COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
March .‘25. 
' Eor a blue, barely plant to mass, we have none belter 
til an the China Larks})iir, Z26’Z/PtiaiM?/i sinensis. In books 
tl)is is called an annual, but it is not so in reality, but a 
long-enduring perennial, if it is taken right care of; 
that is, provided the roots are boused in the autumn 
with the same care as the Sedein jtntcns, or the Dahlia, 
and to be planted out in April, at live or six inches 
apart. Uneler that treatment it will bloom early, and if 
care is taken to prevent ripening seeds, like Jilignonctte, 
it will bloom to the end ot October; but that is not all 
its merits; we could easily get three distinct beds from 
tlic seedlings. The best blue, to begin with ; then a 
pure white llow'cr, which, if we did not choose it for a 
bed by itself, would make an excellent edging plant for 
a tall plant, or bod. Here another quality for an edging 
plant meets us. I have said that an edging to a small 
lied need not bo wider than for a large bed ; but a very 
I low j)lant as an edging to a very tall one, say the. blue 
; Salvia patens, would look worse than no edging at all; 
j- therefore, this white variety, into wdiich the Dclphinintn 
j sinense runs, more or less, at each sowing, ought to be 
j saved and kept by itself on purpose to form edgings 
I round tall jdants; and, without going any farther than 
; the blue Salvia itself, here is the best edging for it, and 
i the most appropriate that 1 know of; only let me re- 
^ mark that i never saw this combination, and, I believe, 
: no one has; but that is no reason against it. There is 
■ no sort of difficulty about such an edging, nor will there 
\ be a.l’ter it becomes general ; for the same treatment will 
cover the two kinds of roots in the winter-management, 
\ and 1 vouch for it the combination will answer jierfcctly. 
I The third best shade in seedlings of this Larkspur is 
I a light violet blue, as in the Neapolitan Violet, a very 
I Useful colour for a neutral bed, or to put in between 
pink and scarlet, or scarlet and purple, or any two 
colours which lessen the effect of each other. Few 
people arc yet aware of the value of such kinds of plants; 
but you might call them the plenipotentiaries of the 
vegetable kingdom, who reconcile the differences, the 
wu’ong-hcadedness, or the strong-headedness, of the great 
ones among them, whether they be clothed in tine 
purple, in plush, or in scarlet, or bo withal “ as clean 
as pinks.” 
The Zaitchsneria CaUfornica is not so good as any of 
the foregoing ; still, when a man is looking out for helps 
to keep him in bedding-plants that are hardy enough for 
a cottager, this is not bo overlooked. Neither the long 
frost of the wduter before this, nor the black frost before 
last Christmas, so fatal to autumn-sown seeds, bad any 
bad effects on the Zauclisncria in Surbiton, and on 
strong, heavy land it flowers far better, than where it 
can run away at the roots with more freedom. Add all 
these together, or, rather, make a bed for each, and you 
will find an essential help in planting the garden, 
and be less in the power of Verbenas, and all such 
minxes. 1). Beaton. 
i 
I Mutation of M.vtter. — With a very near approach 
: to truth, the human family inhabiting tiio earth has 
I been estimated at 700,000,000 ; the annual loss by death 
I is 18,000,000. Now the weight of the animal matter of 
i this immense body cast into the grave is not loss than 
I 0:22,400 tons, and by its decomposition produces 
0,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of gaseous matter. The 
vegetable productions of the earth clear awmy from the 
atmosphere the gases thus generated, decomposing and ; 
assimilating them for their own increase. This cycle ' 
of changes has been going on ever since man became 
an occiqder of the earth, lie feeds on the lower animals 
and on the seeds of plants, which in due time become a 
! part of himself. The lower animals feed upon the herbs : 
and grasses, which in tlieir turn become the animal’s; 
then, by its death, again passes into the atmosphere, | 
401 
I and arc ready once more to be assimilated by plants, the 
earthy or bony substance alone remaining where it is 
deposited ; and not even these unless sufficiently deej) 
in the soil to be out of the absorbent reach of the roots 
of plants and trees. Nothing appears so canniba¬ 
lizing as to see a Hock of sheep grazing in a country 
churchyard, knowing it to bo an undeniable fact that the 
grass they eat has been nurtured by the gaseous emana¬ 
tions from our immediate predecessors; then following 
up the fact that this said grass is actually assimilated by 
the animal, and becomes mutton, whereof we may perhaps 
dine next week. “Truth is stranger than liction,” and 
hero is a truth that exemplilies the proverb. It is not 
at all dillicult to prove that the elements of which the 
bodies of the present generation are composed have all 
passed through millions of mutations, and formed parts 
of all kinds of animal and vegetable bodies, in 
accordance with the unerring law of nature.— {Extraet) 
ri.ANTS THAT' MAY BE IN BLOOiM IN 
MARCH. 
STOVE PLANTS. 
Achimene^ piota; Allamarida ncriifolia; Aplielandra 
aurantiaca; Ardisia crcnulata ; Begonia fuschioides, 
manicata, cocciriea, alba coccinea, nitida, Jngramii, 
hcvaclifolia, hydroctalifolia; Bilbergia iridaiHora; Bletia 
Parkinsouia, hyacinthina; Centradenia rosea; Cono- 
clinium ianthomum; Canarina campanulata; Hicbori- 
sandra thyrsifolia; Erauthemum verrucosum; Epi- 
|ihyllum speciosum, Ackermanii; I'lnjihorbia -lacquini- 
flora, juinicea; Eranciscea coufertitlora, latifolia, &c.; 
Gardenia radicans; Gesnera elongata, Coojierii ; Gold- 
fussia glomerata; Hamiltonia scabra; Inga pulclicr- 
rima; Imjiatiens latifolia, and latifolia alba; Justicia 
Havicoma, coccinea, &c.; Phaius grandifolius and P. 
Wallichii; Itucilia formosa ; Uogiera amocna ; Rhyuco- 
spenmim jasminoides ; Strelitzia reginai and ovata. 
GP.EENIIOUSE PLANTS. 
Acacia grandis, armata, incaruata, rotundifolia, spcc- 
tabilis, Hrummondii; Brachysema latifolia; Baurca 
rubra; Boronia pinnata, &c.; Bossiiea ovata, rotundi¬ 
folia, cordifolia; Camellias, such as Colvillii, delicutis- 
sima, elcgans, tricolor, Sweetii, Eordii, Woodsii, Donke- 
larii, alba fimbriata, double while, &c.; Calceolarias, a 
few early ones; Cinerarias; Carnations, tree - peiq^etual ■ 
kinds ; Callistemon pbocuiceum ; Chorozema flava, varia, , 
angustifolia ; Cantua dependens and bicolor; Cupbea j 
platyceutra and C. eximia; Cytisus racernosus and fill- I 
pes ; Coronilla glauca; Cyclamens; Daphnes; Dielytra j 
spectabilis; Dillwynia scricca and tenuifolia; Diosma j 
rubra; Epacris byacinthiflora, byacintbillora candidis- 
sima, miniata granditlora, caudidissima, campanulata 
rubra, imjiressa, longitlora alba, corolloides, Tuutonien- 
sis, optima, are fine varieties, amoug many that are 
good ; and alba odorata is, as its name implies, very 
sweet, and almost the only one that is so; Erica rubra 
calyx, hyemalis, Wilmoreana, Iiinna3oidcs, vernalis, 
bicolor, Ijambcrtiana rosea, &c.; Euchilus obeordatus ; 
Fuchsia serratifolia; Gardoquia multiflora; Gastrolo- j 
bium ncutum and calycinum; Habrothamnus elegans ; i 
Hardenbergia Comptouiana; Hovea purpurea and [ 
crispa; Keuuedya Marryaltm and nigricans; Lache- 
nalia tricolor, &c.; Mignonette; Mirbclia grandillora ; 
Oxalis, ns before; Pimelca decussata; Primula Sinensis, 
and double white and pink ; Oranges, llhododcndrons, 
of the arborea varieties; Salvia gesncracflora ; Tropaso- 
liim Lobbianum, var. Triomphe do Gaud, Tropaeolum 
])entapbyllum, late tubers, kept growing in winter; 
Violets, &c. 
