I LTIVATIOX AXD .WALTSIS OF PLANTS. 



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\.RLL\ cultivated as window plants, the Azaleas are in great 

 (km ind tor exhibition purposes, and for cut flowers in winter and 

 spiin_. There is, however, no reason why they may not, with 

 i(. is(in dile attention, be successfully cultivated as house plants. The 

 soil fell \ ery young plants should be nearly all peat, or leaf-mold, 

 vvheie peat cannot be procured; but for older ones, three parts peat 

 nid one part each of loam, leaf-mold and sand. The time for repotting is 

 ifter the blooming season, except the plants are large and have appropriate 

 ^izcd tubs or boxes, when they will not need it for several years, requiring only 

 lat the soil be enriched with liquid manures. The plant belongs to the heath 

 family, and, like most of that tribe, have roots somewhat resembling the fern, 

 which should never be allowed to become entirely dry, care being taken not to go to the 

 other extreme and drench it so that the soil would sour and the roots decay. The 

 average temperature required is between fifty and sixty degrees, and plenty of air, pro- 

 vided it be not under that temperature, should be always admitted. They bloom from 

 February to May, and the larger ones produce hundreds of flowers, at once delighting the 

 beholder with the munificence as well as the magnificence of their adornment. The 

 flowers of some varieties are white, while others run through all the various shades of red, 

 from rose to bright carmine, often beautifully marked, like the carnation. 



OWEVER much these plants are valued, they seldom receive the 

 attention which they deserve. It is true that the miserable manner 

 in which they are many times sown and left to take care of them- 

 selves may partly account for this, for under such circumstances they 

 are far from attractive, as the flowers are apt to partake of the quality of 

 the plants. Rightly grown, howexer, they form most magnificent speci- 

 mens for garden or conservatory decoration. For early plants the seeds 

 should be sown in a hotbed. As soon as they develop two leaves besides the 

 two thick seed-leaves, they should be removed into pots or boxes, and these 

 be plunged again in the bed. During growth they should be allowed plenty 

 of air, and ample room for their branches to extend; and by supplying a richly- 

 manured soil they mav be made to grow to a great size. 

 The Balsam delights in a moist, well-manured situation, and is among the handsomest 

 annuals cultivatied. The plants should frequently have waterings of manure-water; and, 

 as their stalks are succulent, they should never be allowed to suffer from drouth. While 

 most plants suffer from intense heat, these seem to clothe themselves with greater beauty 

 in the very height of summer. When the main or central stem is of sufficient height, 

 the pinching out of the tip has a tendency to increase the side branches. 



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