MAY. Ill 



and mixing some small pieces of charcoal or broken potsherds with 

 it, which prevent the soil from becoming soddened and unhealthy. 

 Keep them either in a cold pit or frame, and see that they are con- 

 stantly topped, which will be found to give them more strength and 

 vigour ; they will require another fresh potting about the middle of 

 June, which should be their final one for that season. When pro- 

 perly established, after this time of shifting, begin to expose them to 

 more sun and air, until they may eventually be placed out in the 

 open ground, making choice of a partially shaded situation for them, 

 free from all drip of trees, and where they may remain until housing 

 time arrives, when they should be replaced in the greenhouse as be- 

 fore recommended, paying great attention not to give them an over 

 supply of water during the winter. As spring advances attend to 

 potting them as they may require it ; and should the plants not be 

 wanted to bloom in a small state, they may again be regularly topped 

 as before directed. By following the practice I have just described, 

 and attending to shifting them as they increase in growth, in two 

 years you will be in possession of some nice bushy plants. Should 

 this, however, be too long to wait, young plants may always be pur- 

 chased at the principal nurseries, taking care to choose nice dwarf 

 bushy ones in preference to those having long weak wood, and by 

 following up the principle of potting and topping, you will ensure 

 a specimen in much less time than you could from cuttings. 



My object in giving the full particulars of the most successful 

 mode of propagating them, is to shew that there is not that difficulty 

 in the operation that many suppose there is. It may here be observed 

 that as the plant advances in growth, the soil should be used in a 

 coarser or rougher state, always employing sharp sand rather liberally 

 with it, and increasing the size of the pieces of charcoal or potsherd, 

 mixed with the compost, and when they receive their final shift, say 

 into 15-inch pots, pieces as large as hens' eggs may be introduced, 

 pressing them firmly into the soil as you pot. This will be found of 

 the greatest possible advantage ; it will promote in many ways the 

 well-doing of the plant, as, for instance, in keeping the soil open and 

 porous, kind and healthy, and in giving the roots full scope for extend- 

 ing themselves through the ball of earth, without coming in contact 

 with soil that has become, by constant watering, soddened and un- 

 healthy. 



As the above mode of treatment may be applied to all the varieties 

 of this genus, I will here add the names of those that are the best 

 and most beautiful, viz. Macrantha purpurea, Macrantha rosea, Hu- 

 milis, and Sesamoides. 



Camden Nursery, Camberwell. William Barnes. 



