138 
THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
The plants can be made to flower in any size pot, from No. 60 
to No. 1, by desisting from shifting ; but 24, 16, or 12, are the 
general sizes. When they are intended to flower they may be removed 
from the frames to the greenhouse, &c., and ought to be kept rather 
warmer till the flowers begin, to expand; but if they are kept cool and 
shaded in the middle of the day, it greatly prolongs their flowers. 
Window Gardening of Balsams .—Sow the seed from the middle of 
March to the middle of April, in a pot or pan; cover the top of the pot 
with a bit of glass till the plants appear; keep them inside till they are 
about three inches high ; then pot them into No. 60-sized pots after a few 
days; set them outside at eight o’clock in the morning, and let them 
remain till four or five in the evening, keeping them inside all night; 
shifting them when the roots begin to coil around the insides of the pots, 
which will be found necessary about every three weeks; continue this 
treatment, shifting from the pots No. 60, to No. 48, 32, and 24, and 
turning the plants round every day. I have seen plants grown pre¬ 
cisely in this manner far superior to many which have been cultivated 
in frames or greenhouses. Indeed, it is much better to cultivate them 
altogether in the open ground, than to excite them in the extreme heat 
they are too often subjected to. 
ON THE ATTACHMENT OF THE ROBIN FOR MAN. 
BY MR. ANDERSON, CURATOR OF THE CHELSEA BOTANIC GARDEN. 
I am requested to state to you the attachment a robin redbreast had for 
me in 1837. You know that our frames for raising seeds are by the river 
side, and that there is a shed in front of these frames. This shed is about 
twelve feet long and six feet and a half wide, with a low wall at the east 
end, and a boarded end on the right, or west end, the frame of which has 
many small shelves fixed in it; there is also a shifting board attached to this 
wooden wall, which is about ten feet long and about three and a half feet 
broad, on which is the mould for potting. The robin had built its nest 
on the highest shelf, and this was done before I noticed what was going 
on ; indeed, we noticed nothing very particular till there was a family of 
five to provide for. Then came work for both birds; and we were much 
amused to watch the coaxing ways that the male bird made use of to get 
his wife to do her part in the providing. He would talk to her on the 
low wall, take the worm from her, come hopping along the board before 
me, and frequently would stop before me, look at her, and then look 
