should be cut away, and others shortened back. This done, and having some good soil-not too wet, nor yet too dry, but moist, and some porous pots and crocks in readiness, the crocks are to be placed over the hole at the bottom of the pot carefully, so as to prevent the ingress of worms; then some coarse soil, then a little finer, next place the roots of the plant, and lay them out carefully; then put in the soil, and give the plant a gentle shake, so that the soil may get between the roots; keep the collar of the plant a little above the surface. The pot should not be filled with soil, as it would throw off the water. The soil should not be pressed hard, nor the pot knocked hard on the potting board, only just sufficient to settle the soil about the roots. If the plant requires support do it by means of a neat stick, and take the plant to its stage or its place for growth, and give it water enough to moisten the whole of the soil. When plants are watered, they should always have enough to penetrate the whole of the soil. In shifting plants from one pot to another, care should be taken not to destroy the roots; take off the surface of the ball, and carefully take out the old crocks, and pot it as before stated; work in the soil between the ball and the pot by means of a stick. Plants are more or less nourished and augmented as the water which is given to them contains a greater or smaller quantity of proper terrestrial matter in it. There is a considerable quantity of this matter contained both in rain, spring, and river water; spring and rain water contain pretty near an equal quantity of vegetable matter, river water more than either of them. Water is not the matter that composes vegetable bodies, it is only the agent by which it is conveyed to them, and by which it is introduced and distributed to their several parts; but water is not capable of performing this office to plants, unless assisted by a due quantity of heat, and this must concur, or vegetation will not succeed. It is not possible to imagine how one uniform homogeneous matter having its principles or original parts all of the same substance, constitution, magnitude, figure, and gravity, should ever constitute bodies so egregiously unlike in all those respects as vegetables of different kinds are, nay, even as the different parts of the same vegetable. One plant carries a resinous, another a milky, a third a yellow, a fourth a red, juice in its veins; one affords a fragrant, another an offensive smell; one is sweet to the taste, another bitter; one is nourishing, another poisonous; one purging, another astringent, &c. Soil in its natural state is filled with the remains of organic bodies which decompose and yield nitrogen, or become converted into carbonic acid. Nitrogen and the carbonic acid incessantly forming below the surface of the earth, enter freely into the roots, and, combining with water, and such other principles as may already have been formed there, they ascend the stem, the carbonic acid decomposing to a certain extent as it passes along, and giving, apparently, its oxygen to the spiral vessels, which convey it into other parts of the system; when it reaches the leaves it liberates its oxygen completely, and leaves its carbon to unite with the tissue of vegetation, or to enter into new combinations with water, atmospheric air, or other elements that it finds itself in contact with, whence proceed the gummy, amylaceous, resinous, oily, and other products peculiar to the vegetable kingdom. The life and growth of a plant greatly depends upon the system of potting and watering; if the soil is not kept open, the water cannot penetrate it, and then the whole mass becomes sour, and the plant will show signs of sickness although plants require a constant supply of water, they do not like the soil stagnated; when such is the case turn out the plant and shake off the sour soil, and repot it in some of a more porous quality. In watering, it is generally necessary that the soil should be nearly dry before water is again administered. We hardly know of any fluid in all nature, except fire, whose constituent parts are so subtle and small as those of water are; this enables them to enter the finest tubes and vessels of plants, and to introduce the terrestrial matter, conveying it to all their parts, whilst each, by means of organs it is endowed with for the purpose, intercepts and appropriates to itself such particles as are suitable to its own nature, letting the rest pass on through the common ducts.-J. Cooper. Read before the Long Ditton Gard. Soc.

ROELIA CILIATA.-This is a fine old greenhouse plant, which has been neg lected for more novel favourites. I know of no plant that merits more attention

than this pretty shrub, which is of a dwarf habit of growth, and produces handsome campanulate brilliant blue flowers. Being a native of the Cape, it requires treatment similar to that given to Heaths, and contrasts well with the lighter colours of that beautiful family. It should be potted in a light rich soil, using two parts of rough fibrous peat, one part of leaf mould, and one of equal parts of silver sand, and well rotted cowdung: a few lumps of charcoal should be used in the potting, as no plant requires or enjoys a good drainage more than this. It flourishes in a well-ventilated pit or greenhouse; if grown in the latter, it should be near the glass. To grow dwarf handsome plants, the points of the shoots should be well stopped in the spring; it will then break freely, making numerous shoots, all of which will be crowned with flowers by July, when it will be a lovely object, and amply repay the cultivator for the pains taken.-M. Busby, Stockwood Park. (United Gardeners' Journal.)

ON BRITISH FERNS.-By the following simple method I grow, very successfully, the British Ferns. In winter I place them in a cool frame, or pit, and keep them dry. In February I remove them into a pit, where I give them a slight heat, and by the end of March they usually have pushed afresh; I then remove them into the greenhouse, and there they flourish through the season. At the end of September, I replace them in the cool frame or pit. I increase them by division in August, planting them in broken pots, charcoal, and turfy-peat.

C. C.

ON MOIST ATMOSPHERE IN PLANT HOUSES.Various are the means employed to produce atmospheric moisture in hothouses, and many of them are, in my opinion, inefficient, and also inconvenient. I am persuaded that a sudden hot steam is at all times inimical to the well being of vegetation in general; and no wonder. Such a steam is frequently produced by dish covers, on the hotter parts of pipes or flues, or by pouring water on, or syringing very hot surfaces; and although I am a great advocate for much atmospheric moisture in general, I must protest against such plans. I am of opinion that what is wanted in general is, such a character of air as will guarantee the leaves of the plants from any tendency to desiccation, especially during the day; whilst at night there should be even a slight deposit of moisture condensed on the leaves; some few cases, such as conservatories, &c., excepted. All floors to houses should be grated, and, if convenient, a body of porous material should be placed beneath, in large lumps; perhaps masses of coke or charcoal would answer the purpose; water frequently poured thereon would yield a wholesome vapour at all times, although in a slow ratio. In addition to this, I would for most purposes have the return pipe in a cemented brick trench, with a supply of water at one end, and a ready escape, by plug or tap, at the other.-Gardeners' Chronicle.

ON GRAFTING THE CACTUS.-In making use of the word Cactus, I include all the divisions of the family which formerly bore the name.

STOCKS.-I have used Cereus triangularis, C. speciosissima, Opuntia Braziliensis, Pereskia acullata and longispina, but find none equal to Cereus speciosissimus; it is much hardier than any of the others, and not so liable to damp off.

The best method of preparing the stocks is, in February to take some of the strongest shoots, from six inches to six feet, as any length will do; then with a sharp knife remove the eyes for four or six inches from the bottom; this prevents the stocks making suckers. Let them remain in a cool place for a few days to dry, to prevent damping; then place each cutting in small pots of good rich sandy loam, and filling in a good bark bed, withholding water for ten or twenty days. When the roots protrude through the bottom of the pots, remove into larger, which, when well established, are ready for grafting.

The operation is performed by taking off the head of the stock where the columnar axis has become firm, dividing it with a sharp knife to the depth of a quarter of an inch, being careful not to bruise the soft outer coat. Grafts of any

length, from six inches to eighteen inches long, will succeed; those of last year being the best. Leave the end of the graft wedge-shaged; that is, the columuar axis three-fourths of an inch, clearing away all the soft fleshy part to that length; then press it firmly into the stock until both edges meet, passing a spine df Opuntia longispina, or some other strong Opuntia, through the stock and graft, to keep it from rising out of its place; bind a little soft moss round the part operated upon, and keep it shaded; in a week or ten days it will have taken huld, provided it is properly performed; in the course of a month the moss may be removed, and the graft cut to four or six eyes, if a bushy regular head is required Plants on stocks six feet high look the best trained on mushroom-shaped trellises. I have found grafts with several shoots of from six to twelve inches each succeed as well as smaller ones, provided the stecks are healthy. I have a plant at this time of Epiphyllum speciosum, grafted on Cereus speciosissimus Sept. 4, 1840; the stock is six feet high, and the circumference of the head twelve feet; many of the branches or leaves four feet long.

TO RAISE ROSES FROM SEED.-Having succeeded in raising some beautiful seedlings, I forward the particulars of f my method.

In October, I collected the ripest hips of the red officinal, Portland, and velvet Roses. These three sorts seed freely. They were growing among the finer sorts, which seldom ripen any seed. After gathering the hips, I laid them on a stone-paved floor, and rubbed them under a brick, to soften the seedvessels; then I rubbed, them one by one between my fingers. Of this mass I had about two quarts. I sowed the seed immediately, on a wail border, with an aspect opposite the sun at eight o'clock in the morning. The soil was sandy loam. I covered them half an inch deep, and added an inch of sawdust to keep the bed from caking in winter. I removed the sawdust about the middle of the following March, and in the end of that month the plants began to appear; but in a few days I found that the small birds picked them up as soon as their seed-leaves appeared above ground. I put hoops over the beds, and threw a net over them, so as to exclude the birds. The plants continued to come up till September, when mildew attacked them, and in a short time deprived them of their leaves; by counting the plants on a square foot, I found that the bed coutained about 800. As winter set in I sifted some fine sand among the plants; but, in spite of all my care, the weakest of them died before the next March. When I took them up, the living plants amounted only to about 100. I planted them in rows a foot separate each way. A few more died; but what remained grew vigorously, and stood their second winter without a death. I did not at all prune them, and the following summer they have all grown well.

ON THE CULTIVATION Of ANTHOLYZA ETHIOPICA.-Antholyza Æthiopica is an old acquaintance of mine, and I have never seen or found any difficulty in blooming it, treated precisely the same as Ixia Babiana, and that class of Cape bulbs, which is directly opposite to the above suggestions. Among other bulbs, some two or three years ago, were some of Antholyza Æthiopica, in pots. In the month of September of that year, I shook them out of their pots, &c., where they had apparently stood several years, and I re-potted them in some fresh compost, of equal proportious of peat and loam, with an eighth of white sand (more or less peat and sand, in proportion to the texture of the lom); they were then placed in a cold frame, with other things of their class, with the lights off day and night at first; and, as they began to grow, and the nights got colder, shut up at night, and always, from a superabundance of wet, watered only as they required it. In this situation they were kept as late in the fall as possible, protected by mats from frosts at night, until the began to have a wintry aspect, when they were removed into a cool part of the greenhouse, where they had plenty of light and air. In this way we have had, in the month of March, for the last two years, Antholyza Ethiopica flower very freely. Although not the most splendid genus of the order, it is really very

season

curious and handsome; we have also had several species of Ixias, Sparaxis, Gladiolus, Watsonia, &c.. bloons splendidly, treated in the above manner. When done flowering, and as soon as the grass or leaves begin to decay, they are placed on shelves, or any other convenient place, to be kept in their arid state until September, when they should again be annually re-potted. Treated in the above manner, I have never known any of the Cape bulbs to fail blooming, and I believe the Irideæ include all which are technically called Cape bulbs. I do not wish to be understood as claiming any originality in 1 my system of treatment, being nothing more than I have seen practised successfully for many years, and, consequently, well known to most practical, and all scientific gardeners. But, being anxions my old acquaintance Antholyza Æthiopica should not be rejected as worthless, and fearful lest some inexperienced amateur, who may perchance get a few Cape bulbs, may be induced to experimentalize on high temperature, &c., in their treatment, I was induced to forward for your consideration the above remarks.-Hovey's Magazine,

ON PROMOTING THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS.-Many plans have been recom mended and adopted for assisting and ensuring the growth of those seeds which are of difficult germination-such as steeping them in solutions of iodine, chlo rine, &c. and happily with considerable success. The fact, is, indeed established, that by certain chemical stimuli, the tardy and latent vital principle of seeds may be excited into action. We must not for a moment, however, confound and degrade the operation of the vital principle itself into mere chemical action; the chemical phenomena are developed as soon as the wonderful operations of this principle are observable.

Of all chemical agents, perhaps none exert a wider and more powerful influence than light. In the vegetable world its effects are manifest and important, the very colour of plants and flowers being dependent on it. When it is withheld, colour is lost, as in the familiar example of blanching celery. I make these general observations respecting the great influence of light on vegetation, in order to bespeak attention to the contrivance I now wish to recommend for promoting the germination of seeds-the application of the chemical stimulus of light. It is simply the placing a square of violet-coloured glass over the top of the flower-pot in which the seeds are sown. It will be found that seeds exposed to the influence of this violet-coloured light wil vegetate more quickly than when covered with common unstained glass, or with glass of any other colour. The explanation is this:when a ray of light is transmitted through a prism, it is separated into its seven component colours, viz.→red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Now it is proved by experiment that the violet-coloured ray possesses by far the greatest power of producing chemical action; next to it the indigo, then blue, green, and so on, up to the red ray, which possesses no chemically acting power whatever. On the contrary, the red ray has the greatest heat-giving power, while the violet, the opposite end of the spectrum, exhibits scarcely any. As chemical stimuli are known to promote the germination of seeds, this of the violet-coloured ray of light, as transmitted through a square of stained glass, will be found of the greatest possible efficacy. Mr. Robert Hunt, in his experiments on the effects of differentcoloured light (viz., red, yellow, green, and blne) on the vegetation of seeds has manifestly stopped short of the truth. Had he proceeded to the indigo, the quickening effects would have been much greater, and if the violet-coloured ray, they would have been tenfold. For practical purposes it will of course be much more convenient to use squares of violet-coloured glass, placed on the top of the flower-pot, than transmitting the light through a bottle containing a violetcolomed fluid, as in Mr. Hunt's experiments; moreover, the mere mechanical effects of a square of glass so placed are very material in assisting the growth of seeds, by preventing the evaporation of water from the soil, and thus preserving a uniform state of moisture.-F. R. HORNER.- Gardeners' Chronicle.

ON USING CHARCOAL FOR POT PLANTS.-A Practitioner begs to call the attention of plant growers to the admixture of pieces of charcoal in the compost.

Since the time that Mr. Barnes, of Bicton, made known his application of it in such successful plant culture, I have adopted it, and with a most astonishing improvement upon my plants. I find, however, it is the more useful when a very free bottom drainage is prepared.

ON COMPOST FOR PELARGONIUMS.-A Constant Subscriber will be obliged by a little information on the subject of growing Pelargoniums. What is the best soil and dung to pot in, and what is the best liquid to promote a vigorous bloom. I want to grow them in a cottage for exhibiting at the floral shows.

D. SAXON. The following modes of treatment are what two of the first-rate growers for showing gave us, and they will give D. S., as well as others, useful information for growing the plants in any situation which circumstances admit :

The cuttings are placed in an open border, about the middle of July, and the situation selected is one fully exposed to the mid-day sun. In about six weeks they are rooted, and then potted into 60-sized pots. The pots are placed in a shady situation, on boards or slates, and in three weeks removed to a more exposed and airy situation, when the wood becomes hard. They remain here till nearly the end of September, when they are taken into the house for the winter. At this time the plants are stopped at the third or fourth joint, and they are at the same time shifted into 48-sized pots. The soil is a turfy loam and sand. After this shifting, but little air is given for about eight or ten days; but after this time as much air is again allowed as the state of the weather will admit till about the begining of December, when the pots will be well filled with roots, and require to be again removed into 32 sized pots. Bone dust is added, but with caution; and never near the surface of the soil, because it is of too drying a nature. The plants are again stopped, and the temperature of the house is maintained at about 45 degrees; at the end of ten days it is allowed to fall to 42 or 40. The flues are damped two or three times every night, to keep the air of the house moist, allowing top air when the weather is favourable. About the middle of February, the plants intended for large specimens are again shifted into 42-sized pots: and the vigorous sized kinds require a size larger. At this time each shoot is tied separately to a proper stake. Fires are discontinued about the beginning of April, and the plants are syringed over head three times a-week, and the house closed for the night. This treatment is continued for about a month, the house being damped every evening, and the top sashes opened the first thing in the morning, and as much air allowed during the day as can be given with safety. When the plants show bloom they are freely watered and shaded with canvas. At the time of housing the plants, the dead leaves are carefully removed, and when the green fly makes its appearance, a fumigation of tobacco is used, care being taken that the plants are in a dry state at the time; they must be well watered over head in a day or two afterwards. When the flowering season is over, the plants are removed to an exposed situation for a fortnight, till the wood is hard, when they are cut down. Those plants intended as specimens the second year after heading down, are placed in a sheltered situation, where little water is given, and when the shoots are an inch long, they are shaken out of the pots and planted in others two sizes smaller; by this treatment they are kept more healthy during winter. When thus potted, they are placed on a stage in a shady situation, and removed to the house" at the proper time," and treated during the winter as already described. The plants intended for exhibition are occasionally watered with liquid manure or guano, and syringing overhead is discontinued. Gauze blinds are used, by which bees are prevented entering the house to injure the bloom, and are on no account allowed to flag by exposure to the sun, or for want of water. It is especially recommended to commence the training of the plants at an early period of their growth, while the shoots are young and pliable. By early training, the shoots acquire the desired form, and fewer stakes are therefore required. The flowers are arranged so that there is an equal distribution of blooms over the head of the plant; to effect this, small willow twigs are used. Practice alone can teach the art of preparing flowers for exhibition. The less art is used the better,