62 FAMILIAR GARDEX FLOWERS. 



refjuirementi?j and can only be successfully cultivated in a 

 pure air. A cold situation suits them perfectly if it is 

 moist, and a peaty soil containing many stones, or even 

 heaps of stones, resting on a peat Ijed, to coax the roots 

 downwards in search of what they require. In any case, a 

 deep soil is a first requisite o£ success ; and therefore, when 

 gentians are planted in what are called " poctets," con- 

 taining but a few handfuls of earth, they soon die. 



The swallow-wort gentian now before us, and the gen- 

 tianella [G. aoanlis), are best of all the family for a beginner 

 in gentian culture. Of the gentianella, with its great urn- 

 shaped Howers of the finest royal blue, and glossy leathery 

 leaves, we are accustomed to see in country gardens exten- 

 sive belts and plantations that may Ije regarded as " surprise 

 packets " of the loveliest vegetation. Tlie ease and certainty 

 of production account for the frequency of the plants in all 

 such cases. They jiroduee an abundance of seeds, and these 

 are sown as soon as possiJjle after they become ripe. The 

 seed-bed consists of large pans or shallow boxes, filled with 

 sandy loam or peat. On this the seed is scattered thinly, 

 and then a dusting of fine soil is added to cover them. The 

 pans or lioxes are kept in a cold pit or frame, and the seed- 

 ling plants soon appear, and need very little care. In all 

 cases of raising small seeds, one of the difficulties of a 

 beginner is experienced in the watering. The first operation 

 probably washes all the seeds away or very seriously reduces 

 the quantity; and after this vexatious experience, the 

 amateur resorts to various contrivances. To save our friends, 

 so far as may be, from having to learn de novo how to 

 water seed-pans, we will say, do not water them at all with 

 a water-pot. In the first i>lace, take care that the soil is 

 reasonably moist when the seed is sown. In the next 



