RANUNCULACE.-E. 2$ 



handy covering. The roots must be nfted as soon as they are 

 ripe, which is ascertained by the dying off of the leaves after 

 flowering is over, and dried and cleaned carefully and slowly 

 in a moderately airy place, and then stored away in a cool 

 room till planting-time again comes round. They are propa- 

 gated by increase of the tubers annually, and by seed. Seed- 

 lings are not difficult to raise, but on economical grounds the 

 purchase of flowering roots is preferable. The seedlings bloom 

 the following year from seed, and cost some trouble during the 

 earlier stages of their progress ; but it is only by means of 

 seed that new varieties can be produced. The seed should 

 be sown about the end of February in good rich soil, but 

 without manure, in shallow pans or boxes, kept in a cold 

 frame. Cover the seeds lightly, and sow thinly, and water 

 gently before closing the frame, and keep close till the plants 

 appear, and protect from frost till all danger of it is past. 

 Give plenty of air after the plants have made some progress, 

 when the weather is favourable, and in the end of May turn 

 them out of doors in a sheltered warm situation. The only 

 attention they will require till they begin to mature is watering 

 and keeping clean, after which water should be gradually with- 

 held till they are quite dry, when they may be taken up and 

 treated in the same manner as the older roots. All tuberous- 

 rooted species are propagated by annual increase of tubers and 

 by seed, and the fibrous-rooted by division in autumn, winter, 

 or early spring. 



R. aconitifolius flore-pleno {Ftiir Maids of France, or Bache- 

 lor'' s Buttons). — This is one of the best known of hardy herba- 

 ceous plants, and enjoys a very liberal share of the patronage 

 of cottagers and amateurs throughout the country, but is not 

 often seen in gardens of larger extent. It grows about i8 inches 

 high, with graceful free habit; dark-green, handsomely lobed and 

 toothed leaves, and a profusion of beautiful pure white flowers, 

 very suggestive of buttons, but only remotely so of bachelors ; 

 very ornamental in the mixed border, about the margins of beds 

 of shrubs, and on rockwork, and maybe introduced successfully 

 into open woods where the natural vegetation is not of a rank 

 character. Flowers in May and June. Native of the Alps of 

 Europe. 



R. acris flore-pleno ( Yellow Bachelor s Buttons). — This sort 

 is better known in the single state than in the double, being 

 plentifully distributed in pastures throughout the country. It 

 grows about i8 inches high, with pale-green hairy lobed leaves 

 and upright stems, branching into numerous panicles of bright- 

 yellow flowers, very double, in the form of those of the preced- 



