AST 



AST 



put in pots. Moiit svtather is the most suit- 

 able for this business, but in other circuin- 

 stancc* a little water should he given iimiiedi- 

 ately after the earth has been closed round their 

 roo'.s, as well as in future when it may be nc- 

 cessarv. 



But when the sowing is not made at an carlv 

 period, the best practice Ts to let it be done m 

 the situations where the plants are to grow, 

 which should be rather warm and dry, the 

 mould being made fine by a rake in the spots 

 where they are to be put in, as in this way 

 their growth is less checked than when trans- 

 planted. 



In eiihcr method of sowing, care should be 

 taken that the seed be only covered in a verv light 

 manner, and that the mould be made very fine. 

 The onlv further culture which they require, 

 is that of keeping the plants perfectly free from 

 weeds, and well supported in the time of 

 flowering. 



The whole of the hardy American sorts as 

 well as the Italian species may be readily in- 

 creased bv parting the roots. In the former 

 it is best performed in the autumn, the parted 

 roots being inunediatelv plained out in the 

 places where thev are designed to flower. 



The latter or Italian sort should have the 

 roots parted and replanted as soon as the flowers 

 begin to decline, as, when the business is de- 

 ferred till late in the autumn or the spring, the 

 plants neither grow so strong nor flower so com- 

 pletely. The roots in this kind should not be 

 taken up oftener than once in three or four years, 

 where a full display of flowers is the principal 

 object. 



This sort has not been so much attended to 

 since the introduction of the American species ; 

 i.'ut from the plants ereepina: less by the roots, 

 and re(]uiiin2: less support m the stems, they 

 are equally deser\ ing of regard for the purpose 

 of cultivation. 



As this sort is not, however, capable of in- 

 creasiTie fast bv dividing the roots, it may be 

 readily multiplied bv planting cuitinsis from the 

 voung shoots in the later spring montns, in situ- 

 ations where the mould is light and fine, being 

 well shaded from the effects of the sun till tiny 

 are perfectly established in the isoil. 



The last or shiubby sort nnist be propagated 

 by setting the cuttings of the young shoots, 

 in pots of light earth, in the spring or sum- 

 mer months, which should be plunged in a 

 hot-bed to promote their striking root. They 

 may then be placed out in the open air during 

 the summer season, but in the autumn and win- 

 ter they require the protection of a green-house. 

 TJie first sortj or China Asters, are elegant 



plants for the purpose of variety, in the clumps 

 and connnon borders of gardens, or pleasure 

 grounds. In saving the seeds, they should be 

 selected from the best coloured flowers of the 

 most perfect plants, in October, when they 

 are fully ripened, and be gathered when quite 



The perennial sorts have likewise a showy 

 appearance, in large clumps and borders, wl-.en 

 judiciously distributed among other hardy shrubs 

 and herbaceous plants; some of the specie* 

 continuing to flower to a late period in the au- 

 tuiijual season. 



'i"he shrubby kind affords variety among other 

 green-house plants, both in the summer and 

 winter season. 



ASTRAdALUS, a genus containing plants 

 of the herbaceous biennial, perennial, flowery, 

 and shrubby kinds. The Milk Vetch and 

 Goat's-thorn. 



It belongs to the class and order Diadelpkia 

 Deca/idria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Papi/ioTiacetP, or Legumino'.cB. 



The characters of which are: that the calyx 

 is a one-leafed, tubular, five-toothed, acute 

 perianth; lower toothlets gradually less. The 

 corolla is papilionaceous : the banner longer 

 than the other petals, reflex on the sides, emar- 

 ginate, obtuse, and straigiit : the wings oblong, 

 shorter than the banner: the keel the length of 

 the wings, and emarginatc. The stamina 

 consist of diadelphous filaments, simple and 

 novemfid, almost straight: the anthers are 

 roundish: the pistillum is a germ nearly colum- 

 nar: the style subulate, and ascending: the stigma 

 obtuse: the pericarpium is a two-celled legume; 

 the cells bent to one side, having a longitu- 

 dinal bifid septum, parallel to the valves: the 

 seeds are kidney-shaped. 



The species cultivated for the purpose of or- 

 nament are : 1 . A. nlopecuroidcs, Fox-tail Milk 

 Vetch ; 2. A. Chr'nt'mnus, Great Oriental Yel- 

 low ^Iilk Vetch; 3. A. galcgifoniiis, Great 

 Oriental Rue-leaved Milk Vetch ; 4. A. Tragn- 

 ciuitha, Common Tragacanth Shrub or Goat's 

 Thorn. 



The Urst is biennial, and rises w ith an up- 

 right hairv stem about two feet high, having 

 long pinnate leaves, with eighteen or twenty 

 pairs of ovate leaflets : the flowers are produced 

 in large close obtuse spikes from the axillas; 

 their colour is yellow : the legumes are shut up 

 in the woolly calyxes, and have two cells, con- 

 taining three or four square seeds in each. It 

 flowers in June or July, and is a native of Siberia. 

 The second species is perennial, and has the 

 stems rising nearly three feet in height, which are 

 large at bottom, and gradually diminish to the t op 



