progeny may
shade a thousand acres round, at hist crumbles
into dust !

In Holland, a full-grown bulb is said to con-
tinue in perfection for a dozen years : in this
country it has been long erroneously believed
that, they do not continue more than two or three.
This mistake is much in favour of the Dutch
commercial florists ; and it is a pity that British
florists should be swayed by it. Surely a full-
sized bulb will continue its vigour till its own
ofl'sets can take its place ; unless, indeed, their
culture costs more than new-imported ones.

This error, about the deterioration of bulbs,
has chiefly arisen fron the belief that bulbs are
permanent ; that the bulb of last year wall be
planted in this, and again in the following. But
the identity is only apparent, not real ; that part
of the bulb which flowered last year is perished
and gone, except a small portion of the bases of
its leaves, which now form the outer coat of this
year's bulb ; and this, which now looks so plump

G

82 CULTIVATION.

and perfect, will be almost invisible when taken
up in the next. The outer coats of the hyacinth
are discharged gradually and imperceptibly, the
increments of the bulbs are added from within,
and, consequently, the transmutation is invisible.
The suitableness of the soil and situation in
which a hyacinth is placed not only assists the
bulb of the present year to expand itself with the
greatest vigour, but also indirectly invigorates
and stimulates the incipient successor into
greater volume and power to expand itself in its
turn. The soil is therefore the principal auxiliary
of the florist. By the constitution and components
of this, all the changes produced in the amplitude
and colours of the flowers, compared with their
natural simplicity, is to be attributed. The dou-
ble hyacinth is a child of art ; and when we con-
sider the vast difference that exists between this
and its diminutive original in the wilds of Per-
sia or Greece, we cannot but admire the florist's
skill or labour in accomplishing such results ;
especially as the art is progressing, and probably
still far from perfection.

GARDEN HYACINTH. 83

The bed for hyacinths should be prepared for
their reception during the month of September.
The natural soil, whether suitable or not, should
be trenched three feet deep, for reasons before
given. Of whatever description it may be,
eighteen inches of the surface should be removed
to make way for a previously prepared compost.
If the bed be raised by boarding, the natural
bottom on which it stands should be suffi-
ciently loosened, in order that the whole mass
of compost and earth under the bulbs be of the
same texture or consistence. The bed, whether
boarded or not, should be made up to within
three inches of the desired height, and smoothed
into form to receive the roots.

St. Crispin's day (25th October) is a good
time for planting. If the bulbs are put in much
earlier, except in countries farther north than
London, they may be hurt by being too much
advanced in mid-winter; and if kept out of
ground after this time, they begin to vegetate in
the drawers, or on the shelves ; which, if they
do, it has a tendency to weaken them.

G 2

84 CULTIVATIOX.

Single-flowered hyacinths may be planted
earlier, and will blow earlier than the double
ones ; on which account they are usually planted
by themselves.

The beds are commonly made four feet wide,
which allows six rows to be planted lengthways,
at the distance of eight inches asunder, leaving
four inches between the outside rows and the
sides of the bed : the distance between bulb and
bulb in the rows is also eight inches.

The bulbs should be placed on and covered
with white sand, as directed for tulips ; this
being considered as a preservation from damp
and insects. They are then covered with com-
post three inches thick, if the surface is to re-
ceive no other covering ; but if intended to be
covered with two or three inches of well-rotten
dung about the beginning of December, a
covering of one inch thick of compost will be
sufficient. Another mode of covering I have
practised, which is to cover the bulbs, in the
first place, with about two inches of compost;
and, before the frost sets in, adding a top cover-

GARDEN HYACINTH. 85

ino; of line sifted and perfectly decayed bark,
about one inch thick. This assists to keep off
the frost in winter and the bed cool during
the flowering season. It also allows of a harm-
less practice of showing the flowers to tlie
greatest advantage ; viz. giving the surface a
slight watering about an hour before the flowers
are to be shown to company. A dark-coloured
back-ground is thus given to the flowers, and a
freshness to their colours which is truly pleasing
and well worth the labour.

It is not the practice to water bulbs at any
period of their growth ; and certainly, if the
compost contains substances which are retentive
of humidity, or if there be a layer of moist dung
at the proper distance below, it is perhaps unne-
cessary during the short period of their spring
growth. Otherwise, I see no reason why the
hyacinth should be denied the " vernal showers,"
so invin'oratino- to all veo-etation.

Soon as the points of the leaves appear above
ground, hoops should be fixed, and mats or can-
vass coverings laid ready to be used against the

86 CULTIVATION.

occurrence of very severe frost, heavy snow, or
violent rain. Slight frost or rain does no injury;
indeed there is more fear of over-covering and
preventing a full share of air and light than of
over-exposing the bed to the weather.

If a bulb be frozen through, it and the flovver
will be killed, though the offsets may escape ; and,
if the exterior coats only be frozen, a diminished
stem and flower will afterwards be produced ; but
few or no leaves. This, it may be observed, is a
circumstance frequently witnessed in vegetation,
and particularly bulbs. If the exterior of a bulb
be chilled by cold, or over-dried by warm air, its
central and more vital part, being free from in-
jury, pushes forth before the leaves, and seems to
engross the whole vigour of the system. So, we
sometimes see, under the influence of the mid-
day sun, the flowers of a plant remain erect and
rigid, while its leaves are flaccid and drooping ;
because the flowers depend on the central vessels,
which are less exposed to desiccation than the ex-
terior. Branches of evergreen trees, as the holly
for instance, when denuded of every leaf, and

GARDEN HYACINTH. 87

fast verging to decay, will put forth their flowers
as the last effort of life : even the pine-apple
plant shows the same phenomenon.

It is well, therefore, to defend from severe
frost; though, during the months of January,
February, and March, as much free air must be
admitted as the state of the weather will permit.

In ordinary seasons, it will be towards the
1st of April that the flowers will begin to shew
colour. The awning should now be erected, to
guard against the effects of too much sun. It is
needless to reiterate how much shading enhances
the pleasure and continues the beauty of a hya-
cinth-bed. It gives time to examine and admire
their distinguishing characters, and inspect their
respective excellencies. It is desirable the col-
lection should come into flower together; and, to
accomplish this, the accurate florist takes care to
plant the early blowers a little deeper than the
late ones.

The next attention which the flowers require
is to be prepared with propping-sticks and ties.
The former should be made of oak or deal, three-

88 CULTIVATION.

eighths of an inch diameter, and pointed at bot-
tom, tapering off towards the top, painted green,
and sixteen or eighteen inches in length. These,
stuck in with care behind thebulb, are necessary
for the support of the flowers when their weight
bends the stem. Green worsted ties are the least
conspicuous : encompassing both prop and stem
in loose collars, they rise with the growth of the
latter without confining it in any part.

Thus prevented from falling by the props,
and defended from sun and wind by the awning,
the flowers will continue for nearly three weeks a
pleasing and interesting spectacle. The healthy
freshness of their forms, the splendour of their
colours, and their grateful sweetness of scent,
are a fascinating treat even to those the most
dead to the charms of Nature : but to the lover
of flowers, or genuine florist, it is a gratification
of the highest order, enhancing all the other
enjoyments of life.

Soon as the general beauty of the bloom is
over the awning should be immediately removed,
in order that the plants may enjoy the full air and

GARDEN HYACINTH. 89

light ; for, if the weather has been such during
the bloom that it has been much used, the health
of the plants will be somewhat impaired. They
will not have that constitutional vigour which a
full share of air and light would have imparted ;
and therefore should be exposed as soon as
possible. The hoops may however he replaced,
io allow of covering with mats, &c. in case of
excessive rain.

When the stems and leaves become yellow
and withered, which usually happens in about a
month after the bloom, the bulbs should be taken
up and laid on the surface of the bed, and lightly
covered with sand or with part of the compost.
If it be a named collection, each bulb is taken up
and laid on the same spot sideways, and there
covered over for the space of three weeks, to
ripen, as it is called ; that is, lulled into perfect
repose before they are consigned to their places
in the store-boxes. When the time arrives to do
this the bulbs are taken up one by one, the dead
remains of the stem and leaves are cut off close,
the loose skins and fibres cleaned away, and the

90 CULTIVATION.

largest offsets separated, which, with the bulb
and tally, are placed in their respective cells in
the drawer. In the drawers they are exposed to
the dry air of a room till all perceptible moisture
is dried up, when they are again placed in the
cabinet, to remain till planting- time. This or-
derly way of disposing the bulbs prevents all
confusion or chance of mixture, and saves much
trouble in papering and numbering in the com-
mon way. But, where the collection is not
named, the bulbs, when first taken up, may be
laid out of the way in any bye corner to ripen,
leaving the bed clear for any other purpose of the
flower-gardener.

Where no bulb-case or cabinet is used, they
may be kept on dry shelves in moderate temper-
ature, either in paper or without.

Collections of hyacinths are kept up by sup-
plies of offsets from the nursery-beds, or by pur-
chases from the seed-shops. Florists reckon that
one in twelve is lost every year by accidents, in-
sects, or disease.

The properties of a fine double hyacinth. — ^The

GARDEN HYACINTH. 91

stem should be strong-, tall, erect, supporting nu-
merous large bells, each supported by a short
strong peduncle or foot-stalk in an horizontal
position, so that the whole may have a compact
pyramidal form, with the crown or uppermost
bell perfectly erect.

The bells should be large and perfectly dou-
ble ; i. e. well filled with broad, bold petals, ap-
pearing to the eye rather convex than flat or con-
cave : they should occupy about one half the
length of the stem.

The colours should be bright, whether plain
red, white, blue, or yellow, or variously diversi-
fied in the eye : the latter give additional lustre
and elegance to the flower.

Strong bright colours are in general preferred
to such as are pale : there are, however, many
rose-coloured, pure white, and light blue hya-
cinths in high estimation.

Some sorts consist of petals of different co-
lours; such as light reds, with deep or red eyes ;
whites, with rosy, blue, purple, or yellow eyes ;

92 CULTIVATION.

and yellow, with purple in the eye, &c. : others
again have their petals stri])ed, or marked down
the centre with a paler or deeper colour, which
has a pleasing effect.

It sometimes happens, and with some sorts
more than others, that two stems are produced
from the same root : one is generally consider-
ably taller and stronger than the other. " When
this is the case, the weaker may be cut off near
the ground, soon after it makes its appearance,
or suifered to bloom, and its bells be intermixed
with the lower ones of the taller stem, so dex-
terously as to appear like one regular pyramid
of bells."

This last-mentioned circumstance is a sign of
the superior vigour of the plant : in fact, it is
nothing less than the flower of the next as well
as that of this year coming together; so that the
third of the series will succeed to the place of the
second. This exuberance of growth is very
frequently seen in cottage-gardens, where the
bulbs have been but recently introduced, in the

GARDEN HYACINTH. 93

absence of all floricultural art ; showing most
decidedly how much the hyacinth, like almost
all other plants, delights in a change of situation
and of soil.

94

NARCISSUS TAZETTA.

POLYANTHUS-NARCISSUS.

Class, HEXANDRIA. Order, MONOGYNIA.

Natural Order, AMARYLLIDE^E.

The next bulbous-rooted flowering- plant in
order and estimation is the polyanthus-narcissus.
It is a more robust plant than either the tulip or
hyacinth ; consequently requires less care in ma-
nagement and preservation. In the structure,
mode of growth, and manner of reproduction, it
resembles the hyacinth in every respect ; and the
directions for the cultivation of the one are
equally applicable to the other. Hyacinth com-
post suits them well : the richest portion below,
and the bulbs themselves placed in a lighter-
surface stratum.

There is a considerable importation of these
bulbs, from both Holland and Italy, every year ;

POLYANTHUS-NARCISSUS. 95

chiefly for the purpose of being- flowered in
pots and glasses for the decoration of drawing-
rooms and conservatories. This trade affluence
encourages, because it is convenient. The
British ctdtivator, however, whether private or
commercial, is not compelled to have recourse
to an imported supply, so long as he can obtain
from his own management as perfect bulbs as can
be had from abroad; always excepting the effect
of change of place, which has a very powerful
influence on the energies of plants.

When polyanthus-narcissus are planted in
beds or borders it is customary to let them re-
main for two or three years without removal.
But this is not the best management ; because
the offsets become numerous, and, remaining
attached to the system, withdraw a part of the
vigour which it is desirable should be expended
only in the production of the flower of the present
year, or in increasing the size of the successor-
bulb of the next. The Dutch florists take them
up every year, as they do their other bulbs ; by

96 CULTIVATION.

which means they concentrate the growth, and
so bring* better (i. e. larger) samples to market.

There is a special difference in the management
of private and commercial growers, as regards
the polyanthus-narcissus. The former cultivates
for the sake of the bloom ; the latter chiefly
for propagation. To propagate with success,
and ensure a return of large bulbs which will
flower well, no flowers should be allowed to
expand the previous season. Pinching off the
flower-stalk stimulates the growth of the other
parts, and furnishes, for the next year, bulbs in
no degree inferior to newly imported ones. The
private grower, in order to have always a respect-
able succession, should therefore deny himself
the gratification of a full bloom this year, for a
partly fine bloom in the next. By dividing his
stock into blowers and breeders, alternating in
station and treatment with each other, and by
carefully nursing the largest offsets, he may al-
ways maintain a good collection.

Cutting off the leaves of this plant is particii-

POLYANTHUS-NARCISSUS. 97

larly interdicted by florists. This rale is more
regarded in England than it appears to be on
the continent. The Dutchmen are less tender
of the foliage than we are ; nor do they seem to
attribute to the leaves that peculiar function
which is given them by the botanical physiolo-
gists of this country. Perhaps certain ideas,
like diseases, are endemical. But as to the
question whether or not the cutting off the
leaves while in vigorous growth be detrimental,
there can be no doubt of the affirmative. In
this case, Nature shows what is right. Every
distinct member of a plant is certainly necessary
to each and all the other parts. And although
Art may direct or regulate the tendencies of
parts of members, no distinct member contri-
buting to the growth can be taken away without
injury.

The first of October is the proper season for
planting the polyanthus-narcissus. The bulbs
should be put four or five inches deep in the
gTound ; and, during severe frost, should have a
covering of old bark, dry fern, or mats ; as the

H

98 CULTIVATION.

points of their leaves are liable to be killed if
too much exposed.

When in flower, shading is necessary to pro-
long their beauty ; and, when the leaves become
yellow, the bulbs may be taken up, dried, and
stored.

There are several varieties of this narcissus,
all of which require the same management, and
which, indeed, is suitable for the whole of this
extensive family, from the delicate jonquil up to
the rustic daffodil.

All the lily and fritillary tribes that are suffi-
ciently hardy — crown imperials, martagons, &c. —
may be cultivated by means similar to what have
been recommended for the preceding. The
white and orange are so hardy, that they are met
with as old standards in every garden. It is a
wonder that seedling varieties have not yet been
had, by cross impregnation, from those two spe-
cies. The smaller species should be planted in
patches or beds by themselves.

There are many bulbs of minor importance and
character, which have always a place in the flower-

POLYANTHUS-NARCISSUS. 99

garden ; but as they are easy of culture, and
thrive in almost every situation, they need no
particular notice, further than to observe, that,
whatever has been advanced relative to the
conformation, peculiar properties, or habits of
bulbs in general, are applicable, more or less, to
all kinds, whether superior or inferior. Of these,
the snow-drop, various sorts of hyacinth, squills,
bulbocodium, uvularia, crocus, corn-flag, &c. are
among the number, and all well known. It is
doubtful, however, whether the crocus and corn-
flag can be ranked as bulbs, they partaking
more of the character of tubers than of bulbs.

h2

100

OF

TUBEROUS-ROOTED BED FLOWERS.

The distinction between bulbs and tubers is
not very well defined. If only those were called
bulbs in the sense in which Evelyn uses the
term, i. e. tunicated, or composed of abbreviated
leaves, there would be no confusion. The
introduction of the term bulbous solidus, by the
early botanists, has led to much uncertainty
in subsequent descriptions. The first of this
character to be noticed is the

JOi

ANEMONE CORONARIA.

POPPY, OR CROWN ANEMONE.

Class, POLYANDRIA. Order, POLYGYNIA.
Natural Order, RANUNCULACE^.

The brilliance and variety of colours displayed
in the flowers of this half-hardy exotic, have long
attracted the notice of the florist, and raised it to
the rank of a bed-flower. It is one of those whose
extreme delicacy of structure shrinks from the
full blaze and withering effects of a summer sun,
and therefore is destined by Nature to come forth
under the mild temperature and light of a vernal
sky. The rigour of our winters, which is more
extreme than that of their native habitat, imposes
on the florist a particular care in the management,
to give these strangers all the advantages of our
temperate climate, while they are defended from
the severity in the early, or occasional dryness
during the latter, part of their seasonal life.

102 CULTIVATION.

The natural history of the anemone is briefly
this : — It rests in summer ; and, soon as the au-
tumnal rains set in, it comes into action, expands
its leaves and flowers (probably during our win-
ter), and ripens its seed in the spring: when
these decay, the vitality becomes stagnant, and
remains secure in the bosom of the tuber.

Thus, while the generality of plants are
prompted into action by the return of spring, to
be perfected by the increased heat and light of
summer, the anemone is one of those that shuns
the warm season, remaining dormant till the
parching heats are past. Many plants are simi-
larly actuated. It has been already observed, that
some flowers cannot bear the hght, if combined
with a high degree of heat: but no conjecture
has been offered why this must needs be so. I
shall here, therefore, risk an opinion, and an
opinion only, on the subject : —

" Nature does nothing in vain."' Every plant
is fitted for the circumstances of the climate of
which it is a native. Tropical trees are scarcely
affected by a change of seasons, though they are

CROWN ANEMONE. 103

by changes of weather : the greater number,
under their continual summer, are hardly suscep-
tible of a change of temperature. But the plants
of the temperate and frigid zones feel summer and
winter, in which they are alternately in motion
and at rest. Each plant presents its flowers
in that part of the year for which the consti-
tution and texture of their blossoms are best
adapted. Many icosandrious and polyandrious
plants, from the attenuated structure of their sta-
mens and pistils, are unsuited to bear the direct
and parching rays of the sun, and, therefore,
are expanded early in the spring or summer.
This, it appears, is necessary for the safety of the
flowers from heat; and such plants from warmer
latitudes, having this natural impulse, come forth
with us so early, as to jeopardize their existence,
and be wholly cut off by frost. To mention a
few instances, by way of proof: — botanists have
long ago noticed the peculiar precaution, if I may
so call it, of the cactus grandiflora blowing only
in the night. The fruit-grower laments this
tendency or habit in his most delicate wall-fruit

104 CULTIVATION.

trees ; and the florist must bestow considerable
labour and skill to check or defend this forward
propensity in his favourite anemones.

The anemone is propagated, and new varie-
ties are obtained, by sowing- the seed. This
should be chosen from the best old flowers im-
pregnated with semi-double flowers, having the
desirable properties of rich colour and fine form.
The seed, being volatile, should be gathered as it
ripens, and preserved in a dry place till the month
of January, when it should be sown. It requires
to be prepared for sovving by being mixed with
and well rubbed in sand, to divest it of its downy
covering. The seed-bed should be composed
entirely of fresh garden ground or loam, from
twelve to eighteen inches deep, which has been
well aerated, to free it from earth-worms and
insects. And, for the better security against
these, a layer of quick-lime, three inches thick,
should be laid in the bottom of the bed : and, to
prevent the approach of slugs or worms to the
surface, the outskirts of the bed should be fre-
quently sprinkled with lime or salt water.

CROWN ANEMONE. 105

A shallow one-light frame is necessary for
the defence and nurture of the seedlings. In
this, when the soil is settled and levelled, sow
the seeds thickly and equally, and press them
into the earth with a board, or back of a spade.
The bed should be, and kept, rather moist.
While the seeds are vegetating-, the glass-light
should be kept close; and as they swell and force
themselves above ground, a slight covering of
loam may be sifted on from time to time, till
the seeds are hidden. Air must be given on all
occasions, when the weather permits, soon as the
plants begin to appear ; and, should the bed
become too dry, it must be lightly watered. If
the surface appear crusted when the seedlings are
rising, it must be cautiously loosened with the
point of a stick, to give freedom to the plants.
This treatment must be continued till the leaves
begin to die off; and when they are quite wi-
thered, the tubers may be taken up.

As these small roots are irregular in form, and
of a dingy colour, they are not readily found, un-
less two or three inches of the surface be passed

106 CULTIVATION.

through a fine brass wire sieve, to separate them
from the mould. A more expeditious way is by
washing it away in water. For this purpose a
wide tub of water is used ; the sieve containing
the mould and roots, partly emerged in this, is
trundled ; the earth falls through, leaving the
roots to be picked out, dried, and stowed away in
a proper place, to be planted in due season.

These seedlings, planted in a nursing-bed,
will for the most part flower the second year;
all that are worthless may be discarded, and the
best only kept to breed from, or take a place
among the superiors. The finest double varieties
are only procurable by a long course of succes-
slonal sowings from individuals of good colour,
and which show a tendency to become double.

The anemone may be also propagated by di-
viding the tuber. When this becomes old, it rots
in the centre ; but as the vital crowns are dis-
persed over the surface, any portion thereof,
however small, containing a crown, if separated
and planted, becomes a new plant.

The sleep of the anemone enables the florist

CROWN ANEMONE. 107

to commence its season at any period during the
autumn or winter months. Were he to imitate
Nature closely, he would invariably choose the
month of October as the most proper in this
country ; because they get into action before
the hardest frost sets in, and which is considered
as no small security ; and though they must
brave all the severity of winter, still, if they
receive that protection which it is the business
of the florist to afford, they will succeed better
than if they had an artificial season forced upon
them by deferring the planting for two or three
months.

But it is argued, that the frequent covering-
required to repel the frost, is not only highly
injurious, but even risks the existence of the
plant ; and therefore some persons prefer spring
planting, as the safest practice. But it should
be remembered that the anemone is a winter,
not a spring plant ; requiring, in its own climate,
a season of at least five months' continuance ;
whereas, with us, if planted in February, it has
only a season of three months, which is too short

108 CULTIVATION.

a period to allow the full development of the
flowers, and necessary enlargement of the tuber ;
the sudden arrival of our summer checks the
growth and hastens on a premature torpidity.

I am, therefore, decidedly of opinion, as well
from the nature of the anemone itself as from
the concurring testimony of many successful
growers, that the middle of October is the proper
time for planting. The hazards of the winter
must be guarded against with the requisite
attention, by defending the bed from severe
frost, without depriving it of a full portion of
air. How this may be done requires only a
few words.

Few persons, acquainted with the effects of
frost on vegetation, but are aware that cold air
descends perpendicularly, or, as it is explained
by some meteorological writers, heat is radiated
from the earth vertically. Heat, a positive, and
cold, a negative quality, do not, from their
effects, appear to be much diffused laterally. A
coping on a wall defends the fruit-trees under
it: a thin mat will repel frost that, without its

CROWN ANEMONE. 109

interposition, would have been fatal : a dense
cloud, floating high above the earth, shelters
the ground and plants below. Coverings for
anemones, therefore, should be placed at some
distance (say two feet) above the surface of the
bed ; the sides being left open for the admission
of air, except in frosty winds (called black
frosts), a curtain should be added on the wind-
ward side. Stakes, driven in the ground, and
connected by a surrounding rail, will serve to
bear straw mats of sufficient thickness to be
rolled on and off as they are needed, which
will be protection enough.

The habits of the anemone, as being a pro-
duction of the moistest season of the year, seems
to point out the soil most congenial to it; viz. a
mellow rich loam. The success of many culti-
vators who have published their experience yields
ample proof, if proofs were wanting, of the suit-
ableness of such soil. It is such as absorbs and
retains an equable degree of moisture, without
repletion or deficiency. And, though surface-
water be neither naturally necessary nor suitable,

110 CULTIVATION.

yet a substratum of rich and permanently humid

soil appears to be indispensable.

In forming the bed, therefore, the florist has
only to loosen the bottom sufficiently deep : and,
about eight inches from the surface, let strong
loam and rotten dung be mixed, to form the sub-
stratum, and on this a surface-layer of lighter
loam to receive the tubers.

The bed being formed and levelled, drills are
drawn across about five inches asunder, in which
the roots are placed, crowns upwards, four inches
or more apart, according to their size, and cover-
ing them as near as possible about two inches
deep. Sometimes sand is strewed under and
over the tubers ; but this is not absolutely neces-
sary.

Having already adverted to the winter ma-
nasrement, the next thing in course is what should
be attended to before and at the time of flower-
ing. If the winter has been mild and without
much frost and snow, and all other circumstances
favourable, the plants, in the course of the spring,
will be looking well. If the month of March,

CROWN ANEMONE. Ill

as sometimes happens, has been dry, the bed
should be examined ; and if the surface has be-
come loose, it should be stirred; a little fresh
loam added, and pressed close to the plants.
The subsoil should also be examined ; and if it
appears not sufficiently damp, a good soaking- of
manured water should be immediately given.
It is wrong to wait for indications from the
leaves of a want of water, because leaves attached
to a bulb or tuber show a vigour which does not
entirely arise from the state of the soil ; and
therefore the soil should be examined and treated
accordingly. If insects of any kind have taken
possession, they should be dislodged.

When approaching to flower, unless sufficient
rain has fallen, occasional watering may be
necessary ; and, as they come forward in bloom,
both shading and watering will be required.

If the weather at this time be fine and dry,
the tubers, after flowering, will ripen regularly of
themselves ; but, if cold and wet, it will be ne-
cessary to protect the bed from rain : otherwise,
the tubers will be kept in a state of excitement,

112 CULTIVATION.

and be thereby enfeebled for future exertion.
This is a material point in the culture of the
anemone, and deserves particular attention. It
seems that our summer should resemble their
own ; that is, to commence so as to stop their
growth instantaneously, and allow the tubers to
ripen in perfect drought. Checking all growth
by such means, the leaves will soon begin to
change colour; and, about a month after the
bloom, the roots may be taken up, carefully
cleaned, dried, and stored up.

The properties of a fine double anemone. —
" The stem should be strong, elastic, and erect,
not less than nine inches high.

" The blossom, or corolla, should be at least
two and a half inches in diameter, consisting of
an exterior row of large, substantial, well-rounded
petals or guard-leaves, at first horizontally ex-
tended, and then turning a little upwards, so as
to form a broad, shallow cup, the interior part of
which should contain a great number of long,
small petals, imbricating with each other, and
rather reverting from the centre of the flower :

CROWN ANEMONE. 113

there are a great number of slender stamens,
intermixed with these petals; but they are short,
and not easily discernible.

*' The colours should be clear and distinct
when diversified in the same flower, or brilliant
and striking if it consists only of one colour, as
blue, crimson, or scarlet, &c.; in which case, the
bottom of the exterior petals is generally white ;
but the beauty and contrast are considerably
increased when both the exterior and interior are
regularly marked with alternate blue and white,
pink and white, &c. stripes, which in the broad
petals should not extend quite to the margin.'

114

RANUNCULUS ASIATICUS.

GARDEN RANUNCULUS.

Class, POLYANDRIA. Order, POLYGYNIA.

Natural Order, RANUNCULACE^..

The natural history of the ranunculus or
frogwort is so much like that of the anemone,
that what has been said of the one is quite
applicable to the other. They are natives of the
same latitude ; are perfected in the same season ;
thrive in the same soil ; and succeed under the
same management.

The ranunculus, however, ranks rather higher
than the anemone, because of the very rich and
varied colouring of its full turbinated flowers ;
and though perhaps not quite so hardy, is
flowered with equal facihty, and when in flower,
is more permanent.

New varieties are obtained from seed in the

GARDEN RANUNCULUS. 115

same way, and by similar management, as is
advised for the anemone; indeed, no two distinct
genera can be more alike in habitude and consti-
tution. The whole family of the ranunculi, from
the fluviatalis to the arvensis, affect humidity,
both of soil and atmosphere.

Different cultivators have different opinions as
to the best time for planting the ranunculus. It
is, however, very generally admitted, that autumn
planting is most seasonable, provided the rigours
of winter can be sufficiently guarded against.
That the autumn is also the most natural season,
has been already shown (and it is trusted
proved); and by the mode suggested of shelter-
ing with elevated straw mats, all the objections
to autumn planting are answered. It is proper
to add, however, that spring-planted beds will
succeed ; and with judicious management, do
constantly succeed, when circumstances of soil,
situation, and season, are favourable. If the first
four months of the year be temperate and moist,
with no bleak easterly winds to dry the earth and

I 2

116 CULTIVATION.

air, the flowers will attain considerable perfection.
But the tubers, it is more than probable, will not
be so strong to flower the following year. The
store of vigour in the tuber is exhausted by the
excitement of the spring season in a degree
greater than there is time for an equal replenish-
ment : and it may be safely repeated, that success
from spring-planting is only in a degree, and
certainly less than would follow equally fortunate
autumn-planting.

There are only a few particulars in which the
management of the ranunculus differs from that
of the anemone. The first is in preparing the
seed for sowing, which instead of being separated
by rubbing amongst sand, is scraped from the
receptacle with a blunt knife ; dividing it so as
not two or more remain together in the husks.
The next particular is in the planting ; that care
be taken not to bury the tubers deeper than an
inch and a half The bed, too, besides the natural
tendency of such a compost to settle closely to-
gether, should be, in some degree, consolidated by

G.ARDEN RANUNCULUS. 117

the action of the spade, to resist the entrance of
air, which appears to be less necessary to the roots.

Before and when coming into bloom, the
surface of the bed should be kept pretty solid and
moist by mulching- and occasional watering- with
manured water. Shading- will preserve and
prolong the beauty of the flowers ; and all
subsequent treatment to be observed as directed
for the anemone.

Ranunculus tubers have been already de-
scribed. They increase themselves by viviparous
progeny ; but the connecting runner between
the old and young plants is usually so short, that
they appear as one and inseparable. This, how-
ever, is not the case : if the runner be cut by
the point of a knife, neither the old nor young
one will be damaged ; and, by such means, the
kind may be multiplied without end.

The properties of a fine double ranunculus. —
"The stem should be strong, straight, and from
eight to twelve inches high, supporting a large,
well-formed blossom, at least two inches in dia-

118 CULTIVATION.

meter, consisting of numerous petals, the largest
at the outside, and gradually diminishing in size
as they approach the centre of the flower, which
should be well filled up with them.

" The blossom should be hemispherical ; its
petals should be imbricated in such manner as
neither to be too close and compact, nor too
widely separated; but have rather more of a
perpendicular than horizontal position, to display
their colours with better effect.

*' The petals should be broad, and have per-
fectly entire, well-rounded edges: their colours
should be dark, richly clear, or brilliant, either
consisting of one colour throughout, or be vari-
ously diversified, on an ash, white, sulphur, or
fire-coloured ground, or regularly striped, spotted,
or mottled, in an elegant manner,"

There are more numerous varieties of double
ranunculuses than of any other flower; and it is
one that may be flowered at almost any time of
the year, merely by changing the time of plant-
ing. " For a bloom in September or October,

GARDEN RANUNCULUS. 119

plant about the middle of July. For a bloom all
the season, commence in February, and plant
every fortnight or three weeks ; in September,
plant in a frame, and you will have a bloom
about January or February." — H. Groom, in
Trans. Hort. Soc.

120

PRIMULA AURICULA.

GARDEN AURICULA.

Class, PENTANDRIA. Order, IMONOGYNIA.
Natural Order, PRIMULACE^.

The auricula (or bear's ear) is the beau of
the flower-garden ; and, though a native of a
poor alpine region, yet, when introduced into the
more refined ranks of floral society, no other
plant assumes a more gaudy dress, nor more
capriciousness of taste and feeling. To gratify
this artificial character and appetite, the florist
ransacks every description of mineral, vegetable,
and animal matter — from the mildest maiden
loam to the most filthy and abominable sub-
stances— to furnish a repast to satisfy the palate
and vitiated taste of this fastidious fop of the
flower-bed. Divested of its native hardihood

GARDEN AURICULA. 121

when brought into the sheltered parterre, it be-
comes too dehcate and too much valued to be
consigned to the bosom of its mother earth.
The breath and beams of heaven must not " visit
its face too roughly;" requiring defence as well
from the summer heat as from the winter's cold.

It is a vernal flowering plant; but, unlike
bulbs and some other tubers, it is not a sleeper.
In the whole art of floriculture there is nothing
more difficult than to grow the auricula plant
to a great and vigorous size, and yet retard its
showing flower till the proper season. This is
a point requiring particular consideration ; and,
luckily, the practical experience of eminent florists
is on record, which, with some additional obser-
vations, will show the most approved means to
gain this desirable result.

The root of the auricula is a long, irregular,
branching tuber, furnished by fibrous permanent
radicles, very much in the style of the iris family.
It is increased by gradual elongation upwards,
and as gradually dying off at the bottom. Hence
it is the nature of the plant to rise out of the

122 CULTIVATION.

ground, and consequently to be the better for
earthing up. When its " spurious stem,'' as it is
called by some writers, rises to a certain height,
it, from laxity, reclines on the ground and there
takes root, and in this manner naturally propa-
gates itself

The apex of the principal and each of the
other branchlets bear the leaves and a cluster of
flower buds, which are developed therefrom in
irregular succession — the most central usually
first, and then the next according to its strength
or seniority. The base of each bud (and on
which the leaves are seated before they decay) is
permanent, and becomes a component of the
stem, entering intimately into its organization.
All the leaf buds are not developed while they
are on the summit of the shoot, but remain dor-
mant in the stem, from whence they occasionally
issue as branchlets. Radicles proceed from all
parts of the stem also, showing that any part of
the stem may be nursed into a perfect plant.

It sometimes happens that the senior bud,
containing the embryo flower, is accidentally

GARDEN AURICULA. 123

either wholly or partially damaged. In either
case it will immediately be succeeded by the next
in order. If the flower only of the first has sus-
tained injury, it may come forth; but it will be
defective in colour, though its successor will be
perfect both in form and colour.

That the auricula is partial to dry air and
situations, is perfectly obvious from its history —
from experience in its cultivation — and particu-
larly from that curious peculiarity of constitution
by which it covers itself with dust. Whether
this be an efflorescence of the exterior cuticle, or
a concreted exudation of its juices, is, perhaps,
not yet ascertained ; but it is quite rational to
suppose, that it serves as a defence against rain.
Water " conglobing on the dust," is a circum-
stance noticed by every body, and often alluded
to by poets; and no doubt this elegant formation
is a necessary provision of Nature for the preser-
vation of the plant. At any rate, it furnishes an
excellent practical lesson to the cultivator ; as it
is one of those silent yet significant hints which
should always be regarded by the practitioner as

124 CULTIVATION.

assisting in the right treatment of the plants
under his care.

The auricula is propagated by seeds to pro-
cure new varieties, and by slips, to multiply and
continue the old favourite ones.

In raising them from seed, the most import-
ant part of the business is procuring in the first
place the offspring of estimable kinds. The
usual precautions are removing the breeders away
from amongst the common and mixed sorts;
placing them in the company of such only as
possess valuable properties (a transfer of which
would be desirable), and encouraging them by
every practicable expedient to perfect their seeds.
This is the simplest and easiest plan ; but no
doubt new and much improved varieties might
be obtained with much more certainty, and very
little more trouble, by the ordinary means of
cross impregnation. The manner of doing this
has already been described ; and nothing more
need be added in this place, save the advice to
choose varieties of the finest forms and deepest
colours for the experiment : divest them of their

GARDEN AURICULA. 125

own anthers, and impregnate their stigmas with
the anthers of the various coloured sorts whose
tints, or position of tints, are wished to be con-
veyed. Or, if it be, as it often is, desirable that
the properties of two good ones should be in-
terblended, crossing the anthers of each to the
stigmas of the other may effect the object;
always taking care that the organs are in the
proper state for such manipulation, and that
the plants, after impregnation, be safely defended
from rain and ardent sunshine.

The breeders are assisted to ripen their seed
by being placed in a situation and aspect not
liable to the vicissitudes of the weather or of a
summer day ; that is, where they may receive
only the morning and evening sun, but not
the noon-tide heat. Decayed, or supernumerary
florets (or pips, as they are technically called)
should be cut away, leaving only the most pro-
mising to mature their seed. When the capsules
become dry and brown, they should be gathered
and kept in a cold and moderately damp, rather

126 CULTIVATION.

than in an over-dry place, till the month of
January, when the seeds should be sown.

Boxes, large-sized pots, or seedling pans, are
indifferently used for seed-beds ; and various
stations are assigned them, as opinion, or rather
as convenience allows. Within striking, or hand-
glasses— a cucumber- frame — the front of a green
or dwelling-house near the glass — or in a shel-
tered place in the open air (the pots being covered
with plates of window-glass) — are all recom-
mended. But, certainly, the most expeditious
way is raising the seedlings in a mild hot-bed,
especial care being taken to guard against the
warm steam. Such a stimulus brings up every
perfect seed, and particularly the weakest, which
generally turn out the best flowers : and which
there is a chance of losing, if no assistance be
given by the apphcation of artificial heat.

Too much attention cannot be paid to the
effectual drainage of the pots, &c. intended for
auriculas. The plant is very soon damaged by
water becomins: sta2:nant near its roots. Air

GARDEN AURICULA. 127

oyster-shell whelmed over the hole in the bottom
of the pot, and this covered with a layer of small
stones or cinders, will readily allow all excess of
water to escape.

When the pots or boxes are thus drained and
filled with the proper compost, it should be
shaken and pressed smoothly down fiill half an
inch below the rim, leaving* the middle rather
higher than round the sides. On the surface
the seeds are dropped as regularly as possible,
and covered with finely sifted compost to the
thickness of a crown piece. Water is given
immediately, applying it as lightly as possible
by a patent syringe or otherwise, so that the
surface, or seeds, be not disturbed. The pots
are next placed in their stations, and the glasses
put on. Here they must be guarded against the
approach of earth-worms and insects — ventilated
by occasionally taking off or raising the glasses
to prevent mouldiness — and gently watered or
shaded when either appears to be necessary.

All such attention must be continued up to
the time the plants are fit to handle ; they are

128 CULTIVATION.

then pricked out, two inches apart, in middle
sized pots, in which they are nursed till the
month of August, when they are again trans-
planted singly into the smallest sized pots, viz.
sixties, or three together at equal distances,
round the outside of forty-eights. Here they
remain to flower ; and then comes the most in-
teresting period of their culture. The hopes and
curiosity of the florist are wound up to the
highest pitch. If he happens to have raised a
fair portion of third and fourth rates, he regrets
neither his toil nor trouble, though he may have
many pin-eyed flowers to reject : if a few second
rates, he is highly gratified ; but if he has suc-
ceeded in raising a prime superior flower, he
enjoys unquahfied delight.

Emmerton, who has written with much ability
and minuteness on the culture of the auricula,
gives his advice as to the best kinds to breed
from, viz. " To breed fine light-green, green, or
grey-edged seedlings, plant two of Barlow's
king-, and four of Grimes's privateer, in a pot.
To breed fine green-edged seedlings, take three

GARDEN AURICULA. 129

of Barlow's kino^, and three of PoUit's Highland
boy. To breed choice-tinted violet ground-
coloured seedlings, with green edges, plant three
of Bunless's superb, and three of Fadin's victory,
in a pot. To breed fine white-eyed seedlings,
put together three of Schooley's Mrs. Clarke,
and three of Taylor's incomparable, in one pot."

Placing such kinds, or any others having like
properties together, and further aiding the im-
pregnation by manual assistance, would go far to
ensure success.

Successful management of the auricula de-
pends very much on the suitableness of the com-
post prepared for it. It has been found by ex-
perience, that the plant submits to a high degree
of cultivation ; and, like many others, it becomes
in the garden entirely the child of art, and almost
a new being. Mr. Hogg has very justly said,
however, that though a plant may be greatly
changed by cultivation, it still retains some of its
aboriginal predilections ; and though the auricula
seems voluptuously willing to partake of what-
ever store of good things are provided for its

130 CULTIVATION.

roots, it persists on its natural propensity for
pure air and dry situations ; insomuch, that no
care or attention, it is said, can make it prosper
in contrary circumstances.

The different substances which have been em-
ployed in composing a soil for the auricula, are
maiden or fresh loam ; the droppings of sheep,
horses, or oxen; desiccated or very old night-
soil ; dimg of pigeons, poultry, and particularly
that of geese ; blood from slaughter-houses ;
sugar-baker's scum ; leaf mould ; moor earth ;
ashes of burnt vegetables ; and sea or river sand.

Some curious cultivators have used certain
portions of all these substances together ; but, as
Mr. Hogg observes, not to the advantage of their
plants, but the reverse. One famous grower used
only one-third loam, two-thirds sheep-dung and
well rotted hay litter from sheep-houses, and one-
tenth coarse sand. This answered the purpose
well. Mr. Hogg's own compost is made of one-
third fresh yellow loam, one-third well rotten
cow-dung, one-third night-soil two years old,
one-third leaf mould, and one-tenth sea or river

GARDEN AURICULA. 131

sand, all well prepared and incorporated toge-
ther. And though he, as opportunity offers,
adds indiscriminately the dung of sheep, horses,
cows, poultry, pigeons, night-soil, and blood, to
his compost heap, he yet seems to approve of the
opinion of the Lancashire florists, who maintain
that the Londoners are too particular in their
choice of substances, and that a much simpler
composition would answer the same end. At the
same time he approves Emmerson's compost of
goose-dung, blood, and night-soil; loam, and
sugar-baker's scum, of each one-third, for top-
dressing in February ; and recommends some-
thing similar for strong blooming plants.

Such are the composts which florists have
found most suitable for the auricula. Their
basis is fresh maiden loam, made light and porous
by vegetable matter, as decayed straw, hay,
leaves, or rotten wood, and enriched by animal
qualities contained in the ordure, blood, or other
parts after decomposition. To prevent composts
becoming an abode or nestling place for worms
and the larva of insects, they should be sprinkled

k2

132 CULTIVATION.

moderately with hot lime and salt, and fre-
quently turned and exposed to frost. Some im-
portance is attached to the time they have been
mixed ; some authors advise them not to be used
in less than two years. It certainly seems neces-
sary that the crudities of the different ingredients
should be somewhat neutralized, or at least qua-
lified by frequent turning and exposure. Every
flower-grower should have at command an abun-
dant store of such matters, either separate or
mixed up, to which he can have recourse on all
occasions.

Shifting. — There is a difference of opinion
relative to the time of shifting the auricula.
Maddock thought, and many other florists think,
that the best season is that immediately after the
flowering ; because this, following the great effort
of perfecting their bloom, finds the plants in a
state of exhaustion or rest, and consequently
better fitted to undergo such an operation. This,
however, is an argument founded on their arti-
ficial, rather than on their natural character ; be-
cause it is obvious that the ripening their seeds

GARDEN AURICULA. 133

is the grand object and effort of the auricula, as
well as that of all other plants. If, therefore,
they have a season of rest, it must be after the
latter event, not the former. For this, among
other reasons, I am decidedly of opinion that
the end of July, or the beginning of the month
of August, is the most natural as well as the most
proper for shifting the auricula, in order to afford
them full time to be re-established in their flower-
ing pots. It is at the same time necessary to
add, that as the auricula is almost an ever-grow-
ing plant, and less affected by the change of sea-
sons than most other plants are, the individual
state of each should be at all times attended to.
Some individual plants, from inherent vigour or
from peculiarly favourable circumstances, ad-
vance before the others, and may require shifting
from a smaller to a larger, or from a shallow to a
deeper pot, at other than the regular season. A
luxuriant-growing plant may require to be di-
vested of its slips and repotted two months be-
fore or immediately after flowering; so that in

134 CULTIVATION.

respect of the auricula, general rules, however
good, are not always applicable.

At the general shifting, the state and condition
of each plant should be regarded and treated ac-
cordingly. Such as have been previously shifted,
and have improved in growth during the sum-
mer, will only require to be transferred to larger-
sized pots, reducing the ball a little by removing
part of the old soil from the top and bottom, and
repotting wath fresh compost. Such as have im-
proved but little, or remained stationary, should
receive a more severe examination, by having the
whole of the ball shaken off, to see the state
of the tuber and roots. Whenever there are
signs of decay, the knife must be applied to
remove every vestige, whether dead or dying
leaves, fibres, or cankerous spots on the tuber;
all which defects should be cut or pared away.
The balls of all should be reduced more or less
according to their state and the appearance of the
roots. Such as appear sugged, compacted, and
clingy should be entirely shaken off; but, if

GARDEN AURICULA. 135

porous, sweet, and well occupied by healthy fibres,
the upper surface and part of the bottom only
need be taken away. The plants should be pot-
ted so that their lov/er leaves be half an inch
above the surface of the mould, and this nearly
an inch below the edge of the pot. This depth
is necessary, in order to admit as large a top-
dressing as possible in the month of February.

After being thus shifted and watered, the col-
lection must be placed where there are full air
and light, but defended from ardent or long-con-
tinued sunshine, and also from heavy and immo-
derate rain, the drip of trees, and the approach of
worms or creeping insects ; there to recover and
take fresh root, uninfluenced by extreme changes
of weather.

It has already been observed, that the stage
auricula is wholly a child of art; so much so,
that it cannot bear the vicissitudes of the atmo-
sphere with impunity. A certain degree of
moisture for the roots, as well as leaves, is
necessary at all times ; and this can only be
applied by the attention of the cultivator. For

136 CULTIVATION.

this purpose, each plant, when it arrives at a
proper age, must not only have its own pot, but the
collection must have a suitable platform or stage,
fitted for its reception, raised high enough from the
damp of the ground, and with coverings to exclude
the sun and heavy rain, whenever necessary.

To combine with convenience all the advan-
tages of shade and shelter required by auriculas,
a double stage, protected by a double roof, is cer-
tainly best. One side of the roof may be glazed
lights or panels, and the other boarded shutters of
the same dimensions, so that they may take each
other's places as the season or state of the plants
require. Tt would be superfluous to give direc-
tions for such an erection ; so as the principle of
its use, connected with convenience, is adhered
to, local circumstances and views of the proprie-
tor will direct all the particulars of dimension,
place, and form. We may notice, however, a
very common contrivance, constructed for keep-
ing auriculas both in winter and summer. It is
bailt in the form of an alcove, placed against
a north or south wall accord ins: to the season.

GARDEN AURICULA. 137

Four substantial corner posts are fixed in the
ground; the two behind are united by a plate
five feet from the ground ; the two in front have
also a plate six and a half or seven feet high ; the
two ends and back below the plate are weather-
boarded up. The roof is composed of moveable
panels, sloping from front to back, of convenient
length, fixed by hinges to the back plate, to
admit of being thrown back at pleasure. These
panels should be water-tight ; each having a
ledge nailed to its edge, and which over-cills the
next pan 1 to cover the joint between ; the last, of
course, keeping all the others in place. The
width of this alcove need not be more than about
four feet from the back to the front posts. This
will give room for a stage having four shelves
dropping in position one below another, on which
to set the pots, every one of which will be suffi-
ciently within reach of both hand and eye. Such
a frame and stage as this form a very suitable re-
pository for auriculas during the winter months.
By throwing back the roof, a warm shower or
additional light and air may be occasionally ad-

138 CULTIVATION.

mitted. The front being open to the southward
allows the entrance of the mildest air at all
times ; and, in severe weather, a curtain of mats,
suspended from the front plate, and properly se-
cured at the ends and bottom, will be, with a dou-
ble mat or two thrown on the roof, a sufficient
defence. If such a frame as this, intended for a
small collection, were formed on truck wheels so
that it might be turned to any aspect, it would
serve as well for a summer as a winter repository,
and answer all the purposes of a double-roofed
frame.

To such a receptacle as this, or to one having
all its advantages of shade and free air, should the
plants be removed after shifting ; and exposed to
the east or north aspect, to remain till inclement
weather from these quarters renders it necessary
to take advantage of the subdued sunshine of a
southern sky. Here, throughout the winter, they
must be tended as has been already hinted.

Toj) dressing. — About the beginning of Febru-
ary is the usual and best season for supplying
every plant intended to flower with a top dressing

GARDEN AURICULA. 139

of rich, well-prepared compost. The surface-
mould in each pot is first carefully loosened with
a small stick and taken out ; dead or dying leaves
are removed by pressing them off downwards:
the pots are then filled up with fresh compost,
watered, and returned to their places on the
stage. While doing this, it is necessary to see
that every pot is efficiently drained. If any ap-
pear heavy, and have their surfaces covered with
conferva or green moss, they should be looked to,
lest imperfect drainage be the cause ; as nothing
is so hurtful to the auricula as an excess of water
at the root. At the same time, too, should any
slips be fit to remove, they may be taken off and
potted ; and, though at this season some of the
strong growers may require larger pots, this had
better be deferred till after they have done
flowering.

While advancing into flower, regular watering
and effectual protection against frost are chiefly
to be attended to. Water should be given mode-
rately and frequently to the root only, and not
always over the leaves. If, however, an oppor-

140 CULTIVATION.

tunity presents itself of exposing the plants to a
warm spring shower, they should have the ad-
vantage of it. Rain is peculiarly refreshing to all
growing plants ; special care being taken that a
night frost does not reach the plants before they
are dry. Protection against frost is essentially
necessary at this time, as a very slight attack
destroys the fine colours of the flowers. Mr.
Hogg advises covering even up to the time of
full bloom.

The flowers of the auricula are not terminal ;
the buds being seated on the sides of the rising
stem among the leaves. They are irregularly
developed : sometimes a leading one will rise
from near the summit, and sometimes from the
side lower down. If more than one truss come
forth from the same stem, the strongest only
should be allowed to stand, if it be wished to
have flowers in the greatest perfection : the
inferior trusses are in this case pinched off. And
when the preferred truss begins to open its florets,
these, if too numerous, require to be thinned, so
as to leave no more than will compose a well-

GARDEN AURICULA. 141

balanced bunch of flowers. This regulation of
the truss requires some dexterity. It is per-
formed at different times during its expansion:
the smallest central florets are cautiously cut nut
with small-pointed scissors, leaving only from
seven to thirteen of the strongest and most regu-
larly placed florets, to rise and form a circular
head.

When the flowering season has arrived, if they
have not already, they must have a suitable place
for this interesting period of their existence; and
as they are portable, may be, if desirable, put on
a stage or bed, and under an awning erected for
other flowers. An exhibition of hyacinths and
auriculas may be conveniently shewn together :
but, wherever the station, the necessary supplies
of water, fresh air, and mild light, must be punc-
tually and amply given, and above all, constantly
protected from the withering effects of the noon-
tide sun. Trusses having weak stems, which
bend or droop, should be supported by means of
wires stuck in the soil, having an horizontally
bent hook to hold the stem upright. Watering

142 CULTIVATION.

■with manured water (that is, such as has had
dung of cows, pouhry, or pigeons, soaked in it)
is recommended to be used at this time, as well
as previously, for the purpose of imparting high
colour to the flowers.

It is always desirable that the auricula should
blow fairly; i. e. that the petals of each floret
should expand in a plane, and be in no degree
cupped. This is considered among professional
florists so essential a property of a good flower,
that pains are taken to produce this characteristic
by exposing cupped flowers to the action of the
sun's heat, under glass, slightly shaded. And
besides this perfectly rational expedient to give
the desired form, they have also small ivory tools
with which they lock the petals under each other
and turn the outer edges downwards, to alter the
cup-like position. This is a refinement of taste
and management only felt and exercised by those
who exhibit their flowers at shows.

Auriculas sometimes present their flowers in
autumn. This the florist regrets, because it pre-
vents a fine bloom in the proper season. It is

GARDEN AURICULA. 143

said to be a consequence of shifting immediately
after the flowering season ; but it happens only
partially. To ensure a bloom from such forwar d
plants at the proper season, it is only necessary
to destroy the autumn flowers the instant they
make their appearance : the next flower-bud in
succession will soon be pushed forward as a sub-
stitute.

Soon as the general bloom is over, the collec-
tion must be removed to its summer repository.
The plants should be examined as they pass
through the hand on this occasion. Some, which
have grown and flowered strongly, and whose
roots appear above ground, may require to be
shifted : dead leaves should be taken off, and the
surface of each pot stirred and freshened up.

Respecting the summer station, it is only ne-
cessary to repeat, that the florist's daily attention
does not cease with the flowering season. Many
fine auriculas are lost from want of proper care
during the summer. To obtain sufficient shade,
the plants are often placed in some dark, out-of-
the-way corner, where there is too much humi-

144 CULTIVATION.

dity. The rich qualities of the compost in which
they grow are peculiarly acted on by the summer
heat ; and this, not having due ventilation, be-
comes corrupted, producing sickness among the
plants often fatal. The fact is, they cannot have
too much dry air during the summer, provided
they are duly supplied with water. The consti-
tution of the auricula requires pure air ; and
therefore the summer stage or platform should
receive all the advantage of free air, guarded only
from the mid-day sun and from excessive rain.

That this plant is subject to disease, and that
it frequently appears in the summer, are circum-
stances well known. Mr. Hogg attributes this
malady to there being too much cow-dung used
in the compost, and especially if the plants be
kept in a low, moist situation : yet, though Mad-
dock admits that improper soil may be the cause
of the misfortune, he is rather of opinion that it
is a consequence of the neglect of shifting after
the flowering season ; adding, most unaccount-
ably, that this malady seldom or never occurs
in a wet or cool climate !

GARDEN AURICULA. 145

This disease is also said to be infectious; but,
from its sweeping effects when and where it does
happen, it is manifest that either the soil or situ-
ation is unfavourable. It is therefore good ma-
nagement, so soon as one appears to be affected,
to shift the whole into fresh loamy compost, and
give them a drier situation.

Descriptio?i of a Jine auricula. — " The stem
should be strong, erect, and elastic, of a proper
height, that the bunch or truss may be above the
foliage of the plant. The footstalks of the florets
should also be strong and elastic, and of a propor-
tional length to the size and quantity of the pips,
which should not be less than seven in number,
that the bunch may be rather round, close, and
compact.

" The parts of the floret are the tube, the eye,
and the exterior circle, containing the ground
colour, with its edge or margin : these three
should be all well proportioned, which will be
the case if the diameter of the floret be supposed
to be divided into six parts ; of which the dia-

L

146 CULTIVATION.

meter of the eye will occupy three, the tube being
one, and the ground colour the other parts.

*' Florists agree that the florets should be round :
but this seldom happens ; and we must be content
if they are so nearly round as not to be what is
termed starry.

" The anthers ought to be large, bold, and fill
the tube well ; and the tube should terminate
rather above the surface of the eye, like a little
cup or margin ; the eye should be very white,
smooth, and round, without any cracks, and dis-
tinct from the ground or self colour.

" The ground colour should be intense and
rich, and equal on every side of the eye, whether
it be in one uniform circular belt, or in bright
patches ; it should be distinct at the eye, and only
broken at the outer part into the edging ; a fine
black, purple, or bright coffee colour contrasts
best with the eye ; a rich blue or bright pink is
pleasing ; but a glowing scarlet, or deep crimson,
would be most desirable, if well edged with a
bright green ; but this must seldom be expected."

147

PRIMULA VERIS.

VARIOUS-COLOURED COWSLIP OR
POLYANTHUS.

Class, PEXTANDRIA. Order, MONOGYNIA.
Natural Order, PRIMULACE.E.

The polyanthus, in the structure of its roots,
tuber, stem, leaves, and mode of flowering, re-
sembles its sister the auricula ; and it is as much
a production of art. Being naturally a native of
moist woods and meadows, is much hardier, and
better suited to the soil and climate of British
gardens, than the auricula. It differs, moreover,
in being a variety only, and not, like the other,
a distinct species.

Its propagation, whether from seeds or offsets,
and its cultivation, either as a bed or stage flower,
is, in almost all respects, similar to the auricula.

h 2

148 CULTIVATION.

The difference in the treatment only requires to
be noticed.

The compost for the polyanthus does not re-
quire to be so rich as that for the auricula. The
principal part should be fresh and rather sandy
loam, mixed with moderate portions of leaf mould
and well-rotted old hot-bed or cow-dung.

They may be flowered in pots for the purpose
of being shewn, placed on a stage, in a conser-
vatory or boudoir ; but, soon as they have done
flowering, they should be immediately turned out
into a north or east open border. Their fibres
being very attenuated are liable to be hurt by
drought, and consequently require a more equable
degree of both heat and moisture than they can
receive in pots. But, if in pots, they should be
kept plunged in the ground in a similar place ;
i. e. on a border having an east or north aspect.

They are commonly cultivated on such bor-
ders, because they succeed best. An east aspect
seems most congenial to them : they delight in
the early sun, whether of the year or of the day.
If the natural soil of the border be unsuitable,

POLYANTHUS. 149

the top spit, to the depth of twelve inches, should
be taken out, and in the bottom of the excavation
should be laid a stratum of rotten cow-dung-, two
inches thick. This is not intended to be reached
except by the extreme points of the fibres, should
they descend so far, but to serve as a reservoir of
moisture, and a source of gaseous vapour to give
high colour to the flowers. This rich layer is to
be covered with a compost (described above) to
receive the plants ; these being put in at equal
distances of about eight inches apart.

In dry weather, they will require frequent
watering, and especially if attacked by a species
of acarus, commonly called red spider, which is
very prejudicial to them. These little insects are
not so easily driven from the polyanthus as they
are from some other trees and plants, because
they can secrete themselves in the under cavities
of the leaves, to which water cannot be easily in-
troduced. Two or three applications of tobacco
water, thrown forcibly on with a garden syringe
while the lower leaves are held up, is one means
of ridding the plants of them ; but this will

15ft CULTIVATION.

require to be repeated very often in dry wea-
ther. Slugs, snails, and earth-worms, should be
banished with lime water.

The very choice sorts, when in flower, should
have the shelter of a hand-glass, to preserve
their beauty as long as possible. Except those
intended to ripen their seed, all should have their
flower stems cut away soon as the flowers have
faded. Being prolific bearers of seed, its produc-
tion receives a great portion of the strength of
the plant ; consequently, the shoots and flowers
for the next year are diminutive ; which would
not be the case, if prevented from perfecting
seed.

Description of a fine 'polyanthus. — " Its proper-
ties are in most respects similar to those of a fine
auricula, viz. the stem, pedicles, and formation
of the truss ; therefore a definition of its florets
and petals are only necessary to be considered
in this place.

*' The tube of the corolla should be short,
well filled with anthers, and terminate fluted,
rather above the eye.

POLYANTHUS. 151

" The eye should be round, of a bright clear
yellow, and distinct from the ground colour : the
proportion, as in the auricula, throughout the
flower.

" The ground colour is most admired when
shaded with a light and dark rich crimson, resem-
bling velvet, with one mark or stripe in the centre
of each division of the corolla, bold and distinct
from the edging down to the eye, where it should
terminate in a fine point.

" The florets should be large, quite flat, and
as round as is consistent with their peculiar,
beautiful figure, which is circular, excepting
those small indentures between each division of
the corolla.

" The edging should resemble a bright gold
lace, bold, clear, and well defined, and so nearly
of the same colour as the eye and stripes, as
scarcely to be distinguished.'' — Madd.

There are many curious, improved varieties
of the primrose ; such as the different-coloured
double ones, which are well worth cultivation.
Of species, a few have been lately added to

152 CULTIVATION.

British collections, particularly a very shewy one,
Primula sinensis^ from China, which is at present
a great favourite. As this is a pretty hardy,
free-growing plant, there is no doubt that, by
high cultivation in highly compounded soils, it
may assume all the diversity of form and co-
lour so remarkable in its congener of European
orijrin.

153

DIANTHUS CARYOPHYLLUS.

CLOVE CARNATION.

Class, DECANDRIA. Order, DYGYNIA.

Natural Order, CARYOPHYLLE^.

As there is no plant more valued for its beauty
and fine scent than the carnation, so no one has
received more attention from the flower-gardener.
In regard of this plant, cultivation has done
wonders ! When we consider the diminutive
appearance of the wild clove, as it grows on the
walls of Rochester castle in Kent, and on other
its native places on the Continent, and compare
it with its splendid offspring, such as Fulhrook^s
Grenadier^ rising four or five feet high, we know
not which to admire most ; the triumphant per-

154 CULTIVATION.

severance of the florist, or the astonishing versa-
tihty of vegetable power.

Much has been written on the culture of this
universal favourite : and, so universally has it been
cultivated in Europe, that the management has
long ago been reduced into a code of practical
rules. The rich spicy fragrance of the flower
was, no doubt, originally an easy passport for it
to a distinguished place in the parterre. There,
it would naturally become, under ordinary treat-
ment, more robust in habit; its seedlings would
soon partake of this luxuriance ; the flowers
would next become exuberant; hence would ap_
pear the rich-coloured and odorous clove. Con-
tinued cultivation, by change of soil and situa-
tion, would break its self-colour into lighter tints,
and, by progressive grades of variation, become,
what we now find it, the admirable carnation. It
is said that the variegated clove first appeared in
Italy ; but, though much cultivated there, as well
as along the whole northern coast of the Mediter-
ranean, it is certain the more indefatigable florists
of France, Holland, and England, have chiefly

CLOVE CARNATION. 155

contributed to bring the flower, as well as its
culture, to its present perfection.

The carnation is raised from seed, and propa-
gated by cuttings and layers.

Raising from the seed affords the only chance
of obtaining new varieties; and, though the
chance of obtaining really good kinds is ex-
tremely precarious, yet it is the most interesting
part of a florist's amusement. Much depends on
choosing proper breeders, and procuring well-
ripened seed. To secure this, some management
is necessary in the treatment of the seed-bearing
plants. These must receive every attention as to
due watering, protection, &c. Such of the cap-
sules as appear to be fecundified should be as-
sisted by being divested of the decaying petals,
by pulling them away with the tweezers*, taking
care not to injure the stigmas or pericarpium; by
cutting off the reflexed extremities of the calyx
with scissors, and also by slitting down the latter

* A piece of brass or copper wire, ten inches long, ham-
mered flat at each end, and afterwards bent into the form of

sugar-tongs.

156 CULTIVATION.

to the bottom with a penknife. This trimming
is to prevent moisture settling round the swelling
capsule. The seed ripens about the end of Sep-
tember, and should not be gathered till it is of a
dark brown or black colour. It should be kept
in a dry place, and in the capsules, till after
Christmas, when it may be rubbed out and put
up in paper, or, in what Hr. Hogg thinks better,
small well-corked phials.

The seed should be sown about the middle of
April, in deep seedling pans or large pots, and
covered lightly with finely sifted compost. If
placed in a glazed frame or under a hand-glass,
they will, if properly attended to, rise quickly
and in more safety. Wlien up and furnished with
two or three pairs of leaves, inure them to the
full air as soon as possible, to check them running
up too spindling ; and soon after this, they may
be planted out in beds about ten inches apart,
where they may remain to flower. The bed or
beds should be prepared by deep digging, and
enriched by a pretty liberal dressing of rotten
dung and leaf mould ; and no wider than can be

CLOVE CARNATION. 157

easily covered by hoops and mats when necessary
either against extreme heat or severe frost.

Mr. Hogg estimates the chance of raising a
first-rate flower from seed as only one in a hun-
dred : of course, he means such only as might be
entitled to a prize in a show. But this view aside,
many new and truly beautiful varieties may be
raised from seed, which, though not exactly formed
and coloured according to the beau ideal of pro-
fessional taste, may nevertheless be highly orna-
mental in the border, if not on the stage.

Propagation by cuttings, or, as they are called,
pipings, is performed about the end of June or
during the first fortnight of July. They should
be chosen from plants having a redundance of
shoots, or such shoots as are situated too high
on the stem for layering. It has already been
observed, that the shoots proper for this purpose
are the secondary shoots of the plant, and which,
if left attached, are destined to rise into flower
the next or following years. But as these shoots
would grow into irregular position, and likewise
blow feebly and imperfectly, it is found much

158 CULTIVATION.

better to remove the tops containing the embryo
flower, and, by striking them, establish a new
individual, convenient as to size, which being
supported by a new set of active fibres, becomes
vigorous in constitution. This is a concentration
of the energies of the system, by which it is de-
veloped in greater amplitude in all its parts ; and
is also the sole and chief advantage of propaga-
tion by pipings and layers.

Pipings are easiest struck on a little artificial
heat under bell or small hand-glasses. The size
of the glasses determines the size of the pans or
pots intended for the pipings. These are filled
with proper compost, set in the bed, and the
glasses fitted on to mark the boundary line with-
in which the pipings are to be set : the next
thing is to get and prepare the latter.

At the second joint from the top of the shoot,
the cutting is to be separated horizontally, and
just below the joint. The leaves embracing this
joint must be carefully stripped off; and when
the points of the leaves are also cut square off,
the cutting is prepared. The mould in the pots

CLOVE CARNATION. 159

prepared for their reception should be previously
watered ; and, when somewhat settled, the
pipings may be inserted, or gently stuck in,
rather better than half an inch deep, and not
too much crowded together. When the space
within the glass is filled up, give water with a
fine rose on the watering-pot, to settle the earth
closely to the cuttings ; and when this water
is absorbed and evaporated off, cover them with
the glasses ; observing that, wherever they may
be placed, whether in a hot or cold frame, or in
a quiet corner in the open air, no full sun should
have access to them, nor any unnecessary mois-
ture be allowed to remain within the glass.

The reasons for thus preparing and planting
the cuttings require some explanation. The tops
of the shoots are chosen, because we find that,
wherever the growth is most active (so as the
parts are sufficiently organized and substantial to
resist the decomposing effects of moisture), there
the fibrous rootlets are soonest produced, and
much more vigorously than from the lovi'er parts
of the shoot. They are cut just below the node

160 CULTIVATION.

or joint, because these nodes contain several
vital buds, which, like seeds, protrude fibres
more promptly than the internodal parts. The
tops of the leaves are cut off, because it is
supposed that they draw a part of their nou-
rishment from the stem, and therefore should
be reduced while the cutting is forming its
roots. Although this mutilation is directly
opposed to the modern doctrine of botanical
physiologists respecting the elaborating func-
tions of the leaves, yet in this case the practice
seems to be right ; because the points, if allowed
to remain, very soon die. But whether their
juices be abstracted by the exertion of the cut-
ting, or fail from the supply of sap from the root
being cut off, I shall leave to the practitioner to
judge. Before the fibres are protruded from the
bottom of the piping, a callosity is first formed,
as if exuded fi:om within the inner bark ; from
this the fibres are produced ; and while this cal-
losity continues to increase, the cutting lives,
but, sometimes, will put forth no fibres till
shifted into fresh compost.

CLOVE CARXATION. 161

Propa<^ation by layers is more certain than
that by cuttings, and is the most common method
pursued, especially with the choicer sorts. The
usual time is when the plants are in full flower,
or immediately afterwards. Choose the shoots
which are most conveniently placed for layering-.
Trim off all the leaves, except those at the extre-
mity, which only require their ends shortened
as is advised to be done with pipings. Then,
clearing the surface of the pot or border, and
stirring it up a little, lay on round the plant an
addition of fine fresh compost of sufficient thick-
ness to receive the layers. A bundle of little
hooked sticks, about five inches long, should be
previously got ready : those made from the stalks
of fern will very well answer the purpose. A
thin, keen penknife is most convenient for mak-
ing the incisions. Lifting up the shoot with one
hand, and bending it towards the stem of the
plant, enter the knife about a quarter of an inch
below the second joint from the top, sloping the
edge inwards and upwards so as to divide the
joint and shoot up the middle, nearly as far as the

M

1G3 CULTIVATION.

joint above. The knife is withdrawn, and the
small portion of the stem attached to and below
the severed joint of the tongue is next cut off
horizontally, close below, not into the joint.
Tile bottom part of the layer is then to be fixed
down close upon the surface by a hook placed
just behind the incision ; and the extremity
raised rather upright, so that the tongue may be
separated some little distance from that part of
the stem whence it has been cut ; propping the
extremity secure by pressing the earth closely
about it. It is almost needless to add, that the
shoots, being brittle, and especially after the
incision is made, they are easily broken ; so that
they require very gentle handling while fixing
them in due position.

Many layers are lost, or prevented striking
kindly, by being covered too deep. The end of
the tongue, from whence the new roots chiefly
proceed, should not be more than about half an
inch beneath the surface. This circumstance
should be particularly attended to in the treat-
ment of carnation layers and cuttings, as well as

CLOVE CARNATION. 163

almost all other plants propagated by such means.
A large portion of air, if it can be applied with-
out light, seems necessary to excite the production
of roots : thus cuttings, in immediate contact
with the sides or bottom of striking pots, as
well as near the surface, strike root more readily
than if placed out of the reach or immediate
action of the air. Precaution, however, is neces-
sary, lest drought assail the delicate fibres so near
its influence ; to guard against which, moderate
waterings and shading must be had recourse to.
In piping and layering carnations, there are
several minor circumstances which should be
mentioned in this place. Professional florists
raise their pipings on a hot-bed, which, when of
proper heat, is covered with suitable compost, on
which the striking-glasses are set, and filled with
pipings not too close together. Here they are
nursed, and from hence they are potted off as
soon as they advance in growth. This is a great
advantage, because the growth of pipings is
unequal; and according to their advancement
should they be treated in respect of the supply

M 2

1G4 CULTTVATIOX.

of air and water. The use of small striking-
glasses is, that they contain a small portion
only of air, entirely excluded from the frequent
changes of the atmosphere ; but this should be
always kept as free as possible from damp, which
can be done only by frequent and seasonable
airing's, on mornings or in mild weather.

Pipings should be labelled; because, if the
plant from which they have been taken prove a
run fiower*, its progeny will not be worth culti-
vation. If a considerable number remain sta-
tionary in the first bed, a second is made, to
which they are transferred, and which seldom
fails to start them. When all are in motion, the
glasses may be laid aside.

The pots containing carnations intended to
be layered should be well watered the day be-
fore ; and, if exposed to the morning sun for an
hour or two before layering, it will give the

* A run flower is one which runs from or loses that fine
variety of colours for which it has been before admired, and
by which it has been distinguished.

CLOVE CARNATION. IfiS

shoots a degree of toughness favourable to the
operation.

While layers are in progress, the only atten-
tion they require is to see that they keep steady
in their places ; that they do not get too dry ;
nor the excised part become too much exposed to
the air.

Should the weather, and all other circum-
stances prove favourable, the layers and cuttings
will be sufficiently rooted to be potted in six or
seven weeks. Pots, forty-eight to the cast, will
be large enough to receive three cuttings or layers
in each. These pots being drained and nearly
filled with compost, the cuttings are carefully
raised with a pointed stick or small iron spud,
and placed at equal distances round the outside,
covered in with compost, and well shaken or
lightly pressed down securely in the pot, leaving
the surface half an inch below the rim to receive
waterings. The layers are cut from their stools
just above where the incision was made, raised,
and planted in pots in a similar manner. The
young plants, after being duly watered, are

166 CULTIVATION.

removed to a shady situation, where, however,
they can receive all the advantages of free air,
morning' sun, regular watering, and defence from
worms, insects, hares, and rabbits. Here they
may remain to estabHsh themselves in the pots,
till the season renders their removal to their
winter quarters necessary.

The winter repository proper for the carna-
tion, is, in every respect, like that advised for the
auricula. It should be designed so as to admit
fully all the temperate influences of the weather,
and yet be capable of being formed into a com-
plete defence against extremes. Small collec-
tions are usually kept in common glazed hot-
bed frames, set on a raised platform of coal-dust
and ashes ; the frame being raised on bricks to
allow a current of air to pass freely among the
pots in fine weather ; and let down close to the
ground when it is inclement or stormy. Some-
times the frame is filled nearly up to the glass
with coal-dust, and the pots plunged therein.
In either way, when coverings of mats may be
added at pleasure, the carnation can never suffer

CLOVE CARNATION. 107

from the rigour of winter. During this dead
season, they will require water occasionally, ap-
plied from the spout of a small pot, so as not to
wet the leaves ; because it may happen that if
shut up when the leaves are wet, they may suffer
by damp or mould. For the same reason the
plants should be kept free from dead leaves, and
have the surface of the pots now and then stirred
up, and, if need be, covered with a sprinkling of
sand.

About the middle of March, and especially if
the weather be inviting, preparations should be
made for shifting the plants into their flowering
pots. Any tim.e between this and before the
tenth of April, is a good season. The ordinary
sized pots for this purpose, are those called six-
teens ; and if the plants are strong, even twelves
are not too large. These sizes are chosen in
order that full room may be had for layering.
The potting-board and compost (which will be
described presently) being ready, first put the
draining shells or shards over the hole in the
bottom of the pot; cover these with a handful

168 CULTIVATION.

or two of the rough nodules that do not pass the
sieve or screen ; then fill up with the fine com-
post as far as is necessary to allow the reception
of the plants. These, whether in pairs, threes,
or fours, are turned out of the small pots, leaving
the ball entire; only taking away a little of the
top and bottom ; place this in the middle of the
large pot, very little deeper than it was before ;
fill up round with the sifted compost, striking the
pot several times on the ground or potting-board,
to settle the contents equally and compactly;
giving water immediately.

At this time the number and kinds are selected
for the stage (if so intended), together with a
certain number of supernumeraries to supply
blanks, should any occur. The remainder, if
any, should be planted on a prepared border, to
flower there. It is said that, if the stage plants
were selected when first potted, and the surplus
planted at once into a bed, they would stand
the winter, with ordinary care, and flower better
than if kept in pots till the spring. This,
however, is always determined by the opinion or

CLOVE CARNATION. 169

convenience of the possessor. After being- thus
potted, they should be set in some convenient
airy place, till they are sufficiently advanced to be
set on the flowering- stage. Some cultivators
place them on this stage at once, and erect the
awning over them when necessary.

During the ensuing period, the plants send
forth their flower-stem ; and, soon as they have
risen so as to be in jeopardy of falling, or being
broken by the wind, suitable propping-sticks are
thrust perpendicularly into the centre of the
pot, to which the stems, as they advance in height,
must be neatly and securely tied. These sticks
are four feet long, made of good deal, and formed
like an arrow : the part which enters the earth
is tapered off^ square, and the whole is painted of
a lively green.

By and by the flower-buds appear. One,
two, or three, only, of these are suffered to blow :
all others, together with any side-shoots issuing
from the stem, should be displaced soon as they
come forth. If the aphides shew themselves,
banish them as soon as possible by the means

170 CULTIVATION.

herein-before mentioned; and be guarded against
the attack of earwugs. Give plenty of water ;
and, if the foliage is not of a deep, luxuriant
green, revive it with manured water.

Next follows the peculiar practice of the pro-
fessional florist. Soon as the calyx, or pod, as it
is technically called, begins to open at the top,
fix a band of bass or waxed thread round its
middle : this is to prevent the calyx bursting
irregularly : and, as it naturally opens by its
clefts parting from the top downwards, should
one side incline to burst faster than the other,
the cleft or clefts on the opposite side should be
opened by the point of a penknife, to give free-
dom to the petals to expand themselves equally
all round.

As some sorts and flowers expand before the
generality of the collection, it is necessary to pre-
serve these flowers till they are overtaken by the
rest. For this purpose, funnel or rather umbrella
shaped pasteboard shades are used, which, by a
hole in the centre, are slipped on the flower-stick,
and fixed just above the flowers.

CLOVE CARNATION. 171

Soon after this, all the best flowers will require
additional assistance for the purpose of keeping
the flowers in due form. This is called carding;.
Circular pieces of card-board, of any colour
which will best answer the purpose of a back-
ground to the flower, are cut so as to surround
the pod immediately behind the spreading; petals
of the corolla. They are about two inches and a
half in diameter. The usual form of making
them, is with a hole in the centre of the card,
large enough to fit the pod, with a slit from that
to the circumference, held open when put on.
But an improved card is made by first dividing
the circumference into six equal parts, and
marked : between the opposite points or marks
cuts are made through the centre, but not carried
out to the circumference ; a margin, nearly an
inch wide, being left entire all round, except at
one place, to admit the stem. When this card is
pnt on, the stem below the pod is first taken in,
and, by raising the card to its place, the angular
points, meeting at the centre, give way outwards.

172 CULTIVATION.

and, being elastic, firmly embrace the lower part

of the pod, which keeps it in place.

Besides this carding the flowers, which keeps
the petals in due lateral position, another mani-
pulation is bestowed in dressing a show-flower ;
i. e. by arranging the petals themselves, pulling
out bad-coloured or redundant ones, and placing
all the rest in regular order. This branch of the
knowledge of a real and thorough-bred florist,
Mr. Hogg says, is a rare accomplishment, and
exercised adroitly but by few.

The flowers, when full blown, are too heavy
to be trusted to the sole support of their own slen-
der peduncles. They should also be gracefully
disposed to meet the eye of the spectator. For
this purpose, small pieces of brass or copper wire,
about three or four inches long, having a spiral
crook at one end, to hold the stem, and sharp at
the other, to be inserted into the stick, serve to
secure the flowers in the desired position.

When the plants and flowers are all thus
disposed, and in progress towards perfection (the

CLOVE CARNATION. 173

awning in the mean time being erected, and
the paste-board caps or shades all removed), the
owner has little to do but enjoy the fine spectacle ;
mark the excellencies of some, and note down the
defects of others ; observe the effects of any
change made in the management ; try cross-
impregnation between those whose properties of
growth, form, or colour, he may wish to blend ;
remembering, however, to keep such plants but
as short a time as possible within the awning-, as
they should have full air and light as soon as it
is likely they are fecundified.

Old plants, having several healthy shoots not
wanted for either pipings or layers, may be kept
through the winter, and either repotted with the
rest or turned out into the flower borders in the
spring.

Carnations continue in bloom about three
weeks ; and, as they become rather enfeebled
under the confinement of the awning, they should
be restored to full air and light soon as their
beauty is over, and the business of layering

174 CULTIVATION.

begun, to go over again the course of culture
which has been ah'eady traced.

The distinguishing characters of carnations in
regard to each other, as applied by florists, are :

Bizarres* ; scarlet, crimson, purple, and pink
and purple.

Flakes ; scarlet, purple, rose, and pink.

" Bizarres, or such as contain two colours upon
a white ground, are esteemed rather preferable to
flakes, which have but one, especially when their
colours are remarkably rich and very regularly
distributed. Scarlet, purple, and pink, are the
three colours most predominant in the carnation :
the two first are seldom to be met with in the
same flower ; but the two last are very frequently.
When the scarlet predominates, and is united with
a paler colour, or, as it sometimes happens, with
a very deep purple upon a white ground, it con-
stitutes a scarlet bizarre, of which there are many
shades and varieties, some richer and others paler

* Or Bizards.

CLOVE CARNATION. 175

in their colours, as is the case with all the rest.
Pink bizarres, are so called when the pink colour
abounds: Purple bizarres, when the purple
abounds. Crimson bizarres consist of a deep
purple and rich pink. When the pink flake is
very high in colour, it is distinguished by the
appellation of rose flake ; but some there are so
nearly in the medium betwixt a pink and scarlet,
that it can scarcely be defined to which class they
belong." — Madd.

Compost. — All our experience proves that the
carnation requires a simpler combination of sub-
stances to flourish in than most other stage flowers.
Fresh maiden loam, not too adhesive, rotten or
old hot-bed dung, and sand, are the ingredients.
The proportions are : three barrowfuls of loam ;
two ditto of rotten dung ; and one ditto of drift,
sea, or river sand.

These, put together in September, turned
several times during the winter, and sifted or
screened previous to the potting season, is all
the preparation necessary.

This is nearly what Mr. Hogg recommends.

176 CULTIVATION.

But, in November, he adds about half a barrow-
ful of newly slacked lime, and early in the
spring-, two or three pounds of common salt.
Both these substances are particularly useful to
kill or drive worms and slugs from the compost;
which is of most material consequence in the cul-
ture of a plant that is at all seasons the prey of
snails and slugs. Whether these substances also
add to the qualities of the soil necessary for the
carnation, is not so certain; further than as they
both are, in all other cases, absorbents, tending to
keep the soil more moist, both in summer and
winter, than itw^ould otherwise be. To assist the
vigorous expansion of the leaves and flowers of
this plant, it has been recommended to water
them occasionally with a weak solution of nitre.

For top-dressing in June, finely sifted rotten
dung is most proper, as well in yielding- nutriment
conveyed down by each watering, as acting as a
mulch in repelling drought.

For pipings and layers, the best mixture is:
one barrowful of loam ; one ditto of leaf-mould;
one of rotten hot-bed dung; and one of fine sand.

CLOVE CARNATION. 177

. " High-coloured bizarres flower well in soil
composed of two-thirds fresh sandy loam and
one-third well-rotted stable- dung. Scarlet, rose,
or purple flakes require equal parts of maiden
loam and rotten dung-." — Cornfield, in Gard.
Mag.

There are some varieties of carnations which
are, more than others, liable " to run'' from their
distinguishing colours, and thereby lose their
value. All the varieties are subject to this dete-
rioration at certain times, and under circum-
stances not easily accounted for. They occa-
sionally lose their variegation, whether they are
placed in rich or in poor soil. But, as the car-
nation has been brought from deep to lighter
colours by cultivation, and as it is evident that
deeper colours are imparted by the application
of strong or rich animal substances, Mr. Hogg
is perfectly right in advising to lower the quality
of the compost to prevent this casualty. For this
purpose he recommends " three barrows of sound
loam; one ditto rotten cow-dung; two ditto
ditto horse-dung ; half a ditto sand ; and half a

N

178 CULTIVATION.

ditto of lime rubbish or old plaster broken small,
to be prepared and well mixed together."

; Of this compost I have only to observe, that
the cow-dung had better be left out ; for, though
it may improve the high colours of scarlet and
crimson bizarres, it will be likely to cause some
of them to go back to their original hue.

Of the picotee. — The picotee is another variety
of the clove. It is hardier, and more easy of
cultivation generally, than the carnation ; and
holds the middle station betvveen this and the
pink. It partakes of the nature of both ; and it
may not be a very irrational supposition, that it
was originally a joint production between them ;
though, probably, the picotee was in existence
before the carnation; and, if so, is more likely to
have been " a sport" between the clove and the
pink. Be this as it may, it is a very interesting
variety of the genus, and though not allowed a
place among carnations, lest it should deterio-
rate their forms and colours, it is still every way
worthy to receive a share of their treatment,
with which it will do well.

picoTEE. 1 ro-

of picotees there are many sorts, chiefly dif-
fering in their colour and various markings ;
viz. besides the common ones in every English
garden, there are yellow and purple ; yellow and
dark red; yellow and scarlet, &c. They are
much cultivated on the Continent, particularly
those having a yellow ground colour : and such
of them as have been introduced here appear to
be more delicate in constitution than our com-
mon sorts, and require a drier atmosphere than
our climate usually affords. Therefore they
should have the driest place in the frame in
winter, and never be too much watered. When
they are more generally known and propagated
in this country, their habits may become robust,
and their cultivation better understood. Mr.
Hogg advises them to be grown in compost like
that made up for piping and layering carnations.
The common picotee being a flower of the
greatest diversity of colours and variety of mark-
ings by accident, gives reason to imagine, that it
would be particularly susceptible of impressions
from the hand of the curious florist. It is worth a

ISO CULTIVATION.

trial : a new form of petals maybe communicated
from the carnation, and it may receive a yellow
tinge from the yellow picotee ; and, however
such crossing- might interfere with the ready-
made taste and fixed rules of the fancy, still a
new description and variety of dianthus may be
obtained, as worthy of admiration as the others.

Their cultivaiion is exactly like that of the
carnation. They may be raised from seed, and
propagated by layers and pipings ; succeeding by
the latter mode rather better than the carnation.

It is desirable to procure seed from Italy and
the southern parts of France and Spain. The
dianthus tribe is universally cultivated in the
latter Idngdom, where they have innumerable
varieties.

181

DIANTHUS HORTENSIS.

COMMON PINK.

Class, DECANDRIA. Oudeu, DIGYNIA.
NATuitAL Ok»er, CARYOPHYLLE^.

The pink is cultivated every where, often
being the principal ornament of the cottage
garden. Its manner of growth, flowering, cul-
tivation, and propagation, are all similar to the
carnation.

For the purpose of forcing, for sale, or for
placing in conservatories, green or dwelling
houses, they are kept in pots ; but for flowering
in perfection they are planted on prepared beds
in the open ground.

Although pinks may be propagated by layers,
it is seldom such care is bestowed ; they striking
so readily by pipings.

182 CULTIVATION.

The beds should be prepared in September,
much in the same way as is directed for the car-
nation. The surface should be raised two or
three inches above the natural level of the
ground, and laid rounding, or highest along the
middle, to throw off immoderate wT,t. The
plants should be put in about nine inches apart;
and, in order to have them strong, they should
be piped as early in the season as possible, and
soon as sufficiently rooted should be transferred
to a nursery bed, to gain strength before they
are put out for good.

They may require occasional defence in rigid
weather, by hoops and mats ; and after being
hoed among in the spring, and the soil made
firm round their stems if necessary, receive a
covering of sifted rotten dung, about an inch
thick. This will be a source of nutriment to the
plants, and prevent the bed becoming too dry.
When they throw up the flower stems, these
should be reduced in number according to the
size of the plant. The fewer there are allowed
to stand, the stronger will be those that are left.

COMMON PINK. 183

They have received their generic name from
the circumstance of their fine scent, and magni-
ficence of their numerous flowers. These should
he reduced : one, or at most two, besides the
central flower, is enough. The flower-pods
should be assisted to open regularly, by girding,
&c. as practised with carnations; as well as
carding, tying up, shading, and always well
supplied with water.

The pink is easily susceptible of cross im-
pregnation, and many new varieties are obtained
by such means. M. Fries-Morel, a French florist,
advises it to be done in the following manner:-^
'' Just before sunrise, open carefully the flower
to be operated on, and abstract the anthers with
small pincers. About eight or nine o'clock place
the ripe pollen upon the stigma of the flower, and
repeat this two or three times in the course of the
same day. If the act of impregnation has taken
place, the flower will fade in twenty-four or
thirty-six hours ; but if not, the flower will
remain in full beauty ; in which case the attempt

184 CULTIVATION.

must be repeated. This should always be done
in fine serene weather, and care should be taken
to defend the impregnated flower from rain and
mists." — Annates de la Soc. Hort. Paris.

The cultivation and improvement of this
highly and universally esteemed flower has been
greatly extended within these last few years, and
the new varieties are wonderfully fine ; some of
them even vying with the carnation : still there
is room for further improvement.

Description of a fine clouhle pink. — "The stem
should be strong, elastic, and erect, and not
less than twelve inches high. The calyx rather
smaller and shorter, but nearly similar in form
and proportion to that of a carnation ; the flower
should be also similar in form, and not less than
two and a half inches diameter.

" The petals should be large, broad, and sub-
stantial, and have very fine fringed or serrated
edges, free from large, coarse, deep notches or
indentures ; in short, they approach nearest to
perfection when the fringe or the edge is so fine

COMMON PINK. 185

as scarcely to be discernible : but it would be
considered a very desirable object to obtain them
perfectly rose-leaved, i. e. without any fringe at
all.

" The broadest part of the petals should be
perfectly white and distinct from the eye, unless
it be ornamented by a continuation of the colour
of the eye round it, when it would be called a
laced pink ; and this lacing should be well de-
fined, leaving a considerable proportion of white
in the centre, perfectly free from any tinge or
spot.

" The eye should consist of a bright or dark
rich crimson or purple, resembling velvet ; but
the nearer it approaches to black, the more it is
esteemed; its proportion should be about equal
to that of the white, that it may neither appear
too large or too small." — Madd.

Although specific directions have been given
for the cultivation and treatment of the several
kinds of flowering plants herein-before men-
tioned ; each being described as coming into

186 CULTIVATION.

bloom at the natural season ; yet it must be ob-
served, that the business of a florist is, not only
to have flowers in season, but out of season also.
By choosing the time of planting, many kinds
may be made to flower at other seasons than they
would do if left to nature. The florist should
therefore avail himself of every such practical
expedient, in order that his beds and borders
may always present something pleasing to the
eye. Many flowering plants which would be
destroyed by the first frost, may, if placed in pots,
be removed to a place of safety; or, if not in pots,
preserved by a slight covering. Early flowers
may be forwarded by having a winter's pro-
ection ; and especially by a Httle spring forcing.
All biennial flowers, as stocks and wallflowers;
and perennials, as cyclamens, &c., may be ad-
vanced into bloom at an acceptable season, as
well as many other annuals and perennials that are
ornamental. The florist should never be bound
by the naked rules laid down in this or any
other book ; but think for himself how he

COMMON PINK. 187

may best accommodate the public — his employer
— or his own fancy. Nature, though she cannot
be violently thwarted, may be led to answer many
purposes of skilful art.

The foregoing are the bed and stage flowers
commonly cultivated in Britain. It is surprising
with what ardour this art is followed, not only
among professional men, whose interest is a suf-
ficiently powerful incentive, but by those of very
different avocations who have nothing but the
pure love of flowers to induce, and intense en-
thusiasm to excite them to cultivate those gems
of vegetation for their own gratification. This
species of amusement may be undervalued by
the utilitarian, as a vain employment; but nothing
can be called useless which so mainly administers
to innocent, mental, and social enjoyment.

As these pages are written entirely with a view
to assist and encourage this rational pursuit, and
as the foregoing are not the only flowers which
deserve a place in the villager's or cottager's
garden, it will not be superfluous to add a list of

188 CULTIVATION.

hardy herbaceous flowers which are as admirable
in themselves, as they are easy of cultivation.
See list No. 1, of the Appendix.

189

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS.

In order to make this little work of more
general utility, it is deemed expedient to add
somewhat on the subject of tender exotic flowers.
Many who are engaged in the cultivation of bed
and stage flowers have, or may have collections
of exotics also, in hot-houses, green-houses, or
conservatories ; to whom the following observa-
tions may not be wholly useless or unacceptable.
■ Of the hot- house midits plants . Hot-houses are
glazed structures for the preservation of tropical
exotics. They are designed for the cultivation
of fruit, particularly the pine-apple ; and like-
wise for plants that are either curious in form or
remarkable for the beauty of their foliage, or
splendour of their flowers. To imitate the na-
tive climate of tropical plants, a high degree of
heat from fire, steam, or hot-water flues, must be

190 CULTIVATION.

maintained at all seasons, when required. Not
only the air of the house must be kept at the
temperature of not less than 60°, and with power
to increase it, but the pit containing the pots
must be filled with tanner's bark, or some other
fomenting substance, to produce a strongly ex-
citing bottom heat. By this artificial climate
many plants are preserved, flowered, and fruited
in great perfection.

It has been questioned how far the custom of
using fermenting substances for the roots of tro-
pical plants is right or necessary. Comparing
the heat of their native soil with that which we
give them here, is one way of ascertaining the
requisite degree; but in this point we do not
imitate nature exactly; because, in no situation
within the tropics, except perhaps the barren
African sands, is the soil (where there is any
moisture at all) ever so warm as the bark bed of a
hot-house ; and, therefore, it may appear that
we are at unnecessary pains and expense in
giving such bottom heat. That we are so with
plants which we only wish to keep in existence,

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 191

or only to flower once in the year, there can be
no doubt; because the heat in the air of the
house will be sufficiently imparted to the soil in
it. And though this custom may have been only
accidentally adopted from what was found ne-
cessary for pines, yet it need not be persisted
in, except for those or other fruits. Even its
necessity for fruits has been doubted ; but such
doubts are injudicious, because, in the case of
fruit, we must not only provide the necessary
temperature for their existence, but must also
force them to yield their fruit in the shortest
time possible, to save expense and trouble. This,
therefore, should be the rule, that with pines,
mangoes, annonas, bananas, mangosteens, &c.
the roots require to be excited by heat as much
as, and perhaps even more than, the flowers and
foliage ; but for the other common inmates of a
hot-house, they do very well without, especially
if the heat of steam or hot water be provided.

Collections of hot-house plants are first formed
by purchases from commercial houses, or from
seeds or plants imported from their native places

192 CULTIVATION.

abroad, and are afterwards kept up by methods
of propagation, about to be adverted to.

When seeds are received from abroad, it is of
considerable importance to know, not only what
latitude they come from, but also the elevation of
their natural habitat above the level of the sea.
The higher the elevation, the hardier is the plant.
Many plants which may be supposed to require
a hot-house, from the latitude whence they come,
may be found hardy enough for the green-house,
or even the open air, if they be seasonal* plants.
Bat for the natives of low lands of the torrid
zone, the usual process of raising them is as
ibllows :

If possible, they should be sowed so as to
meet our summer, not our winter. The spring
months are most propitious for raising exotics.
For this purpose, Hght sandy loam, convenient
sized perfectly clean pots (open thirty-twos),
and a one-light hot-bed, should be prepared.

* Seasonal plants are such as grow in one season and rest
in another.

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 193

The pots are filled in the ordinary way, the finest
of the loam at top; the seeds are sown thin, or
thickly, according to their size, and in depth ac-
cording to the nature of the plant. Some vegetate
sooner, by being soaked two or three hours in
water; others having very hard shells, as Nelum-
bium and other aquatics, should have the points
of their shells filed off before they are put into
their pans of mud and water ; but the generality
need no such preparation. They require a smart
bottom heat to start them ; some will be up in the
course of a week, others will remain for twelve
months before they vegetate ; and such should
not be rashly thrown away, till it is ascertained
by examination that they are really dead. This
precaution is particularly necessary in regard of
nuts.

When any are advanced so far as to be fit to
handle, they should be put singly into the smallest
sized pots, and again plunged in heat. Atten-
tion should be given not to over-pot them, i. e.
by placing them in over-large pots. It has been
already observed, in speaking of layers and cut-

0

194 CULTIVATION.

tings of hardy plants, that the point most favour-
able to the formation and production of roots is
but at a little distance below the surface ; and
that humid darkness within the influence of air
excites the protrusion of roots more readily than
at depths beyond the influence of that element.
Small pots, therefore, to which air has free access
on all sides, are found to forward the plants
they contain much better than large pots, which,
containing amass impervious to air, the centre of
which is occupied by the infant plant, are found
to retard rather than advance their growth. That
plants so placed require frequent shifting, is true;
but this is all in their favour, if quick growth be
desirable.

After this period of their nursing, they then
take their places in the hot-house, either plunged
in the bark-bed, or set on the shelves over the
flues, or on the kirb of the pit.

Hot-house plants are also propagated by cut-
tings. Much judgment is necessary in selecting
such shoots as are proper. They should be shoots
or parts of shoots of the present year; either of

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 195

the leading shoots, which make the handsomest
plants (if not too rampant and succulent for the
purpose), or from the lateral shoots, which are
often best fitted by moderate growth for striking.
These last, too, make more bushy heads, and
flower sooner than free-growing cuttings taken
from more vigorous parts of a plant. The tops
of the shoots should be chosen, if sufficiently
ripened; but a well chosen part of the middle
may succeed equally well. Prepare them by
cutting the lower end transversely, close below a
joint, if it be a jointed stemmed plant, or just
below the insertion of a leaf, if otherwise ; trim-
ming off the lower leaves close, but leaving those
at the top. The cutting should not be long;
two inches is enough of any hard-wooded plant.
The same kind should be put in the same pot;
open forties are a convenient size. When filled,
the soil should be pressed in pretty tight, and the
cuttings inserted nearly an inch deep with a
small pointed dibber, by which the earth is
pressed close to the bottom of the cutting. When
the pot is filled, level and press the surface smooth,

o2

196 CULTIVATION.

give water immediately, plung-e the pots in the
bed, and, when the moisture is exhaled from
their surfaces, cover them closely with the strik-
ing-glasses, to prevent the entrance of air. These
glasses are necessary, because neither the cuttings
nor the soil they are in should be exposed to the
ordinary changes of the atmosphere. They re-
quire perfect repose while they are only dependent
on their own inherent energies to furnish new
organs to supply the place of those from which
they have been separated. The sun's heat may
be serviceable, but not his direct rays ; brown
paper shades should therefore be used for each
glass in the middle of the day. Moisture will
collect from time to time within the glasses ; in
which cases they should be taken oft* for a few
minutes, wiped dry, and put on again.

When cuttings thus managed have taken root,
and shew by their growth that this has suffi-
ciently taken place (for some will occasionally
produce shoots before they have roots), they
may be separated, potted, and treated as already
directed for seedlings.

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 197

A late writer in the periodical publications of
the Societe d' Agronomic of France reports, that
he strikes cuttings of stove plants, which have
very small or no visible buds, much more easily
in phials of water sunk in the bark-bed than in
mould. In this way he readily succeeds with
Oleander, Portlandia, and Blakea.

These are the ordinary methods of propagat-
ing both hot-house and green-house plants by
seeds and cuttings that are of a woody nature, as
well as suffruticose ; i. e. half shrubby sorts.
Many are increased by suckers which rise from
their roots, or by offsets which proceed from the
collet of their stems. All the succulent tribe,
as Aloes, Messembryanthemums, Cactus, &c. are
propagated by offsets or portions of their stems.
Some few grow from leaves, as Bryophyllum,
Xylophylla; others by a leaf and bud only, as
Hoya, &c. Tuberous or fibrous-rooted plants
which are herbaceous, are increased by parting
the roots ; and bulbs which do not readily pro-
duce offsets may be made to do so by cutting off

198 CULTIVATION.

the upper part of the bulb transversely, as has
been already mentioned.

Such sorts as do not readily strike from cut-
tings are increased by layering, grafting, or bud-
ding. Layers are the points of the shoots, in-
serted into pots filled with loam, and placed
conveniently to receive them ; and, when layered
in the usual way (that is, by tonguing or twisting
a little the part placed in the soil, and there fixed),
are covered with a striking-glass till they make
roots, when they may be separated from the
parent plants.

Grafting stove plants is commonly done by
" approach." The stocks are raised in pots, for
the convenience of placing them near to the
shoots with which they are to be enarched. The
stock and scion should be nearly of a size : and,
at the most convenient point of contact, similar
slices of bark and wood are cut from the opposing
sides ; these, placed neatly together, are bound
and clayed. The clay should be kept moist,
which is easily done by bending a wrap of moss
round it, and now and then watered.

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 199

A new method of grafting by approach has
been lately practised, and which deserves notice.
The inconvenience of placing or supporting the
stocks round the tree intended to be propagated,
and the fact, that this mode of grafting is success-
ful only because the scion continues to receive
from its parent a part of its support while uniting
itself with the stock, suggested the idea that, if
the scion received a supply by other means, the
junction would as readily take place. Accord-
ingly, a scion is separated entirely, and united by
its middle to the stock in the manner of grafting
by approach, and its end below the junction is
inserted into a small phial of water suspended
from the stock. Thus the scion receives from the
water what, in the old way, it received from its
parent. So readily does the union take place,
that it sometimes happens (in the case of Camel-
lias particularly) that the lower part of the scion
appears to partake so far of the vigour" of the
stock, that it also forms roots in the phial, and
when separated and potted, becomes a plant itself.
There is no doubt, but that many hard-wooded

20O CULTIVATION. *

plants, both in the hot-house and elsewhere, may
be propagated in this manner.

Working exotic plants, whether by graft or
bud, has not been practised in this country so
much perhaps as it should be ; not, however,
for the object of increasing the kinds, but for
another purpose, viz. predisposing the plants to
yield their flowers, or fruit, earlier than they
otherwise do. The effect of working plants is
well known. A grafted or budded tree is ren-
dered less vigorous in habit, and consequently
sooner arrives at that stage of its existence in
which it shews flowers and fruit. A graft, at-
tached to a suitable and congenial stock, has no
period of youth to go through. The scion is or
may be taken from the already matured branches*
It is doing in the vegetable world what is seldom
practicable in the moral ; viz. " putting an old
head on young shoulders." This we invariably
do with our fruits ; and why may it not be done
with our flowering plants? A seedling Camellia,
for instance, will not flower in less than three or
four, whereas a graft will flower in one or two

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 201

years. If our hot-house trees were dwarfed by
the same means, that is, by transferring the top-
most shoots to the bottom of the stem, it would
not only keep the plant in a more convenient
size, but bring them sooner into flower and fruit.
The splendid Bombax ceiba, Allemanda cathartica,
Barringtonia indica, JEschynomene grandifloray
&c, &c. are plants well worthy such trial. With
hot-house fruits, such as the Mango, this treat-
ment would certainly be a great improvement ;
and of this fine fruit it should be known, that
there are many varieties of it ditfering mate-
rially in their quality ; some are inferior because
of the stringiness of their pulp, whilst others are
as free from that defect as are our best melting
peaches ; such only should be imported for cul-
tivation. The Garcinia mangostana, one of the
most delicious tropical fruits, has been fruited in
France. I mention this as a proof that our present
expensive old-fashioned stoves may be productive
of something else besides mere showy plants.
The ordinary attention to a hot-house, is, as

202 CULTIVATION,

siduity in keepin£r up the stock by propagation;
a careful nicety in potting- and shifting in the
proper season ; a regularity in watering when
requisite ; a knowledge of the necessay tempe-
rature to be kept in the house, and a steady
attention to cleanliness, and habits of the plants
in general.

The collection should undergo a thorough
examination about the middle of April. At this
time the plants are shifted into new and some-
what larger pots, if necessary ; at least, they are
turned out of their old pots, part of the ex-
hausted soil taken away, decayed roots cut off,
and then are replaced in fresh pots and compost.
The heads are also pruned into form, and neatly
tied up to stakes. While the plants are under
this treatment, they should be guarded against
cold winds while the old bark is sifted, new
added, and all well mixed. The bark, when
finished, should be about six inches above the
kirb, and levelled to allow the plants to be set
upon it till the fresh fermentation raised in the

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 203

bed has subsided, when the plants may be, at
first, half plunged ; and, when the heat is still
further decreased, let in as deep as their rims.
Some very successful cultivators never plunge
the pots, but merely set them on the bed.

When a plant is turned out of a pot, the roots
are found in a matted state round the outside;
the usual practice is to cut these away with a
knife ; but it is only very free growing sorts that
can bear such treatment; a better way is, to
loosen this tissue of fibres gently, so that the
new soil may get among and preserve them for
immediate service.

After the plants are shifted, and again set in
their places in the pit, the house should be kept
rather close, moist, and at a temperature of not
less than 60° Fahrenheit. The management,
afterwards, consists only in duly watering, giving
air, &c. till Midsummer, when fire heat is dis-
continued ; the pots (if plunged) are lifted out of
the bark and set on the surface for a few days pre-
vious to removing them (if the summer weather
be confirmed) into the green-house for a few

204 CULTIVATION.

weeks. The tenderest, most valuable, or sickly
amono^ them, however, must not be so exposed,
but re-plunged in some other bed suitable for them.
Those placed in the green-house should have
full air in the middle of the day, but shut up on
nights. In September the bark-pit in the stove
must be again got ready for the plants, by add-
ing fresh bark, white-washing and cleaning the
walls and flues of the house, &c., and soon as
this is all done, the plants may be brought back
to their place, but not immediately plunged till
the state of the bed is fit for them. About the
middle of October fire heat is again applied;
the state of the weather regulates this, as well as
giving air, watering, &c., and, as the winter sets
in, neither much air nor water will be required ;
at least, considerable caution must be bestowed
in applying these elements. About Christmas
the bark-bed will require another addition of
fresh bark, turning, &c. In doing this, the ut-
most expedition must be used to get the plants
replaced, especially if the season be severe.
Should the fresh heat, thus obtained, fail before

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 205

the general potting time, the bark must be again
turned, to keep up the necessary temperature.

Hot-house plants are very liable to be preyed
on and disfigured by insects, especially the red
acarus (not spider, as it is erroneously called),
the different species of coccus, as well as the
universal plague, the aphis. The dry heat of a
stove is peculiarly favourable to these insects,
and, unless the house is heated by, and fre-
quently saturated with steam, the plants rarely
look healthy. But this is not suitable for all;
succulent plants, which are natives of hot rocky
countries, need but little water, and, conse-
quently, require dry air. It is evident, there-
fore, that a collection of tropical plants cannot
all be cultivated properly in the same house.

Hot-houses in the conservatory style are by
far the most interesting, and may be the most
magnificent of our horticultural buildings. Many
plants of the torrid zone are nothing while con-
fined to a pot or tub, however large. But when
planted in prepared ground, and covered with
a sufficiently lofty glazed roof, the plants, and

206 CULTIVATION.

especially the towering palms, plantains, &c.
have space to throw out their ample and persist-
ing foliage. Every plant in such a place ap-
pears in something like its natural character;
and, though the want of such buildings has been
long regretted, it is only lately that such houses
have been erected. Some splendid things of
the kind have been executed, and others are in
progress. Circumstances favourable to such
designs have conspired to facilitate such under-
takings ; better taste, curvilinear iron roofs, and
much improved means of obtaining the neces-
sary degree of heat, have all tended to realize
what has only heretofore been a gardener's
dream.

This is not the place to enlarge on what maybe
done in this way. But, certainly, one handsome
building as a conservatory, divided by glazed
partitions, to contain a choice selection of tender
plants from every clime, would be far preferable
to the miserable shed-like buildings which now
disfigure almost every garden in Britain. It
only requires a proper distribution of heat to

EXOTIC FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 207

imitate every climate, and to suit the nature of
every plant on the face of the earth. Gradations
of temperature may be obtained, and decreasing
on each side from the central and lofty equatorial
stove, throug-h all the degrees of the temperate
zones, befitting the vegetable beauties of every
degree of longitude as well as latitude. The
south European, African, Asiatic, and American
fruits and flowers, may all be exhibited in one
suitable and highly ornamental range. Nor need
such disposition encroach on the general col-
lector's aim ; sufficient space for stages, shelves,
and platforms would be had for the disposal of
potted plants ; and, besides the whole being so
connected, would very much reduce the first
cost of erection, as well as lessen the subsequent
expense of keeping up.

If, with such comprehensive view, we con-
template what may be accomplished in the con-
struction of forcing-houses for fruits also, the
practical gardener or designer must be blind
who cannot perceive the incalculable advantages
that may be derived from a judicious arrange-

208 CULTIVATION.

ment of such buildings. Not only the pine-
apple, but all other tropical fruits worth cultiva-
tion, might be had for the tables of the opulent,
and those already in cultivation might be had at
much less expense. As this subject is, however,
foreign to the purpose of this compendium, it
need not be noticed further.

209

THE GREEN-HOUSE.

A GREEN-HOUSE is, perhaps, one of our oldest
horticultural buildings. They, it is probable,
were first erected for the purpose of keepinjj
exotic evergreen plants, particularly Orang-es and
Myrtles. Wherever Italian or Grecian architec-
ture was introduced, the sweetest Italian plants
were a necessary accompaniment. Hence arose
those heavy buildings usually attached as a wing
to palaces ; which, though capacious enough for
very large trees, were by no means suitable
either for the protection or health of them.

The increasing love of botany, together with
the constantly increasing numbers of curious
exotics introduced to our gardens, called for
lighter and better glazed structures for their
reception and preservation ; and, consequently,
green-houses have been progressively improv-

p

210 CULTIVATION.

ing in design and extent, even up to this day.
They usually contain all the hardiest plants
of the torrid zone, Chinese, Australian, south
African, and the tender plants of North and
South America.

Green-house plants are raised from seed, and
most easily porpagated by cuttings and layers,
much in the same way as has been directed for
stove plants; only they do not require, in any
stage of their existence, so much heat. The
degree called temperate, 56° Fahrenheit, is most
suitable for them in all seasons. Grafting is also
a means of propagation, and is decidedly the
best for such plants as the Camellia, Orange, &c.

Various kinds of soil and compost are neces-
sary in the cultivation ; sandy loam, rich loam,
moor-earth, more or less mixed with sand, leaf-
mould and lime, or rather old mortar rubbish.
Except Oranges, Lemons, and Citrons, no other
plant in this department requires a manured soil.
The grand object is to keep them in the highest
health, without forcing them into over luxuriant
growth. When a green-house shrub, or tree,

THE GREEN-IIOUSE. 211

arrives at a flowering state, and is of a handsome
form, is all that is requisite. Rambling, irregular
growths become extremely inconvenient in such
collections, and can only be kept in order by the
knife, or turned out altogether.

Seeds of the generality of green-house plants,
whether saved at home, or received from abroad,
should be sown in fine, light, sandy loam, about
the beginning of February. They thus have the
advantage of the approaching spring and summer
to arrive at such a size as will allow of them being
potted separately before the autumn. Free grow-
ing sorts may be sown later. The pots should
be thoroughly watered soon as the seeds are
sown, and ever after kept in a moderately damp
state, and placed in a hot-bed, or in a dry, airy
part of the house, where they will not be too
much exposed to heat, either of fire or sun, but
enjoy an equal temperature.

Diminutive or wiry growing plants, such as
heaths, are best sowed in autumn ; because, their
progress being at first very slow, they require to
remain in the seed-pots nearly twelve months

p 2

212 CULTIVATION.

before they can be potted out singly. Seeds of
curious or valuable sorts should not be sowed all
at once : a tirst sowing may fail, whereas a second
may succeed. If, when the seedlings are rising,
there should be much sunshine, they should be
shaded in the middle of the day, lest they get
parched. No weeds should be allowed to rise
among them ; nor should the surface be covered
with moss if it can be prevented ; though if it
rises with the seeds, which is very frequently the
case, it cannot then be taken away.

Soon as the green-house becomes too dry a
station for them (which it certainly will be about
the end of iNIay), the seed-pots should be removed
to some shady border, and plunged up to their
rims in sand, or coal-dust. This will keep the
mould in the pots in equal temperament as to
moisture ; and being free from the excitement of
the sun, and receiving full air, occasional water-
ing and protection from worms and insects, the
plants will get hardy, stocky in growth, and soon
fit to be transferred to small pots. When a spare
frame, or part of a glass-covered pit can be had

THE GREEN-HOUSE. 213

for the reception of the seedling's in this stage of
their growth, it should be preferred; because
they can not only be shaded when necessary,
but also defended from heavy rain, which is
sometimes hurtful.

As the seedlings get large enough for potting,
the different kinds of soil and compost should
be previously prepared for the purpose. There
should be two sorts of fresh maiden loam : one
in its natural state, and another of a lighter de-
scription, or mixed with sand. Pure moor-earth
also of two sorts; that is, more or less mixed with
sand : which different qualities must be used as
respectively suitable for the different kinds of
plants to be potted.

It is impossible, and unnecessary, perhaps, to
imitate the native soils of every plant admitted
into a green-house collection. The groups only
which chance to be geographically or locally
classed need be noticed. For instance, all the
African heaths, as well as those of the same family
from all parts of the world, together with south
African shrubs in general, succeed best in sandy

214 CULTIVATION.

moor-earth. Australian or Botany-Bay plants
g-rowwell in the same with a little addition of
loam. Chinese productions affect light hazel
loam ; as do also the natives of South America.
As a general rule, the character of the roots indi-
cates pretty clearly what description of soil is
proper for them : — if they consist of very slender
and much divided fibres, a fine vegetable porous
soil is necessary ; but if the roots are simple,
strong, and widely spread, a more tenacious
one is requisite.

Succulent plants, as Cactus, &c. require an
open porous soil, composed of hght loam, and old
mortar rubbish in equal parts, mixed. Orange,
lemons, &c. thrive best in fresh loam, enriched
by old stable, cow-house, or sheep-cot dung,
well comminuted and incorporated. Green-house
bulbs, as Agapanthus, do well in light loam.

Propagation by cuttings is performed much
in the same way as has been described for stove
plants. There are, however, a few peculiar
usages which may just be stated. As it is of
importance to begin early in the season, the

THE GRKEN-HOUSE. 215

business may commence soon as proper cuttings
can be obtained. Such plants as are stationary
in growth, but desirable to be propagated, are
sometimes placed in a hot-house or frame to
force the production of young shoots ; for unless
young wood of proper age is procured, there is
much less chance of success. The greater num-
ber of plants in such collections are commonly
propagated from the spring shoots ; and many of
them, as geraniums, are propagated by any part
of their branches or roots.

The mode of striking heaths from cuttino:s is
rather peculiar, and therefore deserves particular
notice. The pots should be well drained and
filled with sandy moor-earth to within an inch
of the rim. This should be pressed pretty tight,
so as not to sink afterwards ; and covered nearly
to the top of the rim with pure white sand, also
pressed tight. The pot should then receive a
good soaking of water, to prepare it for the
reception of the cuttings.

The cuttings should be selected from moderate-
sized shoots of the same year's growth. About

216 CULTIVATION

one inch in length of the tender top is enough ;
the leaves are cut, not stripped, from the bottom
part more than half way up, taking care not to
wound the epidermis ; and the base is cut
smoothly and transversely off, as the nib of a pen
is cut upon the thumb-nail. When the quantity
sufficient for one pot is prepared, let them be im-
mediately inserted by the dibber, and watered,
to settle the sand closely round them ; after stand-
ing till the surface is somewhat dry, the striking-
glass must be put on and pressed tightly down
to exclude the air.

A bed of saw-dust should be formed in some
convenient spot in which to plunge the pots ; and
if within a frame, so much the better. They
should be kept shaded from the mid-day sun ;
and if the mould in the pots gets at any time too
dry, water may be given, so as not to wet the
tops of the cuttings : the glasses should be kept
dry by wiping them as often as is necessary.

The month of June is the best season for strik-
ing heaths, as by this time the young shoots are
in good order. Cuttings that were put in early in

THE GREEN-HOUSE. 217

the season, may, by this time too, be fit for pot-
ting; and such of these as are not advanced
enough, may be brought and placed along with
the new pots of cuttings, in order that they may
all share the same treatment and superintend-
ence.

As the cuttings advance in growth, they must
be gradually treated with a larger share of air,
light, and water, till they are all ready to be
parted and placed in the small sized thimble
pots ; after which they should receive a little more
nursing, till they have fairly taken possession of
their new station, and then they go to their des-
tined place in the collection.

It is hardly necessary to give directions for
potting off the cuttings after they have struck
root. Care in separating them from each other,
and preserving to each its own roots as entire as
possible, is the chief affair ; and minding to seat
them carefully, and not too low in the centre of
the pots.

Many of the strong-growing, spongy kinds of
green-house plants maybe readily struck without

21 S CULTIVATION.

glasses, as confined air is apt to rot them. And
there are some plants, as Camellias for instance,
which not only require no glasses, but cannot be
safely struck till the young shoots are done grow-
ing, nor until every leaf is perfect; because,
during their expansion, they are extremely suc-
culent, and easily destroyed by either moist air
or sunshine. But as the seeds of this fine plant
frequently ripen in this country, a store of young
ones may be more readily obtained from them,
either for new varieties or for stocks, than by the
old means of layering or cuttings.

The cultivation of orange trees has become an
object of much interest of late, and the propaga-
tion of them has been greatly improved. The
best stocks for grafting on are raised from the
seeds of lemons or citrons. Lemon seeds sowed
in January and raised in a dung or leaf hot-bed,
and nursed, frequently shifted, and well managed
throughout the summer, may be grafted in the
autumn, or, at farthest, in January following.
When grafted, they are kept in the same, or
placed in a new lively bed, to assist the union of

THE GREEN-HOUSE. 219

the graft and stock, and accelerate the growth,
which, under such management, is astonishin2;]y
rapid. By this means a quantity of beautiful
young orange trees may be soon obtained. But
a still more expeditious method than this is de-
scribed by an intelligent writer in the Gardener's
Magazine, vol. iii. p. 272. He states, from actual
practice, that cuttings of the Madras citron, put
into pots in January, will strike and be fit to
receive a graft in the following April ; and if a
graft be chosen which shows flower-buds, these
will be fully blown in six months from the time
of putting in the cutting ! One thing respecting
the cuttings, noticed by this same writer, which
has often before been regarded by former culti-
vators,— is, to put the bottoms or lower end of
the cuttings in contact with the sides of the pot,
or down so as to bear on the shards in the bottom
of it. This position, it seems, hastens the pro-
duction of roots, there being additional excitement
from the extra heat retained by the solid sub-
stances of the pot and shards.

From these facts, it appears that the citrus

220 CULTIVATION.

family is a very manageable tribe ; and whether
the various sorts of it be regarded as fruit, or
only as ornamental plants, they are, though no
novelty, well worthy of every care and expense
bestowed upon them. An orangery, properly
designed and conducted, is in all seasons an in-
teresting spectacle, and fully deserves a division
in every range of horticultural buildings.

Green-house bulbs and other plants which do
not produce stems are increased by parting the
roots.

Having noticed the different methods of pro-
pagation, I shall now briefly state the general
management of such collections.

In respect of the building, it should be suf-
ficiently large for the collection intended to be
kept in it ; or rather the collection should be
limited to the size of the house. The whole may
be injured by an endeavour to keep a great num-
ber. The exterior of the building may be orna-
mental ; should stand dry, and rather elevated ;
capable of admitting the greatest share of air and
lights and the means of heating it so complete.

THE GREEN-HOUSE. 221

that no degree of cold should ever jeopardize the
safety or health of the plants. These particulars
are essentially necessary for the well-bein^ of
green-house plants, kept, as they always are, in
pots, and ranged on a graduated stage of shelves
sloping from the back to the front ; or, if the
house be glazed all round, on a stage sloping
both ways from the centre. Or, instead of a
stage of shelves, a platform three feet from the
floor occupies the middle of the house, on which
the plants are placed according to their height,
each being easily seen from the path which sur-
rounds the whole. Between the path and the
outside walls, grated shelves are placed, usually
over the flues, to serve as benches on which to
set the smallest plants, or pots of forced flowers.
Except orange trees, or very tall plants, none
are placed on the floor; it is an advantage to the
plants to be near the glass, so as they are not
too much above the eye of the spectator.

The tire-place is usually in a shed behind the
house, the shed being a useful appendage for
many purposes connected with the management

222 CULTIVATION.

of the plants. The general temperature sliould
never be lower than 40°, nor higher than 60°,
while the plants are in the house. Dry, mild,
fresh air should be admitted at all times, if not
below the minimum above-mentioned. Fire
should never be used but to repel frost, or to dry
the house and plants, when a current of air
can be at the same time admitted. Watering,
clearing from dead leaves and insects, stopping
over-luxuriant shoots, and perfect cleanliness, is
all the attention required in the green-house
during the winter months.

As the spring advances, a greater share of
fresh air is daily given from morning till night ;
and, in very mild calm weather, the sliding sashes
in front may be kept open on nights as wells as
days, especially tov/ards the end of April and
beginning of May, to prepare the plants for being-
taken out of the house altogether. The variable-
ness of our seasons prevents naming any particular
time or day when this business should be done.
The old rule among British gardeners is when the
common mulberry puts forth its leaves. This is an

THE GREEN-HOUSE. 223

excellent because a perfectly safe indication of the
progress of the season. Previous to this time,
therefore, every preparation should be made for
this necessary work : the different descriptions of
soil and compost, pots, prop-sticks, &c. should
all be in readiness ; as well as the place where
the plants are to stand for the summer.

It is material that the shifting-, which is a
scene of disorder, should be got speedily out of
hand. The usual practice is to shift the plants
as they are taken out of the house, and when
done, watered, pruned, and tied up, are carried
to their summer station. That station should be
a sheltered, rather than a shady spot ; an east or
north aspect is most suitable ; and if where they
can be seen, or be ornamental, the better. When
the house is cleared of the plants, it should receive
a thorough cleaning; the grape vines, if there
be any trained to the rafters, dressed and tied
up ; and the vacant shelves again furnished with
hot-house plants, tender annual and other showy
flowers, raised and now ready for the purpose.
While the plants are in their summer station,

2-24 CULTIVATION.

they only require the ordinary care of frequent
watering, picking, and keeping in due position
against wind. They should be set on reversed
pans, tiles, or on some compact level surface,
formed of lime and coal ashes, to prevent earth-
worms entering the pots. And if, as is often
the case, they are set on sand, gravel, or on the
common soil, the roots speedily find their way
through the bottom, and consequently require
to be frequently moved, to prevent the roots
establishing themselves in the ground, which, if
once allowed to do, and afterwards rudely torn
from their hold, checks and deranges the growth
very much.

The next affair of importance is the getting
the collection replaced in the house before the
frosts and inclement weather of autumn set in.
There is no circumstance in nature which seems
to give notice of the decline, as we have of the
advance, of summer, save the general pause in
vegetation ; which, however, has nothing to do
with the commencement of frost. I have known
great damage done to green-house plants by a

THE GREEN-HOUSE. 225

sharp frost on the 5th of September, though it is
seldom dreaded before the middle of October.
Yet, as the plants can be treated with full air
in a well-constructed house, they had better be
placed under its protection too soon than too late:
the 10th of September will therefore be a very
safe date on or about which to house the plants.

The plants will require but little preparation
for this removal ; ridding them of faded flowers,
dead leaves, irregular growths, moss or weeds, is
all that is requisite. If they have been set where
it is probable the roots have got through the pots,
they should all be moved, and the vagrant roots
cut off' about a week or ten days before being
carried to the house.

There is no particular rule for arranging or
placing the plants on the stage. Sometimes they
are grouped in families, but more frequently
mixed indiscriminately, according to their height,
a little intricacy being given to the bank of
foliage, by placing conspicuous individuals here
and there above the rest.

When the plants are all thus arranged for the

k

226 CULTIVATION.

winter, besides the ordinary and daily care in
giving air and water, it is time to consider what
other plants should be introduced to flower, or be
nursed in the green-house. These need not be
named ; but about the middle of October the
first division of Cape bulbs should be planted,
leaving the second to be planted in November.
These bulbs consist of Ixias, Antholizes, &c. &c.,
which, though small, are exceedingly beautiful
flowers. This tribe of plants succeed best in
sandy moor-earth ; and, after flowering, are
treated exactly like other bulbs.

Common bulbs, imd many other flowers, receive
a share of the fostering protection of the green-
house ; and as the chief pleasure derivable from
such a building is daring the winter months,
every eifort should be made to have in it a pro-
fuse show of flowers.

OF THE CONSERVATORY.

The eligibility of a conservatory for the cul-
tivation and preservation of fine exotic plants
has already been noticed ; there only remains to
be mentioned in this place some few particulars
regarding their construction, planting, &c.

A conservatory should always be placed in
the pleasure-ground, in that part called the flower-
garden. It should be near the mansion-house;
and if this has any decided architectural charac-
ter, the conservatory should partake of it. Whe-
ther Grecian, Gothic, or ot'uer style, the two
buildings should harmonize as mucli as pos-
sible ; and the conservatory, though subordinate^
may be a highly ornamental appendage to the
mansion.

If one of a large size is intended to be built,
it should bespan a leading walk. The approacb

q2

L

228 CULTIVATION,

to it should lead throuirh a shrubbery of the most
elegant hardy plants carried up to the entrance
at one end, and continued in the same manner
beyond the entrance at the other ; the plants
within the house being- disposed on either hand
in the same way. The advantage of this dispo-
sition of the plants without and within the house,
is to give the idea of an extensive vista or cres-
cent of rare vegetable beauties : and, by passing
through the midst of them, to have opportunity
of examining every one of the collection to the
right and left, consecutively. Such a disposition
may not be in all cases practicable ; nor is it abso-
lutely necessary ; but when it can, it should be
done. Buildings, and particularly horticultural
buildings, require to be backed, flanked, and
otherwise accompanied by trees and verdure, so
as they are not too much shaded. If standing
on a naked base, they look cheerless, and exposed,
besides always imposing on the attention when-
ever in sight.

As the magnitude of living specimens is the
main purpose of a conservatory, a select number

THE CONSERVATORY. 229

of the most beautiful flowering plants should
have the principal places ; and planted at such
distances as not too soon to interfere with each
other. The character of their growth should be
also considered ; tall aspiring growers may be
placed between those of more humble or spread-
ing growth. In the first years of their growth,
there will, of course, be much space unoccupied ;
this, however, may be furnished by tall plants in
pots, or by quick growing plants, climbers, &c.,
which may be afterwards removed or cut away
without regret. The conservatory should also,
at all times, be a place for the display of annual
or seasonal beauties.

In order that such a building may be as exten-
sively interesting as possible, it should consist of
three divisions. The centre for tropical, and the
wings, as before observed, for Australian, Chi-
nese, some American, and European plants. In
the choice of these for a conservatory, it is not
the rarest that should be exclusively preferred ;
but such only as are remarkable for the splendour
of their flowers — for the amplitude of their leaves.

230 CULTIVATION.

elegance of their forms, or for the interest at-
tached to them as emblems, or for historical
import. The grape-vine and pine-apple are use-
ful, but not beautiful; therefore, they should not
be admitted. The orange and pomegranate are
both useful, sweet scented and beautiful, and on
this account deserve a place. The hostile Eu-
phorbia ramosa, which was planted as a cheval
de frize in one place for the better defence of
Seringapatam, and cut through, though not with
impunity, by the van of the British army, has an
historical value, and therefore should have a sta-
tion. The olive of peace — the palm of glory —
and the laurel of victory, should all have rank in
such an assemblage: and, while gratifying to the
eye of the beholder, they may also awaken ideas
associated v\ith the countries of which they are
natives — of their uses in the arts — or of their
importance in commerce.

One fire-place, with branched flues or pipes,
may, if properly planned and executed, serve for
the whole range. A full command of heat is
indispensable : there must be no defect in the

THE CONSERVATORY. 231

means employed to keep out frost; and this
security may be obtained without an extravagant
waste of fuel, by only a rightly devised mode of
the distribution of that easily conducted and dis-
posable element, heat.

For this power of distributing heat, we are
indebted to the recent improvements in metallic
enginery ; and the value of these discoveries
will in no case be of more importance than when
applied to the purposes of artificial horticulture.
Buildings, whether for the preservation of orna-
mental plants, or for forcing fruit, will henceforth
be more economically, and consequently more
extensively, erected than ever; so that no person
of fortune, however moderate, need be destitute
of such gratifications.

It is not within the scope or prescribed limits
of this work to give a particular description of
the architecture, viz. plan and elevation of a
conservatory ; the size and style of finishing
always depending on the taste, the pleasure, and
purposes of the proprietor. Suffice it to say,
that it sliould be sufficiently high to allow trees

232 CULTIVATION.

to grow to the height of thirty feet or more, and
to be proportionally wide. The frame and roof
should be as light as is consistent with its sta-
bility. The means for the admission of fresh air,
by moveable sashes and ventilators, must be par-
ticularly attended to in the construction. The
flues, whether for fire, steam, or hot water,
should be conducted under the paths, so as not
to disfigure or encumber the surface within the
building ; the paths being formed of wooden or
cast-iron gratings. The borders for the plants
should be made to the depth of three feet on a
dry subsoil; and composed of fresh light loam,
leaf-mould, and moor-earth, well intermixed.
Some of the tropical plants have thick fleshy
fibres, and seem to delight in a loose porous
soil ; though the palms require rather a tenacious
loam. These, and any other plant requiring a
peculiar kind of soil, may have it applied to
their roots when planted. The columns in the
interior of a conservatory are fine stations for
climbers ; such as passion-flowers, and the like.
All plants that are shrubby, and which flower

THE CONSERVATORY. 233

readily in pots, as Heaths, Proteas, &c. need not
be chosen for standards in the conservatory, but
admitted as temporary residents only. In short,
while it is a repository appropriated to a selection
of the most interestingly ornamental plants, it is
also at all times a receptacle for every kind or
description worthy of cultivation.

There are many beautiful aquatics, and some
of them natives of warm countries. For the pro-
per culture of these, an ornamental vase, or basin,
four feet or more in diameter, should have a cen-
tral place. This, half filled with fine rich loam,
serves instead of their native mud ; and when
the roots are put into it, the vase is nearly filled
with water, which is kept fresh by occasional
supplies. The foliage rises to the surface of the
water, and either floats thereon as Nymphea, or
rises into the air as some of the Hedychiums. In
their management, there is one thing should be
attended to ; that is, to imitate the rise and fall
of their native streams. The water should be
deepest when the plants are in the most vigorous
growth; and when the autumnal pause takes

234 CULTIVATION.

place, they should be l^ept almost dry. This
pause in their growth causes them, like common
bulbs, to present their flowers earlier, and in
more strength.

In arranging such an assemblage of plants,
and fitting up the interior, I know of no place
which admits of greater display, or opportunity
for the exercise of fine taste, than a conservatory.
Even fancy may lend her assistance in the embel-
lishment. If, for instance, another smaller and
similarly shaped vase, supported on a tripod,
were placed within and rising to a due height
above the first, and a third still smaller in the
second, and so on, diminishing to a point, the
whole would be an elegant pyramidal form, of
considerable surface, on the same spot : and, be-
sides the aquarium base, there would be elevated
stations of suitable soil, to receive the magnifi-
cent Cacti, and other curious plants of pendulous
character. For a like purpose a pyramidal frag-
ment of granite*, or two obelisks of the same,

* Granite would be the most durable; but any softer stone,
or even composition, would be more suitable.

THE CONSERVATORY. 235

having their surfaces hewn into cavities and
chinks, to hold a little soil, would be, in some
degree, a natural position for the Messembry-
anthemums, Euphorbiums, Semperviviums, &c.

Many other devices, besides the very fragile
one of coloured glass, will occur to refined taste,
to design receptacles, stations, props, &c. for
plants, according to their natural characters,
whether climbing, trailing, creeping, or pen-
dulous.

Even the seats and tables in such a place
(which may be an agreeable apartment in some
seasons) should be in character.

Mirrors used to be a part of the fittings up of
conservatories ; but their effects are too fleeting
for the rational mind. The old immense con-
servatory at Muswell Hill, near Hornsey, built
by a scientific gentleman of the name of Beau-
clerk, was famous forty years ago for containing
some very large specimens of Italian plants, and
two immense looking-glasses placed in dark
recesses at the opposite ends of the building;
which (the frames being iiidden by foliage) pro-

236 CULTIVATION.

duced, from the counter and multiplied reflec-
tions, an astonishing, though transitory, effect on
the mind of a visiter.

As such buildings are usually executed in the
course of the summer, the autumn falls to be the
time for putting in plants, for which no further
directions need be given. The subsequent
management consists only in keeping up the
requisite degree of temperature, and giving the
necessary supplies of water, as circumstances
direct.

OF THE FORCING-PIT.

There are but few places, where flowers are
cultivated to any considerable extent, but have
a forcing-pit for bringing forward early flowers
for the embellishment of the drawing-room,
green-house, or conservatory. It is only a hot-
house on a small scale. Walls of brick-work,
a fire-place, and its flue carried round on the

THE FORCING-PIT. 237

inside, close to the walls, embracing a pit or bed
of tanner's bark, leaves, or well prepared stable
dung. It adds much to its convenience to l>ave
a narrow path in front, as well as at the back
of the tan-pit within ; and which requires to be
pretty deep, in order to allow head-room in
placing and attending to the plants. The pots
of plants to be forced are previously prepared
in the autumn, and are set on or plunged in a
surface- layer of dry saw-dust, laid on the fer-
menting material, soon as the heat is sufficiently
moderate. They should be as near the glass as
their height or growth will allow ; the strongest
light and freshest air are necessary, as well to
give strength as colour and scent to the flowers.
The sashes are moveable, for the purpose of
giving air; and which is admitted, more or less,
as the heat in the bed, or weather, allows. Fire-
heat is only used when that of the bed has
declined, or when a covering of straw mats, or
common Russia mats, is insufficient to keep out
frost. Besides being particularly suitable for
forcing early flowers, it is also a fit place to

233 CULTIVATION.

raise seedlings, strike cuttings or layers, or re-
cover sickly plants at all times of the year.

These are the buildings which affluence and
taste, hy the aid of practical skill, has had erected
for keeping exotic, and flowering at pleasure
hardy plants. Tiiey yield to the proprietor much
pleasurable amusement, and the high gratifica-
tion of possessing in a northern clime many of
the vegetable gems and sweets of the glowing
and exuberant ;-:oulh.

OF THE LAPIDIUM, COMMONLY
CALLED ROCK-WORK.

As a flower-garden is a receptacle for every
thing that is gay and beautiful in the vegetable
kingdom, so every kind of soil and habitat natural
to the plants respectively, should be, as nearly
as possible, imitated ; not only as a means con-
ducive to their free growth, but in order that
they may be seen in their domesticated state as

THE LAPIDIUM, OR ROCK-WORK. 239

they are most generally seen in nature. For
this purpose we have lapidiums, or Alpine-plant
borders, which are only a congregation of rugged
stones. In the interstices of these, the plants are
put, either on the dry summit, or in dark recesses
under the largest blocks. And though such a
harsh feature may be dispensed with in a simply
beautiful flower-garden, it is absolutely necessary
in an extensive botanical collection, where the
object avowedly is, to get together and present
every vegetable production found on the varied
face of the earth ; whether among craggy rocks
on high, or on the extended savannas of the low
latitudes. Alpine plants, therefore, which consti-
tute a very large and beautiful portion of our col-
lections, are treated with a situation and exposure
as like their native habitat as it is possible for
art to accomplish. Many of the mosses, lichens,
and especially the beautiful family of ferns,
cannot be cultivated successfully, nor indeed
would they look well, if unaccompanied by
fragments of stone or other marks of uncultivated
nature.

240

OF THE AQUARIUM.

As suitable places are prepared for the plants
of the hill and dale, so also must a situation be
found for the vegetable inhabitants of the lake or
river. A large basin of water in a garden is
always an useful appendage, independent of its
utility as a station for water plants. If supplied
by a fountain, or artesian well, it may be parti-
cularly useful ; as always affording soft and tepid
water for every purpose of the gardener, and
peculiarly suitable for aquatics that are rather
tender, and also for gold and silver fish. They
are usually made of a circular or any other
regular form ; the sides of brick- work, with a
hewn stone coping, and on a subsoil impervious
to water, or made so by puddled clay. The
back of the brick-work should also be puddled,
to prevent leakage.

If this feature can be introduced in a nook or
recess of the lapidium, it will be perfectly na-
tural, as well as suitable.

241

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

Having made some remarks on the physical
structure of the plants treated of in the foregoing-
pages, it may be expected, perhaps, that some-
what should be added on the physiology of trees.
This is the more necessary, as it is a part of bota-
nical knowledge which is still very obscure : for,
though many eminent naturalists have employed
their talents in the study and illustration of vege-
table phenomena, and though much of the hid-
den processes has been brought to light, still the
opinions of the learned are conflicting; the sci-
ence is mystified by hypothetical schemes of vege-
table life and economy, which can neither be
proved nor clearly understood. Every lover of
the science, however, is indebted to those inde-
fatigable individuals, who, by constant observa-
tion, dissection, and close examination of the
various parts of vegetable conformation, have so
clearly shown the etFects, if not the causes, of
vegetable life.

R

242 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

It would be right, perhaps, to preface the
following observations by giving a view of all the
different opinions promulgated by botanical phy-
siologists, from Grew down to Poiteau : but as
this would embrace a great bulk of obsolete
matter, it is as well omitted. I shall therefore
proceed to describe, as plainly as I can, the dif-
ferent parts and organization of a tree, availing
myself of every discovery of science which is
agreeable to and has been confirmed by practice,
and of every result of practical agency which is
sanctioned by the principles of science.

Scon after the first appearance of the jjlwnula^
or rising shoot from the seed, we find, on making
a transverse section of the stem, that it consists of
a central pith enclosed in a cylinder of fibrous
matter, perpendicularly arranged, this having on
its exterior a thin separate film of bark; the
whole being saturated with sap peculiar to the
plant.

Of the pith. — The pith, or medulla, is so called,
because it resembles the marrow of a bone. It
is only a temporary part of the stem ; compara-

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 243

tively large in young shoots, but g-radually be-
coming less, and in very old trees hardly percep-
tible. It appears in the crowns of the roots as
well as in the stem, and extends through the
branches into every the minutest twig. As an
organ, its use is not apparent, as it is the first
to decay ; and stems and even young shoots live
very well and long after being deprived of it. It
most probably only acts as a support to the
infant stem, and as a reservoir of moisture to
sustain it against drought.

Of the fibrous cylinder. — This principal organ
of the stem surrounds the pith, and is composed
of a closely united body of ligneous fibres (em-
bedded in cellular membrane, the cellules of
which are arranged horizontally), forming, of and
among each other, various sized tubes and in-
terstices, perpendicularly arranged, and extending
from the collet or bottom of the shoot to its utmost
height ; and from the collet downwards over
every root. At the end of the summers growth
it forms a cone, embracing the pith already de-
scribed. During its growth it is called cambium;

R 2

244 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

but when arrived at its full size, which it does
in about seven months, it receives the name
of white wood, or alburnum. It is the origin of
the perfect wood, for ever after occupies the
centre of the stem, and retaining' its first form,
position, and dimensions unaltered. The lig-
neous tissue of which it is composed longitudi-
nally, is crossed by rays* of the same substance,
which converge from the bark to the pith. The
cambium is the seat of the vitality of the plant; it
contains the rudiments of both roots and shoots,
as well as that specific energy which, under
the excitement of surrounding elements, produces
all the future expansion of the vegetable being-.

» Medullary rays is an old term amongst physiologists;
but the term and the appearance of the rays on a transverse
section have led into error; they have been conceived to
be only simple line?, and, as such, have been supposed to be
the umbilical tracks or rudiments of buds. But this idea
cannot be admitted as probable ; because medullary rays
exist in the internodal parts of stems where no buds ever
appear; and, moreover, these rays are not simple lines, but
vertical partitions of the grain of \vood, extending from the
bottom to the top of the stem, dividing the circumference
into triangular segments.

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 245

Of the hark. — The bark is a distinct member,
thrown off from the cambium as an excremental
cloak or covering, over the whole surface of the
plant, root as well as stem. In the first year it
is a thin transparent film, called the cuticle,
which for ever afterwards remains on the exterior.
If permanent, the bark is increased in thickness
every following year by a layer discharged from
the cambium to its interior surface ; the outer
layers are called the outer bark, and the inner
layers are called the liber. The age of a tree
may be accurately ascertained by counting the
number of layers of which the bark is composed ;
its laminated structure is very conspicuous in
the common lime, and many other trees ; and is
attached to the stem by the medullary rays of
the wood, by the buds, shoots, and sometimes by
radicles which force their way through it.

These three parts compose the seedling stem.
They previously existed in the seed, and are
developed by elongation and expansion ; no ad-
ditional membrane being added either at top or
bottom. The leaves are seated on the bark, to

246 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

which they are only temporarily attached ; they
also having pre-existence before development.
Indeed, it is most material to remark, in this
place, the important fact, that every part of a
plant displayed in the course of time previously
exists in embryo ; vegetable life being only the
expansion of incipient organization which is gra-
dually excited into form and amplitude by the
stimuli of heat, air, and water.

The above description of a shoot from a seed,
is applicable to every shoot afterwards produced
from a bud.

If we examine a transverse section of a two-
year old seedling, we shall find that the pith
maintains its place, though somewhat reduced in
diameter : that the cambium of last year has now
become perfect wood, but remaining of the same
size and figure it had at the end of the first sum-
mer; that a new circle of alburnum has been
formed on the outside, involving the first ; and
that this is defended by two films of bark, the
inner one having been added at the same time
with the new alburnum. This is the process that

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 247

takes place in every succeeding year during the
life of the tree ; the central axis or cylinder of
wood becoming annually enlarged in diameter by
the addition of a ring of alburnum, the whole
serving as a support to sustain and elevate the
branched head of the plant.

Respecting these annual accretions of albur-
num^, a very important question forces itself
upon our notice, viz. Whence do these additions
originate? They have been already described in
both their conditions as cambium and alburnum;
but their origin has not been adverted to. In-
deed, of all the processes of vegetation, none is so
obscure as this. Its rise and progress into being

*The annual rings of wood are very visible on a cross
section of the trunk. The number indicates the age of the
tree. In some kinds of trees, as the beech, for instance, the
alburnum, or sap-wood (as the timber-dealers call it), is per-
fect in the second year ; but the alburnum of oak is not
perfect till the sixth or seventh year. This is very obvious
on view of a section; six or seven of the outer layers will be
sap or white wood, and all the interior layers towards the pith
will be mature, as the colour slio^s. This fact also shows
that the new layer of oak formed this year (1829) will not be
perfect hearty timber till the year 1835.

243 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

are hidden from daily inspection. Examination,
by frequent incisions through the bark, give but
an imperfect idea of how and when the fibrous
organization of the cambium first appears, and
whence it is derived. This is a point on which
there is at this time much diversity of opinion ;
and when the difficulties of having ocular proof
of the phenomenon are considered, there is no
wonder that physiologists differ so much from
each other respecting this occult part of the
science.

Some of the most eminent writers on the sub-
ject imagine that the sap is changed, chiefly by
the elaborating powers of the leaves, from a crude,
watery state, to what they call mature or perfect
sap, and this is conceived to possess a property
which is deemed, j^er se, " organisable ;" that is,
when sufficiently abundant and mature, it is
transformable into all the membranes, various
organs, and components of the plant. One dis-
tinguished botanist believes the new accretion to
be only a dilatation of the alburnum, while others
maintain, that the li2:neous matter of the new

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 249

layer is formed of the radkles which descend
from the superior buds between the wood and the
bark, which uniting- with the converging; rays in
their passage down, compose the new layer.
Differing from all these, another idea has been
entertained, which supposes the living principle
to be a distinct organ of itself, always situated
between the wood and the bark, and annually
divisible into layers of bark and wood for ever.

Now, as one or other of these opinions are held
by many men of the first authority and respecta-
bility, as well in science as practice, it is worth
while to examine these opinions, in order to show
how far they are consistent or inconsistent with
the laws of nature, or agreeable to practical facts
and observations.

With respect to the doctrine that all the accre-
tions of a plant are formed out of the matured
juice, it will be necessary to consider first the
nature of the sap itself.

The sap of vegetables has been very justly
compared to the blood of animals. It is not an
organ, but a constituent only, which pervades,

250 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

distends, connects, and invigorates the whole
system. It is increased by supplies imbibed by
syphon-acting tubes from the earth, and also by
absorption of moisture from the air. It is found
of many different qualities in different plants ;
each kind of plant possessing peculiar powers
and structure for elaborating, concocting, and
assimilating the qualities of the earth and air, so
as to form specific combinations proper to itself.
Thus the Pinus genus possesses an organisation
and a fountain for the production of resin ; Mi-
mosa, gum ; Riciims!, oil ; &c. Other plants ela-
borate sugar, starch, &c. ; and though these
specific qualities are often more concentrated in
one part than in others, yet the whole plant par-
takes of them in a greater or lesser degree.

Sap is of various consistency ; in some plants
it is like pure water, without colour, scent, or
taste. It is, on the contrary, in some coniferous
plants so inspissated, and (whether left in a
cavity of the timber, or withdrawn by tapping)
becomes so concreted that it resists edge-tools,
and so indurated as to last for ages, unless de-

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 251

composed by the action of heat or water. But
in no state is it ever found by analysation to con-
tain anything like fibrous matter from which
organs might be formed; it ever remaining a
homogeneous mass, and quite destitute of any
special structure to indicate conformation. Chap-
tal, indeed, is said to have detected fibrous
matter in the sap of some trees; but this solitary
instance is not corroborated by any subsequent
experimentalist or writer on the subject.

While occupying its natural station in the
plant, we see it at different times more or less
fluid. In the spring it becomes exceedingly
liquefied, and discharged from wounds as limpid
as rock-water; though, if long exposed to the air,
it becomes inspissated into gum on stone-fruit
trees ; or corrupt like sanies oozing from wounds
on the elm. Its motion in the spring and be-
ginning of summer is rapid ; but is arrested and
congealed by the cold of autumn; and during
winter it assumes a clammy consistence, and
then only acts like a cement to the fibrous orga-
nisation of the new and old wood and bark.

252 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

It is never so thickened in the roots, during win-
ter, as it is in the stem and branches; the
warmth of the earth keeping it always in a state
of fluidity.

If then the sap of trees be only as it is here
described, how can it possibly have the alleged
property of " organisation?" How can ligneous
fibres, tubes, cells, flowers, and fruit, be formed
out of a mass of homogeneous jelly, gum, or
resin? The perfect sap is said to be prepared by
the leaves, and, when elaborated, is returned again
into the interior of the plant, to form those new
accretions which take place during the summer.
If it w^ere said that its elaboration is accom-
plished by the leaves perspiring away its aqueous
portion, and thereby leaving a more substantial
juice to be disposed as cement, to give solidity
to the wood, it would be a feasible representation,
and moreover, a representation that could not
be disproved. But when it is maintained, that
this elaborated juice is transformable into all the
other essentials of the plant, practical knowledge
hesitates to give its consent; because there are

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 253

many circumstances which militate against such
doctrine.

It is always considered, in practice, that ma-
tured sap is one thing, and organisation is
another. If they be the same thing, they will
invariably produce the same effects in all similar
cases ; at least we should expect so. But that
this is not the fact, the following instances will
show : —

Choose, from a well-ripened healthy shoot of
a grape-vine, an internode piece, that is, a piece
deprived of its nodes or joints. After ascertain-
ing that it is perfectly sound wood, and of course
fully charged with matured sap, let it be planted
as a cutting in the most favourable situation,
affording it every assistance from artificial heat,
and every other auxiliary means that practical
experience can devise. Will this repository of
perfect sap ever produce a shoot? No, never;
temporary rootlets may be produced ; and though
the cambium may be put in motion, and even
show its callosities at each end, nothing like a
shoot will ever come forth. Again, tubers are

254 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

said to be the depositories of the matured sap
sent down by the foliage. A potatoe, for in-
stance, contains a decided store of this organi-
sable matter : but divest this tuber of its gems or
eyes, it instantly becomes a caput moriuum ; this
concentrated body of organisable life becomes
inert, and quickly submits to putrefaction.

One of the principal arguments in support of
tliis strange doctrine is drawn from the circum-
stance, that a fruit tree, in high vigour, is less
fruitful than one of a moderate or even weakly
grow th ; and if this vigorous tree receive a check,
it almost immediately becomes prolific. This, it
is said, is occasioned by the sap, in consequence
of its stagnation, becoming eminently mature,
and expended in the formation of flowers and
fruit, instead of being rapidly wasted in the
production of wood. But the fact is, flowers
and fruit are not so expeditiously formed as this
supposition w^ould lead us to believe ; they have
existence in the shoot long prior to their appear-
ance on its exterior. The rapid growth of a
shoot is not by an evolution of its central parts,

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 253

but a simple elongation of those components
which existed and composed it even in the bud.
Its parts are magnified, not multiplied. When
the growth receives a check, those parts of the
system which lie more immediately in the influ-
ential and central current of the sap rising from
the roots, will receive a stronger impulse than
those on the exterior, which are further removed
from it ; consequently, the flowers which are
generally, though not universally, seated on the
pith, receive the whole impetus of the subdued
vigour, and hence burst forth into view.

Many other examples might be brought to
prove that the organi sable property of the sap
is not sound philosophy. The very arguments
brought forward in support of it are at least
ill chosen. It has been compared to the agency
of the blood of animals repairing a wound, or
filling up a separated part of a muscle of a living
body ; and to the formation of the chicken from
the homogeneous fluids of an egg ! But the
cases are quite dissimilar : In the first, the blood
only assists by enlargement and elongation of the

256 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

vessels and organs already there : and as to the
second, it is well known, that the vital speck or
rudiment of the chick is formed in, and proceeds
from the oviary of the hen, and (like the spawn
of fishes and reptiles) only requires the vivifying
influence of the male to excite it into life and
perfect form during incubation.

But there are other difficulties attending this
supposed generative property of the sap. As
accretions take place over the whole plant, and
as the leaves are the supposed laboratories of
this organisable matter, means must be invented
for the conveyance of it from them to the lower
parts and roots of the plant. For this purpose
descending vessels are necessary, 1. e. ducts
which allow the prepared sap to sink somehow
or other into the inferior parts of the system.
Hence the trunk of a tree must be conceived to
consist of a most complicated tissue of vessels, to
permit the counter currents of the simple and
matured sap. Indeed, so occult are the pro-
cesses, that it cannot be explained without
recourse being had to almost all the powers of

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 257

nature, viz. gravitation, attraction, positive and
negative electricity, &c. to make out a feasible
hypothesis. The matured sap is made to descend
from the topmost spray of the Lombardy poplar,
and to descend vp the pendant branches of the
weeping ash or willow ! But the practical eye
is not distracted by such anomalies. By a very
slight examination, we find the sap distributed,
at all times when in motion, over the whole sur-
face of the last year's alburnum, on the highest
shoot as on the lowest part of the stem : and
when not in motion, it is equally apparent rest-
ing, in an inspissated state, in the tubes and
cells of the wood, and between the wood and
bark. This is an undeniable fact ; and if it be,
why should physiologists puzzle themselves by
inventing a peculiar system of vessels, for the
purpose of accounting for the fancied motions of
the sap, by conveying it iinnecessarily from one
place to another? Can a topmost shoot or any
other part of a healthy plant be found at any
time divested of it? Can the keenest eye, as-
sisted by the most powerful microscope, discover

258 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

any difference in the structure of the stems of
the Helianthus a7inua and the Helianthus tuhe-
rosus? In the latter, descending vessels must,
as it is said, exist; but in the former they must
be wanting. The petioles of all biennial plants
must be furnished with descending ducts to carry
the prepared sap to the roots or bulbs, in the^rs^
year, but must be destitute of such organs in
the second ! Nay more ; if, as has been already
observed, a single leaf of a carrot or turnip, for
instance, stands over the winter, its function will
be different in the second than it was in the first
season.

The descent of the sap is, however, a very old
idea, and has long been received as an esta-
blished fact. The following circumstances have
always been considered as proofs that there is a
downward as well as an upward course : viz. a
common holly or jasmine, budded with a varie-
gated sort, will afterwards throw up from the roots
variegated suckers. The attachment formed by
inserted buds or grafts and the stock is a union
of the cambium or vital membranes of both

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 259

the scion and stock*. A wound through the
bark heals by protrusions of new wood and
bark downwards faster than by new processes
upwards ; and, in the same case, the sap distils,
it is said, from above more copiously than from
the lower lip of the wound. When a branch or
young shoot is bound by a ligature, it swells
more above than below the band. All these cir-
cumstances shew clearly that there is a down-
ward motion of some component of the plant,
otherwise the above effects could not take place.
These effects, however obscure the cause, cannot
be accounted for by attributing them to the
descent of the sap.

The next hypothesis to account for the annual
enlargement of the stems of trees is one which
admits the change of sap from a crude to a
mature state, and also its ascent, descent, and
lateral transfusion in the body of the plant; but,
instead of attributing the formation of the new

* If the matured sap be impelled upwards in the spring, as
part of it is said to be, along vpith that received from the roots,
why are not grafts tainted with its organisable properties .'*

s2

260 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES,

zone of cambium to the organisable property of
sap, asserts that it is composed of a dilatation of
the alburnum. This is a most rational suppo-
sition ; because not only agreeable to natural
appearances, but also accounting for the fibrous
organisation which so soon appears in this new
member of the stem. But, unfortunately, this
specious conjecture is not true ; because the al-
burnum suifers no diminution, but remains ever
after of the same form and dimension it had at
the end of the last year's growth ; which could
not be the case, if any part of its exterior surface
was sloughed off to form the new layer.

Another idea has been entertained respecting
the annual growth of the stem, and which ap-
pears to be gaining ground, particularly in
France. It admits the striking similarity of
seeds and buds; and supposes, that as every seed
produces roots as well as a stem, so every bud
produces radicles at the same instant that its
leaves, &c. are in progress of development ;
which radicles, entering into the then lubrified
space between the last year's wood and the bark,

PHYSIOLOGY OF TRKES. 261

and there plunging* into the liquefied sap, descend
in close array, anastomozing as they proceed with
the medullary rays which cross their path, and
together furnish the fibrous matter of the swell-
ing cambium. This, it is said, shews how readily
rootlets are produced from cuttings — how inocu-
lated buds or grafts fix themselves to the stock ;
that it is not the matured sap which descends'
but the radical vessels themselves, and they it is
that carries with them the colours and forms of
the parents whence they have descended. It
accounts for the appearances observed on stran-
gulated branches, and particularly for the upper
sides of wounds closing faster than the lower.
It also accounts for the production of shoots from
the trunks of trees which have been long felled*
In short, there is hardly a circumstance in the
ordinary phenomena of vegetation which may
not be satisfactorily explained by the application
of this hypothesis.

Notwithstanding the feasibility of this notion,
however, it is liable to one or two objections,
which fall to be noticed. It should be remem-

262 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

bered, that a lofty tree, wiien it first receives the
enlivening impulse of spring, has its bark closely
embracing the surface of the alburnum. The
first signs of life are the bursting buds exter-
nally, and the liquefaction of the sap internally.
Soon after this, the bark is raised from the wood
by the expansive power of the sap, now assuming
the appearance and receiving the name of cam-
bium, and shewing itself at the bottom of the
lofty trunk almost as soon as it does at the top :
we cannot conceive, therefore, how the descend-
ing radicles can reach so far down in so short a
time : — how they should descend the distance of
sixty or eighty feet in a few days is incon-
ceivable. Another question follows : how does it
happen that the new layer of liber is formed out
of these descending radicles so distinctly and
separately from the body of the new alburnum,
as well as from the last year's liber? And
whence some of the gems which so soon after
appear to rise from these descending radicles?
Such phenomena may take place ; but the expla-
nation is difficult.

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 263

We now come to the last hypothesis which
has been propounded to account for this obscure
process of vegetable life. It differs from all
others, by denying- that the new accretions are
formed from the generative property of the sap,
or that the cambium is a dilatation of the albur-
num of the former year, or that it is supplied
with fibrous matter entirely from the superior
buds ; but that the vital principle of the tree is a
distinct organ always situate between the wood
and liber, and that it is that component of the
system which is susceptible of and receives the
action and influence of the surrounding ele-
ments, occupying the place and appearing in the
character of cambium during its summer growth,
and, when this is over, reposing as a thin body
on the exterior surface of the new alburnum, and
within the new liber which has been thrown off at
the same time. While in this latter state, that is,
from the time when the growth is arrested in the
autumn till its recommencement in the spring,
it occupies a very inconsiderable space, appear-
ing on the transverse section only like a very

2G4 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREKS.

narrow compressed line. Yet, in this slender
cylinder of vitality, it may reasonably be inferred,
are comprised an infinite number of layers of
incipient alburnum as well as of bark.

In a former part of this work it has been
stated, in describing the physical conformation of
bulbs, that their radical plates are composed of an
endless succession of g-ems, which are developed
in the order of their seniority ; so the vital en-
velope of a tree is annually and constantly divisi-
ble into layers of bark and wood for ever *.

This narrow shell of vitality did contain all
the buds and roots that have been, and does con-
tain the rudiments of all that ever will be de-
veloped ; tile gems not floating loosely in the sap,
as has been conjectured, but borne on the vital
membrane and there remaining inert, or de-
veloped when circumstances are favourable.
These gems, though imperceptible, from their
extreme minuteness, are variously located in the

'■' Though trees which do not stole are liable to decay
after a certain period, yet those that do^ or are capable of
being perpetuated by art, may be said to continue for ever.

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 265

Stem, according to the kind or peculiar structure
of the plant; — on every part of the trunk and
branches, as the myrtle ; and at the nodes only,
as the grape-vine.

These gems mostly remain dormant, though
all of them may be prompted into action accord-
ing to the circumstances of position or extraor-
dinary impulses of constitutional vigour, espe-
cially if the stem be damaged, or cut over, im-
mediately above their station ; in which case they
will burst through the bark, or occasionally may
be seen issuing from the protruding cambium,
oozing out round the last year's alburnum at the
top.

These facts are quite apparent to the most
careless observer ; and shew to a certainty the
seat of vitality, whence proceed all the incre-
ments of the vegetable being. The only diffi-
culty lies in conceiving how infinite gradations
of matter can previously exist in finite space ;
how innumerable folds of bark and wood can be
produced from a layer scarcely perceptible during
the winter half-year. Still it is an unquestionable

266

PHYSLOLOGV OF TREES.

fact ; and though not easy to describe, may
easily be comprehended by the assistance of the
following figures : —

The preceding figures are representations of
half a transverse section of a stem, six, and six
and a half years old. In figure A, o is the pith 5
1 is part of the first formed cylinder of wood, or

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 267

alburnum of the first year; 2 is that of the
second ; 3 of the third, and so on to the sixth.
a is the first epidermis or layer of bark with its
rough exterior ; h the second ; and so on to /",
which is the last or liber of the sixth year.

Figure B is a section of the same stem cut in
the month of June of the seventh year. The
layers of wood and bark are shewn in the same
order as in fig. A, with the addition of the cam-
bium of the seventh year partly developed. Its
outer boundary line is the liber of the seventh
year; and the dotted space within is the cam-
bium swelling into volume, and pressing before it
in an outward direction all the previously formed
layers of bark, thereby adding to the diameter
of the stem. By this internal increase the first
layers of bark are split into vertical fissures, as
in Oak, Elm, &c.; divergingly stretched, as in
Beech; or thrown off, as in the Plane, Vine,
and Arbutus andrachne.

The cambium, thus increasing, is gradually
charged with its peculiar organisation of fibrous
matter, tubes, cells, &c. containing that vital
principle called vegetable life. It separates from

268 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

the last year's alburnum so entirely, that its
existence as a distinct membrane cannot be
doubted : no disruption or dilatation, as before
observed, takes place, except where the medullary
rays pass from the bark into the wood.

The liber of the seventh year is also formed in
the summer. It is a sloug-h, thrown off from
the swelHng cambium, but quite distinct, and is
no more connected with the cambium at the end
of the growing season than the cambium is with
the last year's wood, except only by the con-
verging rays which seem to connect together
the whole structure of the stem.

The dotted space 7 (fig. B), is the increasing
cambium, or new layer of wood, of the seventh
year, which only occupied the line 8 during the
previous winter, and will be confined to a
similar line on the exterior of the dotted space
during the next. Hence it will be observable
that the vital principle shifts its place every year.
The alburnum which by its agency was distended
into complete form last year, is deserted by it at
the beginning of this ; but whether dormant, as
it was on the line 8, or actively swelling, as in

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 269

the dotted space 7, it contains the rudiments of
all the liber, roots, buds, &c. that ever will be
produced by the plant; of this there needs no
proof.

In order to shew that the opinion founded on
the above- represented facts is not a mere hypo-
thesis, a few proofs may be brought forward, or
rather recapitulated, by way of illustration.

There can be no doubt that all the different
parts of a vegetable, developed during its exist-
ence, are previously contained in embryo, or state
of incipience ; vegetable life, as before observed,
being only an expansive power of the essential
sap enlarging the vessels which contain it, when
acted on at the proper season by a sufficient de-
gree of heat ; or, as it would appear in some
cases, when the juice by a certain maturation or
chemical change of itself takes a kind of fermen-
tation, and expands independently of atmospheric
heat. Thus many plants whose vernal growth
is soon over, recommence it during winter
and before the increased heat of spring can affect

270 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

them ; witness the early movements of bulbs and
amentaceous plants.

Trees and shrubs are individuals as far as they
have a pith, bark, and a covering of vitality in
common, but dividuals in so far as they are
divisible both by nature and art: naturally by
seeds and suckers : artificially, by cuttings, bud-
ding, grafting, and layering. In all cases, the
organisation and increments proceed from the
cambium, as has been repeatedly stated ; and
as vegetable life is no other than the develop-
ment of pre-existing organisation, we must
allow that there must be some connecting mem-
branes which unite the parts with the whole.
The equivocal generation of plants, or even parts
of plants, is not more absurd than is the equi-
vocal generation of animals.

I am quite aware that questioning the validity
of this old idea, viz. the descent of the sap, will
meet the opposition of many very experienced
men, both scientific and practical : even the wood-
man will remonstrate, and triumphantly ask why

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 271

the stem and branches of a tree contain less sap
in the winter than in summer? The question
deserves an answer, and may be replied to
thus : — The supply of crude sap from the roots
is certainly more abundant in the vegetating
seasons than in winter ; and this, added to the
stock of sap which was arrested by the cold,
but now, by the spring warmth, highly liquefied,
causes a most copious flow. During summer
and autumn, however, the aqueous part of this
flow is expended and transpired away, leaving
the grosser parts lodged in the vascular mem-
bers of the stem and branches, in the interior,
and sometimes on the exterior of the buds for
their preservation. The woodman is therefore
perfectly right in thinking that the sap is more
active in the stem and branches in summer, and
more fluid and active in the roots than in the
stem in winter; but he is wrong in concluding
that the activity in the latter case is owing to its
having subsided from the top to the bottom of
the tree. The fluidity of the sap in the roots

272 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

has already been adverted to, page 252, and no
one who is aware that the vessels of the roots are
at all times replete with sap can possibly imagine
that they have capacity for such a surcharge.

In recurring again to the most obscure part of
the above sketch of vegetable life and constitu-
tional development, a few additional observations
may conclude this section of the book.

The arrangement of the structure has been
set forth under the proper names of pith, wood,
and bark. These are the three principal con-
stituents of the stem or trunk ; and which are all
in a state of gradual change, by annual accretion
or transformation ; and, while undergoing a
change, the processes receive temporary dis-
tinctions for the better describing the parts.
Thus the last year's layer of bark is called the
liber ; and the last year's ring of wood is called
alburnum: but these, during their growth, are
both designated cambium. This cambium is
the seat of life ; is composed of an indefinite
number of layers of bark and wood; one of each

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 273

being thrown off and developed in each year;
the first to increase the thickness of the bark,
the second to increase the body of wood. Strictly
speaking, both these are only excrementitious
parts of the plant ; the first as a general pro-
tection or covering, the second as a temporary
support. In watching the annual growth of a
tree, it is only these increments of the stem which
are detectable by the eye, and these but imper-
fectly till they are displayed into form and sub-
stance. The incipient cambium occupies in win-
ter so inconsiderable a space on the exterior of the
last year's alburnum, that its wonderful compli-
cation of parts cannot be distinguished; and
when examined, after it has swelled to the thick-
ness of one-twelfth of an inch, its fibrous or mem-
branous components are so colourless and trans-
parent, that neither their forms nor positions can
be ascertained. It is this indistinctness of the
organs in this stage of their existence which led
to the opinion, that the perfect sap generated
the organs — a circumstance which, were it true,
I believe, has no parallel in Nature.

T

274 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

To shew that the cambium is a separate and
distinct organ from the alburnum of last year
(except by the insulated attachments before de-
scribed), we may only instance how completely
the former separates from the latter. This is
strikingly visible to the bark-peeler, or on the
accidental disbarking of a standing tree. In
both cases the cambium comes off with the bark,
leaving the surface of the wood completely de-
nuded, except small portions which remain in
the indentations and chinks of the latter. In the
case of a standing tree being- disbarked, the
cambium gradually closes over the wound, in
the way previously described ; but if the naked
surface of the wood remains long exposed, and
becomes hardened by the air, though many new
layers of wood will be formed over it, no intimate
union ever takes place between the layer that was
exposed and the new ; the scar ever remaining a
flaw in the timber : shewing that, notwithstand-
ing the cambium parts easily from the wood
when young, it forms a close union with it
while growing to perfection. The junction

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 275

between the last and the present year's layers
is, however, always very distinguishable in the
timber; the inner side of every year's layer
being fuller of large tubes, and consequently
less solid than the outer side, which is formed
in the autumn, when the vigour of the growth
is subdued.

It is worthy of remark, too, that where the
alburnum has been stripped of its bark, if small
portions of the cambium have been left in the
fissures of its surface, ^these will also swell and
readily unite with the collapsing- cambium in its
way over the wound.

It is unnecessary to describe the other parts
of plants, viz. the root, leaves, stipulse, flowers,
and fruit, further than has been already done in
the directions given for the cultivation of the
plants especially treated of in the foregoing pages.
All these parts and their functions are pretty well
understood ; and have been far better described
by others than by any additional remark that
can be made here. Neither is it necessary that

t2

276 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

allusion be made to the chemical agency attri-
buted to plants ; their susceptibility of electric
action ; the different vessels discovered in the
wood and bark ; their forms, uses in the system,
&c. &c. ; all which discoveries being far beyond
the reach of practical penetration, and proveable
only by the exercise of chemical and physical
philosophy, need neither be scrutinized nor re-
iterated here.

Those living' authors, whose opinions I have
so freely canvassed, and with whose ideas of
vegetable life and processes I have been com-
pelled to differ, I can only take the liberty of
referring to the arguments by which I have
endeavoured to substantiate my allegations, for
justification in dissenting from such high autho-
rities. But to their candid consideration I re-
spectfully submit my statements, trusting that
what I have advanced on the subject may at
least lead to clearer views of physiology, and be
accepted as a mite thrown to the general stock
of botanical knowledge.

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES. 277

And while I acknowledge having- availed my-
self of much valuable information contained in
previous publications, I must not omit returning
my best thanks to Messrs. Sweet, Groom, and
other floricultural friends, who obligingly an-
swered every question proposed to them by me
on the general subject. And while discharging
these debts of ordinary civility, I should be doing
injustice to my own feelings, did I neglect to
acknowledge my entire satisfaction in finding
that I stand not alone in opinion relative to the
physical constitution of bulbs ; but am preceded
by a Lady whose penetration is only equalled
by the spirit she has evinced in freeing herself
from the trammels of obsolete science, and given
a lesson even to her preceptors. I mean Miss
Maria Elizabeth Jackson, of Somerset Hall,
Staffordshire, the elegant authoress of " The
Florist's Manual," and other elementary works
on Botany. I have only seen her Florist's Ma-
nual ; but the few remarks contained in this, I
must say, transcend all that has been previously

278 PHYSIOLOGY OF TREES.

published on ihe subject. Thus it is frequently
seen, that in the galaxy of science it is not the
stars of the first magnitude which emit the
brightest light, their broader beams being often
outshone by the scintillations of the minor glories
of the sky.

J. M.

No. 1.— A LIST OF BORDER FLOWERS,

ESTIMABLE FOR THEIR EARLY FLOWERING, BEAUTY,
OR FINE SCENT.

BULBS AND TUBERS.

Galanthus. Snowdrop.
Nivalis, common.
double.

Allium. Garlic.
Inodorum, Carolina; &c.

BULBOCODIUM. BuLBOCODIUM.

Vernum, spring flowering, &c.

Crocus. Crocus.
Biflorus, flavus, vermis, msssiacus, pallidas, reflexus,
sulphureus, susianus, versicolor.

Erythronium. Ekythronium.
Americanum, Dens Canis.

Frittellaria. Frittellary.
Imperalis, latifolia, obliqua, Meleagris, persica, ra-
cemosa.

MuscARi. Grape Hyacintk.
Amethystinus, botryoides, cernuus, moschatum, race-
mosus, serotinus.

280 BORDER FLOWERS.

Iris. Rainbow, or Fleur-de-lis.

Persica, susiani, tuberosa, biflora, lutescens, pumila,
variegata, Germanica, pallida, versicolor, aud many others.

IxiA. IxiA.
Bulbocodium.

Narcissus. Narcissus.

Albus, angustifolius, bicolor, biflorus, bulbocodium,
elatior, compressus, incomparabilis, Italicus, Jonquilla, pa.
pyraceus, poeticus, Pseudo-Narcissus, Tazetta, tortuosus
aud many others.

Ornithogalum. Star of Bethlehem.

Luteum, nutans, comosum, striatum, unifiorum, &c.

SciLLA. Squill.

Ainseua, bifolia, Lilio-hyacinthus, Italica, nutans,
praecox, sibericus.

Helonias. Helonias.
BuUata, asphodeloides, longifolia.

Trillium. Trillium.
Cernuum, erectum, grandiflorum. See.

TuLiPA. Tulip.
Biflora, sylvestris, clusiana, suaviolens,

Amyryllis. Amyryllis.
Atamasco, Belladonna, lutea*.

Anthericum. Anthekicum.
Liliago, Liliastrum, ramosum, scrotinum.

* These bulbs require to be planted deep in the ground
if not taken up in the winter.

BULBS AND TUBERS. 281

Arethusa. Arethusa.
Bulbosa.

CoLCHicuM. Meadow-saffron.
Byzantiuum, autumnale, variegatum.

CONVALLARIA. SoLOMOn's SeAL.

Bifolia, Japonica, latifolia, majalis, multifiora, Polygo-
natura, racemosa, stellata, verticellata.

Cypripedium. Lady's Slipper.

Acaule, arietinum, calceolus, parviflorum, pubescens,
album.

Leucojl'm. Leucojum.

^stivunij pulchellum.

LiLIUM. LlI.Y.

Camtschatka, cordifolium, Pomponium, aurantium,
biilbiferum, candidum, chalcedonicum, concolor, Japonicum,
Martagon, monadelphium, Pennsylvanicum, suberbum,
trigrinum, canadense^ Catesbsei.

Pancratium. Pancartium.

lUyricum, maritimum.

Tradscantia. Spider-wort.
Virginica, rosea, subaspera.

UVULARIA. UvULARIA,

Anaplexicaule, grandiflora, perfoliata, flava, lanceolata.

COMMELINA. CoMMELINA. '

Communis, virginica.

Gladiolus, Corn-flag.
Communis, byzantinus, cardinalis, imbricatus, psitta-
cinus, natalensis.

Hemerocalis. Day-lily.
Disticha, ca^rulia, flava, graminea, alba, purpurea, fulva

JS2 BORDER FLOWERS.

Hypoxis. Hypoxis.

Erecta.

Chinensis.

Pavonia.

Pardanthus. Pardanthus.

TiGRiDiA. Tiger-flower.

g^° Many of the Orchidese are suitable for shady
borders, viz. the different genera of Orphrys, Orchis, Cy-
pripedium, Satyrium, Serapias, Neottia, Gymnadenia,
Aceras, Herminium, Listera, Epipactis, &c.

Dahlia. Dahlia.
Frustranea, superflua.

This is one of our most splendid autumnal flowers.
There seems to be no end to varieties obtainable from seed ;
and their cultivation is as easy as it is generally known.
The seed, sown early in spring, will flower in the end of
summer. The tubers must be taken out of the open ground
in the autumn, and kept in a dry place out of the reach of
frost in winter. In the early spring the tubers of the fa-
vourite kinds are divided, and piit into pots six inches
diameter, and kept in a house or frame till all danger from
frost is over, when they may be turned out in the borders.
They are readily and expeditiously propagated by taking
the first shoots which rise from the tubers and striking
them in a little heat. Such young plants produce the
handsomest flowers. They flower earlier, and grow more
dwarfish in the poorest soil ; and if very large flowers are
desired, all the inferior branchlets must be thinned out.

CAPE BULBS.

Under this character are ranged Ixias, Antholizas,
Gladiolus, &c. almost all of which are delicate and diminu-

PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS. 283

tive plants. They are usually potted in light sandy soil,
and kept in pots or frames during their flowering season.
Some of them succeed on a warm dry border ; where, if
planted five or six inches deep, and covered with dry litter,
they will stand the winter ; but a safer way is to take them
up, like other bulbs.

No. 2.— BORDER FLOWERS.

FIBROUS-ROOTED PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS.

Eranthi?. Aconite.
Hy emails.

Helleborus. Hellebore.
Lividus, niger, viridis.

TuSILLAGO. CoLTS-FOOT.

Alba, fragrans, Adonis, vernalis.

Alyssum. Madwort.
Calycinum, alpestre, montanum, &c.

Arabis. Wall-ckess.
Alpine, giandiflora, nutans.

Draba. Whitlow-grass.
Aizoides, Androsace, hirta.

FUMARL\. FUMITAKY.

Spectabilis.

Orobus. Bitter Vetch.
Vernus, albus, pyrenaicus.

Potentilla. Cinquefoil.
Napalenses, Russalliana.

284 BORDER FLOWERS.

Saxifraga. Saxikrage.
Cordifolia, crassifolia, oppositifoUia, umbrosa; &c.

Valeriana. Valerian,
Tripteris, Phu, calcitrapa.

Viola. Violet.
Calcarata,odorata, and thirty-eight other species.

This sweet little flower is an universal favourite. The
odorata and its varieties are most valued ; but they cannot
be had in perfection unless a good deal of pains is bestowed
on them. Slugs are very destructive to the violet, devour-
ing the flowers as much before as after they are in bloom.
Where the flowers are in much request, beds are made on
purpose for them, composed of a layer of coal-ashes on the
bottom, covered with a compost of peat-earth, loam, rotted
cow-dung, and sand ten inches thick. On this young
runners are planted, six inches apart, in July, carefully
attended ; and, when the cold of autumn sets in, they are
covered with a frame and lights, and defended from the
frost throughout the winter. Violets should be potted in
August for forcing, which is most successfully done in a
mild hot-bed. The double Neapolitan is the best for
forcing.

DOUECATHEON. AMERICAN CoWSLIP.

Meadia.

Gentiana. Gentian.
Acaulis, lutea, purpurea, cruciata, and twenty others.

Iberis. Candytuft.
Saxatilis, sempervirens, ciliata, rotwndifolius.

Phlox. Lychnidea.
Divaricata, setacea, subulata.

PoLEMONiUM. Greek Valerian.
Reptans, sibericum, caeruleum.

PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS. 285

SoLDANELLA. SoLDANELLA.

Alpine^ best kept in pots.

AcoNiTUM. Monkshood.
Napellas, and sixteen others.

Antirrhinum. Snap-uragon.
Alpinum, majus, and varieties.

Aquilegia. Columbine.
Alpina, hybrida, &c.

Asclepias. Swallow-wort.
Vincetoxicum.

Campanula. Bell-flower.

Glomerata, Carpatica, persicifolia, pyramidalis, and
fifty-six others. The pyramidal may be kept in pots, and
trained to be highly ornamental.

Cheiranthus. Wall-flower.

Fruticulosus with varieties, alpinus, &c.

Coreopsis. Dwarf Sun-flower.

Verticilata, &c.

Mathiola. Stock.

Incana, annua, Graaca.

To our old favourites, the ten-week and Brompton
stocks, have been added many new varieties of Russian,
which add to the variety rather than to the beauty of the
tribe.

Dictamnus. Fraxineli.a.
Albus, with several varieties.

Erodium. Heron's-bill.
Hymonides, &c.

Geranium. Crane's-bill.
Sansuineum, &c.

286 BORDER FLOWERS.

Gecm. Avens.
Napalensis.

Gnaphalium. Everlasting.
Olympicum.

Hesperis. Rocket.
Mationalis, double, white, and purple.

Lupin us. Lupine.
PoUyphilla, &c.

Lychnis. Lychnis.
Dioica, viscaiia, chalcedoiiica, &c.

OENOTHERA. Evening Primrose.
Many beautiful species.

Pceonia. Peony.
Albiflora, Sec. many species.

PiNGUICULA. BUTTERWORT.

Alpina, grandiflora.

Thalictrum. Meadow-rue.
Aquilegifulium, alpinum.

Trollius. Globe-flower.
Americanum, Europaeus,

Verbascum. Mullien.
Cupreum, &c.

Apocynum. Dog's-bane.
Hypericifolium.

Aster. Starwout.
Alpinus, and many other species.

Chelone. Chelone.
Barbata, glabra, obliqua.

PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS. 287

Cineraria. Cineraria.
Alpina, canadensis, &c.

Delphinium. Larkspur.
Grandiflorum, &c.

DiANTHus. Pink.

Barbatus, chinensis, fimbriatus, plumarius, &c.

Epilobium. Willow-herb.
Alpinum, &c.

Althea. Hollyhock.
Rosea.

Chrysanthemum. Gold-flower.
Coionarium, &c.

Hypericum. St.-JoHN"s-woRT.
Ascyron, pyramidatum, &c.

Lobelia. Lobelia.
As-surgenSjfulgenSj splendens,cardinalis,siphiliticaj &c.

MONARDA. MONARDA.

Didyraa, fistulosa, rugosa.

Oxalis, Wood-sorrel.
Violacea, &c.

Phlomis. Phlomis.
Gigantea, &c.

RUDBECKIA. RUDBECKIA.

Hirta, purpurea.

Sarracena. Side-saddle flower.
Flava, purpurea.

5^88 BORDER FLOWERS.

Scutellaria. Scull-cap.
Albida, &c.

HelUNTHUS. SUiN-FLOWER.

Atrorubens, &c.

Rhexl*. Rhexli.
Mariana, virginica.

Spigelia. Worm-grass.
Marylandica.

Chrysanthemum. Gold-flower.
ludicum.

This is only a half-hardy border plant, requires to be
kept in pots, and nursed in a frame or house to get it to
flower before frost sets in. They are propagated by slips
taken off in March, by cuttings in May, or by layers in
August. The first make tall and strong plants, but the last
make the most handsome and bushy. Large flowers are
obtained by thinning the flower-buds, i. e. all the secon-
dary buds are pruned off. Such as flower in a cluster
should be thinned more sparingly; the Superb Cluster
Yellow, for instance, should be allowed to shew its cha-
racter. Gar. Mag.

The following annuals and perennials are among the
newest and most valued flowers for borders, &c. viz.

Clarckia pulchella
Schizanthus porrigens
Gillia capitata
CEnothera tenella

triloba

speciosa

Lindleyana

Polemonium siberlca
Lupinus pollyphilla

Chelone rosea
Phlox odorata

Carolina

Viola nepaulensis
Pironia lutea
Trillium grandiflorum
Scilla peruviana alba

caerulia

Lillium Longiflorum

TULIPS.

289

Calceolaria corymbosa
Collinsia grandittora
Mimulis lutea rivalis
Petunia nyctaginifolia
Polentilla Russelliana

Phyteuma orbiculata
Tigridia oxypetala
Lopezia coronata
Erythrina crista galli *

* This plant, formerly treated as a stove exotic, is now
found to stand our winter, by covering the roots. The
stems are killed, but new ones rise in the spring, and flower
in autumn.

No. 3.— CATALOGUE

OF THK

MOST ESTEEMED SORTS OF BULBS, &c.

NOW IN THE TRADE.

TULIPS.
Fine Incomparable Verports.

Amazone

Artificielle

Bienfaisante

Blondeau

Briseis

Bruno

Daphne

Favourite

Florida

Graaf van Buuren

Hebe

Helena

Jolanda

Juweel

La Fidelle

La Plus Belle

Nouveau

O!

PhiUida

Pomona

Premier Noble

Superbe

Tendresse

Trianon

Voorhelm

Fine Cherry and Rose.

Amadis
Andromache
Antoinette
Arbre de Diane
Bacchus

Brulante Eclantante

Cassandra

Catalani

Catherine

Cerise a Belle Forme

290

BULBS, &c.

Cerise extra

de Maroc

primo Faqiaette

Claudiana

Compte de Virgennes
Comptesse de Maroc

Marsan

Dodona

Domingo

Duchesse de Clarence

Fleur de Dames

Grand Rose Imperial

Hebee Superfine

Iphigenia

Julia

Juno

L'Admirable
Lady Exeter
Lelat en Cerise
Lord Colchester

Hill

L'Ornament de Pare
Madame Gyzelaar
Manon
Maria Louisa

Theresa

Matilda
Monsieur Pit
Perle Brilliante
Rose Mignonne

Monti

Walworth

Fine Biblomens,

Abdalonimus

Adelaide

Albicore

Ambassadeur d'Hollande

Belle Actrice

Black Baguet

Blanche Violet

Caffee Brule

Caroline

Chateau de Bruxelles

Comptesse de Gand

Constantia

Czarine

Desdemona

Desiderata

Duchesse de Parme

Tuscany

Wellington

Elizabeth

Eminent

Favorite de Viscour

Gadsby's Magnificent

Grotius

Holmes's Ring

Hugobert

Inapproachable

La Belle Perfection

Princesse

Laomedon

Laura

Livia

Lord Hawke

Maitre Partout

Moreau

Mountain of Snow

Prince Regent

Queen Charlotte

Reine d'Egypte

Respectable

Roscius

Rubens

Scipio

Sophia

Titania

Titian

Translucent Noir

Transparent Noir

Triomphe de Monde

Violet Alexander

Blondeau

Indiana

Lysander

Ma Favorite

Remarkable

Virginia
Wade's Ring

TULIPS,

291

Fine Bizards.

Abaddon

Abercrombie

Archduc Charles

Baav's Wellington

Belle Financia

Bernadotte

Bizard Eclatante

Britannicus Nova

Captain White

Cardinal

Catafalque

Cato

Charbonnier Noir

Commandant

Conquestadove

Debonnaire

Demetrius

Duke of Clarence

Emperor of Austria

— Russia

Kstirae

Franklin's W^ashington

Gaucola Rectified

Globe

Gloria Mundi

Grand Berger

Heroine

King of Prussia

Languedoc

Leopoldina

Masonia

Milo Superbe

Mirabeau

Ophir

Othello

Pizarro

Polyphemus

Pont d'Arcole

Prince Leopold

Rembrandt (very fine)

EARLY TULIPS FOR FORCING.

Agatha Royal

Violet

Aurora

Beaute parfaite
Belle Dorothea
Claremont
Due Van Thol

Globe de Rigo

Golden Sceptre

Grand Blanche

Imperator

Isabelle

Monument

Sweet-scented Florentine

DOUBLE TULIPS.

Amiable Violette
Belle Blanche
CafFee Brun
Couleur de Feu

Couronne Imperial

Pourpre

(Edipus

Parrot Tulips.

Gloriosa
Monstreuse

Perfecta

u2

292

No. 4.— HYACINTHS.

Double Reds, various shades.

Augiistus Rex
Boerhaave
Bruidskleed
Catherine Victorieuse
])elices (les Flores

de Printems

Diademe de Flore
Flos Sanguineus
Glorious Superbe
Goudheurs
Groot Vorste
Henri Quatre
Josephine

Locke
Louis Seize
Madame Zoutman
Maria Louisa
Regina Ruberorum
Rex Ruberorum
Rouge Blouatre

JoU

pourpre et noir

Roxana
Tamerlane
Velours rouge
Waterloo

Double Whites.

Admiral Zoutman
Alamode
Anna Maria
Coeur Amiable

Noir

Comptesse d'HoUand
Dea Florum
Don Gratuit
Due de Berri

. Valois

Elise

General Washington
Gloria Florum
Suprema

Graaf Bentinck

Grand Blanche Imperial

Monarque

Jeanette

Minerva

Og Roi de Basau

Prins van Waterloo

Reine de Prusse

Staatin General

Sultan Achmet

Supreme Alba

Venus

Vicomtesse de Rhoaoult

Double Blues.

Alamode

Bouquet constant

Bucentaurus

Buonaparte

Commandant

Compte de St. Priest

Directeur von Flore

Due D'Angouleme

Endragt

Envoye

Globe Terestre

Gloria Mundi

Helicon

Jupiter

HYACINTHS.

Incomparable Azure Monsieur

Kroon van Indian Nigritienne

L'Amitie' Noir Veritable

L'Importante Pasquiii

Lord Wellington Passe non plus ultra

Mignon de Dryfhauht Tout

Mon Bijou Sertorius

Double Yellows.

Bouquet d'Orange
Grand Alexander
Jaune Neapolitane

La Pure d'Or
Louis d'Or
Ophir

Single Reds.

Amiable Rosette
Cornelia
Grootmiester
La Victorieuse
L'Eclair

L'Eclatante parfait
Lord Wellington
Paix d' Amiens
Piramide Royale
Richesse de Fleurs

Single Whites.

Emilius

Grand Vainquer

Hercules

La Candeur

Premier Noble
Prince de Galetzin
Staaten General
Thais

Single Blues.

Achilles
Appius
Crepuscule
Emicans

General Hoche
Konig's Mantle
La Grand Vidette
La plus Noir

Single Yellows.

Adonis
Cicesus
Jupiter

La Majesteiise
La Pluie d'Or
Prins van Orange

293

294

No. 5.— POLYANTHUS NARCISSUS.

Bazelman Major
Belle Liegeoise
Bouquet Royale
Czar de Muscovie
Grand Monavque

L'Etoile d'Or

Luna

Primo Citroniere

Soliel d'Or

Zeelander

No. 6.— ANEMONES.

Blue and White-striped.

Belle Afrique

Amasia

Amerique

Glodine

Cambray

Celestina

Compte d'Albemarle

Cotonne

Emperor

Eveque de Cologne

Gloria

Mundi

Grisdaline Superbe

Grisetta

Incomparable Azure

Indigo

Jasper Grisdaline

Le Januaire

La Princesse
Marmontelle
Passe Gravita

Salamander

Pavilion

Primaat

Princesse de Conti

Pronk Juweel

Pure Blanche

Purpure Piret

Reine de France

Ruban, blue

Sand re

Sertorius

Syrinx

Triomphe Columbine

Walworth

Red and White-strifed.

Agathe Incomparable

Sanspareil

Archelaus

Argentina

Bardonia

Bartholeraine

Bellisarius

Bizard Oriflamme

Blanche Havite

Jaunatre

Caracalla

Castor

Cedo nulli

Comble de Gloire

Emaillee

La Pucelle

Manteau Corail

Marmara

Portlandia

Quatricolor

Reine d'Anemones

Triomphant

295

No. 7.— RANUNCULUSES.

White, and White-spotted, or edged.

Agreeable

Andrew

Argus

Benjamin

Deborah

Doctor Franklin

Eliza (spotted)

Elizabeth

Endon

Estime

Faustina

Florence

Fulvius

Garricola

Juliet

Louisette

Pourpre Pannachee

Princess Charlotte

of Wirtemberg

Pucella
Suprema
Tendresse
Venus

Red and White-striped or edged.

Cremona

Cur ion

Flagellie a quatre coleurs

Grand Prior

La Teraeraire

Madelice

Nouvelle

(Eillet due

Pierre le Grand

Princess Charlotte Augusta

Rhododendron

Rose Flamme

True Merit

Red and Yellow-striped.

Celadon
Coquelicot
Earl of Errol
Favorite Superbe
L'heureux hazar

Marbre de Paris
(Eillet parfaite

Superbe

Quel bonheur
Togo Pieta

Dark and Dark-plirple.

Achilles

Adolphus

Bon Financier

Charbonnier

Condorset

Coronnax

Diademe pourpre
Duke of Kent
Eveque d'Ipres
Fleur de Canelle
Manteau Noir
Maximilian

296

TUBERS, &c.

Light, Purple, and GnEYd

Beaute trappante
Bleuatre
California
Duke of Sussex
Earl of Bath
Egrillarde

Electrics

Germauicus

Habite Veloute

Nomius

Portia

Roi de Perou

Arlequin de Vienne

Domitrean

Earl of Hardwicke

Gunn's Crimson

Henriette

Hyperion

Lentidrides

Persicaria

Trajan

William Pitt

Xanthus

Zebulon

Adonis
Alphonso
Bourgogne
Cseda nulli
Heliotrope

Red.

Joinville

MoUeure

Pizarro

Quivedo, on yellow

Tyrconnel

Rosy, and Rosy on White.

Alpina
Capricieux
Coleur de Perle
Colossus
Cora

Duchess of Wellington

Juno

Rose de Dames

Stella

Tillet's Blush

Yellow, and Yellow-striped, or edged.

Admiral des Fleurs

Adrian

Beaute Behemoth

Jaune

Beroth
Cecil
David
Lennox

Lystra
Ophir
Pretiosa
Prince Galitzen

William V.

Sappho

Viscount Parker
Tierney

AURICULAS.

297

Am alar ic
Amalthea
Bavaroise
Camella

Okange.

Emelhis

Feu Triomphant

Orange Barbanoun

Sesostris

Admiral Howe
Azorienne
Carlos
Desdemona

Olive.

Favourite
Lord Stavendale
Olive Pannachee
Rubicon

No. 8.— AURICULAS.

Akerley's Alpine Shep-
herdess
Asworth's Man-of-War
Barlow's Britannia

King

Morning Star

Bearless's Sujierb
Buckley's Jolly Tar

Lady Wellington

Lord Hood

Chilcot's Brilliant
Clegg's Black and Green
Clough's Defiance
Cockup's Eclipse
Compton's Admiral Gardiner
Cox's British Hero
Dean's Regulator
Dyson's Queen
Galloway's Glory of Oldham
Gorton's Champion
Grime's Privateer
Healey's Prince of Wales

Hey's Lovely Ann
Hoffley's Lord Nelson
Hornsey Hero
Hughes's Pillar of Beauly
Kenyon's Ringleader

Surprise

Lady Blucher
Laurie's Glory
Lea's Venus
Leigh's Colonel Taylor
Moore's Jubilee

Glory

Oddy's Queen Caroline
Pearson's Badajoz
PoUet's Highland Boy
Pott's Beauty of England
Rider's Prince Waterloo
Salter's Garland
Schole's Mrs. Clarke
Warre's Prince Blucher
Wood's Lord Lascelles

Crimson, Purple, and Yellow Selfs.

Bury's Lord Primate
Flora's Flag
Nicholson's Venus

Redman's Metropolitan
Wild's General Lud
Star

298

No. 9.— POLYANTHUSES.

Allen's Favourite
Billington's Beauty
Brooke's Duke of York
Brown's King
Darlington's Defiance
Eckerley's Black and Gold
Hardman's ditto, ditto

Ranting Widow

Park's Lord Nelson
Pearson's Alexander

Smith's Lady Nelson
Stretch's King
Tate's Prince Regent
Thomas's Nelson
Thompson's Lord Nelson
Thorpe's Golden Fleece
Turner's Prince of Wales

Princess of Wales

Yorkshire Prince Regent

Double Polyanthsues.

Double Crimson, and lilac, white, yellow and velvet
Primroses.

Cyclamen.

Auturauale Album

Coum

Hederifolium

Persicum

Sweet-scented Autumnale

COLCHICUMS.

Agatha Variegatum

Agrijipiuum

Album

Purpurium plenum

Variegatum

Variegatum plenum

Ckown Imperials.

Kroon op Kroou
Luteo Pleno

semplici

Maximus
Orange Sidphurco

Rubro

Folio Variegdto

Pleno

Slaagswaard
^Villiam Rix

299

No. 10.— CARNATIONS.

Scarlet Bizards, viz.

Arche's Sir Isaac Newton
Ashtou's Lord Castlereagh
Banfield's Lord Nelson
Costin's British Monarch
Clegg's Colonel Bayley
Davey's Royal Sovereign
Falkner's Sir W. Wallace
Fellow's Burdett
Gordon's Burdett
Groom's Mars
Handy 's Regent
Harley's Waterloo
Jupiter

Manning's Glory
Nottcutt's Nelson

St. Vincent

Pyke's Champion
Rainbow

Rawling's Salamander
Sharp's Defiance
Smith's Solomon
Snook's Wellington
Tomlinson's Augusta
Walker's Calypso

Duke of York

Hero

Marquis

Monarch

Patriot

Waterhouse's Magnificent

Rising Sun

Syntax

Weltjie's Goliah

Sir E. Pellew

Wild's Perfection

Pink and Purple Bizards.

Buck's Lord Bagot
Davey's Duchess of Devon-
shire
Hathersley's Freedom
Hine's Duchess of York
Lacey's Wellington
Lady Grey
Pyke's Eminent
Smith's Fair Helen

Walker's Buckingham

Pilgrim

Ward's Elizabeth
Waterhouse's Summit of

Perfection
Weltjie's King George

Nonsuch

Wood's Lord CoUingwood

Scarlet Flakes.

Asten's Hero
Barnes's Nelson
Chaplin's Abercrombie
Clegg's George IV.
Ely's Ranger
Hall's Duchess of Kent
Harley's Matilda

Holden's Britannia
Hufton's Hobhouse
Lacey's Queen

■ Salamanca

Lee's No. 159
Meacham's Invinciblt:
Plummer's Waterloo

300

PINKS.

Purple Flakes.

Bate's Wellington
Bruin's Marina
Cornfield's Mrs. Robinson
Dixon's Jane
Fulbrook's Grenadier
Kenney's Excellent

Meacham's Maria
Oddy's Henry Hunt
Palmer's Defiance
Phillip's Defiance
Wood's Ambassador

Pink and Rose Flakes.

Dixon's Fame
Fletcher's Devonshire
Hardman's Wellington
Harley's Mrs. Clarke
Hoyle's Beauty
Lordon's Miss Blont
Maddock's Maria
Hogg's Galatea
Paddington

Queen

Pearson's Moira
Plummer's Lady Hamilton
Pyke's Lady Hamilton
Rivier's Incomparable
Rochdale Beauty
Tate's Jubilee
Tree Carnation, white

Clove

Walker's Fairy Queen
Wood's Invincible

No. II.— PINKS.

Banbury's Lace
Berkeley Hero
Blencowe's No. 4
Bray's Goliah

Invincible

Bury's Mrs. Clarke
Church's King
Glee's Lady Nelson

■ Lord Nelson

Clover's Invincible
Collier's King

Wonderful

Coltson's Britannia
Dakin's Burdett

Colonel Lennox

Davey's Britannia

Davey's Defiance

Duchess of Devonshire

Eclipse

Hero

Miss Havard

Peele

Nelson

Nonpareil

Sir T.Stanley

• Venus

Victorious

Eagleton's Sovereign
Field's Fair Phillis
Ford's Seedling
Golding's Seedling
Greaves' s Gloriosa

ROSES.

301

Green's Princess of Wales
Groom's Duke of York

George IV.

Lorfl Shannon

' Trafalgar

Waterloo

Wellington

Harcott's Seedling
H trefield Beauty
Harris's King
Harrison's Rising Sun
Hine's Queen
Hopkins's Superb
H umber's Regulator

Jeffery's Beauty
Keen's Wellington
Haddock's Sir Sidney Smith
MafFey's Royal Ann

George

Golden

Maynard s Roseleaf
Neighbour's Countryman
Newman's Burdett
Novey's Supreme
Rook's Jupiter
Scott's Dark Lace
Windsor Confidant

No. 12.--ROSES.

CHIEFLY NEW SORTS.

Amaranth

Aurora

Bishop

Black Frizzled

Bland ford

Blush Dwarf Cluster

Early

Himdred-leaved

Imperial

Brown's Blush

Brunette

Burgundy

Cardinal

Carmine

Celestial

Chancellor

Dutch Carmine

Crimson

' Hundred-leaved

Early Blue
Favourite Mignone
Purple

Grand Blanche Belgique

Present

Purple

Great Maiden Blush

Imperial Blush

Infernal

Leyden

Lisbon

Negro

Nonpareil

Royal Crimson

Sanspareil

Spongs

Tuscany

Pearson's Gigantic

Pencilled Mignonne

Plicate

Pompadour

Proserpine

Provence New

Dutch

— — Dwarf

302 ROSES.

Provence Moss Rose de Meux

Scarlet de Quatre Saisons

White Moss Unique

Pinto ' White Provence

Red Monthly York and Lancaster
Rosa Mundi

FINIS.

LONDON :

Printed by William Clowes and Sons,

Duke-Street, Lambetli.

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