culty just been able to keep a plant or two from one year to another, but by adopting the following sensible plan I have obtained an abundant supply, and with ease kept them, and had a vigorous bloom. No flower garden ought to be without them, their neat habit, beauty, and. particular fragrance, alike recommend them.

"After reading all the known directions, and obtaining the best information from every possible source, my efforts to obtain strong and healthy plants of the Rocket were ineffectual; I, however, after many fruitless attempts, happened to stumble on a plan of my own, that soon completely satisfied my ardent desires to have this favourite in perfection, and it is simply this: let as many plants as can be obtained the first season, be planted in a free and rich soil, in any open compartment of the garden; they must not be allowed to bloom, but have every stem pinched off as it appears; this will cause the production of numerous side-shoots, which must be taken off, as they form roots of their own, which may be ascertained by occasional inspection, and transplanted, six inches asunder, into a bed or border that has been previously made very rich by a liberal supply of old dung, and well watered till properly established. All will go on well then if the foliage is kept free from the ravages of that sluggish pest so well known to all cultivators, and which eats or gnaws indiscriminately almost every herb and flower of the garden, and particularly this, which is only truly valuable when grown exceedingly perfect and robust, and all who have seen it so, I think, must at once admit it to be a most splendid and desirable object of culture. For my own part, I have grown it to two feet high, one half of which has been an unbroken mass of the purest white bloom, to observe which in this matured state I must confess that I can feel less pride certainly, but quite an equal degree of pleasure, as when bending o'er the pencilled beauties of a Catafalque, the well-formed truss of a Booth's Freedom, or the still dearer and sweeter gem that springs from the bosom of a choice Ranunculus.'

ARTICLE V.

REMARKS ON COMPOST FOR POT PLANTS.

BY A PRACTITIONER.

LOAM, peat, and sand, seem to be the three simples of nature, if I may so call them, most requisite for our purpose; to which, we occa

sionally add as mollifiers, vegetable mould and well rotted dung; from the judicious mixture and preparation of which, composts may be made to suit plants introduced from any quarter of the globe : first of loam, which is a loose friable kind of earth, the constituent particles of which crumble and separate easily in the hand; it is of various textures, the strongest approaching to clay, and so down in several shades, until the lightest becomes nearly similar to strong sandy peat. It is found of different colours, viz., black, yellow, red, &c. &c.; sometimes, also, it partakes of a saponaceous quality approaching to a marle; this when predominant is not recommendable for general use; yet there are some articles for which it may be used with considerable success.

Yellow or red seems to be the natural colour of maiden loam, as either will change to black as they become more or less mixed with other extraneous substances, such as dung, &c. Therefore, to have it pure, which is very material, one should prefer either of these, if they can be conveniently procured. The places to look for this kind of earth, is generally in fields that have not been broken for a long series of years; also sheep downs, or commons most frequently running in dry banks perhaps throughout the whole; its strata is of various thicknesses, sometimes being little more than that which forms the turf or upper sward, and at other times lying from one or two, to three or four feet under the surface. That is generally the best which is of a moderate depth, being more within the ameliorating powers of the sun and atmosphere; the other lying deeper, being known to abound with crude unqualified matter very unfavourable to the growth of tender plants, unless exposed in the compost yard for a year or two to the weather, whereby, it will become fit for all strong growing woody kinds, or fruit trees in general.

Loam, being found answerable to the purpose for which it is designed, it should be immediately carted home and heaped in a clean part of the compost yard for a few months, so that the turf, and fibres. of the grass, may have sufficient time to decay, and the whole become more qualified for use through the action of the season: when it has lain thus for some time together, it will be found to be in a very good state for working.

This sort of soil is particularly adapted for striking cuttings in general, on account of its firm close texture, and the twofold quality

of retaining moisture longer than either peat or sand, and at the same time, its own natural dissolubility, which admits the young fibres of the cuttings to push through it freely, as soon as formed, to that which they more immediately like to grow and flourish in, a stratum of which is generally put in the bottom of the pot.

From its strength it seems more adapted to arborescent plants in general, which have powerful roots, that are seldom able to support themselves in lighter soils, more especially in dry seasons; while from its purity and sweetness, it may be said to give additional flavour to the most delicate fruits.

The word Peat, is generally understood to mean common bog earth; however, that which may literally be termed bog, is by no means proper for our purpose, on account of its wet coagulating nature, and tendency thereby to rot the roots of the plants; at least, if peat is to be taken from those situations, the very surface only should be chosen, as that is found to contain a greater portion of the fine, drying, opening kind of sand, so necessary to this species of soil. The places where I would recommend to look for the proper peat, are those dry healthy commons, where it seems to form a medium between bog earth and sand, it is not unfrequently found forming a mere skin, over a bed of pure sand, or gravel. The turf, or sod, cut about four or six inches deep, is always the best for use, as it is in general the lightest, and abounds with sand, as already mentioned, which is, I think, invariably found to be the finest near the surface in such cases. Spots where the wild heath grows luxuriantly should be diligently selected, as producing the best peat for general use; but when it is considered that of the plants mostly cultivated in this kind of soil, some grow in swamps near rivers, others in barren sandy wastes, and more in all their various intermediate stations, as mountains, low lands, &c. &c., especially heaths from the varied surface of Southern Africa; it will surely be obvious, that a supply of every variety of soil should be always at hand, and that the peat answering for one species will not be so congenial as another brought from a very different situation and soil.

It should be cast into a heap in the compost yard for twelve or fourteen months before used, a practice which ought to be observed with composts in general.

It is to be used only for such plants as are known to grow natu

rally in peat, or those which are known to thrive best in a very light sandy soil: also to be mixed occasionally with loam, for such as delight in an intermediate compost.

Most plants grow remarkably free in peat during the summer season, if kept carefully watered, particularly those which come under the denomination of half herbaceous or biennial like plants; yet even these are often liable to perish in winter, on account of the extreme lightness of the soil, and the cold necessarily produced by frequent watering.

Shrubby, hard wooded, and fine fibrous rooted plants in general, thrive very well in this and loam, mixed in about equal proportions; but I think it by no means suitable to fruits. It is seldom used by itself except for heaths, Botany Bay plants, and the general productions of Northern America, to all of which it seems particularly adapted.

Sand is rarely used simply, except for striking cuttings of the two first of the above mentioned plants; viz., heaths and Botany Bays; for which it is peculiarly suitable; their fine hair-like fibres not having strength to vegetate in stronger soils. An inch or two in depth on the surface is quite sufficient, as it is intended merely to strike the cutting in, the lower part of the pot being filled with peat, into which the young fibres will soon penetrate, and draw therefrom the principal part of their nourishment as from their parent soil: it should be kept moderately moist when used in this manner, otherwise, from its natural drying quality, it would soon parch up and destroy whatever cuttings may have been put therein.

The soil of the interior parts of Southern Africa being for the greater part excessively sandy, a considerable portion of it should be used in the composts intended for the productions of that country, both of woody, herbaceous, and bulbous species.

Pit sand should be invariably preferred for this purpose, it being of a more lively vegetating nature than river or sea sand, and if we may judge by colour the whitest that can be procured; as I have always observed it to be the finest, and have, from repeated trials, proved that the finer the sand the surer a good crop of cuttings.

It requires no kind of preparatory process, more than shifting, to divest it of those small pebbles, &c., which are usually found amongst

it, and to be kept pure and unmixed with extraneous substances until wanted for use.

By vegetable mould, at least the kind best suited to our purpose, is meant that which accumulates, or in a manner grows, if I may use the expression, in woods, particularly those of long standing, by the annual fall of leaves, &c., and their consequent decay; the vicissitudes of a few revolving seasons reduces them to a perfect mould, which is afterwards known by the above appellation. It is of a very loose light nature, and comparatively rich, but far behind that produced by the mixture of animal excrement. Yet it is doubtless of an ameliorating nature, and highly recommendable for such plants as delight in a moderate and well digested manure.

In its simple state it is hardly fit for anything except annuals, as its extreme lightness, like the peat, renders it unable to support arborescent plants with any degree of credit; however, when mixed with loam, or any other soil of a more firm texture than itself, it is particularly useful for West India plants, geraniums, and annuals in general.

The best manner of procuring it is to have several large pits dug in the most convenient part of the woods, into which may be annually raked all the leaves in the vicinity, together with the general surface of the ground produced by them in preceding years, which will materially accelerate their decomposition, so that in a few months they become a perfect mould and fit for use.

Of animal manure, that procured from old hot-beds is, I think, most suitable for composts in this department. It likewise should not be used for plants until rotted to a perfect mould; to promote which, it should be well mixed with a small portion of loam in the compost yard, whereby they will become better incorporated, and more fit for use; it is necessary, however, not to add too much loam to it in this process, as it is so much easier to add afterwards than to take away, according as circumstances may require.

This, mixed with a proper quantity of loam, is in general the best compost for such plants as have soft fleshy roots, also for soft wooded, half shrubby, and herbaceous kinds of plants, annuals, biennials, &c. &c., but is never used simply by itself, and very rarely, if at all, mixed with peat or sand.

The very great variety in the nature of plants, taken en masse,