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SOILS, THEIR SELECTION AND HARVESTING. 
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This plant will also be found most useful for the flower garden, as it forms a gay and striking bed in 
shady and wet situations, where other plants will not succeed, and added to their beautiful tints many 
of them besides the common Musk (Mimulus moschatus), have very fragrant foliage, and will be 
found in the evening, or after a shower to give out a very agreeable musky odour. They will also be 
found very pretty on the edges of ornamental water, where they thrive well, this being their natural 
element. Cardinalis and its varieties, with their brilliant scarlet and crimson flowers, form beautiful 
shrubby plants, and are very effective through the autumn months ; being hardy perennials they are well 
suited for borders, as w T ell as for pots. The engraving represents a variety of this section called, M. 
McLainii. It is remarkable for the deep marking in the throat. 
SOILS, THEIR SELECTION AND HARVESTING. 
f F, in the cultivation of plants, one thing is more necessary than another to be attended to, that thing 
is the proper preparation of soils and composts; for, however great the care bestowed upon the 
potting and watering of a plant may be, if the soil is unsuitable, or not in a proper condition to supply 
the requirements of the plants, we well know that every other care is thrown away; but if the soil is 
suitable it is surprising with what tenacity a plant will cling to existence, under very unfavourable 
circumstances. Every person who has paid any attention to the management of plants knows that 
in the open garden as well as in pots, the sweeter the soil is, that is, the more it has been exposed to 
the ameliorating influence of atmospheric changes, the more suitable it becomes for all horticultural 
purposes. Even maiden soil, fresh from an upland pasture, where it is well drained, is materially 
improved by exposure to atmospheric changes for a few months, while in the case of soil from a wet 
locality, it should never, under any circumstances, be used in the cultivation of choice plants until it 
has been exposed to the varied changes of an English winter; and if, afterwards, it can have a few 
months exposure through the summer, it will be much improved thereby. This improvement arises 
principally from the expulsion of deleterious matters, the decomposition of vegetable substances, and 
the thorough disintegration of the mass of soil. When a soil is very strong or adhesive, it is neces¬ 
sary to expose it in thin layers to the action of a winter’s frost, taking care to remove the frozen parts, 
or outer surface of the soil, as often as it becomes frozen of sufficient thickness, and placing it after¬ 
wards where it can be thoroughly dried. Soil thus prepared will generally be found clear of insects, 
which is a matter of considerable importance in the grow T th of choice plants. 
Now of soils required for the culture of hard-wooded plants, peat and a good fibrous hazel loam are 
the main requisites. In the whole horticultural vocabulary, perhaps, there is not a word so little un¬ 
derstood as that word peat, nor a word upon which so many erroneous notions exist. Indeed, it might 
be laid down as an axiom, “ show me your soils, and I will tell you what kind of a cultivator you are,” 
and so confident do I feel upon this subject, that I would undertake to pronounce upon the plant cul¬ 
tivation of any establishment after seeing the collection of soils employed. Go to any common you 
like, and upon it, though it be of limited extent, you will find many qualities of soils, some remarkably 
strong, others very light, one part rich in vegetable matter, and another equally impoverished by an 
accumulation of sand, yet all may be sold for Epping or Wanstead soil, because it was brought from 
there; but the best quality is above all price, while the worst is worse than useless. Yet order from any 
common carter, and the chances are that you will throw your money away. It is just the same of 
peat or any other soil, it wants selecting by a person who knows good from bad, and then there is a 
chance of procuring something worth the trouble. But a short time back a neighbour of mine seeing 
I had some excellent Wimbledon peat, and that my hard-wooded plants seemed to like it, employed a 
carman to procure him two two-horse loads, and the result was two loads were delivered to him, 
and both would not have yielded ten bushels of soil suitable for pot plant cultivation. A short time 
back, I saw in the neighbourhood of London, a crate-load of peat which had been sent, as being suit¬ 
able for Orchids, from Exeter, and I am quite sure one half of it was useless. 
Now the proper course to pursue in procuring soils is to go to the place yourself, and taking a 
spade with you, examine in various parts till you meet with some of suitable quality, then send your 
carts and make a harvest of all the best of it, or at least as much as may be necessary for your purpose. 
Recollect it will not deteriorate by keeping, at least, until after the second year, and peat, if kept dry, 
will remain good for a number of years. One of the best lots I ever had was procured from a part of 
Wimbledon Common, where, a few years back, the furze had been burnt, and consequently the upper 
surface was nicely charred. In this some of the best plants which have graced the Metropolitan ex¬ 
hibitions for some years past were grown, and I have reason to believe that Mr. Epps of Maidstone, 
one of the most successful Heath growers in the country, chars his peat slightly for the finer kinds of 
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