228 General Notices. 



readers who may have adopted this beautiful plant. To such as have not, 

 we say, begin. We think the pleasure of gathering violets of your own 

 cultivation for three or four months consecutively will well repay the trifling 

 trouble required. Many parties who are deprived of more extensive accom- 

 modation might ensure a very pretty supply of plants by such simple means 

 as those recommended. — ( Gard. Journ., 1849, p. 135.) 



Pelargoniums for Exhibition. — Here is another race of Heaven's gifts, 

 which almost defy man's boasted power of speech to describe. Admira- 

 tion becomes so intense in contemplating their varied beauties, as to strike 

 the most learned prattler dumb, nor is it till the eye becomes, as it were, 

 accustomed to the gorgeous display, that the tongue does its duty in utter- 

 ing its exclamation of surprise and pleasure, and the pen is made to per- 

 form its office in reporting to the world at large of the treasures Flora offers 

 to our acceptance — more bright, more beautiful, than all the dross men 

 would wear away their lives to accumulate in other lands, unblessed by 

 such peaceful, health-giving evidences of our labor at home. Specimens 

 of this tribe of plants now require much attention. Among the first cares, 

 forming them into elegant shapes must be named. To this end, the 

 branches should be strong, erect, of equal growth, and regularly disposed ; 

 if any vacancy appears, run a stake into the earth, and attach a branch to 

 it from where they seem thick. This system will improve the general 

 appearance of the plant, and, on the day of exhibition, many of the stakes 

 may be drawn out ; the few that are allowed to remain should be neatly 

 arranged, so that the blooms might be viewed without the stakes being in- 

 cluded in the exhibition, a matter of taste few persons are found to differ 

 upon — a bundle of sticks being a very good thing in its way, but better in 

 connection with a blazing fire at Christmas than part of an alfresco exhi- 

 bition on a hot day in July. We may be singular in our opinions, but, 

 such as they are, we fearlessly give them, and abide the consequence. 

 Specimen plants require plenty of room, the side branches should not 

 touch each other, a free current of air should be allowed to pass between 

 them, they ought to be kept as near the glass as possible, and turned fre- 

 quently, so that the whole of the plant may derive a benefit from the sun, 

 light, and air ; water them sufficiently to preserve the foliage from droop- 

 intr, and give plenty of air wiienever the weather will admit of it ; a little 

 gentle warmth is requisite occasionally, to keep out frost, and absorb damp. 

 {Gard. Journ., 1849, p. 135.) 



Campanula carpaiica. — This desirable herbaceous plant grows rapidly, 

 and may be readily increased at this season by division ; the slips should be 

 planted four inches apart in a bed of rich compost, well drained. In bor- 

 ders, plant in patches, consisting of five plants each. The above mode of 

 culture must be adopted annually, in order to ensure success. My plants 

 quickly cover the bed in which they are planted, producing a mass of blue 

 flowers during the latter part of the summer and the whole of the autumn 

 months. Its height, when in flower, is from one foot to eighteen inches. 

 As seedpods appear, I remove them, in order to give strength to the plant, 

 and to extend its season of blooming. If plants are not obtainable, a little 



