333 



spect to the parliii" ot" the roots, and the plaiiliug tliein out in then- 

 due season; ihcy succeed best in a strong soil, and some of them, as 

 the IVinuose kind, in a shady silualion. 



Culture in the Poli/aiit/uts kinds. — 'I'liese are all capable of being 

 increased by seed and the parting of ihe roots, the former being the 

 oidy mclhod for obtaining new varieties or a large supply of plants. 

 The seed slioidd be collected from such flowers as have large upright 

 stems, and which produce many tlowers upon the sialk, being large, 

 beautifully striped, open, flat, and not pin-eyed, as liom such seed a 

 great variety of good sorts may be expected; care should be how- 

 ever taken that no bad or common flowers stand near them, as they 

 v/ill be apt lo debase them, by the admixture of iheir farina. 



The seeds should be sown in boxes or large pots filled with light 

 rich mould. The proper season for this business is in the autumn, 

 or the early spring; but the former is the belter, as by sowing then 

 the plants come up well the same year, and are strong and fit to 

 plant out the following spring, and are fine plants for flowering the 

 second spring. In the first season the sowing should be per- 

 formed as soon as possible after the seeds become well ripened, 

 though some advise December as a good time; but when in the 

 latter, or the spring season, it may be done in i'ebruary, March, or 

 the following month. The seed should be sown over the surface 

 tolerably thick, being covered in very lightly, and the boxes or pots 

 placed where they may have a little of the morning sun, but not by 

 any means the mid-day heats. The plants may be much forwarded 

 by the pots or boxes being plunged in a mild hot-bed; in the spring, 

 when dry, they should be frequently refreshed with water, in very 

 moderate proportions at a time, removing the plants more into the 

 shade as the heat advances, as it soon destroys them. The autunm- 

 sown plants should have a warm situation during the winter, or be 

 protected from frosts or severe weather by glasses or other means. 



In the spring or early summer the plants of the ditlerent sow- 

 ings will be sufliciently strong to plant out, for which a bed or shady 

 border should be prepared, and made rich by neat's dung, on which 

 the plants should be set out about four or five inches distant in every 



