General Notices. 275 



The turves thus prepared, nothing more is necessary but to insert a pinch 

 of seed in each, at the proper period, and to cover with a little soil, then to 

 give the whole a watering, in order to close the soil about the seeds. The 

 times of sowing must of course be regulated by the period during which 

 they are required to be in blossom. If the proprietor is at home most of 

 the summer and autumn, three distinct sowings should be made. One in 

 the middle of March, a second the middle of April, and a third the middle 

 of May. With such a provision, there need be no fear of a single blank 

 in the parterre or flower borders, provided enough of the turf pots are em- 

 ployed. 



Many of the dressy things of the May sowing, if removed to a cool as- 

 pect just before they blossom, will become so retarded as to be of much 

 service in October for decorating the shelves of the greenhouse. They 

 will be found to have rooted slightly through the turves, and may be taken 

 up and inserted in small pots, filling round with a little soil ; such, on a 

 light shelf, will blossom for many weeks, and thus assist in filling up that 

 hiatus which always occurs in October and November ; when chilling 

 storms have made the flower garden desolate. For the latter purpose, I 

 would recommend the following especially, Collinsia bicolor, Clarkia pul' 

 chella, red and white ; Schizanthus of kinds ; Kaulfussia amelloides ; 

 Lobelia, the small dwarf blue kinds ; Gilia tricolor, Nemophila atomaria, 

 Lupinus nanus and Hartwegi ; Mignonette, Leptosiphons. Clintonia pul- 

 chella, Platystemon californica, dwarf German Asters, Phlox Drummondi, 

 Schizopetalon Walkeri, Tagetes florida. Campanula Lorei, Gypsophila ele- 

 gans, &c. These 1 suggest as being of tolerably compact habit, good 

 blooming properties, and by no means of a common-place character, for in 

 the introduction of such things to the greenhouse shelves, the latter point 

 should by all means be studied, in order to meet the eye of refined taste. 



In conclusion, I would point to the eligibility of these little turves to the 

 amateur, to assist in carrying out a system of window gardening; for al- 

 though such persons will have their Pelargoniums, their Ericas, their Ca- 

 mellias, Azaleas, and even, as your correspondent " Dodman " suggests, 

 their Orchids, yet the gaiety of these can scarcely be rendered of a con- 

 tinuous character; and here how convenient would be a little reserve 

 ground — a miniature annual garden — where, at any period from May to 

 December, the proprietor can, before breakfast any morning, bring in half 

 a dozen of these little turf pots, just emerging into blossom. Such might 

 either be inserted in a five inch pot, called 48s about town, or they might 

 merely be laid in an ornamental saucer, and immediately surrounded with 

 fresh moss, pouring a little water in the saucer. — (^Gardeners'' Chronicle, 

 1849, p. 260.) 



The Rhododendrons of Sihkimhimalaya. — We lately noticed the announce- 

 ment intimating the intention of Sir William Hooker to publish the Rhodo- 

 dendrons of Sikkimhimalaya ; being an account, botanical and geographical, 

 of the Rhododendrons recently discovered in the mountains of Eastern 

 Himalaya, from drawings and descriptions made on the spot, during a gov- 

 ernment botanical mission to that country, by Joseph Dalton Hooker, edited 



