194 FLORA HISTORICA. 



florists that the new seed of the Balsam seldom 

 produces double flowers, and it is recommended 

 to sow seed that has been kept from three to nine 

 years. Fairweather recommends for these plants 

 a rich loamy soil, rather lighter than that used 

 for growing melons ; but the finest plants we 

 have seen in England were grown in the rotten 

 dung of an old cucumber-bed, without any other 

 mixture of earth. The seeds should be sown 

 very thin in pots filled with either of these earths, 

 at any time between the first of March to the 

 end of April, when they should be placed in a 

 hot-bed, and as near the glass as possible. 

 When the plants are about five inches high, they 

 should be transplanted into pots of the size 

 forty-eight, one plant in the centre of each pot. 

 As soon as the roots have fiUed the pots, move 

 them into pots a size larger, and repeat this ope- 

 ration three or four times, tiU, at last, they are 

 in pots of eight inches diameter or upwards, 

 keeping the plants all the while in a hot-bed or 

 pit, and near the glass. 



When they are to be transplanted into the gar- 

 den, they may occupy spots where the roots of 

 Hyacinths, Tulips, or other early-flowering bulbs 

 have been taken up ; but some fresh loam, or 

 well-rotted dung should be added, so as to force 



