482 
THE PETUNIA, 
thick substance with its own form. To get 
rid of the points is a great object, and it is 
as stubborn a blemish as the thin flowers ; 
and of many hundred seedlings, very few, if 
any, will be found that has improved in more 
than one or two of the necessary qualities, 
and perhaps not half a dozen will be found 
sufficiently improved to be worth saving. It 
is quite certain that nothing but perseverance 
will ensure success ; and as the flower is still 
far inferior to what it may be, our hints for 
the culture of the Petunia shall commence 
with the saving of the seed and the raising of 
seedlings, with a view to advance the quality. 
RAISING FROM SEEDS. 
The first object is to procure half-a-dozen 
varieties of the best that can be obtained. 
The variety called Punctata is a star amongst 
Petunia punctata. 
these flowers, because without being a very 
bad form, it is remarkable for its colour, and 
for a sort of variegated stripe of white, which 
forms a pretty contrast with the ground 
colour, which is a near approach to blue. As 
is the case, however, with many variegated 
flowers, they do not come striped at first, nor 
if they are grown very strong. This kind is 
also not so thick in the flower as we could 
wish, but it may be the origin of other varie- 
gated sorts, and should be one among those 
we seed from. There were three varieties 
let out by Mrs. Girling of Stowmarket nursery 
■ — Madame Celeste and two others — all of 
which have very distinct properties, chiefly, 
however, form and particular characters in 
the colour, — one has deep, rosy veins, another 
somewhat lighter, and the third is a rich 
purple, with remarkably fine texture. A 
fifth, called Jenny Lind, is somewhat thinner 
than we like, but is, without exception, the 
best form we know of. With regard to a 
sixth, there was an Essex flower raised a 
year or two ago of monstrous size, but not 
very good form ; it had, however, vast thick- 
ness, rich texture and colour, and on account 
of its size might greatly assist in rendering the 
offspring of the others better in this respect. 
With these, or any other striking varieties 
which had some property conspicuously in 
advance, we should commence growing Petu- 
nias. If we required more than half-a-dozen 
for the purposes of ornament, we should have 
two or three or half-a-dozen of a sort, rather 
than increase the number of varieties by the 
addition of any that were not desirable, on ac- 
count of some peculiarly good property. These 
will be purchased in pots. Make up a little 
bed or clump for them with good loam from 
rotted turves, peat, and dung from a rotten hot- 
bed, in the proportion of half loam, one-fourth 
peat, and one-fourth rotten dung. Mix these 
well together a foot deep, or if the garden 
mould already in the clumps is rich, and 
grows most things vigorously, use it instead 
of making it up on purpose. Turn out the 
balls of earth from the pots, by turning them 
bottom upwards, with two fingers across the 
pot to prevent it falling, and gently striking 
the edge upon the potting-table ; plant the 
balls in the ground, so that the surface may be 
rather below the ground level ; water them 
in, and if the weather be warm, continue to 
water them daily for a few days until they 
are fully established. Here they should bloom, 
and none of the flowers should be picked off : 
exposed to all the weathers some of them are 
sure to seed, and as the pods swell they must 
be watched, and picked off when they turn 
yellow. The seed-pods should be placed in 
some shallow vessel in the sun to dry, so that 
when they split the seed should not be lost ; 
and when thoroughly dry, it should be rubbed 
out, cleaned, and stored in very dry paper. 
In February, this seed should be sown in the 
compost we have described : large pots are 
better than seed-pans for this purpose, be- 
cause the body of mould retains the moisture 
longer than a smaller quantity. The pot 
should be filled, and by striking the bottom 
against the potting-table the earth sinks a 
little below the edge of the pot. The seed 
should be sown very thinly over the surface, 
and a little of the same sort of soil should be 
sifted through a fine sieve, so as just to cover 
it ; place it in a slight hotbed, or a green- 
house, with firing in it, and if the latter, 
cover Avith a hand-glass. As soon as the seed 
has germinated, and grown large enough to 
