8o LINE.E. 



three months in summer, and bright pink. It is sometimes called 

 Gypsophila saxifraga, and is an elegant little plant for rock- 

 work, or front lines of borders, or small beds, in some second- 

 ary massing arrangement, as it bears the sun and all kinds of 

 weather well; and, in fact, delights in the fullest exposure, and 

 prefers a light sandy but rich soil. Propagate by seed and 

 division. There is a double-flowered variety in cultivation, but 

 not yet plentiful. Native of the Alps and Pyrenees. 



LINE^. 



Besides being of immense value in manufactures, the Flax 

 family is, for its bulk in species, one of the most brilliantly 

 ornamental of those that furnish hardy herbaceous subjects. Of 

 the three genera comprised in the order, two of them are re- 

 presented in the British flora, Liniim and Radiola, the latter an 

 interesting annual, but with no pretensions to beauty. Li?ium 

 is therefore the only group to which we can turn for a selection 

 of hardy plants, but there are not a few species in it that are 

 very beautiful and hardy. There are not a great number of the 

 species — that is, perennial ones — in cultivation, but there are 

 several of the best in gardens, though not often seen. Their 

 culture is very easy. They require a good, rich, sandy loam, dry 

 rather than otherwise, and one or two are the better for a mix- 

 ture of peat or leaf-mould, well decomposed, incorporated with 

 the loam. Some are suitable for rockwork adornment ; others 

 are more congenially circumstanced in the mixed border, where 

 the soil is proper; and some of them are not fastidious as to the 

 quality, if it is not liable to stagnation by wet. All may be pro- 

 pagated by seed easily, which they generally produce freely, 

 and by cuttings taken before the stems are too old and hard- 

 ened, but sufticiently firm to avoid the risk of damping, to which 

 they are liable when too soft and succulent. There is a safe 

 medium, which cannot be described in words, nor can a time 

 be named for taking them in all localities, as the growth will 

 vary much in difterent places ; but a little observation and ex- 

 perience will serve to guide the earnest amateur in this seem- 

 ingly difficult point, in which, however, there is really less diffi- 

 culty in practice than in description. If the cuttings are taken 

 early in the summer, they should be treated in the same way as 

 described for Pinks and cuttings of hardy subjects generally, 

 being placed in sandy soil under a hand-light, in partial shade, 



