Notes ajid Gleanings. 51 



without the necessary explanation, that what our friends across the At'antic call 

 pelargonium is merely what we, for the sake of "the dignity of the trade," and 

 for the general pacification of "every old lady in the land up in arms, and young 

 ones too," are compelled to call geranium. 



If, however, there be some "servile enough," and some not sufficiently intimi- 

 dated by "every old lady in the land," to follow those horrible "innovators," let 

 them read the already-mentioned article in the August number of the Journal, 

 and reasoning of the most lucid order will convince, nay compel, them to own, 

 that as long as they are " content to call a shovel a shovel, and a spade a spade," 

 they must be likewise content to call a pelargonium a geranium. F. G. 



YoNKERS, N.Y., Oct. 29, i863. 



New-Zealand Spinach {Tetragoiiia expansa). — In ordinary wet seasons, 

 this spinach may not be so much wanted, as then all sorts of green vegetables 

 are abundant and good. Nevertheless, as we are never sure of what kind of 

 seasons we are going to have, it is well to be prepared for all contingencies. 

 To those who are fond of spinach, it is invaluable. Whilst ordinary spinach 

 fails to grow in summer from excessive heat and dryness, a score or so of plants 

 of this New-Zealand spinach will produce quite an abundant supply for 

 any ordinary- family, and that through the hottest and dryest months of the 

 year. 



Its cultivation is simple. The seeds should be sown in a little heat in April 

 or May ; and the plants put out in June, in ordinary soil, about a yard apart each 

 way. It is a rapidly-growing plant; and, although seemingly planted at a great 

 distance apart, it soon covers the ground. The leaves are picked from it in the 

 same way as those of ordinary spinach, or, when plentiful, the points of the young 

 shoots, and cooked in the ordinary way. — B., Middlesex. 



Amaryllis Seed-Sowing. — The seed should be gathered when ripe ; and we 

 prefer to sow it at once in pots well drained, and filled to within an inch of the 

 rim with a compost of two-thirds rich yellow loam and one-third sandy peat. We 

 then put on a little of the same kind of soil, but finer and dry, make the surface 

 even by patting it with the bottom of a flower-pot, scatter the seed over it rather 

 thinly, and cover with a quarter of an inch of fine soil ;. the least possible depth 

 being left to hold water. The pot is then placed on the shelf in a stove ; and it is 

 not watered until the beginning of February, when the soil is moistened by a 

 gentle watering. We then plunge the pots in a hot-bed, and encourage growth, 

 keeping the soil moist. The pot remains in the hot-bed as long as there is any 

 heat, and the soil is preserved in a moist condition, and a good heat is given so 

 as to keep the young plants in a growing state as long as possible, but giving 

 a short rest by diminishing the supply of water in November, December, and 

 January. In February, they are again placed in a 'lot-bed, and forwarded in a 

 brisk heat with plenty of moisture ; and when the_^ have made a growth, which 

 they will do by June, we pot them off singly in pots about four times the diame- 

 ter of the bulbs, and so that the bulbs are buried to the neck. They are again 

 returned to the hot-bed, giving water abundantly and atmospheric moisture, 



