THE BORONIA. 
147 
Land. Introduced in 1824. Flowers in 
spring. 
There are some few other species said to 
exist in our gardens, but we have never met 
with them in a living state. Several other 
kinds are, however, known to botanists. 
PROPAGATION. 
The Boronias are increased by cuttings, 
rather than by seeds, whicli are not often 
perfected in tliis country. Where, however, 
imported seeds can be obtained, as they some- 
times may, they produce stronger and larger 
plants in a given space of time. The ordinary 
stock cultivated in this country is obtained 
from cuttings, which are made to produce 
roots without much difficulty under the treat- 
ment sketched out below. 
Seeds. — The seeds may be sown as soon as 
they are received from their native country, if 
that be at any period of the year prior to July 
or the beginning of August. After that time, 
it is best to retain the seeds till the February 
following, as the young plants are very liable 
to be lost during winter, if their germination 
takes place in the autumnal months. From 
February to May may be taken as the best 
period for sowing, as the plants when raised 
thus early, have time to become established as 
separate individuals in small pots, before the 
trying winter season arrives. The soil proper 
for sowing the seeds in, is light sandy peat ; 
that is to say, ordinary light peat earth as it 
is usually obtained for potting purposes, in- 
termixed with about an eighth part of pure 
silver sand. The pots, of which the most con- 
venient size and form are those known as 
wide forty-eights (which measure six inches 
in width, at top inside, by five inches in depth), 
should have placed in the bottom a couple of 
inches of potsherds or bricks, broken to the 
size of nuts, a large almost flat piece being 
first laid over the hole in the bottom of the 
pot. On these a layer of about an inch of turfy 
fragments of soil should be placed, so that the 
finer soil above may not run down amongst 
the potsherds placed for drainage. The bulk 
of the soil employed may be passed through a 
sieve with three-quarter-inch meshes, and 
with this the pots are to be filled up to within 
about an inch of the top, pressing the soil 
down moderately firm with the hand, and 
making the surface quite level and even, but 
not flatly consolidated. On this surface the 
seeds are to be scattered thinly, and then 
covered with about a quarter of an inch in 
thickness of the same fine soil. All seed-pots 
should be marked with the name of the plant 
the seeds of which are sown, and the date of 
sowing. If a slight wai-mth, such as that 
afforded by a half- spent dung bed, can be 
made use of, it will facilitate germination ; in 
this case the pots should be plunged in the 
material covering the bed, and the sashes may 
be kept quite closed until the young plants 
begin to grow up, when a portion of air must 
be admitted. If there is no hotbed, the pots 
may be set on a shelf in a greenhouse, where 
the process will take place, though not so 
rapidly. It is objectionable to apply much 
water to seed-pots before germination has 
taken place, and this is especially the case, if 
the seeds are very small, and consequently 
deposited all but on the surface ; and yet in 
fine sunny weather, the surface of the soil 
dries so much as to become unsuited to facili- 
tate germination, and requires watering, per- 
haps every twenty-four or forty-eight hours. 
To obviate this evil, which is more felt when 
the pots are set in a greenhouse than when 
in a hotbed frame, it is a frequent and advan- 
tageous practice to cover the sui'face of the 
soil, immediately after sowing is completed, 
by a layer of loose damp moss, which is easily 
kept just damp, by an occasional sprinkling, 
and prevents the drying of the soil by evapo- 
ration. This plan, however, has its disadvan- 
tages; it entails more exact attention. For 
if the covering of moss is left on after the 
young plants begin to break through the soil, 
it blanches and etiolates them ; and if this 
continues long, they are either seriously 
damaged, or if weak altogether destroyed. 
Hence the necessity of almost daily examining 
seed-pots when they are covered in this way. 
Whether covered or no, it is certain that the 
soil about the seeds must not be suffered to 
become thoroughly dried, for moisture is 
absolutely essential to germination. There- 
fore, if the pots are not covered, they must 
be watered, as often as they become somewhat 
dry. It is an advantage to use tepid water 
on these occasions, and it should be applied 
by means of a very fine-rosed watering pot, a 
very fine-capped syringe, or jerked from a, 
stiff-haired brush. 
When the seedlings are so far advanced, 
that the cotyledons or seed-lobes are fully 
expanded, and the little heart shows a tend- 
ency to push up other leaves, they should be 
transplanted, or, as it is technically termed, 
"pricked out" into other pots, prepared in a 
way similar to the seed-pots, and filled with 
the same kind of soil. Here they are placed 
an inch or so apart, and after transplanting 
must be set into a close frame, where there is 
a temperature of about fifty degrees, in which 
they remain for a week or fortnight, or until 
they begin to grow a little ; they are then by 
degrees exposed more and more to the ordi" 
nary temperature, being however sheltered at 
night, and during rainy or stormy periods, 
There is no better place for them in winter, 
than on a shelf near the glass in a greenhouse, 
J>2 
