ON THE CULTURE OK THE COCKSCOMB, 65 



Pinks are also benefitted by giving them the liquid, taking care 



not to pour it over the foliage. 



John Revexi. 

 Feb. 26(h, 1833. . 



ARTICLE III.— On the Culture, Sfc^. of the Cockscomb, 

 [Celosia cristata.) By Mr. John Oxley, Gardener 

 to the Right Hon. Lord Southampton, AVhittlehury 

 Lodge, Towcester, Northamptonshire. 



Herewith I send you the dimensions of a Cockscomb, (Celosia 

 cristata,) and the method of treatment I pursued with the plant. 



It was exhibited on the 27th of July, 1832, at the Northamp- 

 ton Horticultural Show, and on the 31st of July, at Buckingham 

 Horticultural Show, when the comb measured 32 inches over, 14 

 inches long, and 8 inches wide. By the end of summer it 

 measured 36^^ inches over, 14i inches long, and 82 wide ; the 

 plant was 3 feet 3 inches high, and the comb of a very liandsome 

 shape, and of a fine scarlet colour. 



The seed was sown about the middle of March, in a mixture of 

 leaf mould and loam soil, and placed in a cucumber frame. When 

 the plant was fit for potting, it was put into a 48 sized pot, in a 

 compost consisting of one part of unfermented horse-dung, fresh 

 from the stable, clearing it of any straw ; one part decayed leaves, 

 one part rotten horse-dung, and the other part rotten turf cut into 

 lumps about an inch square. The compost was well mixed 

 together. As the plant advanced in gi'owth and filled the pot with 

 roots, it was regularly shifted into a pot one size larger, until it 

 was in one thirteen inches in diameter. The pot each shifting 

 was well drained to prevent the plant being soddcned with water. 

 The plant was kept in a cucumber frame till it reached the glass, 

 and then removed to a Pine Stove, where it was placed so that the 

 crown of the plant was about one foot from the glass. The tem- 

 perature was from 70 to 90 degrees of Fahrenheit. 



When any lateral branches jnishcd, they were removed imme- 

 diately. The plant was uniformly kept moist at its root, by a free 

 5np])ly of manure water, from cow and sheep dung being soaked. 

 The liquid was always applied about the same degree of tempera- 

 ture as the Frame or Pine Stove. 



John Oxley. 



Whittlvhury Lodge, Feb. lH(/i, 1833. 



