ON various species of salvia, &c. 
69 
the medicinal qualities of the genus. The generic botanical cha¬ 
racters arc the following : Calyx is monophyllous, wide at the mouth, 
and bilabiated. Corolla monopetalous, tubulous, below and ringent 
above, having the upper lip concave, and indented, and the under 
one broad and trifid. Stamina two short filiments, split into two 
parts, one of which supports the anthera. Pistillum, a quadrifid 
germen, a long slender style and bifid stigma. Pericarpium none, 
Semima four roundish ones, lodged in the calyx. All the shrubby 
and under shrubby kinds, both hardy and tender, are durable in root, 
stem, and branches, and remain in leaf the year round, but the her¬ 
baceous kinds are furnished only with steins in summer. 
The culinary species and varieties, being already ably treated on 
by Mr. Paxton, in vol. II, pages 348, and 443; it would be superflu¬ 
ous to repeat their culture here. The cultivation of them for flower 
borders will serve for a subsequent communication, in connection 
with other plants, and I shall now confine myself to their treatment 
for flowering in autumn, in as brief a manner as possible. 
Instead of striking them in March, as recommended by your cor¬ 
respondent, Sage, vol. I, page 438, I should defer it till the middle 
of May, for when struck so early in the spring, they not only require 
a deal of extra trouble, but as G. A. L; page 547, justly observes, 
they become straggling and unsightly; and very often, when so large, 
they become stunted at the roots, and then the Acarus, or red spider 
infests it more than ever, causing the leaves to drop off and straggling 
stems to appear in view. A fter the cuttings are prepared and inserted 
into pots of sand, place them in a working cucumber frame till they 
are struck; then pot them into forty-eight sized pots, and replace them 
in the frame, shaking them, when the sun is powerful, till they have 
taken roots, supplying them with water when required. Here let 
them remain, till they have grown a few inches higher, when they 
may be removed to a sheltered situation in the greenhouse for a few 
days. Harden them to the air by degrees, and eventually let them 
be placed in a house or cold pit where they can receive top air night 
and day, allowing only the lights to be on in heavy or continual 
rains. It would be a great advantage to let them be screened at 
their roots, by a wall in front, from the mid-day sun, which might 
scorch and injure their fibrous roots. All the attention they now 
require, is to be constantly supplied with water, tying them to neat 
sticks, as they advance in growth. Care is also necessary to pot 
them as often as they require it, and before the roots begin to mat, 
for on these points, future success depends. I should have stated, 
that when they have grown six or seven inches high, the tops must 
