BOOK II. 



HOT-HOUSE AQUATICS. 



929 



6722. The propagation and culture of these need not be entered on, being essentially 

 the same as for hardy or green-house herbaceous plants, the difference of temperature 

 being taken into consideration. Such as have tuberous roots must be treated on the 

 same principle as tubers in the open garden, as, for example, those of fumaria cava, 

 erythronium, &c. which have their regular seasons of rest. 



6723. The gloriosa superba, that grand, beautiful tuberous-rooted stove plant, for want of attention to 

 the nature ot its roots and its habits of growth, seldom produces flowers in this country. " Its failure," 

 John Sweet observes, " arises chiefly from the defective method in which its roots are preserved during their 

 inaction, and from the want of proper treatment, when they first vegetate in the spring. Injured at these 

 periods, the plants generally continue through the summer, weak and unpromising, throwing up only a 

 few small stems, which do not flower in sufficient strength and beauty." Under the following manage- 

 ment, Sweet has had perfect success, and has known a single root grow ten feet in the course of a season, 

 with numerous blossoms upon it. When the stalks and foliage have decayed in the autumn, and left the 

 root, like a well ripened potatoe, in a dormant state, the pot containing it must be removed from the bark- 

 bed to the top of the hot-house flue, at some distance from the fire, all the warmth at this time necessary 

 being merely what is sufficient to keep the earth in the pot free from damp ; and to prevent the waterings 

 of the house, or other moisture, falling on the earth in the pot, it should be covered, by inverting upon it 

 another pot of the same size ; or if larger, it will hang over its edges and more effectually exclude the 

 wet. If the roots are small, two or three may be placed together in the same pot, whilst in their dormant 

 state ; but if they are thus shifted, the mould must be well shaken down in the pot, in order to prevent the 

 access of air to them ; the old mould in which they grew must also be used ; for fresh earth or sand would 

 stimulate them to move too early. About the second week in March, the roots must be planted, putting 

 one or two, according to their size, into pots measuring six inches over. The best compost for them is 

 fresh loam, mixed with an equal quantity of bog-earth of good quality : the loam should be good, not over 

 rich with dung, nor too heavy. The roots are to be covered about two inches deep, and care must be 

 taken not to break them, unless nature has shown where it is practicable to divide them easily. The pots, 

 when filled, must be plunged into the bark-bed, where the heat should be equal to ninety-five degrees of 

 Fahrenheit's scale. Water is to be given very sparingly at first, and though, as they grow, they will re- 

 quire a more liberal supply, yet it is necessary, at all times, to be very moderate in giving it. The heat 

 must be well kept up, and as the shoots extend they must be supported by sticks, or trained in any direc- 

 tion on wire or cords. (Hort. Tram. vol. iii. 23.) 



6724. 



SECT. V. Annual Herbaceous Bark-stove Plants. 

 BARK-STOVE ANNUALS. 



6725. Propagation and culture. They are all propagated from seeds, most of which ripen in this 

 country ; but some few sorts are continued by cuttings for the sake of preserving particular variations. 

 Sow in February or March in pots, to be plunged in a hot-bed ; prick out the plants into the smallest-sized 

 pots, when they have attained one or two proper leaves, and shift them once or twice into pots a size larger 

 in the manner recommended for the balsam (1653.) ; keeping the plants in hot-beds or pits till ready to 

 blossom, when they may either be removed to such of the houses as are empty at the time, as the bulb- 

 house, green-house, &c. or assembled in a house devoted to annuals. Some few of them, as the ice-plant 

 (Mesembryanthemum crystattinum) and egg-plant (Solanum melongenum), may be plunged in a warm 

 situation in the open garden. 



6-726. 



SECT. VI. Aquatic Stove Plants. 

 HOT-HOUSE AQUATIC PLANTS. 



30 



