136 BRIEF REMARKS. 



fluous water to pass away. Compost must be in a rough state, only- 

 rubbed or chopped. Turfy loam, turfy peat, &c, are essentials to 

 success, and pieces of charcoal intermixed are very beneficial. The 

 surface of the soil must be half an inch below the rim of the pot, to 

 hold water sufficient to moisten the entire ball at every watering. — 

 A Practitioner. 



German Asters, &c. — I saw the Aster last autumn exhibited for 

 sale in the flower markets of Paris, in greater perfection than I have 

 yet seen it grown in England. They were brought in pots of all 

 colours, not with lateral or straggling branches upon them, but with 

 straight stems, and surmounted with tufts of flowers, well up in the 

 centre, many of them as large as dahlias ; these pots were readily pur- 

 chased by the Parisians, to ornament their shop windows, sitting rooms, 

 halls, and saloons. 



Another point in which the French appear to excel us, was the 

 tasteful manner in which the market women exhibited iheir bouquets 

 of cut flowers ; these were made on the spot, and when composed of 

 dahlias were mostly of a dome shape, the flowers appearing in different 

 coloured circles, and so placed as to reflect each other's beauties ; some- 

 times the circles were horizontal, sometimes vertical ; but whether the 

 nosegays were formed of dahlias, or of a mixture of smaller and more 

 tender flowers, as the verbena, geranium, &c, the same attention to 

 contrast of colour prevailed, and all were placed in a neat white paper 

 envelope. " Thank you," said a lady to me, as I handed her one of 

 these bouquets, on her alighting from the railway carriage at Ton- 

 bridge, " I brought that from Paris, to show my friends how much 

 better they manage these tilings in France." — S. P., Rushmere. 



Florists, &c, of St. Petersburgh, the Capital of Russia. — 

 In a climate so adverse to the general cultivation of flowers in the open 

 air as is Russia, it is very pleasing to know that an almost universal 

 love of flowers exists in that country, and recourse is had to almost a 

 general cultivation of them in plant-houses, dwelling-rooms, &c. The 

 following interesting account, in confirmation of the above statement, 

 is given in Mason's Reports on St. Petersbugh, which appears in a 

 recent number of the Gardeners' Chronicle: — 



" Florists. — Among the different florists of St. Petersburgh, 

 M. Alwarch, a German, stands first. He cultivates nothing but those 

 plants which are universally sought after in Russia, viz., good ever- 

 green shrubs and bushes. These plants, which are brought into 

 Russia in pots, are sold in large quantities to the nobility, who, in 

 winter and the commencement of the fine season, use them for the 

 internal decoration of their houses. We may mention more especially 

 Gardenia florida, Ixora coccinea and others, Lantana, Musa, .ZEschy- 

 nanthus, Asclepias curassavica and Hoya carnosa, Echium, Gesnera, 

 all of which are cheaper in St. Petersburgh than in Paris. Such is not 

 the case with the hundred-leaved, crested, four-seasons, and Belladonna 

 Roses, which, when in flower, fetch 2s. 60?. and 5*. The Myrtle- 

 leaved and Chinese Orange-trees are also very dear, as are also Pelar- 

 goniums and Fuchsias. Franciscea odorata and Hopeana are great 

 favourites ; Begonias and Gloxinias cost half as much again as they do 



