228 AMERICAN GARDENER. 



not blow till the second year ; but the old root 

 lasts for many years. Some of these should be 

 /iotted^ and kept to blow in the green-house. If 

 planted in the natural ground, they ought to be 

 covered a little in the winter. There are many 

 hundreds of sorts with names. So many indeed, 

 that the godfathers in England have been so put 

 to it for great personages to baptize the flowers 

 after that they have been compelled to resort to 

 the heroes and heroines of Romance ; accordingly 

 they have Don Quickset and Sancho. However, 

 vanity supplies the florists, as well as the ship- 

 owners, with a great store of names, and auricu- 

 las, like ships, are frequently honoured with 

 the names of the original proprietor's wife or 

 daughter. 



338. AZALIA. That little American Ho- 

 neysuckle that impedes our steps when shooting 

 on the skirts of woods. It, however, blows pro- 

 fusely, though it has no smell like the English 

 honeysuckle. 



339. BALSAM is an annual and most beauti- 

 ful plant, with great abundance of flowers. Sow 

 when )Du sow Melon-s, at a distance of four feet ; 

 leave only one plant in a place ; let the ground be 

 rich and kept clean ; it will blow early in July, 

 and will keep growing and blowing till the frost 

 comes, and then, like the cucumber, it is instant- 

 ly cut down. I have seen Balsams in Pennsylva- 

 nia 3 feet high, with side-branches 2 feet long, 

 and with a stem much bigger than my wrist, 

 loaded, with beautiful blossoms. Plant, branch, 

 leaf, flower ; all are most elegantly formed, and 

 the colours of the flower extraordinarily vivid 

 and various, There are, however, some more 



