FOEEIGN NOTICES. 



necessary, for they strike readily without it. I shade for a few hours ia the day-time, until they 

 have taken root, when I give them plenty of air, and pinch out tlieir tops, which causes them to 

 break freely. When the shoots have grown ah inch or two in length, I pot into 3-inch pots, in a 

 mixture of turfy loam and one-third rotten dung, selecting the strongest and bushiest plants, and 

 discarding the rest. When potted, I again place them in a close frame, and shade a little until 

 they have made fresh roots. They are afterwards set out of doors, sufficiently far apart to pre- 

 vent their being drawn, and kept well supplied with water. When the shoots have grown 3 or 

 4 inches in length, I again pinch out their lops, in order to make them bushy; and after they 

 have grown an inch in length, I shift the plants into 6 inch pots, placing thtm again in their 

 former situation ; and when they have filled the pots well with roots, I re-pot them into 9-inch 

 pots, in which I flower them, using the same compost as before. I now place them thinly in a 

 nice open place, where they have a free circulation of air ; this keeps them dwarf and healthy. I 

 keep the pots clear of weeds and suckers ; water them as often as they require it ; and when 

 they have fairly set their flower-buds, I give them some good clear manure water twice a week, 

 or more or less according to the state of the weather. About tlie beginning of October, I remove 

 some of the most forward plants under glass, giving them plenty of air through the day. The 

 others are taken in as they are required, or as the weather may render necessary ; for though 

 hardy, the Chrysanthemum will not stand more than 4° or 5° of frost, without sustaining some 

 injury. I bloom here every year about 150 plants, varying from one to two feet high, and hav- 

 ing from 25 to 30 full blown flowers on each plant, many of which do not require a single stake 

 to support them. It may be worth while to remark that, if some of the most promising shoots of 

 out door plants are layered in the beginning of September, by giving them a twist, and pegging 

 them down a few inches below the surface of the ground, so as to make young plants about ten 

 inches high, they will be well rooted in three weeks, i. c. if they are kept watered. When rooted 

 they may be taken up and potted in 6-inch pots, and placed in a close frame for a few days, while 

 they make fresh roots ; afterwards they should have plenty of air. Tlants managed in this way 

 are very suitable for the front shelves of the stage, or for mixing with other plants. The earliest 

 and best flowering of the plants I take cuttings from are selected and planted in any vacant 

 places in the shrubberies, all the shoots being first shortened back to within six inches of the pot. 

 This causes them to make more shoots, whicli are again stopped, thus keejung the plants dwarf 

 and in due bound-i, and inducing them to bloom at a season when few flowers adorn the garden. 

 — T. R , in Gardener's Chronicle. 



Wardi.^n Cases. — Roiial InMltution, March 17. — Dr. Stephen II. Ward delivered a lecture on 

 this occasion, on "Wardiau Cases," of which the following is an abridged report. Dr. Ward 

 began by explaining the circumstances which had led his father to adopt air-tight cases for the 

 aceommodation of his London window plants. lie had placed a chrysalis in a bottle, with a 

 little damp earth, in order to watch its progress towards transformation into a moth ; a Fern 

 and a Grass began to vegetate, and, to his surprise, continued to show a healthy appearance, 

 the former on its more perfect development proving one of his favorites, which he had often 

 failed in rearing under ordinary circumstances. On investigating and questioning himself on 

 these appearances, the answers readily presented themselves, inasmuch as all the requirements 

 of nature were contained within the bottle — air, light, and moisture. Slany persons had fdlen 

 into the error that Ward's cases were, or ought to be, hermetically sealed ; on the contrary, a 

 change of air is frequently necessary; this will imperceptibly occur in the closest made cases, 

 or they would inevitably burst. The trough to contain the earth may be made of any materials 

 — earthenware or wood pitched inside; but the best are zinc. Of all, by far the best were 

 stated to be bell-glasses, which are also admirably adapted for cut flowers, which are long pre- 

 served in them, as in the case of a Camellia, which, on one occasion, had retained its beauty for 

 nearly a month. To size there arc no limits — from an ounce phial even to the Crystal Palace 

 itself The decay of a he.althy plant on transmission to a room in town is effected by the variety 

 ious gases, evaporation from dryness of air, frequent and sudden alteration of cur 

 mperature, deposition of dust, soot, ifec, the latter cspeciallj' inimical; all these were 



