33 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Abril 17, 1800. 
I sgafi». With her manifold duties it was wonderful how the 
'plsnts were all attended to, and almost solely by herself. It 
'Sever could havo been done had not the labour been a thorough 
enjoyment—a labour of lovo. That night was the first time she 
had been in the large family parlour, after a somewhat serious 
illness. The room had been well aired and heated for many 
days previously. Happy faces beamed upon her there, rendered 
all the more bright by the reflection of the large fire that flamed 
and crackled in this huge fireplace. One thing alone cast a 
sombre shade over the whole. A few months before a large 
flower-stand, with beautiful plants, stood near the window ; now 
they were next to a perfect wreck. Some pots resembled a 
morass ; others had the soil as dry as baked dust; some plants 
were covered with yellow leaves from top to bottom ; others, from 
lrost or gout, were hanging over the pots in a state of decay. 
Nothing could be move out of place, with what otherwise would 
have been a happy scene. The only excuse was that no one bad 
authority to remove what was unsightly. The sight of them 
made everything else tinted with gloom and melancholy. I 
noticed more then the shade of deep disappointment that the 
sight of her once-valued plants produced on that lady’s features. 
Need I add that a renewed illness was the result of these few 
hours in the parlour ? She always said the sad plight of her 
plants did it all. Before she entered that parlour again the 
plant-stand was everything she could wish, and from flint day 
she rapidly improved. One cause of previous comparative con¬ 
valescence after that party she always believed to be the insist¬ 
ing on all her plants being brought to her bed-room every day, 
so that every one received what it wanted by her own directions 
and superintendence. No doubt the pleasure of such an employ¬ 
ment— (he break in upon the dreary monotony—did much. 
How often do our readers meet with flower-stands in houses in 
winter and spring whoso absence would be a happy riddance, and 
that, too, in instances where no such excuses as in the above case 
could be given. 
On the whole, then, from many such facts and circumstances, 
and not mere theoretical reasoning, my impression is that clean, 
healthy, beautiful plants in rooms—even bed-rooms and sick¬ 
rooms—and more especially in towns, have the tendency to pro¬ 
mote the health and cheerfulness of the human inmates; and 
that dirty, diseased, languishing plants have just as unpleasant 
opposite effects. Do not suppose, however, that I would advocate 
placing plants aud cut flowers in abundance in rooms iu the 
country, with the principal rooms looking upon rich parterres. 
I know that this is frequently done to a great extent—until it 
threatens to be next to a mania, but in such circumstances bavin" 
more of the barbaric and the totally unfit than the refined and 
the suitable about it. This is a separate question from the one 
alluded to, and which is well worthy the consideration of our 
readers, R,, Bish, 
CULTURE OF THE GLOBE AMARANTH. 
(Gomphrena globosa.) 
“F. P. C.” will be obliged by being informed how (o manage 
the Globe Amaranth. The seed was sown the last week in March, 
aud the pot placed in a hotbed. When the seedlings are fit 
to transplant, what soil will they require ? Should they be 
kept in a high temperature? and will they require frequent 1 
repotting ? 
[\ou did quite right in sowing these general favourites during j 
the last week of March in a hotbed. Most likely by the time 
this is seen the plants will be making their appearance above the 
soil. If the hotbed were very warm, and the pot containing the 
seedlings were plunged to the rim, it would be advisable to 
elevate the pot out of the bed for half its height, as, though the 
plant likes heat at the earlier stages, too much bottom heat is in¬ 
jurious to the roots; in fact, the latter should not be much 
warmer than the atmosphere in which the plants are grown. If 
the plants are at all thick, they must be watered with care when 
young and tender, either by dipping the pot in water up nearly 
to the rim, and allowing moisture to be given by absorption from 
the hole in the bottom, or by wetting the surface with water, 
poured on a piece of crock or shell held close to the' side of the 
pot, so that the tops of the little plants arc not drenched as by a 
rose watering. The plants arc comparatively hardy, and will do 
without this extra care ; but when watered carelessly with a rose, 
we havo known the young things to shank off at the bottom, or 
the tops scorched when exposed to the sun. This preliminary 
got over, the plants will require afterwards treatment s'ollletvhht 
intermediate between a Cockscomb and a Balsam; the terh ■ 
perature need not be so high as that required for the former, and 
rather more than what is needed for the latter. Two modes of 
treatment will each answer well. 
First. As soon as the plants are half an inch in height, prick 
or pot them off; four round the sides of a four-inch pot. Use 
light, rich, Bandy soil, such as a mixture of leaf mould, loam, 
and silver sand, with a little peat. For want of these wo have 
scraped off a little of the surface soil in ridged-up ground 
in the kitchen garden, when dry, and mixed it with a little 
sand. This will grow all our common plants, except those 
with liair-like roots—as the Heath, Epacris, &c. Let the soil bo 
warmed and aired before using. In watering as above noticed, 
the water should range between 70° and 80 s . As sottn as the 
little plants are pricked off, transfer them to the bed again, and 
half plunge the pots. Give air when the weather will jicritilti 
If there is heat enough a little left on all night will do them goofL 
By the time the plants are two or throe inches in height, shift 
them separately into four-inch pots and place them again in the 
bed. When the pots are full of roots, transfer the plants to six- 
inch pots ; and if too tall for the bed when potted a week or a 
fortnight, transfer the plants to a warm greenhouse or a cold pit, 
which you can keep warm after the middle or end of June by re¬ 
gulating the air. In these six-inch pots you may have nice, eom- 
1 pact, early-flowering plants in August and onwards, which will 
be an ornament to a greenhouse, a window, or anywhere affording 
a little protection. By this mode nothing is done in the way of 
stopping or training. With the exception of the shifting and the 
watering, and air giving, the plants arc just allowed to grow as 
they like, and they will naturally grow rather gracefully. If you 
give another shift into eight or ninejinch pots, you will defer the 
period of dense blooming; and it should be kept in mind, that 
in common greenhouses they seldom do much good after the 
| middle of October. In a window in a warm room small plants 
will continue healthy some time longer. Until the end of Juno 
the plants should be kept in an average temperature not below 
55° at night, nor below 70° during the day, allowing a rise of 
from 5° to 10° more in sunshine. 
Second. When very fine large specimens are desired. Sow at 
latest in the beginning of March. Prick off and pot as above 
described, but as soon as the four-inch pot is nearly filled with 
roots, nip out the points of the little shoots. This will cause 
two or more shoots to come instead of one; and as soon as they 
can be perceived coming, transfer the plants to a six-inch pot, 
I and place in the hotbed again. When that pot is nearly full of 
roots, repeat the nipping-out-of-the-centre-of-the-shoot process ; 
the point of a penknife will be best. When fresh shoots are 
breaking, repot again into eight-inch pots and place again in the 
hotbed to encourage free growth. By this means a very compact 
ball-like plant,'with flowers gemmed all over it, will be produced. 
If the specimen is wanted to be very fine, give the plant another 
shift into a twelve-inch pot, and encourage root growth by 
keeping still in the hotbed partly plunged, but with a free course 
: of air over the head. In a fortnight raise the plant out of the 
bed, but still keep it warmer than in a greenhouse. Fine spe¬ 
cimens will thus be made for September and October. Under 
such a modo the drainage must be well attended to, and pieces of 
charcoal and bits of brick and lime rubbish in the compost will 
help to keep it open and healthy. Water all along, and espe¬ 
cially when the plant is flowering in a cooler place than it grow 
in, must be genial and warm. The period of flowering in a cool 
greenhouse will be prolonged by this attention to the warmth of 
the water. We have several times made very pretty symmetrical 
objects of these plants by this last modo of training, and con¬ 
sider it worth the attention of those to whom the work would be 
a recreation or pleasure. For general decorative purposes, the 
first easy mode and growing in six-inch pots will be most useful 
and convenient.] 
NEW BOOK. 
The Culture of Fruits and Vegetables. By George 
Glenny. London : Houlston & Wright. 
It is unnecessary to say more of this work than that it is pre¬ 
pared in Mr. Glcrmy’s usual style, with which the public are by 
this time familiar. The instructions for the cultivation of fruits 
and flowers, so far as they go, are sound and practical; and the 
book will be found a safe guide to those who may consult it. 
