THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
25 
! April 10.] 
fine soil a quarter of an inch, giving a gentle watering, 
and place the pots in a well-tempered hotbed close to j 
the glass. If cucumbers are cultivated, a place in their 
frame will answer admirably. The seeds quickly ger¬ 
minate in such a congenial situation. As soon as the 
seedlings come up, give air on all fine days to prevent 
their drawing up weakly. As soon as they are two inches 
high take them out of the frame into a warm shed, turn 
them out of the pots, and carefully separate them. Pot ; 
them singly into the compost, well aired, into 3-inch pots 
well drained. Replace them quickly into the frame, 
still keeping them close to the glass, but do not give any 
water for a day or two, because in this transition state 
they are very tender, and water will rot their delicate 
roots and the plants will perish. In the moist atmos- 
pbere of the frame they will quickly make fresh roots, 
and tben they may be watered with water as warm as 
new milk. They will soon require more room, and new 
roots will be observed starting above the soil. As soon 
as the roots have reached the sides of the pots, they 
require repotting into 6-inch pots. Use the same com¬ 
post, and place them again in the warm frame. They 
will now require more room and should have a frame 
to themselves, as they will require more air than will 
suit cucumbers. Water now more freely, but still care 
fully using tepid water. Observe the roots again, and 
when they reach the sides of the pots, repot for the 
last time into 10-inch pots. In these they will flower 
finely, but if very large plants are desired, they may be 
repotted again into 14-inch pots. When they are put 
into these large pots, a few green turves may be got and 
cut into small pieces about an inch square, place some j 
of them amongst the compost at the bottom of the pots, 
upon the drainage, and a few pieces amongst it half-way 
up the pot around the lower part of the ball. This 
green fresh food well suits these gourmands. All these 
pottings should be finished before a single flower is 
allowed to bloom. The plants should then be 1£ feet 
through, 2 feet high, and well furnished with branches, j 
They may now be brought into the stove and allowed to 
show flower. 
The Cockscomb ( Celosia cristata) ; Asia.—This orna¬ 
mental annual was introduced in 1570, and has been 
cultivated and improved much of late. The same 
culture as we have described above for the balsam 
suits this plant exactly, but it does not require such 
large pots in order to obtain large plants; pots eight 
inches wide will produce combs a foot wide, and four 
inches across. The plants must be kept near to the 
glass, and have plenty of air given when they have 
attained a moderate size. It is desirable before tliey 
become too large to allow tbe blooms to appear; the 
great object being to throw the whole power of growth 
into causing the combs to become large upon small 
plants. As the same treatment, or nearly so, suits the 
cockscomb as well as the balsam, they may be grown 
together in the same frame till they are fit to remove : 
into the stove. 
Save the seeds from the most double balsams, and the 
largest and finest coloured cockscombs. The balsam 
seed should be kept two or three years, for the older it is 
the more double the flowers will come, that is, so long 
as it will germinate. 
Ipomea quamoclit; East Indies.—A more elegant 
i climbing plant, when well grown, can scarcely be con- 
‘ ceived, yet it is not grown so much as it deserves. The 
i leaves are beautifully pinnated. The flowers are like 
I small scarlet trumpets, and are very beautiful. We 
trust all our stove-plant-growing readers will procure a 
sixpenny packet and try it; we pledge our word it will 
please them. 
Culture. — Soil. —Light turfy loam, fine sandy peat, 
! and well decomposed leaf-mould, in equal parts, made 
j very sandy with pure white sand, for the roots are very 
delicate, and require a light porous compost that will 
allow the water to pass through it readily. 
Raising the Plants —Fill as many pots, inches 
wide, as the number of plants required; drain them well; 
sow three or four seeds in each pot, place them in a 
hotbed, giving a little tepid water. They will soon come 
up, and should have then a little ah - given. As soon as 
the roots reach the sides of the pots, repot them into 
5£ inch pots, and then place some kind of a trellis to 
train them to. As they are twining plants, a circular 
pillar-shaped trellis shows them off to the greatest 
advantage. And now appears the reason for having 
three or four plants in each pot. Each plant should 
have its leading shoot brought to one of the uprights of ' 
the circular trellis, tied to it, and then allowed to twine ! 
itself upwards. These plants will not bear large qiots, 
hence it is necessary to keep them in small ones. In 
order to allow a large trellis, plunge the pot containing 
the plant into one large enough to allow the trellis to be 
fastened within it. The material to plunge the pots in 
should be very open; a sandy gravel will answer very 
well. As the shoots spring forth from the bottom, train 
them to each upright till all are furnished. They will, 
before the summer is over, meet at the top of the trellis, 
and produce abundance of flowers. They will produce 
seed plentifully, which should be gathered as soon as the 
seed vessels turn brown, and be kept in a dry place till 
spring. 
Ipomea rubra-cceuulea (Red and blue I.) ; Mexico. 
1830.—A stove climber of great beauty. It is, when 
first open, of the richest ultramarine blue, afterwards 
changing to red. Each flower measures from four to 
five inches across. They are in form of a goblet with 
the edges expanded, and are produced numerously when 
the plants have become large. 
Culture. — Soil. —Loam, peat, and leaf-mould, with a 
due portion of sand, forms a good compost for this plant. 
Raising the Plant. —Sow in a hotbed the last week in 
March, or the first week in April. Sow thickly in a 
shallow pot. As soon as the plants are up, and whilst 
yet in the seed-leaf, transplant them singly into 3^-inch 
pots; replace them in a hotbed; give a gentle watering, 
and shade from bright sun. When they have filled the 
pots with roots, give them another shift into larger 
pots, and remove them into the stove. Place a stick to 
each plant, two or three feet long. This being a twining 
plant it will soon wrap its shoots round the support, 
and will not need any tying. By the time they have 
reached the top of the stick, they should be potted, for 
the last time, into 11-inch pots, and should then be 
stopped at the extremity of the shoots. This will 
strengthen them, and cause a number of other shoots to 
start from the lower part of each plant. They should 
now have a situation assigned to them where they will have 
plenty of room to grow. Either train them to the rafters 
of the house, or make a large upright trellis of any shape 
tbe cultivator may fancy. They will soon show flower, 
and by tbe middle of July be one mass of floral beauty. 
The Egg Plant ( Solatium ovigerum). —There are 
four varieties of this handsome Arabian plant, viz., the 
violet-coloured, tbe white, the purple, and the yellow ; 
varieties known from each other only by the colour ot the 
fruit. The flowers are small and white, but the fruit, or 
seed vessel, is as large and the shape of a hen’s egg; 
hence its name. It is used by the natives of India as 
an ingredient in soups, and is said to be very agreeable 
to the palate. In our stove they are grown, however, 
only for ornament. 
Culture. — Soil. —Rich compost, made with loam and 
dung in equal parts, suits these plants exactly. 
Sow the seeds in March in a gentle hotbed, in a shallow 
pot, 5i inches wide; transplant the seedlings singly 
into 3^-inch pots as soon as they have four leaves, and 
replace them in the hotbed, shading Rom sun for a few 
