60 
THE FLORIST AND POHOLOGIST. 
into small pieces, taking care that each piece has a few fibres to it. Plant five 
or six of these in a small pot filled with a compost of loam and rotten leaves, 
or bog earth, in equal parts, with a little sand. Then water and set them by 
in a shady place for about a week; then plunge them in an open border, 
exposed not more than half the day to the sun. In dry weather water them 
when necessary. The ensuing spring each pot will be covered with a profusion 
of bloom, when they should be transferred to the parterre. To continue this 
plant in perfection it must be thus treated yearly. It is very hardy, and 
disdains all tender treatment. 
Stourton. (To be continued.) M. Saul. 
THE CULTIVATION OF HUMEA ELEGANS. 
There are few plants whose beauty is so much augmented by cultivation as 
that of this, which, when really well done, forms one of the finest ornaments of 
the flower garden ; and when seen as it is usually done, is a poor, weedy, shabby 
thing. We remember, many years ago, going to Whiteknights, then the seat of 
the great gardening Duke of Marlborough, and seeing there such plants of Humea 
as could hardly be conceived. They were from 10 to 12 feet in height, perfectly 
bushy, 8 feet in diameter at the base, from which they tapered to the top, presenting 
to the spectator a fountain-like mass of the most elegant auburn colour; and, when 
agitated by the wind, spreading an agreeable and aromatic odour—an odour which 
I have heard pronounced very agreeable by connoisseurs in scents. 
It is a Chinese plant, and was named after Sir Abraham Hume, late of 
Wormleybury, Herts. It is a biennial; and as it flowers the second year it is 
most important to cultivate it most vigorously during the first season. It should 
be sown in February in pots, in a gentle heat. The soil should be sandy loam and 
peat. When it has come up it should be pricked off into 60-pots, and from them 
to sizes larger and larger as required. About the end of July it may be hardened 
to stand out of doors ; and here its growth will be very rapid, if shifted according 
to its rooting. At the time of housing—say the early part of October—they will 
be fine plants ; and as it will be prudent to grow some supernumeraries, the best 
plants should be chosen and housed, giving them a slight shift to carry them on 
through the winter. This shift I regard as most important to the future progress ; 
they keep forming roots slowly, and it prevents their forming weak and premature 
flower-stems. Their treatment at this time is of importance; they must not be 
huddled together at the back of other plants, but should be placed near the glass, 
with plenty of air and space all round them. There is a peculiar disease they are 
subject to—the damping and rotting of the leaves, something like the rot in 
Geraniums. To'prevent this, the plants should be kept free from the syringe in 
winter, and every specked leaf removed as it appears. I have seen fine plants 
wholly spoiled by this disease. 
We will now suppose that the plants have passed through the winter, and it 
is the middle of February. Some very large pots must be procured, and the 
plants shifted into a good compost of peat and loam. They must now be set 
growing, for which a vinery just started will do very well; and a3 the temperature 
is increased they can be moved into another succession-house. They may now be 
duly syringed, and the heat and moisture will soon force them into luxuriant 
growth. By the beginning of June they will be fit to harclen-off in a cooler house. 
This must be carefully done with shading, so as not to injure the luxuriant and 
ample foliage, which has been making itself in the vinery. When brought 
entirely out they must be inured to the rays of the sun by degrees. If all this 
is well and properly managed, they will be magnificent plants, and the person who 
has the charge of them will not grudge the trouble which has been bestowed 
upon them. 
Having now detailed the progress of cultivation, we would make a few 
observations as to the situations proper for the stations of such plants in the 
flower garden. 
