THE LADIES MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
277 
numerous experiments upon this subject in the garden, it appears, 1st, 
that plants which it is intended to acclimatize should never be subjected 
to artificial heat during the winter that precedes their being planted out; 
that if obtained from seeds, as little heat as possible should be employed 
in raising them ; and that starved or stunted plants are more likely to 
succeed than such as have been forced into a rapid and luxuriant growth. 
2d, that the plants should not be committed to the open ground earlier 
than the end of May; that the soil should be poor, dry, and thoroughly 
drained; that if against a wall, the border should be protected through 
the entire winter by a roof of hurdles, thatched with straw, and project¬ 
ing about three feet. A thermometer placed under such a covering did 
not, during the three months of February, March, and April, stand more 
than two or three degrees higher than one freely exposed ; from which it 
appears that it is the dryness of the situation, and not its greater warmth, 
that renders a border, protected by a roof of thatched hurdles, so useful 
to tender plants. 
Read the result of experiments by Mr. G. Gordon, upon raising plants 
from seed. He states that all seeds from North America and California 
should be sown in the autumn, as soon as ripe ; to defer the sowing them 
till the spring, may in all cases be disadvantageous, excepting the case of 
annuals ; that Mexican and Chilian seeds succeed best if sown in spring ; 
that with regard to Europe and the north of India, trees and shrubs 
should be sown in the autumn, and annuals or perennials in the spring ; 
that all seeds, of whatever kind, should be sown in dry soil, and not 
watered till they begin to vegetate ; in the case of old or sickly seeds, to 
water them at the time of sowing, is to ensure their destruction by rotting; 
that shading is to be preferred to watering ; and that one of the best con¬ 
structions for the purpose is a pit, glazed with double sashes, like one in 
the Society’s Garden : finally, that all seedlings should be potted or trans¬ 
planted as soon as possible, except bulbs. 
Mr. Gordon also reported that the great beauty of the Rhododendrons 
this year, notwithstanding the wet and gloomy summer of 1839, was, in 
his opinion, attributable to their fruit having been all destroyed in 1839, 
immediately after flowering. 
The following communication was read from the Honourable and Rev. 
Wm. Herbert:— 
“ I wish to take this opportunity of communicating to the Society a plan 
I have adopted for cultivating Orchidaceous plants, which I think will 
be found deserving of notice. I took a strong post, or stem of a young 
tree barked, of a suitable height, and I had pieces of barked wood, such 
as are used for making rustic benches, cut into various lengths and nailed 
VOL. I.—NO. IX. 
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