10 
THE GENUS BURTONIA. 
bottom of which is to be just deep enough to 
allow the end of the cutting to rest on it, while 
it is buried not more than about a third of its 
lengih. The base of the cutting resting on 
the bottom of the hole thus made, the little 
dibble is pressed into the sand, just clear of 
the former hole, at two or three points; this 
presses the sand firmly against the cutting, 
which thus becomes fixed. All the cuttings 
are thus planted, and then the whole receive 
a gentle watering from a pot having a very 
fine rose attached to its spout. As soon as 
the cuttings and sand have dried a little, the 
bell glass is put over, and the pot set in its 
allotted place. A very mild tan-bed is an 
excellent place, and any place where there 
is a mild degree of heat is preferable. The 
bell glasses have to be wiped diy every day, 
the cuttings shaded when there is bright 
sunshine, and watered gently from time to 
time before the sand gets dry. When the 
cuttings begin to grow the glasses should be 
tilted aside for a ^^^ days, and then removed 
entirely, the plants being now fit for potting 
separately. 
Seeds produce the best and most vigorous 
plants, and whenever they can be had, they 
should be preferred before cuttings ; they re- 
quire to be sown in well-drained pots in a 
compost of peat and li)am, made rather sandy 
by the admixture of the pure white sand. 
The seeds should be covered about their own 
thickness with fine soil ; and the pots may be 
set, as before, under the influence of a gentle 
beat. The soil must be kept moderately 
moist. When the young seedlings have 
grown fairly up, and formed a pair or so of 
leaves besides the seed lobes, they may be 
potted singly in the same way in the cuttings. 
GENERAL CULTURE. 
The young plants, both cuttings and seed- 
lings, may at first be potted singly into the 
small pots called thumbs ; these are prepared 
by placing a piece of crock at bottom as large 
as will lie flat, and then about three-fourths 
of an inch of broken crocks of the size of peas, 
followed by a few sprigs of moss to separate 
the drainage from the soil. The plants should 
be potted rather high ; that is to say, they 
should not be planted lower in the soil than 
they have been previously ; the roots must 
be laid easily among the soil, which ought to 
be gently pressed, but not too much consoli- 
dated. They require after potting a close 
frame and a little warmth, which latter should 
however be very trifling — about 60° in the 
soil, and 45° in the atmosphere. Watering 
must on no account be neglected, for this 
would ruin the plants ; the soil ought to 
be kept just moderately and thoroughly 
moist ; wet soppy soil is decidedly injurious, 
dry parched soil is death. Nothing but vigilant 
attention can avoid falling into these extremes. 
The soil should consist of a mixture of very 
sandy loam, and good fibry peat, the turfy 
parts of each ; these should be mixed in 
equal quantities, and about an eighth part 
of silver sand should be added, and the whole 
well blended. Similar soil, though rather 
less sandy, may be used at the successive pot- 
tings, which should take place as often as the 
previous pots become fairly filled with roots, — 
between the months of February and October. 
From October to February exclusive, it is 
seldom desirable to re-pot shy-growing plants 
of any kind. The fresh pots must not be too 
large ; thus, from a thumb-pot the shift may 
be to one just over three inches in diameter ; 
this again to be exchanged for a six-inch pot; 
then a nine-inch ; then a twelve inch, and so 
on, if still larger sizes are required. In eveiy 
case, the pots must be well drained, the 
drainage being increased in proportion to the 
size of the pots. 
Reverting to the young plants : when they 
are fairly started for growth after being 
"potted ofi^," as the first potting is termed, they 
must have air given to them, at first gradually, 
until they are enabled to bear full exposure 
to our climate in the same degree as the older 
plants do. From this time, a cold frame is 
an excellent situation for them during summer 
weather, and in winter they must be kept 
in a light airy greenhouse. In the former 
situation they are best covered by the sashes 
during the middle portion of the day in hot 
weather, a shade being thrown over the 
glasses, and these tilted up alternately back 
and front, so as to admit of a circulation of 
air. The frame should also be elevated clear 
of the surface which it covers, so that a cur- 
rent of air may constantly play about the 
plants at all times. Drought and scorching 
sun are the principal enemies to fight against 
in summer. In the winter, on the other hand, 
the greatest apprehension is to be excited by 
the fear of over-watering — the opposite ex- 
treme. The various re-pottings should take 
place when the roots begin to thicken around 
the soil in the old pots. 
We have not yet mentioned pruning, not 
however that it is unimportant in the forma- 
tion of a handsome plant ; on the contrary, 
it is impossible to form one of the thick bushy 
objects which are now only looked on as hand- 
some specimens, without following up prun- 
ing almost incessantly ; but it is pruning of 
a peculiar sort. The branches must not be 
allowed to grow at random, and then cut back 
severely to prevent the plant from getting 
lanky. The young shoots must, from the 
very first, be continually nipped as soon as 
they have grown about two inches long ; this 
