110 APPLICATION OE PRINCIPLES. 



Mr. Christie Duff procured flowers in abundance from 

 Nymphaaa rubra, cserulea, and odorata,by placing them 

 in a cistern in a pine stove upon the end flues, where 

 the fire enters and escapes ; or by plunging them into 

 tan-beds in pine houses, varying in temperature from 

 80° to 100°.' (Hort. Tram., vii. 286.) Very lately, 

 Mr. Sylvester, of Chorley, in Lancashire, obtained fine 

 flowers from Nelumbium luteum, by paying attention 

 to the temperature of water. "When he kept the 

 latter at 85°, the plants grew vigorously, and were in 

 perfect health, but flowerless ; but by lowering it to 

 70°-75°, which more nearly approaches the heat to 

 which the plant is naturally accustomed, the magnifi- 

 cent blossoms were produeed and succeeded by seeds ; 

 the red Nelumbium, however, which inhabits countries 

 with a greater summer heat than the yellow, at the 

 same time suffered by this lowering of temperature) 

 none of its blossom buds having been able to unfold. 

 (Bol. Mag., xiii. n. s. t. 3753.) The water of rice 

 fields, in which the red Nelumbium flourishes, was 

 seen by Meyen at 113°, at Lantao, in China, (117). 



An opinion has, nevertheless, been entertained, that 

 bottom heat is useless ; there is in the Horticultural 

 Transactions (vol. iii. 288,) a paper to show that it is 

 injurious ; and the authority of Mr. Knight has been 

 referred to in support of the opinion, in consequence 

 of that great horticulturist having expressed a belief 

 that the " bark-bed is worse than useless." (Sort. 

 Trans., iv. 73.) But Mr. Knight repeatedly disavowed 

 entertaining any such sentiments. In one place, he 

 stated that the temperature of the air of the stoves iu 



