ON REARIXG FLOWERS. 



177 



serving them from damp, and exposing tliem as much as 

 possible to light, which latter is of first importance, as in 

 the absence of a due degree of light, such plants are 

 rendered more susceptible of injury from cold and damp. 

 They do not require any artificial heat, but merely to be 

 effectually secured from frost, and, except in very severe 

 weather, the window of a dwelling-room is not so good a 

 situation for them as that of a bed-room, or other cooler 

 apartment ; for when placed in too warm a room they 

 grow too rapidly, and, consequently, in too weak and 

 slender a manner. The musk plant, though a species of 

 Mi'inulus, is quite hardy, and will thrive in any mode- 

 rately good and moist garden soil. If grown in pots, it 

 need not be protected in winter. The pots should, how- 

 ever, be plunged in the ground at that season up to the rim. 



Hydrangeas are of very easy culture, and may even be 

 grown in the open air, but, when kept in pots, they are 

 highly ornamental. Cuttings of the young shoots will 

 strike under a hand-glass, if taken off in the month of 

 May, and planted in a light sandy soil ; but if a little 

 artificial heat is at command, they will succeed much 

 better. As soon as they are rooted, they should be 

 potted singly into small well-drained pots, and kept in a 

 shaded situation till they are well established, after 

 which, they may be removed to a place where they will 

 be fully exposed to the sun, and repotted when they 

 require it, into larger pots. The soil most suitable for 

 them is maiden loam taken from a field or common, 

 enriched by leaf-soil or well-rotted manure ; and during 

 the whole period of their gi'owth, if they are judiciously 

 potted, it will be almost impossible to give them too 

 much water, as, in hot weather, they will frequently re- 

 quire watering three times in a day. If well exposed to 

 the sun during the autumnal months, they may be kept 

 through the winter in cellars, with little or no water ; but 

 they must be taken from this situation early in the 

 spring, and after being potted into pots of such a size as 

 the plants may require, removing as much of the old 

 earth as possible without injuring the roots, they should 

 be placed in the window of a dwelling-room, and be well 

 supplied with water at the roots, the leaves and branches 



