CULTURE OF A FEW ORNAMENTAL PLANTS, 
227 
rigours, is usually and justly deemed irrational by the majority of culturists ; and 
when the species is of a succulent nature, the danger is thought to be much 
increased ; but in this case the practice must be tolerated as a necessary evil. 
Specimens raised from seeds in the spring, summer, or autumn, should be brought 
into as healthy and robust a condition as possible before the winter commences, and 
to effect this, they may be exposed to a colder and drier atmosphere than they 
would bear at a later period ; though they should never want water at the roots. 
After potting them occasionally, as they may require it, into an enriched loamy 
earth, with only a small proportion of sandy heath-mould incorporated, they may 
be placed on a shelf near the glass, in a warm part of the stove, and must be 
watered very carefully whenever water is needful. > 
To maintain a regular supply of moisture, and likewise obviate the necessity of 
pouring water on the soil, so as to endanger the rotting of the plant at its base, 
some culturists furnish each pot with a flat or pan beneath, filled with water. We 
have known the species preserved in this way with the greatest security ; it being 
a fact with which most growers are familiar, that the mere application of water to 
the surface of a pot in which a delicate plant is growing, often causes it to decay 
just at the junction of the stem and roots. 
In very frosty weather, it is necessary to place an external covering of mats or 
tarpawling over the spot where this species is placed ; because, being so close to the 
glass, and in such a susceptive state, the slightest cold would immediately kill it. 
Having by these means kept it alive till spring, the first operation to which it 
should be subjected about the end of March, is the careful removal of whatever 
portion of the shoots may have been formed in winter, after which the plant can be 
repotted, and treated in the ordinary way ; always, however, with a due regard to 
its love of sufficient moisture. In enjoining attention to this last circumstance, we 
must, nevertheless, distinctly state that the species will as surely be injured by 
excessive dampness as by drought ; and that the only guide to a proper quantity 
is the amount of heat existing in the air, and the actual appearance and wants of 
the specimen. 
The advantage accruing from the decapitation of the plants will not only be the 
cutting away of their sickly winters growth, but the development of a greater 
number of principal shoots, by which the beauty of the specimens, and the quantity 
of flowers they produce, will be greatly augmented. Indeed, it is even desirable 
to stop the leading shoots while the plants are yet young, in order to induce a 
similar bushiness and abundance of blossoms. 
If this Lisianthus be suffered to produce seeds in the autumn after flowering, 
it will prove no more than a biennial, and at once perish. But with those plants 
from which seed is not desired, the best plan of treatment is to cut them down 
directly the flowers fade, to within two or three inches of the soil, when they will 
form a number of new shoots before the winter, and bloom again most profusely in 
the succeeding year. 
