THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 171 



and used the ordinary means of striking them. I rooted nearly the 

 whole of the choice sorts in bottom-heat, first picking off all the 

 buds that 1 could get bold of, and soon found myself in possession of 

 a quantity of dwarf plants, not three inches high, potted into 4-inch 

 pots, and promising to be handsome. These have progressed to my 

 entire satisfaction, and I can safely say that nothing strikes more 

 freely. 



1 was moved to this practice by the result of an attempt last 

 year to obtain a succession of Balsams when the plants had become 

 ugly ; for I then picked off the upper buds, took off the tops, about 

 three inches long, and (somewhat carelessly, I admit, for I was 

 busy), put them under bell-glasses, with the best bottom-heat I had. 

 The result was that about one out of three rooted, and I had some 

 fine dwarf plants, long after the others had seeded and died. I 

 feel conduced that, had my bottom-heat been sharper, they would 

 all have rooted. However, my experiment this year has so com- 

 pletely answered, that 1 am very likely to repeat the experiment. 



With regard to Cockscombs, I have long practised the decapi- 

 tation system. I allow them, after pricking out five or six round 

 the edge of a four-inch pot, to grow till they show their bloom, 

 and I then take off the tops of the most promising, so as to have 

 only six leaves above the soil, put them at once singly into three- 

 inch pots, plunge them all in the tan of a hothouse, and shade them 

 for a week. 1 then place them as near the glass as I can, keep them 

 well watered., and shift as soon as they reach the side with their 

 roots. The leaves and flowers grow as freely as in seedlings ; but 

 when I give them the first shift, I transfer to a hotbed made on 

 purpose, keeping them always as near the glass as possible. The 

 leaves are of course close down to the pot, grow as large as ever 

 I saw them on seedling plants, while the flower increases to 

 a monstrous size — incredibly large for such dwarf plants. The 

 only condition required is to let there be two inches of stripped stem 

 below the six leaves we mean to form the plant, and let an inch and 

 a-half of this be put into soil. They do not require covering with a 

 glass, but there should be a genial heat in the tan ; or, if they are 

 struck in a hot-bed, let the pots be plunged until they have struck 

 root, or lor one week at least. Then they may be placed on the 

 level surface. 



I need not point out the advantage of this treatment. When 

 we happen to have bad sted, yielding a straggling sort (or, as I 

 have had this year, a batch not two of which come alike), it enables 

 one to select a few of the best in a forward state, and to grow a few 

 tolerable plants, when, by the ordinary means, there would be a 

 total failure. 



While upon the subject of Balsams and Cockscombs, I wish to 

 remark that the notion which has long prevailed — that Balaam seed 

 should be old to become double, or that old Balsam seed is better 

 than new — is altogether erroxu ous. I have Balsams whose indi- 

 vidual flowers an- as double as a camellia or a rote, and these from 

 a crop of seed Bared by myself in September last. And I would 

 also remark that they are very nearly true to the varieties they 



June. 



