CULTURE OF THE COCKSCOMB. 
151 
only which are wanted for show flowers, those of inferior quali- 
ties are best in the ground altogether. I have seen them succeed 
well by leaving the plants in the ground till March, when they 
are taken up and potted, and I have thought the trusses of the 
flowers have been stronger than those wintered in frames, though 
I still think it advisable to cover them over in winter from the 
frost and snow. 
THE CULTURE OF THE COCKSCOMB. 
By Mr. D. Watt. 
As I have for some }^ears cultivated this truly beautiful plant 
with good success, I beg leave to offer a few remarks on the 
mode of treatment I subjected my plants to. I make the first sow¬ 
ing of them in February, and a successional one about the 
beginning of May. The soil I use is a mixture of veiy lich 
loam, leaf mould, and well decayed manure, about equal parts of 
each. The seeds are covered nearly half an inch deep with the 
same sort of mould finely sifted, made smooth, pressed gently 
down, and then watered. They are, when the first rough leaf 
appears, potted off singly into small 60-sized pots, covei ing 
about half of the stem ; they are gently watered, and placed on 
a hotbed in a temperature ranging from 65° to 70° during the 
day and 55° during the night. As soon as the roots reach the 
sides of the pot, shift them into the next larger size, using the 
same compost; again place them in the frame, using liquid ma¬ 
nure at their roots once a week ; by which I find them very 
much benefited. They are shifted again as soon as they require 
it, not on any account allowing the roots to get entangled with 
each other, for that would be the means of checking their 
growth. My plants are thus treated, shifting them at in¬ 
tervals, and keeping them in the frame as long as possible, 
as they will thrive better there than elsewhere. If a frame 
can conveniently be spared on purpose for them, it is the better 
wav, for when grown in melon or cucumber pits they cause 
an inconvenience in attending to the other plants, conse¬ 
quently they have not the care nor attention bestowed upon 
them that they deserve. If treated as directed above, they will 
require pots ten to twelve inches diameter, and if the combs are 
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