294 FLOWER GARDEN. 



particularly the Chinese Plaintain, Musa CavendishhV 

 which is of comparatively humble growth, and often yields 

 its fruit when not exceeding six feet in height. In short, 

 there is no end of those numerous tribes, " the potent sons 

 of moisture and of heat," with which the teeming regions 

 of the equator are filled ; and no suite of stoves in this 

 country, however extensive, can come up to the wishes of 

 the botanist. The management of this department of flori- 

 culture is laborious and trying to the constitution of the 

 operative gardener. A strong heat both in the bark-bed 

 and in the atmosphere of the house must be maintained ; 

 the air must be kept charged with vapor, and the plants 

 require frequent shifting and repotting. For more detailed 

 information as to the management of particular stove 

 plants, we may again refer to Cushing, who, in his Exotic 

 Gardener, has treated this subject with a skill and fulness 

 that have not been surpassed by any of his successors. 



To the precautions recommended for protecting plants 

 placed under glass during the American winter, it is neces- 

 sary to add that much greater care is requisite in guarding 

 against the effects of extreme cold and sudden variations 

 on the western than on the eastern side of the Atlantic. 

 The thermometer in the green-house should never be 

 allowed to descend below forty degrees in the absence of 

 the sun ; and even at that temperature plants will in very 

 clear cold weather, often part with so much of their warmth 

 through radiation as to be nipped by frost. But, in clos- 

 ing out the cold external air, the vital importance of venti- 

 lation to plants must not be forgotten, and fresh air should 

 be cautiously admitted on all occasions. When the tem- 

 perature is high, plants require more watering than when 

 the thermometer is low. In very cold spells, much moist- 

 ure invites frost. Whenever the weather is sufficiently 



