316 PRINCIPLES OF GARDENING. [CH. IX. 



rendered much more hardy than their parents. 

 When a new plant arrives from such tropical lati- 

 tudes, it is desirable to use eveiy precaution to 

 avoid its loss, but so soon as it has been propagated 

 from, and the danger of such loss is removed, from 

 that moment ought experiments to commence, to 

 ascertain whether its acclimatization is attainable. 

 That this should be done is self-evident ; for the 

 nearer such a desirable point can be attained, the 

 cheaper will be its cultivation, and consequently the 

 greater will be the number of those who mil be able 

 to derive pleasure from its growth. Hence, it is 

 very desirable that an extended series of experi- 

 ments should be instituted, to ascertain decisively 

 whether many of our present green-house and stove 

 plants would not endure exposure to our winters, if 

 but slightly or not at all protected. It may be laid 

 do\Nai as a rule, that all Japan plants mil do so in 

 the southern coast counties of England, but it 

 remains unascertained to what degree of northern 

 latitude in our islands this general power of endur- 

 ance extends. " Foregone conclusions" should have 

 nothing to do with this matter. Experiment, and 

 experiment only, ought to be relied upon ; for we 

 know that the larch was once kept in a green-house : 

 and within these few months, such South American 

 plants as Tro^aolexmi 'pentaphyllum and Gesnera 



