Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
November,  1911 
Cultivation  of  Medicinal  Plants.  529 
and  furnished  strong  plants  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Atropa 
belladonna,  Delphinium  consolida,  Conium  maculatum,  Pimpinella 
anisum,  Coriandrum  Sativum  and  others  from  the  Umbelliferse 
Delphinium  Staphisagria,  Citrullus  Colocynthis,  Datura  stramonium, 
Hyoscyamus  niger  and  Lobelia  inflate. 
Seeds  of  the  above  plants  and  some  fifty  others  were  purchased 
from  New  York  seed  dealers  and  started  in  the  greenhouse  about 
February  17.  Among  the  seed  shown  at  this  time  were  those  of 
the  following  plants :  Inula  helenium.  Capsicum  spec.  Arnica 
Montana,  Glycyrrhiza  glabra,  Cytissus  scoparius,  Carthamus 
tinctoria,  Lavandula  spec,  Passiflora  incarnata,  Matricaria  Chamo- 
milla,  Coix  lachryma.  Datura  metelloides,  Rheum  palmatum  Ricinus 
spec,  twelve  varieties  of  Digitalis  and  many  others. 
Most  of  the  seed  germinated  in  from  one  to  two  weeks  and  the 
method  of  handling  the  seedlings  being  much  the  same  in  each  case, 
a  description  is  here  given  of  Digitalis. 
After  carefully  preparing  the  soil  which  was  of  good  rich  light 
moist  loam  containing  a  large  amount  of  well-rotted  sod  and  leaf 
mould,  it  was  placed  in  four-  or  five-inch  flower-pots  supplied  with 
a  few  pieces  of  broken  pot  for  drainage.  The  soil  should  be  lightly 
pressed  down  so  that  the  surface  is  smooth  and  quite  firm.  The 
seed  were  then  spread  over  this  prepared  surface  and  covered  with 
the  same  soil,  to  which  about  forty  per  cent,  of  sand  had  been  added. 
The  seeded  pots  thus  prepared  were  thoroughly  watered  with  a 
rubber  bulb  sprinkler  which  does  not  wash  the  soil.  Each  pot  was 
covered  with  a  plate  of  window  glass  to  retain  the  moisture.  In 
the  preparation  of  the  soil  it  is  important  to  select  that  which  is  as 
free  from  weed  seeds  as  possible. 
Digitalis  lutea.  Digitalis  lanata.  Digitalis  grandiflora  and 
Digitalis  ferruginea  gigantes  required  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  days 
to  come  up,  while  Digitalis  purpurea  rosea,  Digitalis  purpurea 
maculata  superba,  Digitalis  purpurea  gloxiniseflora  alba.  Digitalis 
purpurea  monstrosa  and  Digitalis  purpurea  alba  all  germinated  in 
from  nine  to  thirteen  days.  In  from  two  to  three  weeks  the  plantlets 
were  well  started,  having  one  or  two  pairs  of  leaves.  At  this  time 
they  were  transplanted  into  flats  (shallow  boxes  about  three  inches 
deep  and  preferably  eighteen  by  twenty-four  inches  in  area).  The 
same  rich  finely  ])ulverized  soil  was  used  here  as  in  the  planting  of 
the  seed.  The  plants  were  put  about  two  inches  apart  each  kind 
in  a  separate  flat  and  the  soil  firmly  ])rcssed  about  the  roots.  When 
