THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
147 
flowers ; and E. Massoni , which has orange and green flowers, should be 
grown in pure sand, with artificial heat. 
Many other kinds might be mentioned ; but most of these were in flower 
in January last, at Henderson’s Nursery, Pine-apple Place, Edgware Hoad, 
and many of them at Hopgood’s Nursery, Craven Hill, Bays water Poad. 
The great secret of managing Heaths is to water them regularly, never 
giving them either too much or too little. The pots should be well drained, 
and the best soil for most of the species is a mixture of peat and silver sand. 
The plants should be potted high, with the collar of the plant slightly raised 
above the surface, as when this part is covered with soil, it is very apt to rot. 
CULTIVATION OF BALSAMS. 
A Subscriber to “The Ladies’ Magazine of Gardening” wishes to know 
the best mode of raising Balsams, as he has been for some years unsuc¬ 
cessful, having lost nearly, and sometimes all, when about two or three 
inches high. 
Balsams never thrive, unless both raised and kept for some time in a 
hotbed, as they should grow rapidly. They also require transplanting 
very often, to make them attain a large size. The seeds should be sown 
on a hotbed in March or April, and the seedlings transplanted as soon 
as practicable into very small pots, which should be plunged into the 
hotbed and well supplied with water. In about a week or fortnight, the 
plants should be removed to larger pots; and this operation should be 
frequently repeated till the flower-buds begin to form, after which the 
plants must not be removed any more. They must also be gradually 
hardened to bear the open air ; and the pots need not be plunged in the 
hotbed after the plants are six inches high. When placed in a balcony 
to flower, they should be grown in double pots, the interstices between 
the two being stuffed with moss. The pots should be well drained, but 
the plants should be supplied abundantly with water. The seeds of 
Balsams should be used as fresh as possible, as they will not keep good 
more than a year. Balsams are sometimes propagated by cuttings in 
pure sand, and covered with a bell-glass. An article on the Balsam will 
be found in the present Number. (See p. 137-) 
PLANTS FOR GLASS CASES. 
Madam, —Could you oblige a London amateur of flowers, and an 
admirer of your truly splendid works on Floriculture, by inserting a list 
of low-growing plants, suitable for the^closed glass cases so much used, in 
your “ Ladies’ Magazine of Gardening ? ” 
