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C. Account of a new Method of cultivating the Lobelia ful- 

 gens, practised hy Mr. William Hedges, Gardener to 

 the Earl of Mansfield, at Kenwood, near Hampstead, 

 By Joseph Sabine, Esq. F. R. S. $c. Secretary. 



Read September 2, 1817. 



The Lobelia fulgens was introduced into this country from 

 Mexico, in 1810 : the splendour of its flowers attracted ge- 

 neral notice, and being readily propagated, it- soon became 

 an inhabitant of the garden of every collector of curious and 

 interesting plants. Requiring protection against frost and 

 damp, it was kept during winter in pots, under cover of a 

 frame, or in a house ; in the spring, it was either suffered to 

 remain in the pots, or was turned out into open borders of 

 rich earth. Being thus managed, it threw up flowering stems, 

 in the summer, from two to three feet in height, and if the 

 plant was in vigour, it also produced a few side shoots of in- 

 ferior strength. It h as latterly been found to bear the seve- 

 rity of our winters, by being immersed in water, as an aqua- 

 tic, and with this treatment has flowered well by the sides 

 of ponds, and in cisterns; but it was reserved for the skill of 

 Mr. Hedges to discover a mode of culture, under which 

 this beautiful exotic has assumed a character of magnificence, 

 which will hereafter make it one of the most conspicuous 

 decorations of our flower gardens. 



The following is the practice of Mr. Hedges. In Octo- 

 ber, he takes off the suckers, which are thrown up from the 



