OS IHE CULTURE OF THE pXHUA. 33 



His method must of course answer very well, if extensive propagation 

 be not the object ; but in the case of new and scarce sorts, would hardly 

 supply a sufiicient number of plants. 



It is, of course, well known to most of j^our readers who cultivate this 

 flower, that the usual course is to keep the parent stool in heat, taking 

 off the shoots as they arise, until a sufficient supply is obtained. A ridge 

 of bark is the best for this purpose, as it retains the heat longer than 

 (luno; ; but a dung bed is far preferable to strike the cuttings in, which 

 will bear almost any heat, if ventilation is attended to. 



The best time to take ofi' tlie cuttings is when they have become 

 slightly ligneous, but before they have become hollow, or, as it is termed 

 " P'Py>" Jn which state they are extremely dilTicult to strike. I inva- 

 riably find that in di\iding a long cutting into two, the part next iLe 

 old root strikes long before the top of the same shoot — a satisfactory 

 proof that my idea is correct. 



A stiff clayey loam will, to a certainty, produce the finest flowers, 

 though probably not in such abundance. This fact I have in many 

 instances seen demonstrated. 



As to manure, 1 consider it should not (if the soil be not materially 

 exhausted) be applied at the bottom, as it tends to cause such a luxu- 

 riant growth, that the plant runs to wood without producing a satisfac- 

 tory show of bloom. But when the plants begin to exhibit signs of 

 flowering, it may then be advantageously applied at the top, either in 

 the shape of manured water, or by placing a quantity of dung close 

 round the stems, and conveying its invigorating powers to the roots by 

 means of the watering pot. This has also the advantage of keeping the 

 ground about them moist, in which they much delight. I find a little 

 peat mould (such as heaths grow in) materially tends to the develope- 

 ment of stripes or spots in such flowers as possess these properties. — 

 This should be mixed with the soil in the bottom of the hole in which 

 they are planted. Allow me to add, that plants raised by dividing the 

 root, will make a much more plentiful supply of shoots the next year 

 than those raised from cuttings ; every dormant eye in the old root 

 forming a crown, round which the eyes of the following year will be 

 found to rise. 



London, March \st, 1833. Vertumnus. 



P.S. It may perhaps be an acceptable liint to some of your readers, 

 ivlio may not have the best convenience for wintering these roots, to 

 take care to have duplicate plants in pots, which should remain there all 

 the winter; these plants will generally survive when the large roots are 

 destroyed. 



F 



V 



