406 
APPENDIX A. 
plants have been enclosed four years ; the mould consisting of very sandy loam. 
No water has been given since they were planted, and all are in a state of per- 
fect health, although now outgrowing their narrow bounds. 
7. Crocuses and Winter Aconites. Two cases were filled with roots of these 
plants ; the one placed outside a window with a southern aspect, where there 
was plenty of light, but no artificial heat ; the other in a warm room, where 
the light was very deficient. The plants in the former case exhibited a perfectly 
natural appearance, — their flowers were abundant and well coloured ; while in 
the latter the leaves grew very long and pale, and not a single flower was 
produced. 
8. Crocuses with Artificial Light. A case fitted up precisely as the two pre- 
ceding was placed on my staircase, close to a gas lamp. The plants were co- 
vered during the day with a thick dark cloth, so as effectually to exclude 
day-light, and as soon as the gas was lighted the cloth was removed. The 
plants were thus exposed from five to eight hours daily to the influence of arti- 
ficial light, accompanied with some degree of heat, while the remainder of the 
twenty-four hours was spent in a state of rest. The plants grew very well, the 
leaves not so much drawn up as those in the warm room, and the color more 
intense. One root flowered, the color of the flower being blue. 
9. Case with Spring Flowers. In order to have a gay assemblage of flowers, 
I filled a case about three feet by one with the following plants, viz.. Primula 
sinensis^ P. nivalis, Scilla sibirica, Cyclamen Coum, Ornithogalum Sternbergii, 
Gagea lutea, Ganymedes pulchellus, and three or four varieties of Crocus, inter- 
spersed with little patches of Lycopodium denticulatum. This case was placed, 
about the end of February, outside a window with a southern aspect. It is not, 
I believe, possible to see these plants to such advantage in an ordinary garden. 
Here, undisturbed either by wind or rain, their flowers are developed in the 
greatest luxuriance ; and most of them continue for two or three months,^ 
realising the beautiful description of Catullus : — 
“ Ut flos in septis secretus nascitur hortis 
Ignotus pecori, nullo contusus aratro 
Quern mulcent aurse, firmat sol, educat imber, 
Multi ilium pueri, multse optavere puellse.” 
10. Fairy Roses. I procured two of the smallest varieties of Fairy Rose, 
planted them in two tubs, in some good loam, with broken pots at the bottom, 
and then covered them with bell-glasses, the diameter of which was rather 
smaller than that of the tubs, and placed them outside a window facing the 
south, where they have now' remained three years. These plants are as nearly 
as possible in their natural condition, very seldom requiring water, as the rain 
which falls runs over the glass through the mould. They begin to flower early 
* The Chorizema ilicifolium, if placed in such a situation in the beginning of May, will continue 
to flower for four or five months ; and cut flowers will last twice or thrice as long as in ordinary 
rooms. 
