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REMARKS ON THE PELARGONIUM. 
The Pelargonium, all know, is a succulent thing; leave it to itself, whether it be 
in a pot or in the open ground, and let it have that which will enable it to grow, and 
it will become rank ; two or three ungainly branches will assimilate to themselves the 
energy of the whole plant, neither branching laterally nor producing flowers regularly, 
nor in abundance. Resort to training, properly apply it, and it will make this appa- 
rently unkind feature in the plant's character subservient to a good purpose ; first, in 
creating a greater number of branches to occupy its natural vigour; and secondly, by 
causing what coDstitutes that luxuriance, the superabundant juices of the plant, to 
circulate in more circuitous channels. But, is good training of the Pelargonium an 
easy task? To this we answer, the object sought in carrying it out cannot but ren- 
der it a pleasing one, and at most it is but a matter of mere labour, that almost any 
one may perform, that does not exhaust the physical man, but that requires untiring 
patience and great care to direct it successfully. Much depends, in point of difficulty, 
upon the style of training pursued : equal development of branches, of a uniform 
strength in every part of the plant, is generally sought, but the shape in which they 
are arranged depends upon the taste of the person who may be training. The shoots of 
nearly all Pelargoniums naturally grow erect ; therefore an attempt to induce them 
to assume any other direction, especially a descending one, very materially increases 
the difficulty of training — the brittleness of the branches being the chief cause of 
that increase. 
The maturity of the plants is the other principal cause which assists to render 
them perfect as regards the production of bloom ; and they are brought into a 
mature state, as may be imagined, by age ; but then, it may be asked, do not old 
plants become inconveniently large ? They of course have a tendency to become so, 
but nevertheless can be, and are, prevented, by good management, from acquiring 
dimensions proportionate to the number of years they are kept. We do not approve, 
but condemn, as formerly, the practice of maintaining two or three large plants of 
any kind, on account of their size alone, in preference to twice that number, less in 
dimensions, but not in beauty, and which can permit the charm of greater variation 
to be added. It is by proper pruning that Pelargoniums are kept in bounds as to 
dimensions. If we look into the establishments of the great growers at this season 
of the year, we find numbers of plants having exactly the appearance of ancient 
forest-trees in miniature, or like those diminutive representations of the same the 
Chinese are so skilful in producing, both as to the number and gnarled forms of 
their ramifications. 
The foregoing remarks on the Pelargonium have had prominence in our article, 
because they relate to that part of its management upon which, as before stated, 
success in a great measure depends ; a proof of which is, that no one finds any 
difficulty in inducing it to flourish and bear flowers ; but the manner in which it 
does so of itself, or under ordinary circumstances, compared with the way it can, by 
the expenditure of a little labour, be made to do, is almost incredible. The good 
cultivation of the Pelargonium is a matter of more consequence than may be 
