MAY. 
97 
they should be kept in the warmest part of the greenhouse, where the tem¬ 
perature during the winter should not be less than 50° by day, and not 
below 45° at night. 
As the days lengthen and they get more sun, towards spring they will 
grow rapidly, and will require almost daily attention in tying in the 
shoots ; the plant should also be turned round every two or three days, 
especially when grown on balloon-shaped trellises, so that all may be well 
covered. Towards April their flowers will begin to expand; a little clear 
manure water will then be very beneficial to them two or three times a-week. 
By the early part of May they will begin to be pretty full of flowers, and 
should be removed to the conservatory, where they will continue in great 
beauty for several weeks. 
As soon as the flowers begin to fade the plants should be removed to 
the warmest part of the greenhouse to mature their seeds properly. As the 
foliage and stems show signs of decay water must be gradually withheld; 
and when the stems are quite dead, the tubers must be taken out of the pots, 
and placed in dry sand until the following autumn. As seeds ripen freely, 
any quantity of plants can by this means be obtained. I have had them 
come up as freely as Peas. I find the seeds germinate best when the pots 
are on the hot-water pipes in a Pine-pit. 
Stourton. M. Saul. 
CRYPTOMEltIA JAPONIC A. 
This is a very ornamental distinct-looking tree, where the plants happen 
to have assumed a good habit; but sometimes they make only a straggling 
naked growth, and have a poor and mean appearance. There are several 
trees here of different habits, and of heights varying from 20 to 80 feet, 
some very nicely shaped ornamental trees, and one in particular of noble 
aspect, branched to the earth’s surface so thickly that the bole of the tree 
cannot be seen without putting the branches aside. This tree, unfortunately, 
a few years since had 9 feet of its head smashed off by a terrible south-east 
gale ; but by tying its upper branches down, and loading them with stones, 
&c., it started the second year, a vigorous leader, which has since gone ahead 
in a most luxuriant manner, putting out its side branches as it proceeded 
so vigorously, that the tree has now almost grown into its natural pyramidal 
shape, with a bole of 4 feet in circumference, and a diameter of branches of 
from 26 to 28 feet. It has borne cones for years, and many fine plants of 
beautiful, close, thick habit have been raised; and even these latter have 
themselves produced cones. 
The Cryptomeria is a plant that cones at an early age and very freely. 
The cones are about the size of a Morello Cherry, blunt, and rather globular 
in shape. The male catkins are formed in autumn, in great abundance, in the 
axils of the leaves. The cones first appear at the ends of the branches in 
the winter months, and are in full bloom in March and April. On a sunny 
windy day the pollen may be seen to fly about as if a dusty bag had been 
shaken. The cones grow very fast, and soon reach their mature size. They 
become ripe in September, and are full of seed, but they soon burst open 
and shed the seeds, which are small and flattish, of a dull brown colour. The 
male catkins when fully developed are yellow, about half the size and length 
of a good-sized oat corn. 
Our experience here fully proves that by selecting the seed from well- 
