THE PETUNIA. 
209 
ornament, and a show flower. During the 
past season, Mr. Girling, of Stowmarket, 
showed, on several occasions, collections of the 
most beautifully striped varieties, enough to 
tempt any one who had room for a collection 
to begin growing them ; and some of the 
varieties were, in every respect, up to the 
desirable standard, or, at least, nearly to it. 
At the Botanical Gardens, there were many 
exhibited by Mr. Sorrel, of Chelmsford, one 
or two varieties of the largest conceivable 
size, and one of them of a texture more like 
purple morocco leather than anything else, 
with all the roughness of the grain so con- 
spicuous in that article. These advances, be 
it remembered, were made, as it were, in one, 
or, at most, two seasons ; and where the 
advance, as regards colour, is to stop, we know 
not. Every buyer of any of these remarkable 
varieties will, in all probability, save seed, and 
produce new combinations, because no plant 
requires less trouble in cultivation, whether 
grown in pots or turned out in beds and 
borders ; but we should recommend all young 
beginners to turn their new plants into bor- 
ders at the end of May. Let the border have 
some vegetable mould forked into it, and if 
the soil be very tenacious, a little peat earth, 
to lighten it. They should be turned out of the 
pots with the balls of earth whole, so as not to 
disturb the roots, and have a little water to 
close the earth about them. As soon as they 
shoot a little, either pinch the top off, or take 
off the top two joints with it, and strike it 
under a hand glass, if with a little bottom heat 
so much the better. These will form a 
succession of plants to put out ; but as the 
plants of new varieties are mostly small, and 
will, doubtless, be so in this case, it may be 
desirable to pinch out the top at once, to get 
a stronger and more early development of side 
shoots. If any of these side shoots grow 
longer than the rest on the plant, take the top 
out. The dwarf kinds will run over the bed, 
and bloom well ; but the tall ones must have 
support, and the best kind is short branches of 
trees and shrubs, which they will completely 
cover. Here let them have water in dry 
weather, soaked well in all over the bed, 
foliage as well as roots ; and the best time for 
this is as soon as the sun is down, or off them, 
in the evening, or, at least, when the heat of 
the day is over. Here they will flower and 
throw out side shoots, that may be shortened 
to make cuttings of. To strike these, it is 
necessary to cut the stem up to a joint ; re- 
move the bottom leaves of it, and stick them 
into a pot, to be covered with a bell glass. If 
you can plunge the pot into slight bottom heat, 
it will facilitate the striking, though they will 
do well enough without any further trouble 
than placing them in a frame, shading the 
individual bell gla c s with thin paper, wiping 
the damp from the glass inside daily, and 
keeping the soil moist. When rooted, they 
may be planted out to bloom, or potted for 
storing. The early flowering ones, that is, 
those planted in May, will seed freely, and the 
production of the seed may be new sorts, 
exceeding in beauty and variety the plants 
from which they are saved. In the spring, 
sow the seed in boxes or pans, and they will 
The Petunia. 
come up in a cold frame. "When they germi- 
nate, they must be freely watered, and, as 
soon as they are large enough, they may be 
potted, one each, in large sixty-sized pots. 
Place them out of doors, on some hard ground, 
through which the worms cannot penetrate, to 
get into the pots, and taking especial care that 
they are never dry; they will grow well until 
the time for placing them in winter quarters ; 
and at that time the old plants must be potted 
up from the borders, or otherwise protected ; 
for they will not stand the winter. In the 
frame, all winter time, they will want but 
little water. They cannot be too dry, so that 
they do not actually flag for want of moisture. 
Pick off dead leaves all through the period of 
their confinement in the frames ; for they 
would cause damp, and sometimes rot. The 
old plants may be cut down pretty close, and 
the cuttings be struck ; for, during the 
winter, they need only be stuck into pots, 
several in each, all round the edges, and kept 
from getting dry ; they will strike, in all 
probability, before the time for bedding out, 
or potting off: and thus, the purchaser of a 
dozen good ones this spring may have a 
first-rate stock, — first, by striking all the 
varieties he buys i secondly, by the saving of 
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