TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 225 



days be sufficiently rooted to receive their first potting. Planting usually 

 takes place in June and July, so it will be necessary to have ample stock 

 ready before beginning this work. Selecting the strongest plants, they 

 are planted rather firmly from eight to ten inches apart, on tables or 

 benches containing about four inches of good, pliable soil, followed by a 

 copious watering and the first important step has been taken. Constant 

 attention will be necessary from this time until the flowers are developed, 

 giving abundance of air at all times and attending closely to the water- 

 ing. They are lovers of water, yet should not be treated as aquatics, 

 or the soil will become sodden and the foliage assume a yellow coat. A 

 moderately moist condition is what they enjoy. As the plants advance 

 in height they will require staking and tying. 



To produce specimen blooms the plants are restricted to a few flowers, 

 generally from one to three. After the middle of July, all growth except 

 that intended to flower is removed as fast as it appears, to concentrate 

 all the energy of the plant to its flowers. By the end of August, many 

 varieties are in bud, and then begins the task of removing the surplus 

 and retaining the most perfect. 



This is disbudding, and will need to be repeated several times till all 

 are removed except the one at the ivpex of the stem, which is usually the 

 most perfect. 



The next important step is the application of additional food, which 

 should be given in the form of liquid manure or chemicals that are soluble 

 in water, beginning with a weak solution and gradually increasing until 

 the limit is reached. A half bushel of fresh manure to forty gallons of 

 water, and five ounces of concentrated chemicals to thirty gallons, are 

 considered maximum doses. When the flowers are half expanded all 

 watering should be done in the early part of the day, to secure as dry an 

 atmosphere as possible for the night, as the dew, which is very heavy 

 under glass at this season, is very injurious, causing the petals to damp- 

 off or decay. A slight ventilation over night, or the application of a little 

 heat, is also a good prevention, but I prefer the former as long as there 

 is no danger of freezing. 



To those who are not favored with greenhouses, are not desirous of 

 having well-grown plants, I will give a few suggestions, beginning with 

 the pot system. Procure the desired number of plants the latter part of 

 May, which, as they are generally bought from the florist, are in the 

 smallest size pots. These should be changed at once into the four-inch 

 size, and plunged to the rims in the open garden, or in some light ma- 

 terial like sawdust or tanbark in an open frame. By the first of July 

 they will need another shift, using an eight-inch pot for those which have 

 made the strongest growth, and a six-inch for those less vigorous. The 

 watering, staking, and feeding should be attended to the same as when 

 grown under glass. Should the wish be for nice, symmetrical plants, with 

 abundance of bloom, pinch out the tip of the plant at the first potting, 

 repeating this from time to time as the new growth is four inches long, 

 continuing until August 1, by which time the plants will have from fifty 

 to one hundred branches. When the buds are the size of small peas, 

 rub off all but one at the end of each branch. This will make the flowers 

 larger and of better quality. If specimen blooms are desired, defer the 

 pinching out of the tip until July 1 to 15, and allow the two or three shoots 

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