ment, that circumstance in connexion with the account that had been given of it by its discoverer, Dr. Jameson, in Northern Peru, raised high expectations among this class of plant growers, and it was sold at 17. 10s. per plant. Many were purchased, but little being known relative to the proper treatment of it, but few plants bloomed, and those very indifferently, from which circumstance considerable prejudice was raised against the plant.

In your last volume of this Magazine, at page 266, an account of a plant grown, and blooming profusely is inserted. Having a friend residing near the place, I got him to ascertain how the plant had been managed to succeed so admirably. From him I learnt that the great secret with the plant was, "that its flowers are produced on the wood made the previous year, and especial attention must be paid to have that wood "well ripened" in order to the production of flowers the following season. This is effected by having a tolerable sized plant in February or March, placing it in a house where there is a gentle warmth, and when the new shoots have pushed thin them so as to leave the plant open, re-pot it in the same pot but shake off a good part of the soil, and dress in the roots, again having the plant in a gentle temperature. When their young shoots are about five or six inches long pinch off the leads, this will throw strength into the parts left. Re-pot the plant about midsummer into one a size larger, and if any of the new shoots have pushed leads again, stop them, and in a week or two place the plant out doors in a warm, but airy situation to harden off its new wood. At the approach of cold weather take it into the greenhouse, or DRY pit-frame, and towards the end of December, place it in a forcing-house, same as is done with hardy shrubs that are forced for winter bloom, and the Browallia will bloom profusely, and being placed in the greenhouse will long be one of its handsomest ornaments. A succession of it may be had in later bloom.

MISCELLANEOUS SECTION.

CHRYSANTHEMUMS.-The following varieties have appeared most frequent (in gradation as we insert them) in the various collections shown at the Chrysanthemum exhibitions which have been reported last autumn. Our readers will, however, bear in mind, most of the recent new improved varieties have as hitherto been but in comparatively few hands :

Defiance, Golden Clustered, Queen of England, Pilot, Annie Salter, the Duke, Beauty, Vesta, King, Phidias, Formosum, Goliath, the Warden, Dupont d'Eure, Lysius, Sydenham, Campestroni, Madame Chauviere, Christine, Madame Poggi, Cloth of Gold, Minerva, Princess Maria, Madame Camerson, Nonpareil, and Orlando. All deserving a place in every collection.

AMERICAN PLANTS.-American plants include certain genera, all belonging to the natural order Ericaceae; the principal species from which the best varieties have more recently been raised having been originally introduced to Britain from the American continent. They are all more or less beautiful; but the Rhododendron, the Azalea, the

Kalmia, and one or two others, are especially remarkable for their dazzling colours and the profusion of their flowers. But while American plants are unrivalled as objects of magnificent display in the open ground, the shrubbery, or lawn, they are not less remarkable for the facility with which they may be cultivated. For though it is well known that, as compared with other hardy evergreen flowering shrubs, they present one or two features peculiar to themselves, it has been equally demonstrated, by long experience, that they may be successfully managed with only the exercise of ordinary care and intelligence, without which the most elaborate dissertation, or even specific directions, would be of little or no avail. The plants by which a tribe or order is composed are characterized by a particular constitution: this remark is especially applicable to those now under consideration. It has long been known that Cape Heaths, forming the type of the order to which American plants belong, have never been grown in France, Belgium, and many parts of Germany, to the same perfection as in England; and the cause assigned has been chiefly the want of proper peaty soil, without which these beautiful greenhouse and hardy plants will not thrive, however favourable other circumstances may be. This fact, however, has been frequently urged as an argument against the possibility of growing Rhododendrons, and other genera known as American plants, except in a certain kind of peaty soil; and it is unfortunate for the tenability of an opposite position that the objection has derived apparent weight by being associated with isolated cases of failure. Yet nothing can be more erroneous than the supposition that there is any difficulty in supplying them in almost every locality with soil sufficiently fertile for all practical purposes. That some districts are more favoured than others, as respects the composition of soil, cannot for a moment be doubted; and it is perfectly true that a rich well pulverized peaty soil is the most preferable for these plants. But we have only to visit such places as Kenwood, the seat of Lord Mansfield, and others near London, to perceive that Rhododendrons will grow in any kind of good and fertile soil to considerable perfection; and there are many instances in which they luxuriate in what is called a light, friable, fertile loam, of which the much prized peat forms a very insignificant part. But though American plants are not so strictly exclusive in their predilections as may have been supposed, it should not be forgotten that a rich peaty soil is that which most accords with their natural constitution. But it is scarcely necessary to state that this soil may be found more or less plentiful in every county of England. Peat, it must be remembered, is composed of certain vegetable substances, which have undergone a long and slow process of decay. These substances are chiefly the softer portions of forest trees; as leaves, nuts, and tender branches or twigs. Hence it is that in the absence of good peat or bog an excellent substitute can always be readily formed by artificial means; that is to say, by well decomposed "leaf mould" or rotten leaves, and a portion of white or yellow sand. The leaf mould, to be sufficiently decomposed for planting, should have lain in a heap exposed to the action of the atmosphere for at least eighteen months; and even a longer period might be advantageously allowed:

the sand may, however, be used fresh at the time of planting, and mixed with the leaf mould as it is taken from the heap. Another mode for meeting the want of good bog is to prepare a compost in the following manner :-Collect several loads of what is called the top or surface-spit of any plantation, wood, or even grass field, and the more this surface is impregnated with decayed vegetable particles the better. It is not uncommonly found very good in woods and plantations, owing to the decay of leaves and other debris peculiar to such places; and the thickness of the "spit" will depend, of course, on circumstances, being more or less according to its composition. When a sufficient supply has been obtained it should be thrown together for several months, and then carefully and freely mixed with leaf mould, old and well rotted dung from a melon frame. In this operation the turfy parts should not be chopped fine, but preserved as rough and large as is compatible with the thorough mixture of the whole mass. Whether the plants are to be placed in beds or compartments of more irregular outline, the average depth may be stated at about twenty inches. To this depth the soil should be taken out, and an equivalent portion of the compost already described placed in its stead. At the time of planting Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Kalmias, or other American plants, should the weather be very dry, nothing is of greater importance than a copious supply of good water, which has been exposed for some time to the weather. Rain water, collected in a pond or tank, is at all times the best for the roots of plants; it is, therefore, desirable to provide some certain means of securing a plentiful supply. This injunction is the more urgent during the first season of planting; for after they are fairly established there is, comparatively speaking, but little to apprehend. In very dry seasons, however, every precaution should be observed to prevent the balls of earth round the roots from becoming dry; an evil to which they are liable in elevated positions. It may further be stated that after the composition and texture of the soil, the next important point in the treatment of American plants, is affording them a plentiful supply of water, and thoroughly draining the ground in which they are to be grown previous to planting.-— J. Waterer's Catalogue.

REMARKS ON THE CALCEOLARIA.—I am a London exhibitor of this pretty flowering tribe of plants, and having been very successful, I send a few remarks on them for insertion in February Magazine.

Stock. I strike cuttings in September, and pot off into 60-sized pots about the end of October, and keep them in winter in a dry, shallow plant pit, which has a small hot-water pipe along the front.

Compost.-Equal portions of turfy sandy peat, loam, leaf mould, and well rotted hot-bed dung, incorporated together for a few weeks before using is the most suitable for growing the plants vigorously, I never have the compost sifted, but well chopped with the spade previous to potting.

Potting. A very free proportion of drainage is essential to their success, and I place one inch deep of broken potsherds, and one inch of moss upon them, and to very large pots I give two inches deep of each upon this substrata the soil is placed. The Calceolaria imbibes

E

a considerable portion of water by the roots, when it is in a healthy condition; to supply it with a fresh element of it, is therefore necessary. If there be not a free drainage to allow superabundant water to pass, the soil becomes saturated and sour, which occasions sickliness, and often the death of the plant.

The time I re-pot my young plants, potted off in October, is about the middle of February; the most vigorous I plant in pots, one foot in diameter and ten inches deep. Weakly plants I put in pots half the size for a few weeks, and then re-pot them into a larger size, as the circumstances of growth require; in pots of this size I bloom my stock generally, but when I see a plant in such a sized pot that would bear a larger I remove it into a size bigger.

The surface soil is frequently stirred to allow water to pass freely, and evaporation duly to rise to the under side of the foliage, &c. Soft water is used, hard would soon kill the plants. The soil is kept moist but not wet. The plants do not flourish if exposed to full sun, they may have early morning sun, but must be in the shade afterwards, say till four o'clock, by such attention mine always flourish. John Spencer, Southwick.

SOIL BEST SUITED FOR CAPE HEATHS, &c.-The soil which the Cape Heaths, and many other fine rooted plants prefer, is called peat, bog mould, heath mould, moor earth, &c., and abounds in sufficient quantities in many places, particularly in uncultivated heaths. But of this soil there are both good and bad sorts, that is, sorts in which plants will grow to perfection, and others in which they languish and decay. Nor is it to be taken for granted that that peat which produces the finest and healthiest crops of our common heaths, such as Erica tetralix, and cinerea, is always a fitting soil to be used for exotic plants of similar habits; for many, by contenting themselves with this test, have found out their error, when too late to remedy it. That peat is best which contains about one-fourth or one-fifth of coarse white sand, and is taken from a dry heathy common, which is never overflowed with water, and off a sub-soil in which the recently-discovered chemical substance, creasote, which has deleterious effects upon all vegetables, does not abound. It might be well for the cultivator to have a chemical analysis made of his soil, by which the presence or absence of creasote would be determined, and which any respectable chemist would discover for him. When abundance of sand does not naturally abound in the peat, any coarse white sand, free of irony matter, may be added. It appears to be of little consequence whether or not good peat be prepared for any previous period in the compost yard prior to using; I rather think that the sooner it is used the better. Never have it sifted, but broke with the hand or trowel. As a substitute for peat, some have recommended very rotten dung, decayed leaves, &c., having a due proportion of gritty sand added; and others have suggested the addition of very rotten manure to be used with peat, with a view to increase the rapidity of the growth of the plants. The former may be used, in default of better, for hardy American plants, but the addition of the latter is by no means to be recommended.-A Practitioner.

THIS month's attention is particularly required to provide plants which shall make the coming floral season's display, immediate efforts must be made by sow ing seeds, striking cuttings, dividing plants, &c.

Rose-trees must be planted directly, or success is hazardous. Prune the open-air kinds of the hardy class now, and the tenderer sorts next month. Perennial and biennial plants in the flower-bed may be divided. Plant out Hollyhocks and any of the biennial plants. Pink beds: see that the plants remain secure. Carnations and Picotees :

if mildew attacks the leaves sprinkle with sulphur. Manures should be laid over the roots of Roses, removing a few inches of the earth, filling up the hollow with well-rotted cow or hot-bed dung, and sprinkle it over with soil, so that it may not dry.

About the middle of the month, if the weather be dry, plant Ranunculuses and Anemones five inches apart, an inch and a half deep from the crown to the surface; and if the soil be dry, after planting, press the surface with a flat board. Be careful that Tulips be firmly secured in their positions, so that they be not damaged by wind. A small protection against strong wind should be provided on the bed side most exposed. Heartsease should have a similar protection. Now is the time to make a plan of the flower-garden, parterre, &c., and to mark each bed with the kind of flowers required, and then to prepare a stock to furnish accordingly, whether from the sowing of seed or otherwise, as with Verbenas, &c. Protect the early buds of Tree Peony, &c.

IN THE FORCING STOVE OR FRAME.

Sow seeds of the tender annuals, as Balsam, Amaranthus, Cockscomb, &c., in pots, and the half-hardy kinds, as Asters, Stocks, &c., either in pots or upon a bed of soil, &c.

Cuttings of Fuchsias, Alonsoas, Ragwort, Calceolarias, Cupheas, Salvias, Heliotropes, Geraniums, Lotus, Bouvardias, Anagallis, Verbenas, Petunias, and such like plants, for the open beds in summer, should immediately be struck, or the plants will be too weak to answer the purpose. If cuttings were put off in autumn, they should now be potted off singly into small pots, any long ones amongst them should be stopped, to induce laterals and make bushy plants.

Dahlia roots should be immediately put to force for stock, and seed be sown in pots. Lobelias be potted singly to have them vigorous by turning-out time. Boxes and pots of Mignonette for succession should be sown.

Achimenes, Gesnerias, Gloxinias, &c., be introduced, to