BRIEF REMARKS. 113 



heat. If no striking-house, an exhausted hot-bed will do equally well. 

 The usual attention to keep the sand barely moist, to dry the inside of 

 the glass once a-day, and shade from hot sun, being- given, you will 

 find them strike root readily. The Ipomaea you mention we do not 

 know. We will inquire about it, and you shall hear from us again. 



Fancy Pelargoniums (A. H) — The disease you complain about 

 is one that these high-bred varieties are very subject to. It is called 

 spot, and sometimes gangrene, and originates from various causes, such 

 as unsuitable soil, a stagnant or humid and cold atmosphere, injudicious 

 watering, and the use of impure and highly enriched soils ; sudden 

 changes of any kind will also induce it ; and some varieties are con- 

 stitutionally subject to it. When it presents itself in its most malignant 

 form it is almost impossible to eradicate it or stay its progress ; but if 

 the plants are attended to directly it shows, it may be cured. In addi- 

 tion to the marks or spots upon the leaves, the plants will show brown 

 marks upon the stem and foot-stalks of the leaves, and be exceedingly 

 brittle, and present a glossy, nay almost a glassy, appearance upon the 

 surface of the leaves. This is its worst form, and the remedy to be 

 taken is to shake the plants out of the soil, wash the roots if necessary, 

 and repot in fresh turfy loam and leaf-mould, liberally intermixed with 

 sand, and charcoal in small pieces. Place the plants in a warm and 

 airy place, and water with great caution, until they get into good 

 growth. Large plants, after they get into free growth, cannot so 

 safely be shaken out ; therefore remove as much soil as you can with 

 safety, and repot into the same compost, not forgetting the charcoal, as 

 it is to its universally purifying influence that you must mainly look 

 for success. When the plants are first affected, if taken in time, an 

 occasional watering with lime-water and free ventilation will check the 

 progress of disease ; but it is almost impossible to eradicate it when 

 fairly established. It is more than probable that the high breeding, or 

 breeding " in and in," as is the case in the animal kingdom, has tended 

 much to induce the disease, for it is quite certain nearly the same effects 

 proceed from the same causes in the vegetable as in the animal creation ; 

 and so Ions: as raisers of Pelargoniums continue to breed from the most 

 delicate kinds, so long will this disease, which under such circumstances 

 is constitutional, continue to increase. High breeding and high feed- 

 ing among plants produce disease in the end ; and if we are to " de- 

 serve success," more attention must be paid to the selection of parents, 

 more especially the female parent. A short time ago we had plants of 

 Field Marshal and Salamander much affected : they were potted and 

 introduced into a temperature of 45 to 60 degrees, in which they have 

 grown some inches in length, and are now quite healthy. The same 

 experiment we intend to try with some other kinds. — Magazine of 

 Botany. 



Globe Amaranthus. — These very beautiful flowering plants de- 

 serve a place in every greenhouse or stove, and are most lovely summer 

 ornaments, amply repaying for every attention given. When the plants 

 are two inches high, pot off' singly into small pots, in a loamy soil and 

 well-rotted leaf-mould equal parts. Plunge them in a hot-bed frame. 

 When nicely rooted at the sides, repot into larger, till they are in the 



Vol. xix. No. r>.3.— N.S. l 



