Large Flo^uoers of the Cockscomb Amaranth. S5l 



times, and never above I ft. 6 in. from the glass. When the 

 roots get through the bottoms of the pots, shift into No. iSs. 

 They will soon after begin to form their heads, when the 

 finest crescent-shaped are to be selected, and all the rest 

 thrown away. As soon as the selected plants have filled their 

 pots with roots, shift them into No. 32s, in a compost of two 

 fourths loamy soil from a rich pasture, well-reduced, one 

 fourth fine leaf mould, and one fourth clear sand. These 

 soils must be well worked together in a conical heap, and the 

 rougher parts broken very small. As the cockscomb is very 

 impatient of stagnated moisture, the pots must always be well 

 drained, by putting a few broken pieces at the bottom, and 

 some of the coarser parts of the compost over them. Con- 

 tinue a powerful moist heat; water when necessary In the 

 evenings, and syringe occasionally over their tops before mat- 

 ting up for the night. 



When the plants are finally established in No. 24<s, water 

 them occasionally with a little sheep-dung water, and continue 

 at all times a strong, sweet, moist heat. 



By this culture I have grown the dwarf cockscomb 1 6 in. 

 over the top, when the plant was not more than 1 1 in. high 

 from the surface of the pot. I am. Sir, &c. 



Robert Errington. 

 Oiilton Park, Cheshire, July, 1828. 



Art. XV. An Account of some remarkably large Flo^wers of 

 the Cockscomb Amaranth {Celbsia cristdta). By Mr. R. L. 

 Howes. 



Sir, 

 Seeing in your Magazine (p. 101.) a notice of an uncom- 

 monly fine specimen of Celosia, raised by a person at Apple- 

 ton, near Oxford, and which was supposed to be one of the 

 largest ever seen, I beg leave to inform you, that (without 

 undervaluing the Appleton flower) I raised a larger one at 

 E. Everard's, Esq., Middleton, near Lynn, Norfolk. This 

 flower measured from the surface of the pot to the top of the 

 crest 22 in., and its breadth was lOj in. The blossom was very 

 compact, and the plant unusually strong ; some of the leaves 

 measuring 16 in. in length, by 9h in. in breadth. My young 

 plants of this year promise to equal those of the last, which 

 were declared to be, by many gentlemen who saw them, supe- 

 rior to any thing o^ the kind they had ever seen. 



