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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



lowered if necessary, for as balsams throw 

 out new roots all up the stem, if it be sunk 

 the plant is improved rather than injured] 

 but the seed-leaf should be kept an inch 

 above the surface, even after its last shift. 

 If we want large plants, the buds are all 

 picked off as fast as they come until the 

 size we require is attained. As soon as 

 one pot fills with roots, the plant should 

 be shifted into a larger. The soil at this 

 stage of their growth should be a rich com- 

 post of loam and vegetable mould ; if the 

 loam is from rotten turves it requires 

 nothing else. As the whole stock can 

 hardly be wanted to bloom in pots, some 

 of the least promising that appear among 

 them, when they are about half grown, 

 may be turned into the borders or flower- 

 beds, where they make a very pretty show, 

 and seed freely. Those in pots have to be 

 put into the greenhouse when they have 

 grown too large for the frames ; they should 

 be turned every day, that one side may not 

 be drawn more than another. By con- 

 stant shifting, as the plants fill the pots, 

 and keeping them near the glass, they can 

 be grown very large, and flowers will cover 

 the stems all round, if the buds are picked 

 off from the middle stem until there are 

 buds on the side shoots, and thinned out, so 

 as to leave buds nearly of a size two inches 

 apart all over the plant. By taking off the 

 buds, plants may be grown to a great size. 

 They are the better for occasional syring- 



ing, but they ought not to be wetted when 

 in bloom. The house or pit may be watered 

 so as to throw a dew over them when the 

 flowers are opened, as syringing would in- 

 jure the flowers. If shaded from the hot 

 sun, they will last in flower a long time. 

 'When they get dry or indicate flagging, 

 then the soil must be wetted thoroughly. 

 To show that balsams may be grown in 

 the open air, I will make a few practical 

 remarks. Five years back, after turning 

 out about eight thousand bedding plants, 

 I found I had one large flower-bed left, and 

 nothing left to plant upon it. A thought 

 struck me that balsams would look will. 

 It was then the third week in May. I 

 i directly sent to a seedsman for a packet of 

 mixed balsam seed. I sowed the seed 

 evenly over the surface of the bed, raked 

 in lightly, and watered. In a few days 

 they were up — a great deal too thick. As 

 soon, however, as the plants were large 

 enough, I thinned them out full two feet 

 every way. They grew strong and vigor- 

 ous, and in a few weeks the bed was covered 

 and full of beautiful colours, which were 

 the admiration of all who saw them. 

 The bed so furnished is full south, the soil 

 is eighteen inches deep, about half loam 

 and half garden soil, dressed with decom- 

 posed dung. How easily every gardener 

 could make a grand show of tins beautiful 

 plant. J. Howlett. 



Abbey Gardens, Ramsey. 



TOM THUMB TKOP^OLUM. 



The different opinions last year as to the 

 merits of the Tropseolum Tom Thumb, 

 and the observations by " B. T. E." with 

 your remark thereon, induce me to offer 

 my experience of the flower in question. 



Last spring I got a shilling packet of 

 the seed from Messrs. Carter, and, as I 

 had already an abundance of scarlet in my 

 garden, and merely wanted to try what 

 the new flower was like, I shared the seeds 

 with a friend who lives close by, and whose 

 garden has the same aspect and soil as 

 mine. One day we met, and she said, " I 

 am greatly disappointed with the Tom 

 Thumb Tropseolum ; it is not even so hand- 

 some as the old common nasturtium ; it 

 certainly is better adapted for bedding, 

 being smaller and more compact, but I 

 would never think it worth bedding, it is 

 so poor." "How can you say so," I ex- 

 claimed, " the blossom is like velvet in 

 richness, and, as to colour, I compared it 



with Tom Thumb Geranium, and I really 

 think the tropseolum the most brilliant 

 scarlet !" 



I took a blossom of mine (I had only 

 one plant in bloom at that time) to com- 

 pare with my friend's, and to my surprise 

 found hers were scarcely more scarlet than 

 the old orange-red nasturtium. The leaves 

 were larger than those on my plant, and 

 the blossoms more widely opened. In a 

 day or two, my remaining plants were in 

 bloom, but to my disappointment they 

 were also orange-red. If all the flowers 

 were like my little scarlet beauty, they 

 would form a brilliant bed; but I suppose 

 it was a freak of Nature which might never 

 occur again, I hoped to have saved seed 

 from the plant, but there was not a single 

 seed on it, or on any of the others. 



F. A. Stewart. 

 Ardmore, Youghal, County Cork. 



