i88i.] GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 341 



the Vine ; and it is astonishing what heavy crops it will produce for 

 years, always provided the nourishment is good, and the foliage kept 

 in health. In our practice we have never been able to corroborate 

 the teaching of those who advocate a low temperature as being best 

 for setting such varieties as Muscat of Alexandria, and others of 

 a similar habit, for we have invariably found these set best with a 

 brisk, indeed a high, temperature ; and we have seen Muscats that 

 have been worked low at the blooming period which were not set at 

 all — stoneless or seedless, in fact. Hence they swelled more evenly 

 than when partially set — as it is called ; and when bunches have all 

 their berries stoneless, it is wonderful to what a size they swell. 



GIlEEK"HOUSE PLAISTTS. 



NO. VI. THE BOEONIA. 



All the species of this genus in cultivation are evergreen shrubs of 

 dwarf growth. Their time of flowering in this country extends from 

 the beginning of March until the end of June. The majority of them 

 are of a slender habit of growth, and to form them into neat compact 

 specimens a certain amount of staking and training is necessary. 

 When properly managed, Boronias are beautiful and interesting plants 

 at all seasons of the year, and when in bloom they are effective 

 for the decoration of the greenhouse or conservatory. B. pinnata, 

 B. Drummondii, and B. serrulata, are splendid subjects when large 

 enough for exhibition purposes, as they will stand a considerable 

 amount of rough usage, without injury to the flowers at the time, or 

 to the health of the plants afterwards. 



All the species commence flowering when the plants are com- 

 paratively small, hence, of whatever size they are, they reward the 

 cultivator with a crop of flowers proportioned thereto. Small 

 plants, when in flower, are suitable for taking part in floral decor- 

 ations in the dwelling-house, and they will suffer as little injury 

 from being exposed to the dry atmosphere that necessarily prevails 

 in rooms of the dwelling-house, as any hard-wooded plants with 

 which I am acquainted ; and this alone should secure for them the 

 attention of those whose duty it is to provide a supply of varied and 

 choice flowering plants for the purpose named. Boronias are in- 

 creased by cuttings, but, like a few genera of which I have treated 

 in former papers, it requires a few years before they get to a 

 size to be of much service as decorative subjects. It is therefore 

 the better way to procure a stock of small plants from a nursery- 

 man ; remembering to stipulate when giving the order, that the 

 plants are to be free from scale and mealy-bug — as it is not an 

 unfrequent occurrence for some nurserymen to supply gratis, along 

 with certain species of the vegetable kingdom, a host of representa- 



