CULTURE OF THE GENUS RONDELETIA. 
159 
rich, growing in corymbs, and making a most striking appearance, being quite as 
splendid as the Ixora coccinea , if not more so. 
1. All the species require the heat of the stove, and will not thrive in any 
situation with a temperature less than 60 deg. Fahr., but they flower much finer if 
regularly kept in a house where the general heat is 70 deg. or more. 
2. The soil most suitable for them is a light sandy loam, mixed with at least 
one half of sandy peat. 
3. In potting, always give a good drainage with broken pots, in preference to 
cinders, stones, or any other materials. 
4. Always be careful never to over-pot them, but use small pots, and pot them 
oftener. The best time for them to be generally potted is immediately after they 
have done flowering, and, if needful, about two months before they come into flower 
again. 
5. Never pare off the matted roots with a knife, but if necessary loosen them a 
little at the time of potting, with a pointed stick, or the hand, and carefully place 
them in the new pot. 
6. At the time of flowering, give a good supply of water at the roots ; and, during 
summer, sprinkle water over the leaves also, about once or twice a-week. 
7. They are propagated very freely by cuttings of half-ripened wood taken off 
at three or four joints, and planted in clean sand, and plunged in heat. 
8. It is necessary they should be covered with glasses ; a cheap and good sub- 
stitute for the common crystal bell glasses, is flat pieces of common crown glass 
laid over the top of the pot in which the cuttings are planted ; fill the cutting-pots 
to within something more than the height of the cuttings from the top of the pot, 
to allow room for their growth whilst striking. The sides of the pots act as a 
sufficient shade, and turning the glasses upside down every morning prevents the 
condensed vapour upon the glass injuring the cuttings. Mr. Mearns, gardener to 
his Grace the Duke of Portland, first recommended this system in our Horticultural 
Register, and he found it to answer so well, that he greatly prefers it to any other 
covering. There is no occasion to waste the glass by cutting it circular, or even to 
cut off the corners, and the pane may be used for glazing purposes when it is done 
with. 
9. When the cuttings are rooted, pot them off in small pots filled with sandy peat, 
and at each succeeding potting add a little loam, until the compost is in the propor- 
tions recommended for flowering plants. 
10. After the cuttings are potted off, for the first time, plunge the pots again in 
a brisk heat, until they have begun to make roots, when they may be treated like 
old plants. 
