BAK 



BAL 



of the University of Dorp at. Nat. orcl., 

 Composites [Asteracese]. Linn., IQ-Syn- 

 yt:-nesia%-Superflua. Allied to Callirhoe.) 



Hardy annual. Seeds, in March and April; 

 common soil. 



P,. chryso'stoma (prolden-mouthed). 1. Yellow. 

 May. California. 1835. 



BAKED is a terra descriptive of the 

 hard, impervious state of clayey soils, 

 long exposed to drought. It can be pre- 

 vented only hy altering the staple of the 

 soil, by the admixture of sand, chalk, 

 coal- ashes, and other matters less cohe- 

 sive than clay. 



BALCONY. A \vord probably derived 

 from the Persian, signifying an orna- 

 mentally-barred window, and by us ap- 

 plied to a frame, usually of iron, and 

 encompassed with a balustrade, placed 

 in front of one window, or of several 

 windows. It is an excellent place for 

 giving air to room-plants, and for the 

 cultivation of some flowers. 



BALA'NTIUM. (From balantion, a purse ; 

 referring to the shape of the seed-pouch, 

 or indusium, on the back of the leaf. 

 Nat. ord., Ferns [Polypodiacea?]. Linn., 

 2-Cryptogamia 1-Filiccs.) 



Stove herbaceous Ferns. Divisions ; peat and 

 loam. Summer temp., 60 to 70; winter, 50 

 to 60. 



B. cu'lcitum (cushion). 3. Brown. August. Ma- 

 deira. 



BALBI'SIA. See LEDOCA'KPUM PEDUNCU- 

 LA'RIS. 



BALM. (Meli'ssa ojfficina'lis.} This hardy 

 herbaceous plant has a citron scent and 

 aromatic flavour. It is cultivated now 

 only for making a grateful drink for the 

 sick. 



The Soil best suited to its growth is 

 any poor and friable, but rather inclin- 

 ing to clayey than sandy. Manure is 

 never required. An eastern aspect is 

 best for it. 



Planting. It is propagated by root di- 

 vision (of which the smallest piece will 

 grow), and by slips of the young shoots. 

 The first mode any time during the spring 

 and autumn, but by slips only during 

 May or June. If divisions of an old 

 plant are employed, they may be planted 

 at once where they are to remain, at 

 twelve inches apart; but if by slips, they 

 must be inserted in a shady border, to be 

 thence removed, in September or Octo- 

 ber, to where they are to remain. At 

 every removal water must be given, if 

 dry weather, and until thev are estab- 

 7 



lished. During the summer they require 

 only to be kept clear of weeds. In Oc- 

 tober the old beds (which may stand for 

 many years) require to be dressed, their 

 decayed leaves and stalks cleared away, 

 and the soil loosened by the hoe or slight 

 digging. 



Old beds may be gathered from in 

 July, for drying, but their green leaves, 

 from March to September; and those 

 planted in spring will even afford a 

 gathering in the autumn of the same 

 year. For drying, the stalks are cut, 

 with their full clothing of leaves, to the 

 very bottom, and the drying completed 

 gradually in the shade. 



BALM OF GILEAD. Dracoce'phalum 

 Canarie'nse. 



BALSAM APPLE. Momo'rdica balsa- 

 mi'nea, 



BALSAMI'NA. See IMPA'TIENS. 



BALSAMS.' By this name are usually 

 known the varieties of the common 

 annual, Impa'ticns balsami'na, by some 

 needlessly separated, with a few others, 

 into a separate genus, and called Balsa- 

 mi'na horte'nsis. 



Culture. The chief object in cultiva- 

 ting these is their fine, large, double, 

 flowers ; ami, to secure this object, seed 

 should be saved only from the finest 

 plants ; and, if the seed is several years 

 old, the plants will be less luxuriant, and 

 the blooms will be more double. 



To have them very fine, the seed 

 should be sown in a sweet hotbed, in 

 the middle of March ; the plants pricked 

 out into small pots when three inches in 

 height, using light, rich soil, shifting 

 them again, and successively, never al- 

 lowing them to be pot-bound, and plung- 

 ing the pots into a medium temperature 

 of 75, until some time after their last 

 shifting into eight, twelve, or sixteen- 

 inch pots, according as you aim atmode- 

 rate-^ized or very large specimens. Al- 

 low, all the time, a current of air, less or 

 more, according to the weather, to keep 

 the plants bushy, and using richer ma- 

 terials every time of potting, until the 

 last soil used may consist of nearly as 

 much very rotten, but sweet dung (cow- 

 dung is best), as turfy, sandy loam. 



Successions may be sown in April and 

 May, and treated in a similar manner, 

 either for pots, or to be turned into beds, 

 where they frequently do well until the 

 middle of October. 



When you cannot accommodate any 



