CULTURE OF PELARGONIUMS. 
87 
have not here taken into account the feebleness which such circumstances would 
occasion in the flowers that might ultimately be produced, if the plants themselves 
escaped damage ; as that is quite another contingency. 
Now, to reverse the fundamental condition in this mismanagement, and keep 
Pelargonia in cold frames or pits, for which any needful quantity of covering is 
provided, it is plain that no elongation of the stems could be accomplished, and 
that subsequent injury could not possibly accrue where there was nothing to 
cause it. Covered frames are, consequently, the most likely to ensure dormancy ; 
and the maintenance of dormancy is the soul of winter cultivation. 
But it may be asked how is that fatal foe, excessive moisture, to be expelled, 
when there are no means at hand to effect this purpose ? We answer, mischievous 
dampness does not arise causelessly ; it is not merely accidental. The outer air 
may be laden with moisture for weeks together, and the plants in a frame may, at 
the same time, be as dry as is necessary, under proper restrictions. It is by water- 
ing the plants that too great humidity is occasioned ; and in the power of supplying 
or refusing that element, the cultivator holds perfect facilities for rendering the 
atmosphere almost as arid as he pleases. 
The few hints which follow on the administration of water to Pelargonia during 
winter, are founded on experimental inquiries. First, never give water to any 
plant, the soil around the roots of which is not evidently reduced nearly to a 
powder on the surface, owing to its dryness. Secondly, in watering, never employ 
a rose, but pour it through the spout of a common pot, and avoid wetting the 
leaves. Thirdly, apply a very small quantity, for it is dangerous to bestow too 
much at once, as the presence of fluid increases the influence of cold. Lastly, see 
that every pot is effectively drained, and that they are so arranged on a stage as 
to be beyond the reach of the refuse fluid from those above them. 
Light, heat, and water, — the three leading constituents in the culture of plants, 
— being disposed of, and the relative proportions in which they are required having 
been generally stated, the operation of several causes that would annul or abate the 
benefits of all the preceding rules, still ask investigation. There is one point to 
which we would ascribe an influence especially disadvantageous, that we do not 
recollect ever to have heard mooted. Plants in frames are commonly placed on a 
layer of ashes, or some congenerous material. The water furnished them from 
above, and part of which necessarily drains through the pots, enters the substance 
beneath them, and again arises from thence in the form of vapour. It is from 
that source that the air is often rendered too humid for tender vegetation, and 
putrefaction or mouldiness ensues. 
Our remedy for this evil would be to raise the frames on blocks a little above 
the ground on which they stand, and cover the bottom with thin slabs of slate, 
like those so frequently used for greenhouse stages. If a very gentle declivity 
were allowed to this floor, and an aperture left in each of the lower corners, the 
main portion of the fluid filtered from the pots would be instantly carried to the 
