their seeds upon a bed of light earth,
where they are to remain (for they seldom succeed well if transplanted);
therefore, in order to have them intermixed among other annual flowers
in the borders of the Flower Garden, the seeds should be sown in patches
at proper distances: and when the plants come up, they must be thinned
where they grow too close, leaving but three or four of them in each
patch, observing also to keep them clear from weeds, which is all the
culture they require. In July they will produce their flowers, and their
seeds will ripen in August.

"The season for sowing these seeds is in March; but if you sow some of
them in August, soon after they are ripe, upon a dry soil and in a warm
situation, they will abide through the winter, and flower strong the
succeeding year; by sowing of the seeds at different times, they may be
continued in beauty most parts of the summer." _Miller's Gard. Dict.
ed._ 6. 4_to._

[23]

~Tropaeolum majus. Greater Indian-Cress, or Nasturtium.~

_Class and Order._

~Octandria Monogynia.~

_Generic Character._

_Calyx_ 1-phyllus, calcaratus. _Petala_ 5 in aequalia. _Baccae_ tres,
siccae.

_Specific Character and Synonyms._

TROPAEOLUM _majus_ foliis peltatis subquinquelobis, petalis obtusis.
_Lin. Syst. Vegetab. ed._ 14. _Murr. p._ 357. _Sp. Pl. p._ 490.

CARDAMINDUM ampliori folio et majori flore. _Grande Capucine Tournef.
Inst. p._ 430.

[Illustration: No. 23]

The present plant is a native of Peru, and is said by Linnaeus to have
been first brought into Europe in the year 1684; it is certainly one of
the greatest ornaments the Flower-Garden can boast: it varies in colour,
and is also found in the Nurseries with double flowers. The former, as
is well known, is propagated by seed; the latter by cuttings, which
should be struck on a hot-bed. To have these plants early, they should
be raised with other tender annuals; they usually begin to flower in
July, and continue blossoming till the approach of winter: the stalks
require to be supported, for if left to themselves they trail on the
ground, overspread, and destroy the neighbouring plants.

Elizabeth Christina, one of the daughters of Linnaeus, is said to have
perceived the flowers to emit spontaneously, at certain intervals,
sparks like those of electricity, visible only in the dusk of the
evening, and which ceased when total darkness came on.

The flowers have the taste of water-cress, with a degree of