314 Notes and Gleajiings. 



Lantanas. — These are so commonly grown as annuals, that few cultivators 

 are aware of the stately dimensions to which they attain when treated as ever- 

 green-shrubs, and grown on from year to year. Lantanas are usually regarded 

 as stove-plants : yet most gardeners can grow them well in a warm greenhouse ; 

 and during the height of summer they may be safely planted in the open ground, 

 or used as pot-plants for the decoration of balconies, &c. The soil required is 

 a light and rather peaty mixture : the exact composition is of no consequence ; 

 half peat and half loam will do ; so will a mixture of nice friable yellow loam, 

 with a third part, or even half part, of leaf-mould. To be well drained is essen- 

 tial ; and, while growing, they require abundance of water. The principal diffi- 

 culty appears to be the keeping of lantanas during winter. What they require 

 is a certain degree of warmth ; if kept too cold, they become mildewed and 

 miserable, and perhaps die at the collar ; but if never in a temperature colder 

 than forty degrees, and averaging not lower than forty-five degrees, will take no 

 harm : and it matters not whether the situation be a sunny window, or a shelf in 

 a greenhouse heated with hot-water pipes ; for, in truth, lantanas are very ac- 

 commodating as window-plants. The following are eight beautiful varieties : 

 Adolphe Hwass, gold yellow ; Crocea siiperba, orange and red, and a capital 

 bedder ; Delicatiss.ima, pinky-lilac, a good bedder ; Fillioni, rose-violet, yellow 

 centre ; Fulgens niutabilis, yellow, changing to orange-tinted crimson ; Mon- 

 sieur Rendatler, shaded rose and salmon; Victoria^ pure white; Xanthina 

 superba, yellow and scarlet. — Floral World. 



Culture of the Chinese Primrose. — In preparing the earth for sowing, 

 let the pots or pans have plenty of drainage ; and, in filling them with soil, allow 

 an inch or more from the brim of the pot to remain unfilled. The surface of the 

 soil should not be too fine, nor yet too coarse. Give the soil a good soaking 

 before you sow the seeds ; after which let it remain for a few hours, when it 

 will be sufficiently settled to permit you to stir the surface with a pointed stick. 

 Then scatter the seeds over the whole, and let the same have a slight covering 

 of silver sand. The great evil to avoid is depositing the seed too deep in the 

 earth. Another essential is to endeavor to maintain the earth containing the 

 seed in a constantly moist state, without having to supply it repeatedly with 

 water. The best way to do this is to tie paper or any similar material over the 

 pot, somewhat after the fashion the cook does with the preserving jars or in 

 roasting a fowl. They should then be placed in a shady part of the house or 

 frame. That you may assist in keeping the earth moist, occasionally pour water 

 on the covering in such a way that it will gradually penetrate through. Directly 

 the seed shows signs of vegetating, remove the covering, or the seedlings will 

 quickly be so lanky and weak as to be worthless : in fact, in such a state, great 

 numbers of them will die off. Still, let them be shaded from the sun's rays, 

 although exposed to the influence of the light. In the earlier stages of their 

 growth, they require much care to prevent them damping off. My method of 

 watering them while they are as yet in their seed pots or pans may be considered 

 novel ; and that is, to dip my hand into a can of water, and then allow it gently 

 to drip from my fingers among the young seedlings. It quite repays you to 



