General Notices. 467 



purpose, if the necessary conditions of high culture be attended to. And 

 with otlicr than higli cultivation Horticultural Societies should have nothing 

 to do. We saw the plants exhibited in that sized pot during the past sum- 

 mer, and although the amount of bloom was somewhat deficient in propor- 

 tion to what it might, and indeed ought, to have been, from the size of the 

 plants, it was sufficiently obvious to any one conversant with the matter, 

 that if plants of tlie size brought forward could be grown in eight-inch pots, 

 that there Avere only one or two steps further wanting to render them per- 

 fection itself, so far as the growth of the plant is concerned, namely, a much 

 greater number of flower trusses, and tliose larger and possessed of more 

 body in the petals. To effect Uiis, the point to be aimed at is the encour- 

 agement of a dwarfer habit of growth, with shorter jointed stems, without 

 the least addition to the size of the plant, or the number of their leaves, 

 ■which would render the whole plant sufficiently strong, so that it should be 

 able to support itself almost, if not entirely, without stakes. 



We hold, therefore, that 8-inch pots should be regarded as the maximum 

 size for one class at least, and that the cultivator, instead of seeking a larger 

 pot, or a larger plant, should set Kis wits to work (for the thing is quite pos- 

 sible) to double the number of flower trusses, to bring them more true to 

 character, and to give the individual flowers more size and consistency, or 

 thickness of petal. We will not refer to the form of the flower, or to the 

 arrangement of its coloring, but we would impress on tliose members of 

 Horticultural Societies, having the drawing up of the programmes for the 

 ensuing year, to hold fast by tlie doctrine of medium sized pots, and wait 

 the result of superior culture in them. To do otherwise, would be to retro- 

 grade instead of to advance, by giving up a principle not yet fully com- 

 pleted, and possibly only requiring another year's trial to bring to full ma- 

 turity. There are many other reasons for doing this, which we may allude 

 to at a future tune, for although our opinions may be unheeded in this mat- 

 ter, we think we have high authority for urging it on, seeing that the most 

 influential of all Horticultural Societies follows it. This same society, has, 

 by the way, this year, for the first time, a class for the azaleas, &c., limited 

 as to size of pot. This is following the idea of the Caledonian Horticul- 

 tural Society in some measure, who, last season, gave prizes for ericas re- 

 stricted as to height of plant, for the purpose we presume, of encouraging 

 growers, whose plants were in progress towards a size, which would enable 

 them to compete in the highest class. We are glad to see that our princi- 

 pal society has proved itself in advance in this particular. 



We have heard a great deal of high ftirming of late ; let us not only hear 

 of, but see a little more high culture in plants brought for public competi- 

 tion ; and as one part of high farming is the production of tlie greatest pos- 

 sible amount of produce from the smallest space of ground, so also in like 

 manner, should high plant culture be regarded. — [Gard. Jovmal, 1850, 

 p. 585.) 



[We particularly commend these remarks to our amateur cultivators and 

 to the attention of the Committee for establishing Premiums by the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, in making up their schedule for 1851. They 



