ON THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. 81 



E. Westcota. — Purple-lilac, white end, an inch long ; very hand- 

 some. 



These Ericas, blooming so freely during winter and early spring, are 

 valuable. 



Templetonia glauca. — Bright red, and much the appearance of 

 the flowers of the scarlet runner Bean. Profuse in bloom was very 

 showy. 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. 



BT DAHL OF MANCHESTEB. 



" The love of Nature's works is born with all. 

 Is an ingredient in the compound man ; 

 E'en in the stifling bosom of the town, 

 A garden in which nothing thrives, has charms 

 That sootlies its rich possessor. 

 It serves him with a hint that nature lives." 



There is a great pleasure arising to the contemplative mind, and more 

 particularly when that mind extends to the science of floriculture, to 

 see that the admiration of nature, with its extensive beauties, is ex- 

 tending far and near. 



In my rambles wherever I go, I find that the cultivation of flowers 

 in rooms is attempted, from the humble cottage to the lordly mansion ; 

 and much do I enjoy, when by chance I iiappen to find a good flower, 

 and carry it home in my hands, while passing children of various 

 grades, I now and then see their little eyes sparkle with joy as they 

 survey the flower as I pass. The mind of the little man, the man in 

 embryo, seems as if it were expanding to take in a ray, a beam, of 

 liglit, that the little beauty of nature has just raised. I admire it, it 

 seems to me a prelude to some future greatness ; and have not some of 

 my readers seen the little man, the little woman, of their own families, 

 if they get a branch or a cutting of a plant, go to some little corner 

 and plant it, and perhaps the next day have seen them pull it up again 

 to see if Dame Nature had performed her part, and it had got a root ; 

 and when, by a little instruction, tlie thing has grown and made 

 a plant, how pleased they have been ? It seemed to have formed the 

 beginning of a new life to them, and thus these small, these first con- 

 ceptions, are the sources from whence spring in after years our agri- 

 culturists, our floriculturists, our artists, and indeed are the germs to 

 the whole of the sciences. This digression, though in point, brings me 

 to where I first sat out, viz., the cultivation of flowers in pots in rooms ; 

 and here I must confess I often find better specimens of plants in the 

 humble cottage than in the more respectable habitations. In some 

 cases it may arise because they have less time to spend over them. 

 Plants do not require a large amount of attention so much as a little 

 regular care ; but what I have had to complain of is, too much water 

 where pans are used, and too little where they are not. It is quite 

 proper that in a well-furnished room the pot should stand in a pan ; 

 but the water should never be allowed to stand in the pan more tiian 



