ON THE TROPjEOLUM TUBEROSUM. 9 



Sow the seed about the middle of August or the beginning of Sep- 

 tember ; take care not to keep the soil very moist, as the plants are 

 very liable to damp off. As soon as they appear, they should be 

 potted into small pots with plenty of drainage, and kept in a dry place 

 till the approach of winter, when place them on a shelf near the glass 

 in the greenhouse. They will require but little water through the 

 winter till February or March, when pot them into 60-sized pots, the 

 largest into 48's. The compost I use is one-third of leaf-mould and 

 two-thirds of rich loam, with a little sea-sand added. I believe it is 

 the general opinion that the plants require very little water at any 

 time ; however, I find from experience it is the contrary. In order 

 to have strong and healthy plants, when they arc about six inches 

 high, I pinch their tops off, and give them plenty of water, a very liberal 

 drainage, and repot them when required. Care must be taken when 

 watering them not to let the water touch the stems of the plants, as I 

 find that to be the cause of their premature death, of which your cor- 

 respondents complain ; to prevent which, (by keeping the water from 

 the stem,) I make a small hill round the stem, so that the water may 

 pass freely through without coming into contact with it. By the 

 above method of treatment I have got splendid plants, some of them 

 with twenty shoots on a plant, which are now in most brilliant bloom, 

 making handsome bushes, three to four feet high. 



The Lobelia ignea, splendens, &c, make most beautiful objects in 

 the conservatory and greenhouse, by having their leading shoots stopped 

 in the spring. 



ARTICLE IV. 



ON THE TROP^EOLUM TUBEROSUM. 



BY WILLIAM HOWARD, ESQ., HINSTOCK VILLA, SALOP. 



On the 18th of last February I planted, in an inverted sea-cale pot, 

 two bulbs of Tropa?olums ; at the same time I planted a single bull) 

 in the open ground, each in the same kind of light rich compost. 

 They all made their appearance above ground in the first week in 

 April"; those in the cale pot (which, by the bye, was sunk in the 

 ground to within two inches of the top) were in full bloom by the end 

 of July, whilst the one in the open ground did not show flower till the 

 middle of October, and then the flowers were very few in number, 



