THE WATERING OF PLANTS. 
29 
the florets should be large in size, but not too numerous ; and, if 
they are the latter, they should be neatly trimmed off with sharp 
pointed scissors, before the growth is too far advanced. If this 
operation is too long delayed, the superfluous florets will have 
absorbed much of the action, and those which remain on the 
truss will be inferior. In no instance should more than one truss 
be allowed to rise from the same root. The whole disc or face 
of the florets should be exactly level, and at right angles to the 
peduncle. It should also be perfectly circular in all its parts, 
and the outline of each should be well defined. There ought to 
be a due porportion of the coloured edge, the eye, and the pipe ; 
for if the light colour is in excess the floret will look poor, and 
if there is not enough of it, it will seem overloaded. The petals 
should also be of the same shape and size ; and the floret should 
be quite uniform all round. Perfection of the eye is a great 
beauty. The flower belongs to the Pentandria Monogynia of 
Linnaeus, and the stigma should be exactly in the centre, with the 
five stamens ranged equally round it, so as to fill the pipe without 
crowding it; the style or stigma ought not to rise higher than 
the stamens, forming what is called a pinned eye, which is 
reckoned a great deformity. Above all, the plant should have a 
healthy appearance ; for, if it have not, the florets will not be 
perfect in shape, or have the full richness in their colouring. 
Our original intention was to include in this article the mode of 
flowering the plant, and reserve only the treatment in a state 
of rest for a future one; but as the space which we can afford is 
already full, we must defer the whole subject of the propagation 
and culture to another number, which will be nearly in time for 
the flowering of 1842. 
THE WATERING OF PLANTS. 
There is no part of the practical treatment of plants which 
requires more knowledge on the part of the cultivator, than the 
application of water to them. This applies to ornamental shrubs, 
as well as to herbaceous plants ; and it applies to them in every 
situation, if the nature of the soil, the weather, and the habits of 
the plants, require it. It is within doors, however, whether in 
the greenhouse, the conservatory, or the window or flower-stand 
