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less fire to keep up the heat through the night. If the house is heated in the common way by tlues, and
the plauts are plunged in tan, care must be taken not to give these too m uch bottom heat, as it will injure
their roots, or too much water in winter, as it is apt to rot tliem. P articular caution is necessary for
watering in whiter, not to wet the tan, as it makes the worms very troublesome; they often destroy
young plants by throwing tho mould out of the pots ; but a better way is th e one now very generally
adopted, viz. to do witliout plunging in tan. Somc hot dung or tan may be still kept in the pit to throw
up a little warmth, on which should be put a good thickness of sand or gravel for the pots to stand on,
and the plants will thrive much better than when plunged in tan : it is also coming nearer to nature,
which should be always studied in the cultivation of plants, both in soil and situation. In tropical
countries it is the sun that heats the earth in which the plants grow, not the earth that heats the air ;
and the heat must be kept up in the stoves accordingly. If the houses are heated by steam, no tan is
required. The plants may be set on stages, or in any way th at is most convenient. Some of them may bo
planted out in the house, where they will grow in greater perfection, and flower and ripen fruit better
than when confined in pots.
51C5. To have p la n ts look w ell, they should be always kept clean and free from insects : if infested with
any species of aphis, the house should be smoked with tobacco, which instantly destroys them. 'I’he red
spiders are likewise a great pest to cultivators, but are also easily dcstroyecí. One pound of sulphur
vivum, mixed up in a pail of quieklime, and the flues brushed all over with it as a common whitewash,
will destroy any quantity of them, and make the house look light and clean. I'h e mealy bug is also
troublc.some if lelt to increase on the plants ; bnt as soon as it appears, it should be brushed off as
well as the scaly in se c ts; for, if left to increase, tlicy will disfigure the plants, and be very difficult to
get rid of. Ill fine weather, the plants should be often sprinkled over with water from an engine, and
th e house shut up wann afterwards, which is a great means of keeping them clean and making them
grow luxuriantly. Air should be given in the morning as early as possible, in fine weather, as it
sweetens the house, and makes the plants healthy. It should also be taken away early in the afternoon
and the house shut up warm, that th e plants may not be chilled by the night air. ’
516G. I n p o ttin g p la n ts , care should betak en to drain the pots well with broken potsherds or rough
bits of t u r f ; for nothing injures them more than letting them get sodden with too much wet. 'I’he best
time to shift thorn into fresh pots is the spring, but some will require to bo shifted again in autumn, to
have them thrive well. Tlio free-growing kinds cannot be well overpotted, if there be plenty of room
for them in the houses : they will thrive and flower better for being in large pots. Others th a t are more
tender should be kept in as small pots as possible, that they may not get sodden, and lose their roots.
(Hot. Cultivator, p. 1.)
5167. T he re se rv e hothouses of the o rn am e n ta l g a rd e n may be divided into those for forcing liardy
flowering plants and shrubs, and those for propagating exotics by seeds, cuttings, or otherwise.
5168. lie rbac eous p la n ts a n d jlo tu e r in g sh ru b s are generally forced in pits or low houses ; and, as soon
as the flower-buds begin to expand, removed to the greenhouse or drawing-room, there to prolong tho
flowering season. The shrubs should be previously established in the pots, by being planted and plunged
in the open rcserve-gardcn a year beforehand : the autumn before forcing, they should be thrown early
into a state of rest, by covering them with canvas frames, to exclude the rain and sun, but so us to admit
cold and air. This operation should bo commenced in J u ly ; and the first course of pots may be
removed to the pit in November or earlier. Herbaceous plants of most sorts, especially of the fibrous-
rooted kinds, may be taken up with balls, and planted in pots early in th e autumn preceding the winter
ill which they are to be forced. Fusiform-rooted sorts earlier, as they do not rise so easily with bails ;
and the bulbous sorts, the bulbs being out of the gromid, may be planted in the end of autumn, plunged
in the open gronnd, and covered with rotten tan or ashes, and taken up as wanted. It is of somo consequence
to remark, that the flowers should be pinched off both tho shrubs nnd herbaceous plants the
summer preceding the forcing season, in order to communicate additional strength, and aid in throwing
them more early into a state of rest. 'I'he bottom heat may either be from tan or dung, or a vault
heated by flues or steam ; but the former we consider as most to be depended on. 'The temperature
o f the air of the house may a t first setting in the plants be kept at 50° or 55°; and in a fortnight
raised 10° higher. After tliat, it may be kept up to 65° or higher, admitting air during sunshine. J’he
temperature of the pit should be kept as high as th a t of the air. Successional supplies should bo kept
for the first fortnight in a cooler house, or in the coolest part of th e p i t ; or the temperature, on thcir
admission, may bo somewhat lowered. 'I'he other points of routine culture need not be entered into.
5160. The pro p a g a tio n house requires to be kept a t a much more moderate temperature, both as to tlie
atmosphere and the bottom heat, than the forcing-pit or the principal stove. It need seldom exceed 60°
in winter, and 65° m summer. Abundance of air must be given a t certain seasons when damp and
mouldiness begin to appear ; and shading and watering, so as to produce a moist atmosphere, must bo
attended to in the summer season.
C l lA R . VIH.
F lo ric u ltu ra l Catalogue. — Herbaceous P la n ts .
5170. A J lo ric u ltu ra l catalogue, as copious as that which we have given of culina'y
plants and fruits, would greatly exceed our limits. Flants grown for ornament are so
numerous, that we ca.nnot particularise separately the culture of each individual species ;
but, with the exception of somc of the more choice sorts, as tlie florists’ flowers, &c.,
must collect them in groups, and detail a mode of culture applicable to tlic wholc group.
We sliall first commence with herbaceous flowers, and these wc slial! arrange as florists’
or select flowers, border flowers, and herbaceous [ilants for particular purposes.
S e c t . I. F lo ris ts ’ o r Select Flotoers.
5171. F lo r is f f Jlow ers swQ so called as being flowers cither originated by flori.ris by
rneans of hybridisation or otherwise ; or so improved by cultivation as to appear quite
difi'erent from wliat tlie same kind of fiowcr was in its original state. The object of tlie
excessive care bestowed upon flowers of this kind is generally to enable them to win prizes
at flower-shows; and to distinguisli them from each other, they are called by trivial
names, which bear no reference to thp botanical names of the plants from which they
were named. The Dutch were the flrst to bring this department of gardening into
notice, and inore particularly by tlic great excellence to wliieh they attained in the
culture ot florists bulbs. In the culture of that tribe, they still excel; but the fibrous-
rooted floivers, as tho carnation, auricula, &c., and the tuberous-rooted kinds as the
dahlia, mnunculus, anemone, &c., arc brought to a higher degree of perfection in
Britain than any ¿here else. Ornamental flowers, like culinary vegetables which liave
been long ami highly cuitivatcd, acquire a magnitude, succulence, and conformation
of parts wine 1 render tliem widely diflercnt from wliat they arc iu their natural state
lliis takes iilacc both m double flowers, tliat is, when the petals of the corolla are
increased m immhcr by the transformation of other parts of tlie iiower into petals • and
also m single flowers, or those in which the petals do not exceed the common numlier
A ilowcr ro changed by cultivation can no more be compared to tlic blossom of the
same species m its wild state, tlian a Iicadcd cabbage or a broccoli can be compared to
tJm wild cabbage of our sca-sliores. Hcncc have been formed, by the common consent
ot florists, what arc called canons of criticism, by whieh to estimate the properties of
new varieties of cstabli.tiicd sorts of florists’ flowers. To the hyaeintli, tulip auricula
and a few otlier sorts, particular canons arc adapted; hut the merits of a number of
other select flmvcra double and single, arc only to he judged of by general rules, such
as fulness of floral leaves, ronndncss of outline, brilliancy and distinctness of colour, &c
Under each species wc shall give the established criterion, or canon, as far as generallv
agreed on. We shall take the plants in this section in the order of bulbous, tuberous
ramose, aud fibrous-rooted herbaceous plants, and ornamental shrubs
S u b s e c t . 1 . Ih ja c m ili. — \\yac.înihu% orieniùîis L .
M on o g ÿnia L. and Asphodcleoe B. P. Ja c in te , Fr. ;
G ia c in lo , Ital. ; and Ja c in to , Sjian. (fig . 888.).
{B o t. M a g . 937.) ; H e x á n d ria
H ya c in lh e , Ger. ; J a c in t, Dateli ;
. hyac inth is a native of the Levant, and abundant about Alenno and Bat?dnd n- flA-u-„re
5173. Varieties. Gerard mentions the single nnd donWe
blue, the purjilc, nnd the white. Parkinson, in 1029, cnu-
mc'rntos eigiit sorts. Miller says, the Ilanrloin gardeners distin
g u ish nearly 2000 sorts, an d generally publish catalogues of
th em from y e ar to year. At present, the taste for tills flower
be in g considerably abated, the Dutch and English catalogues
contain only a few huiKlred names. These names are quito
a rb itra ry , being given iiy tho grower after liimself o r somo
ljublic o liuractor; an d tliercfore tliey are here omitted. Tliey
arc arran g ed as double blues, whites, reds, an d yellows, and
single sort.s o f th e same co lo u rs; the bhics an d reds are tho
most n um e ro u s ; the yellow, those of which thoro is least
variety. Only single h y a ciia lis were a t first cultiv a ted ; but
ab o u t the b eg in n in g of the la st cen tu ry attention was jiaid to
double llowers by Peter Voerhelm, whoso first doublo Iiower
was named Ma ry, an d is now lo s t; b u t his th ird flower, the
K in a o f Oreai lir ila in , which is now looked uiioii as th e oldosl
double hyaeintli, was greatly preferred to all tiic flowers known,
an d the price of it was tlicn above 1000 florins, or lOOf. sterling.
Up to th e m iddle o f th e last century, the greatest attention was
p a id a t Haarlem to raising new sorts of double flowers: an d as
mu ch as 200/. has been known to bo given for a ro o t: linf,
since th a t period tlio taste for tliis an d otlier bulbous flowers
has considerably declined, an d a t present there are few sorts
for whicli more th a n lOf. a re asked; the general p rice being
a bloom for only one year.
from Is. to lOs. a bulb for tho finer sorts, an d what a re callod
the common mixtui-es arc sold a t from 2i. to Zl. a hundred.
A variety degenerates, u n der bad treatment, in two or tlireo
^cntui- n o lliin d somc liavc been preserved nearly a
.. Characteristics o f a fin e double hyacinth (fig . 888. a ) :
Th e stem should be «Tong, tall, an d erect, su p p orting inime-
roua large bolls, encli susiicmUtl by a sliort and strong iicduncle,
o r lootstalk, in a horizontal position, so th a t the wholc m ay havo
a compact pyramid al form, with tho crown or uiipcrmost
Ilowcr perfectly crccf. The flowers sliould bo large, and per-
ic ct y douhlc, 1. e. well illle.1 w ith broad bold petals, iippeariiig
to tlic eye r a th e r convex th an flat or hollow; they should
occupy ab ou t one h a lf tlie lengtli of the stem. The oo'ours
siiouUl bo clear und briglit, wliether idnin, red, wliite, or blue,
or variously in te rmix ed an d diversified in the e y e ; the latte r.
It mu st be confessed, gives additional lu stre ami cJcgancc to
th is b e autiful flower. Strong b riglit colours arc, in general,
p r^ e rr c d to such as a rc pale.”
1 f t / ’"’ should have a large well-shaped
boll, of a clear decided colour or pu re white. Tho bclU are
generally mucli la rg e r iu single liy a cin th s th an in double
, Propanation. By seed for new v a rie tie s; nnd by offset
bulbs lor oontmuing approved sorts.
5177. B y seed. ‘‘Tho seed shouldbe saved from such sorts as
have strong an d straigiit stems, an d a reg u la r well-formotl py.
ra n u d of bells, not ix'rfectly single, b u t ra th e r acmidouhlc. J t
should not be gatherod till It lias become perfectly black and
f l’’*’-. of October, or begimiing of March,
¿ o u t h a lf an inch below the surface of tho soil, iu a deep box
filled with good sound g a rden mould mixed with sand. U
will never req uire to be watered, or have an y other attention
paid to i t th an to keep it free from weeds and frost, till it has
remained m tho gro u n d two y e a rs ; it mu st then, on the approach
of winter, liave nn additional stra tum of the compost
placed upon it, ab o u t h a lf an incli th ic k ; and tho tliird year
in tlic month of .Tuly, tlio roots may be taken up, dried, and
treated in tiie same m an n er as large bulbs o r oflsots: some of
th e roots will flower th e fourth year, one h a lf of them will
the fifth, b u t by the sixth year every healthy root will exhibit
Us bloom, an d then th e hopes and expectations of the ciiUivator
will be realised or disappointed. He may th in k himself fortun
ate, if ono h all of the plants th a t flrst appeared, are in existence
a t th is p e rio d ; aiul if he can a t last And ono flower in flvo
h u n d red deserving a name or place, in a curious collection,’!!©
may rest perfectly content, and be assured th a t he has fared as
well as could reasonably be expected, an d better th an many
who havo bestowed equal attention to the subject.” (fl/«</(/ocit.)
6178. B y offsets. These may bo planted in the beginning of
October, or soon after they havebeen separated from the p a ren t
bulbs. P lan t them in a n o p c n jm rto f the garden, in rows about
2 in. deep, upon a bctl raised f> in. or 8 in. above tlie common
level, consisting of a sandy soil, pulverised, 18 in. deep ; the
surface of the bed should be raado ra th e r convex or rounding,
so as to throwoff heavy r a in s ; no farther aftcntion is necessary,
except lo stir the surface of th e bed occasionally, keep it free
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