112 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



which should not be lost sight of, and which will, during the summer 

 and autumn months, contribute very much towards the ornament 

 and pleasure not only of the garden, but also of the sitting-room 

 and balcony. Of these, we may mention balsams, browallias, cocks- 

 combs, ice plant, marvel of Peru, sensitive plant, and thunbergias. 

 The ice plant and sensitive plant are more curious than ornamental; 

 but, like birds of the finest song, which have but unattractive 

 plumage, these very interesting plants, though they have no floral 

 beauties to display, will be found to contribute no small amount of 

 pleasure and gratification. 



Balsams. — There is not, perhaps, a more gorgeous flower grown 

 than the balsam, and the great perfection to which they have of late 

 years been brought, both as regards the variety of their colours and 

 the immense size of their flowers, has made them even of more 

 general cultivation thau heretofore. There are two modes of grow- 

 ing the balsam : the one when it is desired to have a bushy, shrubby- 

 looking, little tree, and the other when one straight rod or spike of 

 bloom is preferred. But, first of all, let us turn our attention to 

 raising the plants ; and this should be done from the middle of 

 March till the beginning of April. The seed should be sown in a 

 pot containing fine, light, sandy loam, with a good proportion of 

 vegetable mould. The pot should then be plunged in the bed of 

 the frame, and in the course of six or eight days the plants will 

 appear above the surface ; and when they have attained the height 

 of about three inches pot them off into small pots, and again plunge 

 them into the hot-bed. The soil on this occasion should have a 

 little well-decomposed stable-dung mixed with it ; and place them 

 near the back of the frame, so that they may get as much air as pos- 

 sible by the apertures when the lights are open. As the roots fill 

 the pot, the plants must be regularly shifted, care being taken never 

 to allow them to become " pot-bound." In this way they must be 

 continued, adding a greater portion of rotten dung at every shift, 

 until they are in eight or twelve-inch pots ; and during the whole of 

 this progress they must have abundance of water. To have them 

 of the fine bushy habit spoken of above, they must now have plenty 

 of room, and be regularly supplied with waterings of manure-water ; 

 they will then acquire a great size both in height and breadth. But 

 if the other mode is deaired — viz., to have simply a tall spike studded 

 with bloom, the plants must be stunted a little in their growth when 

 they are in four or five-inch pots ; and, when they show flower, 

 select those only which exhibit the most excellent properties either 

 as regards colour or size. Let them be kept close together, and 

 without much air, they will then be drawn up, and instead of branch- 

 ing at the side, will present a mass of finely-developed flowers. 

 About the end of May, or beginning of Juue, the plants may be 

 introduced iuto the open border, having previously opened holes to 

 receive them — about two or three feet apart from each other — and 

 into these holes supply a pretty liberal quantity of well-rotted 

 manure. In such a situation the balsam will bloom freely during 

 the whole of the summer and autumn months, and will only be ter- 

 minated by the frost of October. 



