This section is from "The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
We scarcely can name a single plant that is more useful in ornamenting a garden than the Canna major; the leaf has an oriental appearance, shall we say more palmlike than anything else so easily obtained? Its bulbs increase much every season; before frost they should be taken up, and kept rather dry under the stage of a greenhouse; they will grow larger if started in a hot-bed in the spring, and then plant them out in a bed that has been dug out to the depth of two feet, with Borne manure to give them a little warmth to start with, and the bed filled up with refuse potting soil, or the richer soil of the garden. Grouped, or in a circle, they are very ornamental; the same of Canna Indica, which bears flowers; another circle may consist of Canna discolor. They all love water. The Chinese Peonies require a rich light soil; good sandy loam suits them well, and they are readily propagated by dividing the roots in April or May, when the young shoots are a finger long.
"If after a decoction of herbs In a winter night," says an old author, " we expose the liquor to the frigid air, we may observe in the morning under a crust of ice, the perfect appearance, both in figure and color, of the plants that were taken from it." Peter. (Just so; and if you think of your lady love before a refracting telescope, you will see her next morning ironing your collars before breakfast; after which she will inspect the state of your wristband buttons, and before night comb Your head. Try it).
A correspondents writes for a list of the best continuous-blooming Roses - will find a capital list in our volume for 1856, page 224. The following is from Glenny's (London) Garden Almanack:
 
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