424 Domestic Notices. 



younff plant its only claim to notice ? It is vexing to try so long and fail 

 at last. Can one succeed who has not the conveniences of a greenhouse ? 

 I know not its native country, the soil and situation where it grows in a 

 state of nature, — nothing respecting it, except that, when young, it prom- 

 ises well ; but soon the leaves gradually decay and fall, leaving in their 

 stead long bare stalks. I am by no means sure that I have ever known the 

 true name of the plant, though I have supposed it correct, from the resem- 

 blance between its leaf and those of the low, trailing variety cultivated in 

 gardens. Any information you may give will be gratefully received. Have 

 1 not shown how much it is needed ? — M. N. Jfeymouih, May 25th, 1852. 



[We certainly owe an apology for not answering our correspondent soon- 

 er. The plant is the Sempervivum arboreum, an old inhabitant of our col- 

 lections, but rarely seen in bloom. The flower is nothing remarkable, and 

 its chief beauty is the regularity of its thick fleshy foliage, and its evergreen 

 appearance. The blossoms appear in a large spike, are yellow, and though 

 numerous and showy, not of much intrinsic beauty. It is somewhat difficult 

 to bloom freely. It requires to be grown vigorously for a year or two, and 

 then dried off to ripen the wood, — after which it will ordinarily bloom. 

 If kept growing constantly, winter and summer, it would be likely to con- 

 tinue in the same habit which our correspondent has mentioned. 



From this time till spring, keep the plant rather dry,— -quite dry in De- 

 cember and January, — and if it shows no signs of bloom, repot in March, 

 water more liberally, and get up a strong growth: then dry it off again on 

 the approach of winter, and it will undoubtedly bloom the following spring. 

 By such a course of treatment, we once had a plant with a spike of flowers 

 nearly two feet long, which was, in our then younger days, quite a triumph. 

 It is a native of the Levant. Ed.] 



Rapid growth of Cucumbers, by the use of Poudrette, Guano, 

 &c. — I send you a remarkable instance of rapid growth of the cucumber. 

 On the fiiBt of April, I sowed altogether in hills prepared with poudrette, 

 cucumber seed. The produce has been remarkable. From one vine I cut 

 six dozen at one gathering, and the vines are yet in full bearing. On the 

 3d of June, I planted again, with a compost made with two loads decom- 

 posed litter, a small share of night soil, one barrel of ashes, and forty-two 

 pounds of guano, — all thoroughly mixed together ; of this, I added three 

 shovelsful to each hill. The vines have covered all the ground, and are 

 now (July 3) in full bearing. I have found the same compost equally valu- 

 able for melons. In the preparation of this manure, peat, litter, or leaves is 

 capable of fixing the ammonia, the great source of food to the roots of 

 plants. I have made use of it in growing cabbages and cauliflowers, for 

 which it proves to be a quick fertilizer. 



I have used vitriolized bones as a top-dressing to grape vines, and in one 

 case applied it to an old plum tree, of the Green Gage variety : the tree 

 had been forgotten for a long time, and had been left to the mercy of the 

 curculio. I applied fourteen pounds to the tree, and it now assumes a new 

 appearance. To a grape vine the same quantity is equally fertilizing. 



As to the properties of guano in growing turnips in a sandy land, where 



