136 THE GARDENER. [March 



of May, when they may be gradually hardened off : and when danger 

 from frost is past, they may be plunged out-of-doors, in a sheltered 

 place, but fully exposed to the sun. They must be duly attended to 

 with water, and occasionally pinched. They may be brought under 

 cover about the beginning of October, and the first batch will come into 

 flower about the end of November. The old plants will bloom a month 

 earlier, and by having successional batches of cuttings, they maybe had 

 in bloom up to April or May. It is a most useful plant for cutting 

 from, and its beautiful dark green foliage lends additional charm to it. 

 It has also a very sweet perfume, somewhat resembling the smell of 

 honey ; and, by the way, the bees are very fond of it. The flowers 

 stand well when cut; and the plants stand rooms well. There is 

 another variety — viz., E. riparium ; it is not so good nor so free-flower- 

 ing, however, as the variety above-mentioned. 



J. G., W. 



THE GARDENER'S PRIMER 



The object of the following remarks is to endeavour to give to the 

 young gardener some insight into the nature of the subject in 

 pursuit of which he has cast his lot, and is not intended in any way 

 to supersede the necessity for his learning the art of horticulture from 

 those who are capable and willing to take the trouble of teaching 

 him, nor to lead him to neglect the study of Botany in all its 

 branches in any of the advanced text-books on that science. 



A practical acquaintance with some of the elements entering into 

 the composition of plants — some knowledge of the climate, soil, and 

 situation of the countries in which they grow, and of the diseases to 

 which they are liable, or predisposed, and the causes thereof, and 

 the remedies to be made use of, and of the hosts of destructive insects 

 which feed on them, and of the methods for removing them, and of 

 some of the elementary Laws of Physics — will materially assist the 

 gardener in acquiring a sound knowledge of the practice of horti- 

 culture. 



Some of the elements which are known to enter into and form part 

 of the structure of plants are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, 

 sulphur, phosphorus, and chlorine, which, in combination with 

 sodium, forms chloride of sodium (sea salt) ; and in some form or 

 other plants derive nutriment from chlorine, iodine, bromine, and 

 silicon, which, in the form of flint or silex, enters largely into plant 

 structure, although more so in some plants than in others, and in 

 combination with oxygen and metals it forms a class of minerals 

 called Silicates. 



