PEL 



C 624] 



PEN 



tipper stratum of heated air. The plants 

 should be placed upon stages near to the 

 glass. These stages ought to be broad 

 enough to allow large specimens to stand 

 clear of each other upon them. The size 

 of the house will depend upon the means 

 of cultivation, and the number intended 

 to be grown. To exhibit collections of 

 ten or twelve in number, three or four 

 times during the season, the house should 

 be at least fifty feet long, and twenty 

 feet wide. This will allow a stage in the 

 centre ten feet wide, walks round it two 

 and a half feet wide, and a platform all 

 round two and a half feet broad. This 

 will leave the stage ten feet wide, and 

 forty feet long, which will be ample space 

 for three rows of twelve plants in each, 

 full-sized and well-grown specimens. On 

 the platforms next the frontlight smaller- 

 sized plants may be placed, to succeed 

 the others when they become unsightly 

 through the bloom being over. 



The only heat wanted is just enough 

 to keep out the frost, and the best mode 

 of obtaining that heat is by hot water 

 circulating in cast-iron pipes. (See GKEEN- 

 HOUSE.) 



Compost Procure from an old pasture, 

 where the grass is of a fine texture, as 

 much turf, three or four inches thick, as 

 will serve to pot the collection for one 

 year ; cast it into the compost-yard, and 

 have it immediately chopped up into 

 small pieces, and, as it is done, lay it up 

 in a long ridge, facing east and west, so 

 that the sun can shine upon each side 

 morning and evening. The ridge or bank 

 should not exceed two feet high, on a 

 base of three feet wide. The grassy sur- 

 face and green roots will soon begin to 

 ferment during the process of decompo 

 sition, and the gases arising will pene- 

 trate to every particle of soil, and mode- 

 rately enrich it, quite sufficient to grow 

 geraniums. Let it be turned over every 

 three months for a year, and then it will 

 be fit for use. Unless it be very heavy, or 

 of a close texture, it will not require any 

 addition. If too heavy, add sand to render 

 it of an open texture. 



Culture of EstablishedPlants. Cutthem 

 down in July, leave them in a cold pit, 

 and in eight or ten days after being cut 

 down, and receiving moisture about the 

 tops rather than amomj the roots, the 

 pots may receive a fair watering as 

 much as will reach every good root. 

 "When the buds break, gradually give air. 



When one inch in length or so, take the 

 plants to the potting-bench, shake the 

 soil from the roots, examine and prune 

 the roots a little, re-shift into similar, 

 or, what in general will answer better, 

 smaller-sized pots ; place them again in 

 the cold pit, and keep close until the fresh 

 roots are running in the new soil ; then 

 give air gradually, until at length you ex- 

 pose them entirely to the atmosphere, 

 steering clear, however, of cold rains and 

 anything like frost. Plants cut down in 

 June and July, if transferred to small 

 pots, will require to be placed in bloom- 

 ing-pots in the end of October. Those 

 cut down in the end of July, or during 

 August, will not want repotting until the 

 new year has brought lengthened sun- 

 shine ; and from these different succes- 

 sions of bloom may be expected. To 

 have it fine, cleanliness, air, light, room, 

 and a temperature seldom below 4.5, 

 must be leading considerations. Through 

 the winter, unless during sunshine, the 

 temperature should neverbe higher. After 

 a sunny day it may be from five to eight 

 degrees lower at night with impunity. In 

 the case of large plants, little stopping 

 will be required after repotting. Thin- 

 ning instead will often be necessary. 

 Hence old plants generally produce the 

 earliest bloom, as every general stopping 

 of the shoots, as well as every shift given, 

 retards the blooming period. 



PELLITORY OF SPAIN. A'nthemis pyre' 

 thrum. 



PELTA'RIA. (From pelte, a little buckler ; 

 referring to the shape of the seed-pod. 

 Nat. ord., Crucifers [Brassicaceae]. Linn., 

 Tetradynamia. Allied to Draba.) 



Seeds ; division of the roots of allia'cea. Com- 

 mon soil. 



P. allia'cea (garlic-scented). 1. White. June. 

 Austria. 1601. Hardy herbaceous. 



glastifo'lia (woad-leaved). 1. White. June. 



Syria. 1823, Hardy annual. 



PEN-K'A. (Named after P. Pena, a Ger- 

 man botanist. Nat. ord., Sarcocolads 

 [Penseacesej. Linn., k-Tetrandria I-Mo- 

 nogynia.} 



Greenhouse evergreens, from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and red-flowered, except where otherwise 

 mentioned. Cuttings of stubby side-shoots in 

 summer, in sand, under a bell-glass ; sandy peat 

 and a little charcoal. Winter temp., 40 to 45. 

 P.fruticulo'sa (small-shrubby). 1. June. 1822. 



imbrica'ta (imbricated). Pink. June. 1824. 



lateriflu'ra (side-flowering). 1. June. 1825. 



murgina'ta (bordered). 1$. June. 1816. 



mucrona'ta (pointed-/eooed). 2. Yellow. June. 



1787. 



myrtoi'des (myrtle-like). 2. June, 1816. 



