50 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



had. Clay, and every kind of loamy 

 soil, or even loam inclining to clay, 

 may be made suitable for this flower 

 by the exercise of a little skill. Very 

 stiff soils may be improved by the 

 addition of sharp sand and peat, and 

 on very light soils there should be 

 spread a few inches of clay in autumn, 

 and in spring this should be dug in 

 and well mixed with the staple, and 

 manure added. For pot culture the 

 best compost is one consisting of equal 

 parts strong yellow loam, well pul- 

 verized leaf-mould, sweet and clean, 

 rotten cow-manure, and a half part 

 sharp sand. If the loam is sandy, 

 omit the addition of sand. The poly- 

 anthus bed must be sheltered, or the 

 frosts in winter, and the burning sun 

 in summer, will destroy the hopes of 

 the cultivator. Some growers have 

 moveable wooden frames and lights 

 with which to cover in the bed during 

 winter like a miniature greenhouse ; 

 but common garden frames answer 

 every purpose if the planting of the 

 rows and the sizes of the frames cor- 

 respond to each other, so that when 

 the frames are put on, the plants 

 within them will be in suitable posi- 

 tions to thrive during winter. But 

 the most important point of all i3 to 

 screen them from the mid-day sun. 

 The bed should have an east aspect, 

 and enjoy the sun for two or three 

 hours early in the day, and thereafter 

 be shaded by trees, fences, walls, etc., 

 but best of all, trees at some dis- 

 tance, which give a cooler shade 

 than walls. 



Peopagation. — The best time to 

 increase named kinds is March and 

 April, as the offsets then received 

 grow very fast, and soon establish 

 themselves. Very small offsets will 

 be liable to die, unless taken great 

 care of, and they must, therefore, be 

 potted. For this purpose a mixture 

 of peat and leaf-mould will be best ; 

 put them in very small pots, and keep 

 rather close, with very small supplies 

 of water, in a cold frame till rooted. 

 Larger offsets may be planted in four 

 inch pots in the compost recom- 

 mended above for pot culture of spe- 

 cimens, or they may be planted in the 

 bed, and kept regularly watered and 

 shaded till established. If it is in- 



convenient to disturb the specimens 

 for the removal of offsets in March or 

 April, leave them alone till July ; 

 then repot and divide them. Give 

 water sparingly, plenty of air, keep 

 shaded, and they will soon be esta- 

 blished. To raise stock from seed, it 

 is best to begin by saving the seed 

 yourself from the best-named flowers. 

 Now is a good time to plant out varie- 

 ties in beds, in order to obtain good 

 home-saved seed during the present 

 season. Plant them in a shady border, 

 water freely during dry weather. 

 When the seed-vessels begin to open, 

 give no more water, and every day 

 remove by means of a small pair of 

 scissors the brownest of the heads, 

 which are partly open. A tin box, or 

 some similar smooth receptacle, is 

 needful to receive the newly-gathered 

 seed ; if gathered in paoer, or any 

 rough receptacle, some of it may be 

 lost. The seed must be spread in a 

 sunny window for a week or so after 

 gathering, and a portion should then 

 be sown, and another portion saved 

 till spring. 



Seedlings may be raised from 

 seed sown as soon as ripe and seed 

 sown in March and April. In either 

 case the procedure is the same, but 

 seedlings from summer sowing will 

 want careful protection all winter, 

 whereas those from spring sowing 

 will, to some extent, take care of 

 themselves ; a certain proportion will 

 indeed be quite hardy, though it is 

 worth observing that the tenderest 

 habited are likely to prove the best. 

 Sow in pans filled with the same mix- 

 ture as recommended above for speci- 

 men plants, with one part of peat 

 added. Let the earth in the pans be 

 very fine ; spread it flat, and sprinkle 

 the seeds on the surface very thin. 

 Cover with a mere dusting of fine 

 soil, and place in a cold frame. If 

 the soil is allowed to get very dry, 

 the seed will perish; therefore, to 

 prevent this, place the pans in a 

 vessel of water deep enough to reach 

 to the rim of the pans. In the course 

 of half an hour, the soil in the pans 

 will have absorbed sufficient without 

 the disturbance of a single grain of 

 seed. When the plants are large 

 enough to handle, treat them a8 ad- 



