AZ A 



76 



B AL 



nous the colour of the flower, the better : 

 effect will be produced in the green- 

 house. It is a safe rule to keep up for 

 a succession three or four varieties, to 

 be put into heat as above stated, once ' 

 a month, until the season is so far ad-' 

 vanced that the flowers are bursting in chio. 



the cool house. BABIANA. Eighteen species. 



" They should then be taken into Green-house bulbs. Offsets or seeds, 

 heat, by which means the flower will Sand, loam and peat. 



where, it is probable, the finest speci- 

 mens in a cultivated state still exist. 



AZARA. Two species. Green- 

 house evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. — 

 Sandy loam. 



AZOREAN FENNEL. See Fino- 



be larger, the colours more brilliant, and 

 their fragrance more delightful. Every 



B A C A Z I A spinosa. Green-house 

 evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Peat and 



means should be adopted to prevent i loam, 

 the attacks of the humble bee, as every BACCHARIS. Ploughman's Spike- 

 blossom in which it inserts its proboscis nard. Twelve species. Chiefly stove 

 will fall off in a few hours afterwards. ] and green-house evergreen shrubs. B. 



"When the large specimen plants glomcriflora and haliinifolia are hardy 

 have done flowering, all the seed ves- | deciduous. Cuttings. Loam and peat, 

 sels should be picked off, leaving such j BACTRIS. Seven species. Palms, 

 as are intended for seed. They should Stove. Seed. Sandy loam, 

 be then shifted and encouraged to grow; | BADGER'S BANE, Aconitum meloc- 

 afterwards placing them out of doors,' tonum. 

 as before stated. B^ECKIA. Nine species. Green- 



" Great care should be taken at all ' house evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. — 

 times to keep them free from insects,! Loam and peat. 



as they are liable to be attacked by ai BAKING is a term descriptive of the 

 species of thrips, for which the best ; hard impervious state of clayey soils, 

 remedy is a strong fumigation of to- long exposed to drought. It can be 

 bacco. The varieties Variegata and La- prevented only by altering the staple of 

 teritia, are early excited in the spring; the soil, by the admixture ofsand, chalk, 

 but are nevertheless the latest bloomers; coal-ashes, and other less cohesive mat- 

 they will make stronger and finer spe-| ters than clay. 



cimens by being inarched on the most 

 robust stocks. 



" If after they have made their au- ' 

 tumnal growth they should not have 

 formed flower-buds, by placing them in 



BALANTIUM culcita. Stove fern. 

 Division. Peat and loam. 



BALM (Melisxa officinalis). 



Soil and situation. — The soil best 

 suited to its growth, is any poor and 



a stove in a strong moist heat, until , friable, but rather inclining to clayey 

 they have again burst into leaf, and then than silicious. Manure is never re- 

 removing them to a cold green-house, quired. An eastern aspect is best for it. 

 the excitement produced will frequently Time and mode of planting. — It is 

 cause them to set their flower-buds." — 1 propagated by offsets of the roots, and 

 Card. Chron. Our own native varieties | by slips of the young shoots. The first 

 have been sadly overlooked in the ' mode may be practised any time during 

 search for foreign beauty — those from the spring and autumn, but the latter 

 the far south are equally hardy with only during May or June. If offsets 

 those of the middle states, and are are employed, they may be planted'at 

 readily cultivated ; the varieties are nu- once where they are to remain, at tea 

 merous, and embrace almost every or twelve inches ; but if by slips, thev 

 shade of colour, including pure white, ' must be inserted in a shady border, to 

 from light yellow to brilliant flame; | be thence removed, in September or 

 they thrive better partially screened October, to where they are to remain, 

 from the sun's rays, and demand a pe- At every removal water must be given, 

 culiar soil easily compounded by a if dry weather, and until they are estab- 

 mixture ofsurface earth from woodland, lislied. During the summer they re- 

 and decomposed turf or grass sods, in quire only to be kept clear of weeds, 

 about equal proportions. The two ear- In October the old beds require to be 

 liest collections of this splendid shrub | dressed, their decayed leaves and stalks 

 were made at the Bartram Botanic cleared away, and the soil loosened by 

 Gardens, and the Landreth Nurseries, I the hoe or slight digging. 



