90 THE GREEN-HOUSE.—PETUNIAS,—FUCHSIAS. . 
is remarkavle for the sweetness of the odour of its leaves. It is 
tolerably hardy; but requires great care in watering; as the leaves 
will soon curl up and wither if it has too little, and they will drop 
off if it has too much water. The flower has no beauty; and thé 
only recommendation of the plant is the delightful fragrance of its 
leaves. 
Petunias may be raised either from seed or cuttings, as they seed 
freely, and strike readily. ‘The first kind introduced was Petunia nyc- 
taginiflora, which produces a great abundance of large, white, fragrant 
flowers; Petunia pheenicea, or violacea, is another original species, 
and from these two nearly ali the myriads of hybrids and varieties 
now found in gardens have arisen. These Petunias hybridize freely 
with each other, and most of the kinds produce abundance of seed; 
but P. bicolor is a distinct species, which does not either mix well 
with the others, or seed freely. Petunias may be treated as annuals, 
and raised ona slight hot-bed every year from seed; and thus treat- 
ed, they will do very well in the open ground. In warm dry situa- 
tions, they may even be suffered to sow themselves in the open 
ground, and will come up and flower abundantly. ‘Treated as 
green-house plants, they are, however, all shrubby, and will last se- 
veral years. When intended to be kept in pots, the seed should be 
sown on a slight hot-bed in February, and the young plants should 
be pricked out into very small thumb pots, while they are in the seed 
leaf. In these pots they should remain either in the frame of the 
hot-bed, or in aroom, or green-house, for about a week or ten days, 
and they should be then shifted into-somewhat larger pots. These 
shiftings, always into somewhat larger pots, should be repeated six, 
eight, or ten times, if the plants are wanted to be bushy; and not 
more than four, if the plants are wished to grow tall. The bushy 
plants will flower abundantly without any support; but the tall- 
growing plants, which are suffered to flower in comparatively small 
pots, must be trained to some kind of frame. When the tall plants 
appear to be growing too straggling, the extremities of the shoots 
should be taken off and made into cuttings. Petunias may be 
grown in any good garden soil; and require no particular attention 
as to watering, &c. In fact, they are, perhaps, the best of all plants 
for a lady to cultivate; as they will afford a great deal of interest and 
amusement, with the least possible amount of trouble. 
Fuchsias are another family of plants that may be cultivated with 
