8 liaising, acclimatising, and native Habits 



■M\A the knowlciige of botanical nomenclature, is expected from the gardener 

 of the present day. Independent of his immediate duty to his employer, he 

 has a duty to perft)rm to his country, and one which he may perforin with 

 case and pleasure to himself, that is, the acclimatisation ot exotic plants ; 

 which may freijuently he attempted with old specimens, that would, at all 

 events, be conunitted to the flames: and if he he successful, your pages are 

 open to record iiis fame, and societies arc numerous in England, and 

 liberal enough to reward his merit. 



The forming of portable houses for the reception of Leguminosae would 

 amply repay the amateur for the trouble and expense, by the splendour 

 which |)lants having a sufficiency of room would exhibit. I would there- 

 fore reconnncnd the planting in beds of prepared soil (formed in such 

 structures as fancy might determine or circumstances permit), masses of 

 this natural oriler, arranging them so that every i)lant might receive an equal 

 portion of the sun's rays through the day ; placing the taller in the centre, 

 and gradually diminishing the lines to the edge, where the minor kinds 

 Mould form the border, and would not exceed the height of many species 

 of the mosses. The grouping of colours nmst be left to a refined taste, so 

 that the various shades, as far as practicable, may be blended on scientific 

 principles. 



If young plants, say of three years old, are intended forthe above descrip- 

 tion of houses, they should be brought as early as possible to a fit state, by 

 giving them larger pots than they would have allowed to them, were they 

 intended for the stage or shelf of a green-house. As young plants will 

 be small in proportion to the space they are hereafter to fill, several of a 

 species u)ay be plunged over tne rim of the pots, and marked for future 

 removal : this will, without deranging the plan, allow sufficient room for 

 those which remain ; those to be removed, having a ball of earth attached 

 to them, will be fit specimens to try in the open air. For this experiment 

 I would rather recommend a northern exposure for planting than a southern 

 one, where, after severe frosts, a sutlden thaw iloes most mischief, and in 

 many instances is the real cause of death to the plants. If large plants, 

 thus exposed, appear killed by cold, too nuich haste must not be exercised 

 in removing the roots, but cut down the stem, and let the stool remain for 

 one or two years. When old plants are intended for the portable house, 

 or for a conservatory, they should be headed down to a convenient height, 

 allowing sufficient room for their heads to form free of the roof; and as 

 the various species of Sch6tw flower occasionally on the old wood, and the 

 others at the extremities of the young spring and summer shoots, this 

 habit should be strictly attended to, and borne in mind at all seasons. 



Many persons regret the loss of olil established |)iants, and, in the vain 

 attempt to [)rcserve them in a confined space, permit injuries to be inflicted 

 upon them h}' injudicious pruning, which eventually forms unsightly and dis- 

 agreeable olijects for a house. They are then condenmed, and in the autunin 

 are left out, and exjxised to every vicissitude of season, and no opportunity 

 is given them to live. It is early in the spring nujiiths that these plants 

 shoukl be selected, and planted out in sheltered situations of the shrub- 

 bery : they would at least have a chance of existence, and, if they should 

 die, their loss woidd not be so apparent. It has become a very connuon 



[)ractice in l-lurope, to plant exotic shrubs in front of the stoves ami "reen- 

 louses indiscriminately, and without thought of their ultimate height, or 

 whether they can be kept within bounds by pruning without injury or total 

 prevention of flowering : this point requires consideration, or the plants 

 arc likely to become nuisances. 



()m|)halobium, Virgiliw, Sxphora, several Psoralcne and C'ytisi, form a 

 distinct stem ; Schoti/r, Indigofera, Psoralca, yfspalathus, Podalyria, Li- 

 paria, and DorbonjVr, as well as Cyclopia, Sarcophylluni, and Itafn/Vr, form 



