350 On the Cultivation of the Balsam. 



to prevent the plants from touching the glass ; and it is very 

 easy to do this, not only until the bottom edge of it is as high 

 as the soil, but long afterwards ; because, by using turves 

 outside it and propping the frame up at the corners, almost 

 any height may be obtained to give the plants room ; but it 

 will be well to prepare another bed or a pit, as the plants 

 advance much in height. As the weather becomes warmer, 

 they will only require the natural heat of a greenhouse or 

 pit, and, in the warm part of the day, should have all the air 

 that can be given. When the roots get to the side of the 

 thirty-twos, the plants must be shifted in a similar manner to 

 twenty-fours. 



THE BLOOMING. 



This is made a very particular job by some people. They 

 will pick off all the first buds ; but if the balsam be allowed 

 to grow naturally in the soil we have mentioned, and we 

 keep them near the glass, and shifted, from time to time, from 

 one pot to another, the plants will be better allowed to bloom 

 as they are inclined. They will be short, stout, well propor- 

 tioned, good-looking plants, from the moment they open a 

 flower until they are in full bloom. All that need be done 

 is, to take off the decayed and decaying flowers, (unless the 

 seed is wanted,) and they will keep in perfection a long 

 time. Some of the plants will not flower until they are in 

 the largest sized pots ; but we prefer keeping them in size 

 twenty-four for the largest, and there letting them bloom. 

 They may be wonderful and extraordinary when they attain 

 a large size, but they will never please the man of true taste. 

 The colors are not so brilliant, the flowers are more loose, 

 and the plant becomes less bushy and attractive. But let it 

 not be imagined, that there is any difficulty in growing them 

 large. The only trouble is, that imposed on us by the hand- 

 ling of larger and heavier subjects. 



SAVING THE SEED. 



The instant you find a balsam opening its flowers, consider 

 whether it is such as you would like seed from, and re- 

 move it far from all the rest ; when you come to another that 

 is equally desirable, but of a different color, take that to the 



