92 BRIEF REMARKS. 



the plant being sometimes no more than three inches below the surface ; 

 but the depth at which such plants should be placed is best regulated 

 by the length of the leaf-stalks. I consider ten inches a very good 

 depth. I should like to try many of our stove aquatics out of doors, 

 more especially Victoria regia. I imagine that they are in reality not 

 half so tender as people expect. An aquatic is not subjected to extreme 

 heats and colds, like a common plant ; the temperature of the water 

 being more uniform than that of the air. — Edward Morse, Albury Park. 



Victoria regia. — Perhaps it is not sufficiently known that the old 

 specimens of this plant have died out, during the winter, at Kew, Sion, 

 Chatsworth, and other places ; and that it, therefore, appears to be little 

 more than an annual. Those who cultivate it should, consequently, 

 secure a succession plant or two, from seed, each autumn. — e. k. 



As you despair of seeing the Royal Water Lily cultivated in this 

 country with success, without artificial heat being applied, perhaps you 

 will excuse the liberty I take in offering an opinion. There are hot 

 springs in various countries; and having seen at Bath, some years since, 

 one in constant use, with a running stream about the temperature of 

 110° when first issuing from the ground, where would be the difficulty 

 of conveying this water into a tank (of course with a covered roof) of 

 any size that might be required for this noble plant? About twenty 

 miles from the above city are coal mines, which could not be worked 

 without the constant, employment of a steam-engine to clear them from 

 the water, which I saw running to waste by the side of the road, 

 smoking hot. Might not this be conveyed into a reservoir for the 

 same purpose ? Perhaps the same idea may have engaged the attention 

 of some of your scientific readers, and, if so, will occasion a more pro- 

 fitable dissertation than many subjects of less interest (at least, in the 

 opinion of gardeners) which occupy the attention of the public. — p. 

 (Gardener's Chronicle). 



Poinsettia tulcherrima. — In a recent number I observed a 

 strong recommendation of this very showy plant ; its large crimson 

 heads forming so ornamental an object. It is not usually grown well, 

 becoming either long and weakly, or if cut in, and side shoots are 

 allowed to grow, the heads of showy bracts are always small. The 

 best mode of treatment is when its bloom is over to cut the plant down 

 to the lowest three buds, and gradually withhold water, so as to give it 

 a two months' season of rest in the greenhouse, keeping the soil nearly 

 dry. Then re-pot it, carefully taking away as much of the ball of soil 

 as you can without damaging the roots. Use a compost of year-old 

 turfy-loam, well-decomposed dung, and rough peat, in equal portions. 

 A free drainage of rough materials, and plenty of root-room, are 

 essentials. Then place it in the stove or hot-bed frame, till it has 

 pushed shoots six inches long ; then remove it to a cooler, airy situa- 

 tion, so that it prevents its being drawn up. Never stop the leads, and 

 the heads of bloom will be fine. I am a market nurseryman in London ; 

 I have the advantage of plenty of stable dung, and therefore make a 

 number of hot-beds. I find this plant succeeds the best when plunged 

 in a bed of this sort. I force it in winter, and have a large number of 

 them in splendid show from January to April. My plants are robust, 

 about two or three feet high. — Acton. 



