226 
CULTURE OF THE BOUVARDIA TRIPHYLLA. 
the soil, and planting them with the finger, continuing to fill up one circle within 
another till it is finished in the centre of the pot or pots, leaving no more of the 
roots visible above the surface than just the top. 
When planted, water and place them in a liot-house, where the temperature at 
night is kept between 60 and 70 degrees Fahr. 
As soon as the shoots get to between four and five inches high, transfer the plants 
singly into pots of a small size, and by degrees harden them after they have been 
established. 
When they have made some progress after this transplanting, plant them out 
into a bed four feet wide, eight inches between the rows, and four inches in the row: 
where, if the soil be good, many will soon be in flower. Pot them again before 
frost, and treat them as directed for the older plants. 
The above excellent mode of cultivating this beautiful plant was first described 
by Mr. Mearns, gardener to his grace the Duke of Portland, Welbeck, Notts., in a 
letter to the London Horticultural Society, and in whose Transactions it was pub- 
lished, vol. vii., p. 501. The plan answers well, and deserves to be followed by all 
who grow this lovely plant : we have therefore given the details nearly in Mr. 
Mearns* own words. 
If it is not convenient to take the plants up in autumn and pot them, they may 
be allowed to remain in the ground, for they will bear a considerable degree of 
frost ; but it is best to cut them down in the winter for two reasons. First, because 
they are more readily defended from the severity of winter by litter or leaves ; and, 
secondly, because a quantity of young shoots, which always produce the first 
flowers, are pushed out early in the spring, whereas if not cut down the shoots are 
weak and come out later. 
CULTURE OF GARDENIA FLORIDA AND RADICANS. 
Both these species are propagated by cuttings : the latter very easily, the former 
with more difficulty. The latter is a profuse flowerer; the former grows tall, and 
seldom continues in flower very long. The culture of both is on the whole similar, 
although in some things they differ. 
1. Propagation of G. Jlorida. In the beginning of April take off the tips of 
the young and half- ripened shoots, at about an inch and a half long, and prepare 
them for cuttings. This is done by taking off with a sharp knife a few leaves at 
the bottom of each cutting, and making a clear cut off, close under a joint. 
2. When the cuttings are thus prepared, take some forty-eight sized pots and fill 
them half full of broken potsherds ; over these potsherds lay a little moss, or loose 
