668 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Leguminaceee, we think a summary of these hints on their culture will 

 be interesting to our readers. Mr. Bowie took seeds of various species of 

 the Australian Acaciae with him from England to the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and sowed them there immediately on his arrival. Many of them failed ; but 

 several came up, after having been three years in the ground. Seeds, also, of 

 Acacia longifolia, saved at the Cape, and sown ten days after gathering, showed 

 the same tardiness in vegetating. In both cases, the ground was duly kept 

 moist by watering and shading, and no weeds were allowed to grow. After 

 various experiments, Mr. Bowie found that nearly all of the Cape and Aus- 

 tralian Leguminaceae " thrive better by having water heated to 200, or even 

 2 1 2 Fahr. poured over them, leaving them to steep, and the water to cool 

 for 24 hours." Where there is a numerous collection, and the quantity of 

 seeds of each kind are few, he advises leaving them in their respective papers, 

 and steeping the packets. The soil he recommends for leguminous seeds in 

 general is, one part sandy loam, and three parts thoroughly decayed leaves. 

 The seeds ought to be sown in pots of medium size, so as to maintain a more 

 equal degree of moisture than can be obtained in pots either very large or 

 very small; equable moisture being essentially necessary to the health and 

 germination of all seeds, but more especially to those of seeds which lie a long 

 time in the soil. The spring is the best season for sowing ; because steeped 

 seeds will come up the same season, if the pots are placed in a hot-bed. The 

 plants should be transplanted while in a growing state, allotting to each 

 species the peculiar soil required for it, as far as the requisite information for 

 that purpose has been procured from the collector, or other sources. What- 

 ever soil may be required for the plants, Mr. Bowie very properly remarks, 

 care must be taken not to pulverise it too finely in sifting ; for the taproot, 

 in its descent, if it meets with any obstruction to its perpendicular direction, 

 receives an impulse approaching to animal instinct ; and, rounding the impe- 

 diment, forms much sooner those lateral fibres and roots, which are to become 

 the organs of nourishment for the future tree,c. This will not be generally 

 the case with plants placed in earth sifted as fine as snuff': the taproot will 

 then descend without forming any lateral fibres ; and the plant, circumscribed 

 in its organs of nourishment, will soon display its state of health, by the sickly 

 hue of the leaves, which will prematurely fall off; and, upon examination, the 

 root will be found embedded, as it were, in a condensed cement, which all 

 the efforts of nature cannot penetrate with fibrous roots. 



As soon as the young plants are established in the pots, they must be re- 

 moved from the frames, and plunged in prepared beds of decayed bark, formed 

 at or under the level of the natural ground ; and occasionally supplied with 

 water, until the middle or latter end of August ; when they are to be raised, 

 and the taproot cut off, if it should have passed the aperture at the bottom 

 of the pot. They may remain above ground until housed for winter ; during 

 which season as much air, and as little fire heat, as possible, should be given 

 to them. In a general collection, it is impossible to allow every species its 

 proper atmospherical temperature ; but long confined air, and damp, are as 

 injurious to vegetable, as they are to animal, life. There are, generally, some 

 bright days occurring during the winter season in Britain : those opportunities 

 should be embraced to purify the houses, by throwing open the doors and 

 sashes, and keeping up a brisk fire in the morning, as often as may be judged 

 necessary. 



There are few Cape plants but what will resist the effects of some degrees 

 of frost : the Plectranthus fruticosus, a native of the Cape forests, is the most 

 susceptible of injury from cold ; and, if properly placed in the house, proves 

 a warning thermometer against direct injury, as it is the first to suffer, and, 

 consequently, show, the increasing harm. 



Of the South African Leguminaceae, the following genera form striking and 

 beautiful ornaments in their native wilds, particularly to those who are charmed 

 with the outward appearance and various colours of flowers ; and, although 

 the nature of the soil where they are generally found in greatest numbers 



