AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 259 



turfy soil. Mix perfectly, smooth the surface, sprinkle over 

 a very little fine sand, and then scatter the seeds over it as 

 lightly as possible, then fine sand just enough to cover the 

 seeds, then put the pots in a suitable hot-bed in the compost 

 warmed from below, &c.. &c. ; water them witli a water pot, 

 nose having very fine holes in it, so as to deliver delicate 

 streams of water, or put the pots over vases of water. They may 

 do if put near the windows of a good warm sunny chamber. The 

 pots ought to have glass covers over them to retain the moisture. 

 When the plants are up, which soon takes i:)lace, keep them in 

 w^ell tempered air; let the sun shine on them; gradually lift the 

 cover, until at last you remove it altogether. 



When the plants are one foot high, it is time to set them out in 

 the garden. This, however, had better be done in boxes or pots of 

 large size, mixing rich soil with leaf mould, or turf mould and sand. 



Set out the young plants three centimetres, equal to about one 

 inch and one-fifth of an inch apart, setting the plants in the soil as 

 deep as the cotyledons. It is good to set the pots in a warm bed. 

 In good weather they should have the air free, but not in cold 

 winds. They don't want shade, but they do require free air. 

 Sprinkle the plants with liquid manure, occasionally. 



To preserve a j)eculiar Petunia — we propagate by slips — thus 

 we obtain vigorous young plants, which we put into pots for 

 winter. Slips may be grown from May to the middle of July. 

 For slips we choose shoots from eight to eleven centrimetres long, 

 (about 3^ to 4| inches,) such as have no flower buds on — we put 

 one of them, in a pot of small size, or several together in a shal- 

 low pot in soil, much more sandy than usual. We set these pots 

 in a shady place, in a temperate hot bed, where the air cannot 

 move them. As soon as tliese slips put out roots we must trans- 

 plant them in larger pots. Without this operation, many perish. 

 In August or September, these become strong plants. 



[Illustriste Gartenzeitung. Germany.] 



HYACINTH AND BULBS. 



Some good lessons as to flower bulbs, (Hyacinth, &c.) When 

 you buy them, ascertain whether they are solid and heavy; Jieve 

 mind great size without these, for the heavy solid ones will cer- 

 tainly produce you larger and finer heads ! 



