THE ATMOSPHERE. 



honse, may |)ropan' a liotltcd for a onc-li.u;lit frame, or more, witli a temperature 

 of not less than Ciii . Maki^' a coin|)ost of oiio-balf sand, and the oilier lialf leaf 

 mould, with a small fiuaiitily of peat mixed together; let the i><)ts be well drained 

 with eharcoal ; (ill the pots within two inches of the top with compost; ])lace the 

 roots around the sides of the i)ot (one inch apart), and then cover them with one 

 inch of soil. The bed beini? ready, ))lace the ]»ots on the Hurface, or, if there is 

 no danger of the bed being too hot, plunge them up to their rims; give them a 

 gentle watering with a fine watering-pot, jiut on your lights, and, in a few days, 

 the i)lants will be up. When the jiots are well filled with roots, they must be pot- 

 ted oft' singly, with the same drainage as above mentioned ; keej) uj) a regular 

 degree of heat by the application of hot dung lining a long time, shifting your 

 jilants, as often as they need it, into larger pots; syringe them once a day, and 

 shade them immediately, if necessary, from the scorching sun, as shade, moisture, 

 and heat, are the most essential points recpiired to bring this most beautiful speci- 

 men of the tropics to perfection. With this treatment, they will show signs of 

 flowering very early, at which time they may be removed to the greenhouse or 

 window, there to mingle with other plants, and enjoy the sun and air freely. 



THE ATMOSPHERE. 



BY JOHN WATSON, GARDENER, WEST FARMS, WEST CHESTER CO., N. T. 



Dear Sir: I was delighted with the communication of your friend "S," in the 

 July number, and I trust that no consideration will deter him from giving a further 

 account of his experience, no matter how anomalous the facts may appear. Such 

 articles must be interesting to all, and especially so to the young gardener, tend- 

 ing, as they do, to awaken a spirit of inquiry, and to prevent those early-formed 

 prejudices so difficult to eradicate, and so inimical to the true interests of horti- 

 culture. But, apropos to the remarks of your correspondent, and in support of 

 his opinion, that the atmosphere is the storehouse from which plants are fed, allow 

 me to record a very striking circumstance with which I have long been familiar. 



An old lady of ray acquaintance, in Scotland, is possessed of a relic in the 

 shape of a scarlet geranium, which has been the pride of her parlor window for 

 upwards of thirty years ! Every day during that long period, it has received its 

 customary cup of cold spring water, and every summer, without further care, it 

 blooms, and lias bloomed, most abundantly. But stranger still, and more to the 

 point, is the fact known to all the neighbors, and attested to by the lady herself, 

 that the plant of which I write has stood in the same pot and in the same soil ! 

 ever since it came into her possession. In childhood, I have stood at the old 

 lady's window, and wondered how the shining beauty could live, and grow, and 

 blossom, in the hard, dry earth, that seemed to be part and parcel of the same 

 antique vessel which contained it ; and since I have become a gardener, the 

 memory of the old geranium has done much to mould my ideas of the natural 

 requirements of plants, and to convince me that however important the consti- 

 tuents of the soil may be, they are not, by any means, " the chief good." 



With trifling exceptions, one plain mixture of porous earth is all I have ever 

 used in potting, varying it simply by adding or withholding manure according as 

 the plant is or is not a rapid grower, and I find it to answer the purpose completely. 



Trusting that some of our experienced and " knowing ones" will no longer hide 

 their candle under a bushel, but, like friend " S," come forth cheerfully to aid in 

 the world's progress, I am, &c. 



e shall be glad to hear from our correspondent again. — Ed.] 



