180 On the Cultivation of the Tree Mignonette. 



( plate 227) a figure of a branch, and an account of its culti- 

 vation, which Sir Joseph Banks had obtained from the 

 Abbe Larbaleste, of Liege, the person from whom Lady 

 Whit shed procured her plants. Information which I have 

 subsequently received from M. Vilmorin, from Lady Whit- 

 shed, and from Mr. Colvill, of the King's road (who has in 

 the last year propagated it extensively) enables me to add 

 some useful particulars to the notes given in the Botanical 

 Register. 



The Tree Mignonette is to be propagated from seeds sown 

 in spring ; it may also be increased by cuttings, which will 

 readily strike. The young plants should be put singly into 

 small pots, and brought forward by heat, that of a gentle hot- 

 bed being preferable, but they will grow well without arti- 

 ficial heat. As they advance, they must be tied to a stick ; 

 taking care to prevent the growth of the smaller side shoots, 

 by pinching them off, but allowing the leaves of the main 

 stem to remain on for a time to support and strengthen it. 

 When they have attained the height of about ten inches, or 

 more, according to the fancy of the cultivator, the shoots 

 must be suffered to extend themselves from the top, but 

 must be occasionally stopped at the ends, to force them to 

 form a bushy head, which, by the autumn, will be eight or 

 nine inches in diameter, and covered with bloom. As soon 

 as the head begins to be formed, the leaves on the main stem 

 must be removed. Sometimes flowers will shew themselves 

 at the top of the leading shoot, before it is of the length de- 

 sired, this head must then be taken off, as far as the flowers 

 shew, and a side shoot trained in continuation of the main 

 stem, like a new leader to a tree which has lost its original 



