836 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



III. 



necessary, during a very severe winter, to cover the bed in this manner ten or fifteen 

 inches thick ; but the straw should be taken off at all favorable times : for the effects of 

 covering too much or too long are as destructive as the reverse, especially before the 

 roots have begun to vegetate, because they are then more liable to become mouldy than 

 at any other period, than which nothing can be more prejudicial. Early in the spring, 

 when the plants make their appearance above ground, so as to render the rows easily 

 "discernible, the surface of the earth between each row should be trodden or beaten, so 

 as to make it firm and compact ; and if the soil is compressed with the fingers, quite 

 close to the plants, it will keep out cold drying winds, and prove beneficial. It is ad- 

 visable to make choice of a fine dry day, soon after rain, whilst the ground is still moist, 

 to perform the above operation : when it is finished, a little long straw should be placed 

 between each row, to preserve the surface of the soil cool and moist, till the foliage of the 

 plants is sufficiently grown and expanded, to afford it shade without further assistance. 



6271. Water. April showers, and frequent rains in May, are essentially necessary to the growth and 

 vigor of the plants : if these fail, soft water must be administered in sufficient quantity between the rows, 

 by means of a common watering-pot, with a long tube or spout, held low, so as not to wash the earth 

 into holes ; for it is better to avoid watering the plants themselves, as it may chill them too much, and 

 stagnate their juices. The consequences of omitting to water when necessary are these, viz. the plants 

 will make little progress ; the blossom-buds of the strongest will be small, and the weaker plants will 

 not bloom at all ; the grass, or foliage, will put on a sickly yellowish appearance, from which it will 

 never recover during the season ; and, lastly, the roots will, when taken up, be small and lean. But such 

 kind of waterings, however necessary, are by no means so salutary to these, or any other flowers, as fine, 

 warm, natural showers ; they can neither be so equally dispensed, nor are the plants naturally disposed 

 to receive them when the atmosphere is dry, because their pores and fibres are contracted, and they are, 

 as it were, in the expectation of dry weather. Since it is evident that artificial waterings are, in all re- 

 spects, so much inferior to natural, it is better therefore to wait a day or two, in hopes of a change of 

 weather, than to be too hasty in watering, although the plants may appear to suffer for the moment, by 

 the omission ; for if such a change should fortunately take place, they will receive infinitely more benefit 

 from it than when both themselves and the soil are already saturated, or replenished, with moisture. 



6272. Shading. The weather in May is sometimes very clear and hot ; the plants ought to be shaded 

 at such times by means of lofty hoops and mats, or some better contrivance, that will admit light and air 

 freely ; a frame and covering, similar to that for hyacinths, would answer best, if expense and trouble 

 were not to be considered : it will, however, be absolutely necessary to shade them, in some manner, during 

 the period of bloom, otherwise they wiil continue but a very short time, especially the dark rich-colored 

 sorts ; for, in proportion as their colors approach to black, is the injury they will receive from the rays of 

 the sun, if permitted to shine upon them in full force; some of the very darkest cannot stand it one hour 

 without being entirely spoiled. The light-colored sorts will bear the sun's rays much better, reflecting them 

 in proportion as they approach to white ; green is the only color that reflects and absorbs the rays of light in 

 equal proportion, and is more predominant in the vegetable kingdom than any other. After the bloom is 

 over, watering is no longer necessary, but shading, in the middle of hot days, is still very beneficial to the 

 plants : it tends to prolong their vegetation, and the size and substance of the roots are thereby increased. 



6273. Taking up the roots. By the end of June, or soon after, the greater part of the plants will ap- 

 pear brown and dry : vegetation has then ceased, and it is the exact time to take up the roots, because if 

 they are suffered to remain in the ground till rainy weather ensues, they will begin to shoot afresh, and 

 thereby sustain considerable injury. When the roots are taken up, their stems, &c. should be cut off 

 close, and they should be placed in a shady airy room, or situation, to dry gradually ; but before this is 

 perfectly accomplished, it will be proper to clean and separate them, because, when quite dried, they be- 

 come very hard and brittle, and there is great danger of breaking oft' their claws : some mav be separated 

 into many complete roots, although they are so closely connected, as, on a superficial observation, to have 

 the appearance of only one large root. Nothing more remains to be done, till the return of the planting 

 season, except to stow the sorts separately in bags or boxes, for the sake of convenience, in a dry room, in 

 which state it is possible to keep them out of ground for two or three years without perishing, although it 

 evidently tends to weaken and injure them : there have been instances known of the ranunculus-roots sur- 

 viving till the fifth or sixth year ; they were, however, rendered extremely weak, nor could any but very 

 strong roots retain their vegetative powers for so long a period. Williamson takes up the roots immediately 

 after the color of the foliage begins to change. 



6274. Forcing. The ranunculus may be forced, but loses much of its strength of stem and brilliancy of color. 



Subsect. 4. Anemone.. Anemone, L. Polyand. Polygyn. L. and Panuncxdacece, J. 

 Anemone, Fr. ; Windblume, Ger. ; and Anemone, Ital. 



6275. There are two species of anemone cultivated as florists' flowers, under the com- 

 mon name of anemone : the A. coronaria, L., or 

 poppy-anemone {Bot. Mag. 841.) {Jig. 594. a), 

 a native of the Levant, and introduced in 1596 ; 

 and the A. hortensis, the star or broad-leaved 

 anemone {b), a native of Italy, and introduced 

 from Holland in 1597. The anemone has been 

 cultivated from as early a period as the tulip, and 

 many fine double varieties produced both by the 

 Dutch and British. The single and semi-double 

 flowers are nearly in as high estimation as the 

 double ones. 



6276. Varieties. These are numerous, but few 

 of them are named. Parkinson, in 1629, enu- 

 merates thirty sorts of single narrow leaved ane- 

 mones, and nearly as many double and single of 

 the broad-leaved sort. Mason's catalogue for 

 1820 contains seventy-five sorts. A variety will 

 last for twelve or fifteen years. 



