THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 287 



will, however, be necessary to afford them a close, rather warm 

 situation, to induce the roots to start after being cut back. Turfy 

 loam and peat broken into small pieces, and liberally intermixed 

 with sharp silver sand and lumpy bits of charcoal, form a suitable 

 compost. Cuttings from short-jointed pieces of the young wood root 

 freely ; they should be selected as early in the season as is con- 

 venient, planted in light, sandy, peaty soil, covered with a glass, 

 placed in a very mild bottom-heat, and guarded from damp. "When 

 sufficiently rooted to bear handling, they should be potted singly in 

 small pots, and placed in a close, warm situation till established, 

 when they should be inured to a cooler atmosphere, more light and 

 airy, and be kept growing steadily until the approach of winter, 

 when they may be placed in a warm part of the greenhouse, and 

 sparingly supplied with water at the root until they can be removed 

 to a growing temperature in spring. 



THE BALSAM. 



21 A SUBSCRIBER. 



jEW plants are more generally cultivated or more useful 

 for the decoration of the greenhouse during the season 

 when its ordinary inmates are placed out of doors than 

 the Balsam, but in the hands of amateurs it is seldom 

 well-grown. It is a plant of exceedingly vigorous 

 habit, and unless its energies are properly directed from the 

 commencement it speedily assumes a lanky, naked appearance, which 

 no after care can correct. Seed may be sown any time from the 

 beginning of March to the middle of May, according to the season 

 when the plants may be wanted to be in flower, and the convenience 

 for treating them properly after they are up. Sow thinly in well- 

 drained pots filled with light, sandy soil, covering the seeds lightly 

 with the same material, and place them in a moist warm house or 

 pit to vegetate. As soon as the plants appear, the pots should be 

 placed close to the glass in the lightest part of the house, and air 

 admitted on every favourable occasion ; for the aim from the first 

 should be to induce stocky robust growth, and this cannot be 

 effected without the aid of light and air. AVhen the first pair of 

 leaves expand, pot singly, in four-inch pots retaining the plants in a 

 moist gentle heat ; and, if necessary, afford them a slight shade for a 

 few hours in the forenoon, and maintain a moist atmosphere, until 

 they get established in their pots, which, with ordinary care, will 

 soon be the case; afterwards, they must be freely exposed to light 

 and sunshine, and be afforded a free circulation of air by day when- 

 ever the weather will admit, shutting up early in the afternoon after 

 syringing. Very little time will elapse before the pots will be 

 filled with roots, which should not be allowed to become matted 

 before shifting, otherwise it will be difficult to keep the soil properlv 



August. 



