8 Raising, acclimatising, and native Habits 



and the knowledge of botanical nomenclature, is expected from the gardener 

 of the present day. Independent of his immediate duty to his employer, he 

 hns a duty to perform to his country, and one which he may perform with 

 ease and pleasure to himself, that is, the acclimatisation of exotic plants ; 

 which may frequently be attempted with old specimens, that would, at all 

 events, be committed to the flames: and if he be successful, your pages are 

 open to record his fame, and societies are numerous in England, and 

 liberal enough to reward his merit. 



The forming of portable houses for the reception of Leguminosae would 

 amply repay the amateur for the trouble and expense, by the splendour 

 which plants having a sufficiency of room would exhibit. I would there- 

 fore recommend the planting in beds of prepared soil (formed in such 

 structures as fancy might determine or circumstances permit), masses of 

 this natural order, arranging them so that every plant might receive an equal 

 portion of the sun's rays through the day ; placing the taller in the centre, 

 and gradually diminishing the lines to the edge, where the minor kinds 

 would form the border, and would not exceed the height of many species 

 of the mosses. The grouping of colours must be left to a refined taste, so 

 that the various shades, as far as practicable, may be blended on scientific 

 principles. 



If young plants, say of three years old, are intended for the above descrip- 

 tion of houses, they should be brought as early as possible to a fit state, by- 

 giving them larger pots than they would have allowed to them, were they 

 intended for the stage or shelf of a green-house. As young plants will 

 be small in proportion to the space they are hereafter to fill, several of a 

 species may be plunged over the rim of the pots, and marked for future 

 removal : this will, without deranging the plan, allow sufficient room for 

 those which remain ; those to be removed, having a ball of earth attached 

 to them, will be fit specimens to try in the open air. For this experiment 

 I would rather recommend a northern exposure for planting than a southern 

 one, where, after severe frosts, a sudden thaw does most mischief, and in 

 many instances is the real cause of death to the plants. If large plants, 

 thus exposed, appear killed by cold, too much haste must not be exercised 

 in removing the roots, but cut down the stem, and let the stool remain for 

 one or two years. When old plants are intended for the portable house, 

 or for a conservatory, they should be headed down to a convenient height, 

 allowing sufficient room for their heads to form free of the roof; and as 

 the various species of Schotirz flower occasionally on the old wood, and the 

 others at the extremities of the young spring and summer shoots, this 

 habit should be strictly attended to, and borne in mind at all seasons. 



Many persons regret the loss of old established plants, and, in the vain 

 attempt to preserve them in a confined space, permit injuries to be inflicted 

 upon them by injudicious pruning, which eventually forms unsightly and dis- 

 agreeable objects for a house. They are then condemned, and in the autumn 

 are left out, and exposed to every vicissitude of season, and no opportunity 

 is given them to live. It is early in the spring months that these plants 

 should be selected, and planted out in sheltered situations of the shrub- 

 bery : they would at least have a chance of existence, and, if they should 

 die, their loss would not be so apparent. It has become a very common 

 practice in Europe, to plant exotic shrubs in front of the stoves and green- 

 houses indiscriminately, and without thought of their ultimate height, or 

 whether they can be kept within bounds by pruning without injury or total 

 prevention of flowering : this point requires consideration, or the plants 

 are likely to become nuisances. 



Omphalobium, Virgilia, Sophora, several Psoralen and Cytisi, form a 

 distinct stem ; Schotia, Indigofera, Psoralea, ^Ispalathus, Podalyria, Li- 

 paria, and Borboniff, as well as Cyclopia, Sarcophyllum, and Kifiw, form 



