224 ON PELARGONIUMS. 



loam, (from the surface of a rich pasture, which should be collect- 

 ed at least a twelvemonth before it is used,) one and a half 

 barrowful of well rotted hot-bed manure, one barrowful of turfy 

 peat, half a barrowful of pigeon's dung, two or three years old, 

 and a quarter barrowful of sand, the whole being mixed in the 

 autumn, and put under an open shed. In using it I do not sift it 

 but it is chopped fine with a spade. As the spring advances I 

 allow a more copious supply of water, and I find that by using 

 liquid manure once a week after they begin to grow, the plants 

 are greatly strengthened, and the size of the flowers increased. 

 When the flowers begin to expand, I shade them from the sun, 

 by rolling a canvass over the roof of the house, which contributes 

 to heighten the colours, and they remain much longer in bloom. 

 The plants are placed on stages, which are constructed so that 

 the surface of the plants are not more than five feet from the glass 

 and a free admission of air being admitted at the sides of the dou- 

 ble roofed houses, as well as at the roof, the plants are stiff and 

 robust. Attention is paid to placing the plants at a greater 

 distance from each other, as they advance in growth, and thinning 

 away the shoots so as to leave them regularly placed and proper- 

 ly tied to sticks so as to splay around and form compact heads. 



In June the plants are removed from the greenhouses to an 

 appropriate situation in the open air, where they receive the full 

 influence of the sun till eleven, o'clock and by attention to watering 

 many of them continue to bloom through the summer. Early in 

 September, the plants are cut down to within a few inches of the 

 pots ; and they flower well the second year. 



On Raising New Varieties \ — This department of their culture 

 may prove a source of great amusement and gratification to those 

 who can devote sufficient time to it. Good varieties may often be 

 obtained from seed saved promiscuously from fine flowers ; yet m 

 order to ensure success, it is necessary to have recourse to impreg- 

 nation, in performing which, the following rules are strictly 

 observed. The operation is performed with blossoms as nearly 

 as possible, in the same state of advancement. The anthers are 

 removed from the flower intended for impregnation in the morn- 

 ing, because the pollen is then moist, and not so likely to escape 

 by accident, so as to confuse the experiment. A considerable 

 quantity of pollen is used in such impregnation, both on account 

 of the chance of a minute particle of the natural pollen having 

 escaped, and also because it is more difficult to produce fecundation 



