THE FLORAL "WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
171 
and used the ordinary means of striking them. I rooted nearly the 
whole of the choice sorts in bottom-heat, first picking oft all the 
buds that I could get hold of, and soon found myself in possession ot 
a quantity of dwarf plants, not three inches high, potted into 4-inch 
pots, and promising to be handsome. These have progressed to my 
entire satisfaction, and I can safely say that nothing strikes more 
freely. 
1 was moved to this practice by the result of an attempt last 
year to obtain a succession of Balsams when the plants had become 
ugly ; for I then picked off the upper buds, took off the tops, about 
three inches long, and (somewhat carelessly, I admit, for I was 
busy), put them under bell-glasses, with the best bottom-heat I had. 
The result was that about one out of three rooted, and I had some 
fine dwarf plants, long after the others had seeded and died. I 
feel convinced that, had my bottom-heat been sharper, they would 
all have rooted. However, my experiment this year has so com- 
pletely answered, that I am very likely to repeat the experiment. 
With regard to Cockscombs, I have long practised the decapi- 
tation system. I allow them, after pricking out five or six round 
the edge of a four-inch pot, to grow till they show their bloom, 
and I then take oft' the tops of the most promising, so as to have 
only six leaves above the soil, put them at once singly into three- 
inch pots, plunge them all in the tan of a hothouse, and shade them 
for a week. 1 then place them as near the glass as I can, keep them 
well watered, and shift as soon as they reach the side with their 
roots. The leaves and flowers grow as freely as in seedlings; but 
when I give them the first shift, I transfer to a hotbed made on 
purpose, keeping them always as near the glass as possible. The 
leaves are of course close down to the pot, grow as large as ever 
I saw them on seedling plants, while the flower increases to 
a monstrous size — incredibly large for such dwarf plants. The 
only condition required is to let there be two inches of stripped stem 
below the six leaves we mean to form the plant, and let an inch and 
a-half of this be put into soil. They do not require covering with a 
glass, but there should be a genial heat in the tan ; or, if they are 
struck in a hot-bed, let the pots be plunged until they have struck 
root, or for one week at least. Then they may be placed on the 
level surface. 
I need not point out the advantage of this treatment. When 
we happen to have bad seed, yielding a straggling sort (or, as I 
have had this year, a batch not two of which come alike), it enables 
one to select a few of the best in a forward state, and to grow' a few 
tolerable plants, when, by the ordinary means, there would be a 
total failure. 
While upon the subject of Balsams and Cockscombs, I wish to 
remark that the notion which has long prevailed — that Balsam seed 
should be old to become double, or that old Balsam seed is better 
than new — is altogether erroneous. I have Balsams whose indi- 
vidual flowers are as double as a camellia or a rose, and these from 
a crop of seed saved by myself in September last. And I would 
also remark that they are very nearly true to the varieties they 
June. 
