296 THE MAGAZINE Or HORTICULTURE. 



change ; and morning dawn and evening twilight have their 

 respective harbingers, and she usually accompanies them with 

 peculiar harmonies from the elements and from animated 

 things. Thus, by the croaking of the tree-toad, she announ- 

 ces an approaching shower ; by the chirping of the green 

 nocturnal grasshopper, she proclaims the decline of summer : 

 but the feathered tribes are nature's favorite sentinels, whom 

 she employs to herald in the morn. 



If we now take our stand on an eminence, where we can 

 obtain a clear view of the eastern belt of the horizon, a lu- 

 minous appearance may be observed, forming a semicircle of 

 dim whitish light around the gate of morning. If a thin veil 

 of clouds overspread the arch, the tints will be dark in pro- 

 portion to their distances from the hidden source of light. 

 Imagine it divided into circles : — the inner one will be of a 

 light yellow ; the next assumes a tint of gold ; beyond that is 

 orange, and as it extends outwards, it passes through regular 

 gradations of vermilion, crimson, purple and violet, until it 

 melts into the azure of the firmament. 



®ouaI "B^ixttB, 



Neapolitan Violets. — About this time collect a quantity of stones 

 about an inch in circumference, and look over your frame, laying one stone 

 on each runner about an inch from its end ; after that, mix a barrowful of 

 loam, and leaf-mould in equal parts, and with a coarse sieve shake it lightly 

 over them an inch thick, afterwards giving them a gentle watering. The 

 lights may be put on every night, only exposing them in fine days, and dur- 

 ing mild showers. The last week in May take the runners up with a ball, 

 and prepare a piece of ground on a north border, with the same soil as 

 used in the frame, viz., equal parts of yellow loam, leaf-mould, well-decay- 

 ed cow-dung, river sand, and old lime rubbish. Plant them in rows eight 

 inches apart each way, watering them in dry weather ; about the beginning of 

 September prepare your frame, in which Primulas or anything of that kind 

 have been grown during the summer months, by placing at the bottom a 

 layer of bricks, on which coal ashes should be spread within eighteen inches 

 of the top. Then fill up within five or six inches of the glass, with a fresh 

 supply of the above compost, slightly pressed with a rake. After taking 

 up the plants carefully, but not with too large a ball, plant them in rows as 



