THE BALSAM 
Impatiens balsamina, 
some of the books the plant is 
catalogued as Bulsamina hor- 
feusis, but as a rose by any 
other name would smell as 
sweet, the amateur gardener 
need not be troubled about the 
relative claims of the respec- 
tive designations. The garden 
balsam is a tender annual of 
rapid growth, with an ex- 
tremely succulent stem, ample 
full green leafage, and showy 
flowers of various shades of 
white, red, rose, and crimson. 
The generic name Lmpatiens is 
explained by the behaviour of 
the plant when the seeds are 
ripe, for, on the shghtest touch, 
the seed-pods burst, and the 
seeds are scattered; and this umpatience of the plant may 
‘oceasion to the cultivator considerable loss. But there is a 
way out of every difficulty, and the only real difficulty is to 
know the way. In this case it consists in removing the pods 
when they are nearly ripe, and placing them on a cloth 
