494 
THE GENUS IMPATIENS. 
be regularly watered whenever the soil becomes 
dry, and air must be admitted in small quan- 
tities by tilting up the frame at the back a 
half-inch, an inch, two inches, and so on, 
according to the state of the weather ; always 
making it a rule to open the frame a little, to 
let oft' the confined steam, every day ; and at 
other times, the internal temperature must be 
the index to regulate the amount of external 
air admitted : enough should be admitted to 
keep the internal temperature from rising 
above or falling much below 80°. The seeds 
should be sown in March to produce plants to 
bloom in June and July; and later, to keep a 
succession of plants blooming through the 
autumn. It is not of much use to sow earlier, 
as the trouble of raising them at that season is 
much increased, without an adequate return. 
The pots should be kept near the glass, so 
that the seedlings may not become " drawn," 
as the technical phrase is; that is, produced 
with long weakly stems. 
When the seeds have vegetated, and have 
perfected a few, say three or four, leaves, 
they should be removed from the seed-pots to 
some other situation : they are best potted at 
once, singly, into small pots, as they do not 
then require to be moved subsequently beyond 
shifting them from pot to pot, an operation 
which may be performed without checking the 
progressive growth and advancement of the 
plants. The soil in which they are potted 
should consist of light rich material; such as 
a mixture of turfy loam and leaf-mould will 
be appropriate : they should be set deep in 
the soil, a course not advisable with the gene- 
rality of plants, but found to be of some use 
with plants of this nature, which throw out 
roots freely from the covered part of the stem ; 
when potted, the seed lobes, called cotyledons, 
may nearly rest upon the surface of the soil. 
As soon as this operation is completed they are 
to be returned to the frame, and in this situa- 
tion they are to be grown subsequently, until 
they grow up to a size too large to be accom- 
modated in a structure of this kind. The 
atmosphere of this frame must be kept moist, 
for Balsams thrive a great deal on moisture; 
in fact, it is impossible to grow them to any 
degree of perfection, unless they are grown in 
an atmosphere moistened almost to saturation. 
The temperature should be maintained as 
nearly as practicable to 70° Fahrenheit by 
day, and 60° or 65° by night, allowing a rise 
of eight or ten degrees by sun-heat in the day 
time ; whenever the temperature rises above 
this latter point, air must be admitted sufficient 
to reduce the temperature to the desired 
standard ; the principal use of the operation 
of admitting air is thus to regulate the tempe- 
rature, although it may be desirable to open 
the frames also for another purpose, namely, to 
allow the accumulated moisture and steam to 
pass off*? for this purpose a little air may be 
admitted every morning, without regard to the 
temperature; and subsequently, throughout the 
day, both of these points should be kept in 
view. The frames should be closed early 
in the afternoon. Whenever water is required, 
either to moisten the soil or atmosphere, it 
should be used of the same temperature as that 
of the bed, or as near this as may be. By this 
precaution the plants are saved the check 
which they would expei-ience, if cold water 
were brought in contact with them. 
In this manner the plants are to be grown 
on, repotting them frequently into pots two or 
three sizes larger than the ones they are 
growing in, and still using the same rich open 
compost as before, which may be composed of 
rather less leaf-mould and more loam as they 
grow towards maturity. For the purpose 
already adverted to, namely, to prevent the 
plants from becoming " drawn," they should 
be kept elevated as near the glass as possible ; 
and as they advance in stature, this will ren- 
der it necessary either to elevate the frame or 
to sink the pots down in the centre ; which- 
ever plan is followed, the same principles must 
be kept in view ; namely, that while the plants 
are allowed sufficient room to grow without 
being crippled by contact with the top of the 
frame, they may not be removed farther from 
the glass, or rather from the light, than is 
really necessary. The same attention to mois- 
ture and heat must be observed throughout. 
By the time the plants become too large to 
be accommodated in the frames, the green-house 
will admit of being either partially or wholly 
cleared of its regular denizens, and they must 
then be accommodated in it. Here they must 
be kept in a free growing state, by keeping the 
bouse rather close, and maintaining a moist, 
warm atmosphere, as long as it may be thought 
desirable to continue growing them to a larger 
size. When they reach a size which may be 
as large as is desirable, they should be prepared 
for flowering by more mature treatment, that 
is, by giving them rather less moisture in the 
atmosphere, but as much heat, and a full 
supply of water to the soil. Continuing this 
without fail, they will soon arrive at a blooming 
state ; and they may then be retained a much 
longer period in bloom by a more free admis- 
sion of air, keeping the temperature lower, 
and the atmosphere somewhat drier than 
before. If a few blooms happen to be produced 
at an early period of growth, they should be 
removed, as a much better ultimate bloom will 
thus be secured. 
Plants grown thus, as single specimen plants, 
require no staking or any other support ; they 
will consist of a single erect stem, furnished on 
all sides with branches, themselves branching 
