328 THE GARDENER. [July 



hardworking foreman must feel satisfied with a shake of the hand, and a 

 certificate consisting of half-a-dozen lines, for two or three years' such 

 service. [All overtime should be paid for. — Ed.] 



We had almost wandered from what we intended to be our 

 subject, but shall now recur to it, and begin with sowing the seed. 

 As it is necessary to make two or three sowings for sake of succession, 

 we think it useless to fix any date : the seeds may be sown in almost any 

 soil (if it be of a light nature), and plunged in a mild hotbed. In a few 

 days the young seedlings will appear. Great care must be taken to have 

 them near the glass. As soon as they are fit to be handled, select a number 

 of deep thumb-pots, and a quantity of soil consisting of leaf-mould and 

 loam — the same temperature as that from which they were taken. They 

 should be potted as deep as possible, not to cover the leaves. Now is the 

 most critical period of their growth. The best plan will be to have a 

 small hotbed prepared for them : there is then no difficulty in treating 

 them as they should be. Little shading is necessary — the less the better, as 

 they are so inclined to run upwards. As before remarked, they cannot 

 be too near the glass, if they do not come in actual contact with it. A 

 little air is necessary on all occasions, as it tends to stubby and sub- 

 stantial growth. By the next shift the growler will see if he is to have 

 nice plants : as soon as the bottom-shoots are got hold of, there is no 

 difficulty in growing fair plants. When long enough, they must be 

 pegged down, and every after-shoot must be kept down by means of 

 pegs, or ties of Japan flax. The Balsam is even more brittle than the 

 young shoots of Vines, and the trainer must exercise considerable cau- 

 tion in tying or pegging. Some people feel satisfied with an 8-inch pot 

 for their largest plant, and we believe this to be the most economical 

 and most useful system. Very nice plants, loaded w^ith bloom, can be 

 grown in 8-inch pots with very little trouble ; but to grow specimens 

 is a very different consideration — an 11 or 12 inch pot will grow a 

 specimen 3J feet in diameter, and this we consider a fair specimen. If 

 plunged in a spent hotbed, with the sashes tilted to admit as much air 

 as possible, and every bloom picked off as it appears, they will grow 

 like Willows ; and w^hen the roots have thoroughly searched through the 

 soil and exhausted it, they will stand any reasonable amount of feeding. 

 The best Balsams we ever saw grown were at CuUen House by Mr 

 Milne in 1868 ; and being one of ^Mr Milne's assistants, w^e had the 

 advantage of seeing their treatment. The plants alluded to were 

 trained as we generally see show Pelargoniums. A trellis was formed 

 of green-painted sticks and dark cord, so that every shoot could be 

 pulled down by means of soft flax ties, at the same time hidden from 

 the eye. By the month of August the plants were all that could be 

 desired ; certainly their appearance in the show-room at Cullen could 



