March."] GREEN-HOUSE REPOTTIVG. 253 



of eight hundred beautiful and well-marked varieties, 

 which have been obtained from seed. They are of every 

 character, colour, and shade, of the most vivid description. 

 The easy cultivation of the Pelargonium tribe, or Gera- 

 niums, as they are commonly called, has rendered them 

 very popular ; also the agreeableness of scent and fragrance, 

 of which many of them are possessed, makes them favour- 

 ites. 



Their flowering season is also of considerable duration, 

 especially the bright scarlet and crimson varieties, which 

 bloom from March till August, rendering them quite indis- 

 pensable in collections. Some growers complain of their 

 straggling habits ; but it is only those that do not know how 

 to prune them : even some of the choice kinds of the pre- 

 sent day could not be made to grow irregularly such as 

 Perfection, King, Witch, Nymph, Sapphire, and others ; 

 indeed, within these few years, the habits and beauties of 

 the plant are improved a hundred-fold, and those who are 

 only acquainted with the old sorts would be transported 

 with a view of the dazzling and beauteous colony of the 

 new kinds that have been procured by hybridizing those 

 of good habit and character. 



The best method to adopt in impregnating these is, to 

 choose the female, one that has large flowers, of easy cul- 

 tivation, and as nearly allied in character and other habits 

 as possible. When a flower of the intended female is newly 

 expanded, take a pair of very fine-pointed scissors, and cut 

 off the anthers before the pollen expands ; then, as soon as 

 the summit of the stile divides, apply the pollen taken 

 from the anthers of the intended male plant on a very fine 

 camel hair-pencil, or cut out the stigma entirely, and place 

 the anther on the summit of the stile, which, if correctly 

 done, will have the desired effect. As soon as the seed is 

 ripe, sow it in light sandy soil; and when it has come up, 

 take care not to over-water the soil, which would cause 

 them to damp off. When they are about one inch high, 

 put them into small pots, and treat as the other varieties. 

 Have them all distinctly marked until they flower, which 

 will be in the second year from the time of sowing. 



The tuberous and fleshy stemmed species are very inte- 

 resting to the discriminatiner inquirer. Their habit and 

 22 



