356 
DOMESTIC GARDENING. 
and China Roses, may be preserved inside the 
window, if their presence is thought desirable, 
provided the room is not kept too close and 
warm, and light can be freely admitted to 
them : otherwise, they must be removed to a 
frame for the winter, and protected during 
that period from frost, by means of coverings 
at night ; the covers being daily removed to 
admit light, and the frame daily opened to 
allow the escape of the confined and accumu- 
lating moisture. 
The creepers named in the list, or any 
similar ones that may be chosen, should be 
annually raised from seeds sown in pots, and 
placed inside the window, or any warm place, 
and subsequently cultivated in the frame ; in 
this case, a slight degree of artificial heat 
would be a valuable adjunct to the frame: 
perhaps, after all, it would be best to procure 
plants of these from a nurseryman, or else 
from some friendly store, where the advantage 
of a green-house renders their preservation in 
winter less vexatious and precarious. 
Mignonette is a great favourite for the 
window, and, with the assistance of a frame, 
it may be had all the year in bloom. To 
secure this, a portion should be sown about 
the beginning of September, to come into 
bloom during the winter : others sown in 
February would follow ; and from this time a 
few pots should be sown each month, to keep 
up a complete succession. The seeds should 
be sown thinly in pots, about five inches in 
diameter, and covered over about a quarter of 
an inch with fine soil : when they have vege- 
tated, the weakest of the plants should be 
removed, leaving about a half-dozen of the 
strongest of them to come into bloom ; from 
each sowing, some of the pots should be 
selected and all the strongest plants removed, 
the smaller ones being left, these will come 
into bloom later than the others, and the suc- 
cession will thereby be rendered more perfect. 
The Musk plant (.Mimiilus moschatus') may 
be had in perfection, by annually repotting 
some of its creeping root-stems early in the 
spring ; and placing them either on the in- 
tarior ledge of the window, or in a frame, in 
either of which situations it will readily suc- 
ceed : its season may be prolonged, during the 
summer, by taking a branch or two every 
month, and planting them as cuttings, in small 
pots, placed in a shady cool place ; this will 
extend their vigour over the whole season, 
and their peculiar fragrance renders this some- 
what desirable. 
For those who have not the convenience of 
a frame at hand, there are other methods 
winch may be adopted. The most simple, 
and, at the same time, successful plan, is to 
preserve the plants, as already directed, 
throughout the winter ; and, on the approach 
of spring, to expose them very gradually to 
light and air, commencing with the interior 
of the window, and then exposing them on 
the exterior; in the latter case, they must, at 
first, for some time, be removed inside at 
night, and during all rough and stormy 
weather, and exposed only when the air is 
calm and warm. This method, it must be 
confessed, is attended with some care and 
trouble ; but the success which it will en- 
sure, will be such as fully to counterbalance 
this inconvenience in the estimation of those 
who are " fond of flowers." The rationale of 
procedure should be something like the fol- 
lowing : — During winter the plants should be 
kept as perfectly dry as they can be, to avoid 
the absolute shrivelling up of the branches, 
and as cool as would be consistent with the 
perfect exclusion of the frost : this will keep 
them in a state of absolute rest, and this con- 
dition being secured, everything else becomes 
of secondary importance, until the return of 
the spring ; light may indeed be supplied to 
those which have their foliage persistent, but, 
in the case of those which shed their leaves, 
this is not of any importance. On the return 
of spring (say about the end of February) the 
plants should be taken out, and supplied with 
a little more heat and moisture ; but these 
must be very sparingly applied, and very gra- 
dually increased : they must now also be ex- 
posed to light ; Avhen growth is commencing 
they should be repotted, and, in doing this, 
as much as possible of the old soil should be 
removed, and a portion of the roots, also, if 
they are numerous. The pots should be 
selected, as small as the roots can be con- 
veniently placed in, to allow of some ad- 
ditional shiftings as they increase in growth. 
From this time (which we may assume to be 
about the middle of March) they should be 
exposed to the open air during as great a por- 
tion of the day as the weather may be mild 
and serene ; at other times they must be kept 
within doors, but fully exposed to light, and 
as far removed from the influence of heat, as 
may be possible in a living room. Water 
must be given in very small libations, more 
frequently applied, as the process of evapora- 
tion is favoured by clear and warm weather, 
and less so when evaporation is slow and im- 
perfect ; it should, however, in this stage of 
growth, never be applied when the soil is 
already obviously in a moist state. The alter- 
nation of exposure by day, and protection at 
night, must go on without intermission, though 
in varying proportions ; the former will gra- 
dually become the principal, and most impor- 
tant feature, until at length the period of 
vicissitude is past, summer weather becomes 
settled in, and the plants are capable of full 
and unlimited exposure. This course of treat- 
