188 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



Balsams in the Open Border. — Alpha. — There is very little difficulty 

 attached to having a good display of these out-of-doors. You can either sow the 

 seed where it is to remain, or sow under cover and plant out ; the latter would be 

 the quickest, but it must not be put in a very strong heat, or the plants will be 

 tender, and ill able to stand the open air. Let the ground be well dug up, and 

 plenty of manure or leaf-mould worked in. Plant out fifteen inches apart, and 

 give a few copious supplies of water until established. It will be advisable to 

 remove the first flowers from the main stem, to enable the plants to get to a large 

 size before flowering. You will not get such large or perfectly-formed flowers upon 

 the side-branches as on the main stem ; but that is of little consequence, for ■what 

 we look for out-of-doors is ablaze of bloom rather than a few large flowers. The 

 most distinct self-coloured varieties produce the grandest effect in the open air. 

 Any respectable house will supply you with good seeds. 



Cause of Dew. — W. H. H. — The deposition of dew on plants exposed to the 

 open air arises from a condensation of the atmosphere in their immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. A clear and cloudless sky radiates little or no heat towards the surface 

 of the earth, therefore all objects placed on the surface, which are good radiators, 

 must necessarily fall in temperature during the night, if they are not exposed to 

 the radiation of other objects near them. All vegetable products are in general 

 good radiators ; grass particularly so. The vegetation which covers the earth's 

 surface will, on a clear night, undergo a depression of temperature, because it will 

 absorb less heat than it radiates. The vegetables which thus acquire a lower tem- 

 perature than the atmosphere reduce the air immediately contiguous to them to a 

 temperature below saturation, and a proportionately copious condensation of vapour 

 takes place, aud a deposition of dew is formed on the leaves and flowers. In fact, 

 .every object, in proportion as it is a good radiator, receives a deposition of moisture. 

 On the other hand, objects which are bad radiators are observed to be free from 

 dew. As an illustration of this, you will find that blades of grass will sustain 

 large pellucid dew-drops, while the naked soil in their immediate neighbourhood 

 is free from them. Dew is commonly supposed to fall from above, because plants 

 that have a covering suspended above them are quite dry during a heavy deposition 

 on others exposed ; even when they are fully exposed to the air on all sides ; 

 whereas the influence of the covering is solely confined to its checking the radia- 

 tion, and thereby preventing the usual condensation of atmospheric moisture. 



Lantanas for Greenhouse. — Amicus. — It is getting late to buy these in for 

 this year, unless you can procure bushy plants in large 60 s, and with three or four 

 shoots each. To satisfy yourself upon this point, inquire at some of the principal 

 nurseries. Supposing you to be able to get stout, bushy plants, shift them at once 

 into six-inch pots, and directly they are nicely established, uip out every growing 

 point. After the pots are full of roots, but before the plants get pot-bound, shift 

 into nine-inch pots, and stop again as before, when the plants begin to feel at home 

 in their new quarters. No more stopping will be necessary after this, and the 

 young growth must be neatly trained out with a few stakes. With the aid of a 

 brisk- giowing atmosphere, and frequent syringing overhead, you can quickly 

 obtain good-sized specimens. The plants must not be placed in too great a heat, 

 or be deprived of sufficient air, or the wood will be thin and long-jointed. You can 

 obtain tlie whole of the accompanying selection for twelve or eighteen shillings. 

 Adolphe Weick, yellow and carmine ; Alba ltdea grandiflora, white and yellow ; 

 F. Monfek, rich crimson ; Hendersoni, bright rose and white, with yellow tips ; 

 ISlSsperance, orange and purple ; Madame Rougier Chauviere, yellow-red aud 

 ecarlet ; Madame Victor Lemoine, Monsieur Boucharlet Aine, yellow and lilac ; 

 Rcempler, deep red ; Rogiteloire, yellowish, changing to amaranth ; T'icfoire, white, 

 yellow centre ; Willielm Schulc, rosy flesh. Pot in good turfy loam, leaf-mould, 

 and sand, with the addition of a little well-decayed manure. 



Inga pulcherrima.— Miss T. — As the beautiful tassel-like clusters of flowers 

 are produced on the previous season's growth, you must not prune until the 

 plants have done flowering. They must be pruned shortly afterwards, and repotted 

 when the young growth is nicely started. A warm greenhouse is the best place 

 •for them through the winter. The main point to insure plenty of flowers is to get 

 the wood strong and well ripened by autumn. Introduce the plants into a forcing- 

 house in October, when by careful treatment they can be had in flower at Christmas. 

 Let the pots be well drained, and use peat, loam, and leaf-mould in equal parts, 

 with a liberal addition of sand. 



