i8Si.] GRF:ENH0USE plants. 499 



by crowding near the ventilators — such as Heaths or other hard- 

 woods. Use fire-heat to expel damp, and keep out frost should it 

 come ; but at all times treat this as a necessary evil. Avoid cold cut- 

 ing winds ; keep all surfaces and foliage clean in the show-house ; see 

 that no plants are water-logged, and if the soil is hollow round the 

 collars it should be filled up, and the surface raised slightly next the 

 collars. Cinerarias, Calceolarias, and Primulas coming forward for 

 future decoration should be near the glass, have plenty of light, and be 

 judiciously aired and watered. Pelargoniums should not have damp 

 about them ; they are liable to spot. All bulbs should be potted, and 

 placed under tan or clean ashes till they spring an inch or so ; then 

 take them to light, giving plenty of air. Most kinds, especially Tulips 

 and Hyacinths, can be forced in batches as required. Get plenty of 

 sh'rubs and other plants into gentle warmth and moisture, to keep 

 up succession of flowers. Stove-plants, which have been previously 

 referred to, will now be well forw^ard, and should not be allowed to 

 remain in damp manure-pits. They are all valuable objects for deco- 

 ration during the short dark days, and ought to have the best of 

 attention. The general work in stoves differs little from last month. 



M. T. 



GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



NO. VIII. — THE ACACIA. 



A GREAT number of species belonging to this genus are known to 

 botanists. Several are natives of tropical regions ; but those found 

 growing in the more temperate parts of Australia are, from a horti- 

 cultural point of view, the most valuable, and it is of them that we 

 would speak in this paper. Those Australian species with which 

 the writer is acquainted are all extremely handsome plants, both as 

 regards their habit or style of growth, and the graceful foliage they 

 bear. The foliage of some species, as, for instance, that of A. dealbata, 

 vies in graceful beauty with the fronds of most kinds of Adiantums or 

 Maidenhair Fern. Young plants of A. dealbata, of from 1 to 3 feet 

 liigh, are very useful and appropriate for room decoration. Another 

 species, with fern-like foliage, and equally suitable for the same pur- 

 pose, is A. lophantha. This latter species is a stronger grower, and 

 coarser in all its parts than the former. The two, however, have a 

 striking resemblance (especially their flowers) to each other. 



A. pubescens, like the two former species, is furnished with bipin- 

 nate leaves, and is as desirable a plant to cultivate. All the Aus- 

 tralian species have yellow-coloured flowers— some being of an intense 

 golden colour, while others are of a pale lemon or canary colour. 

 Their shape difl'ers somewhat on different species : for instance, the 

 flowers of A. armata appear like little golden balls springing from the 



2 K 



