87 



CULTURE OF THE BALSAM. 



Thebe is no flower more abused than the 

 balsam, for, except in a few first-rate 

 private estabhshments, it is rarely we see 

 even respectable specimens, though it is 

 one of the most popular and showy annuals 

 ■we possess. Even among nurserymen 

 there are very few who grow really fine 

 balsams, and as to amateur gardeners, not 

 one iu a thousand knows what the plant 

 may be made to do when liberally treated. 

 It is such a gay, free-flowering thing, that 

 even a shabby lot of balsams has a cheer- 

 ful appearance, whether in pots or planted 

 out in the borders ; and as they come of all 

 colours, and single, semi-double, and double, 

 there is no end to their variety. Now, 

 having for many yens enjoyed the plea- 

 sure of raising fine balsamsj with stems as 

 thick as one's arm, three feet high, and 

 with heads of five or six feet in circum- 

 ference, and every shoot loaded with huge 

 doubleflowers of the mostdazzling colours, 

 I should like to be the means of setting 

 a few readers of the"PLOEAL World" 

 about balsam growing in earnest. We 

 will first go into the commonplace part 

 of the culture, for the information of 

 those who simply want a show of border 

 flowers. 



It is most important to secure good 

 seed, and, unless a good price be paid for 

 it, it is not worth the trouble of growing. 

 First-class balsams, being vei-y double, 

 produce scarcely any seed ; hence, high 

 price must be an accompaniment of high 

 quality ; and, after all, the mere cost of 

 seed is so trifling, considering what 

 splendid results maybe obtained by having 

 it really good, that the question scarcely 

 need bo raised. Still, at this season of 

 the year, immense quantities of the worst 

 descriptions of seed are sold in cheap 

 packets ; one half the seed iu every such 

 packet being dead, and the other half 

 possessing a life not miich higher than 

 that of the merest weed. I defy any man 

 to sell seed, worth the trouble of sowing, 

 at five shillings for a hundred packets ; 

 better half-a-dozen good things for the 

 same money, than a lot of rubbish, fit 

 only to feed the sparrows. This applies 

 more to balsams and stocks than any 

 other flowers, because the poorer they are 

 the more seed they produce, and, when 

 they become thoroughly double, they give 

 little or none at all. 



Now, then, take your good seed, and 

 BOW a pinch in a seed-pan, using very 

 sandy loam for the purpose. If you can 



give it a little heat to start it, good ; but 

 if not, place it in a warm corner of a 

 room, and keep it just damp until it 

 begins to sprout ; and then let it have 

 light and moderate moisture till the little 

 seedlings are large enough to handle, and 

 by that time the weather will be suffi- 

 ciently advanced for them to go to the 

 borders. If they are all to be planted 

 out, set them in threes, triangle fashion, 

 six inches apart each way, and at least 

 two feet from patch to patch. In plant- 

 ing, put a good spadeful of rotten dung 

 under each patch, mixing it well with the 

 soil ; and when they are planted, spread 

 another spadeful of dung on the surface, 

 so as to mulch them and keep the roots 

 moist. If the weather is cold, cover them 

 every night with inverted flower-pots, 

 stopping the holes in the pots with an 

 oyster-shell or bit of tile; and if dry 

 sunny days follow the planting, let the 

 pots remain over them all day for four 

 days, and by that time they may be taken 

 oS" every morning and put on at night, 

 till the weather is mild enough to leave 

 them altogether exposed. If a portion of 

 the seedlings were pricked off into small 

 pots, with rich loam and leaf mould, 

 and kept in a greenhouse or cold pit 

 till they^filled the pots with roots, they 

 would produce a finer lot for the best 

 positions. 



Now, to make these border balsams 

 worth the place you have given them, you 

 must give them plenty of water from the 

 very moment they begin to make growth. 

 In dry weather, water them once a-day 

 till they are six inches high ; then water 

 them twice a-day ; and as they come to- 

 wards blooming, give it them three times 

 a-day ; and from the first they should 

 have liquid manure once a-week, then 

 twice a-week, and at last, when they are 

 setting for bloom, every other day, no 

 matter if the weather be wet or dry ; in 

 fact, during rainy weather, the liquid 

 manure may be a little stronger than at 

 other times, and diluted house-slops is 

 the very best stimulant they can have. 



There is another point of equal im- 

 portance that must be attended to in 

 good time, and that is stopping. One 

 reason why so many people have poor 

 balsams is, because they allow them to 

 grow and flower as they like, and the 

 drier they are kept the sooner they flower ; 

 80 that if left to themselves, they run up 

 six inches, then produce a few miserable 



