4G 



PETUNIAS rOE EXHIBITION. 



UPPOSING- you have youno; plants to begin with, and 

 tliey are intended for exhibition or conservatory deco- 

 ration in the autumn, keep them in a temperature of 

 60' or 65", and as soon as they have got four pairs of 

 leaves, pinch off the tops. When the plants have 

 broken, and the breaks get half an inch long, pot them into three-inch 

 pots, using a mixture of peat, leaf-mould, loam, and sand, equal parts 

 of each ; and as soon as the breaks get long enough, peg them down 

 with wooden pegs. By the end of March they will want stopping 

 aijaiu, the close-growing ones at the sixth joint, and the wide- 

 growing ones at the fourth joint. As soon as the plants begin to 

 break, pot them into five-inch pots, using the same compost as 

 before. After this shift, and as soon as they begin to grow, they 

 will require a lower temperature. Keep stopping and pegging 

 down, and by the end of May they will want shifting into eight-inch 

 pots, using a compost of half loam, one- quarter leaf-mould, and 

 one-quarter peat, and sand equal parts. Keep stopping and peg- 

 ging down until the end of June, and in the first or second week in 

 July they must be stopped for the last time, stopping every shoot, 

 and endeavouring to keep the plants as symmetrical as possible, so 

 that when they come into bloom they will require but little tying. 

 The best shape is half a globe. By the middle of July they must 

 have their final shift into eleven-inch pots, using a compost of half- 

 fibry loam, one-quarter leaf-mould, and one-quarter rotten cow- 

 dung, and sand, equal parts of each. As the plants grow, great 

 attention must be paid to pegging down and training, also to water- 

 ing, for at this period if they get dry it is very injurious to them; 

 and as the buds begin to swell, they will require stimulating with 

 liquid manure, which should be given to them rather weak, every 

 time they are watered, until the flowers begin to expand ; after 

 that it should be discontinued. They will then require shading 

 from the hot sun. By the above treatment, double petunias will be 

 worthy to occupy the places at our September exhibitions that 

 pelargoniums do at our June shows. — Jonx Thoepe, Leicester. 



MANAGEMENT OF WINDOW FLO WEES. 



N the volume for 1867, page 2.S9, occurs an admirable 

 paper by Mr. Coldwells on the management of window 

 flowers. Several of our lady readers who have little 

 opportunity for horticultural practice beyond what the 

 window or balcony afi'ords, have requested something 

 further on the same subject. For the present we offer them the 



