6 PREFACE. 



part. This is all that is requisite for a cu- 

 rious experiment in parlor gardening, which 

 cannot fail to awaken your interest and afford 

 you amusement. Nature having endowed the 

 rhodiola with the faculty of living, drawing its 

 nourishment from the air alone, which it de- 

 composes by means of its leaves, you will see 

 it day by day, hour by hour, lengthen, turning 

 upwards at the end where the flower buds are, 

 and dropping its leaves at the lower part of the 

 stalk, where they will dry up and fall off, one 

 by one, while those of the upper part will pre- 

 serve their freshness and become more numer- 

 ous. Finally, it will bloom and present you 

 with a bunch of rose-colored flowers as per- 

 fectly developed as if the plant had grown in 

 good earth constantly watered. 



When these flowers have faded, cut them off; 

 and cut off also the lower part of the stalk. 

 After this preparation, plant it in a pot filled 

 with ordinary garden earth, which you must 

 take care not to water too often. In this situa- 

 tion your stalk of rhodiola will take root, and 

 will, before autumn, form a tuft of young shoots 

 which will all bloom the following year, and sup- 

 ply you amply with the means to repeat the ex- 

 periment just described. 



