THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



169 



the front of tlie house, if a lean-to, is 

 best ; but if a span-roofed house, of 

 course either side will do equally well. 

 This shelf should have a spline nailed 

 on to both edges, so as to form a kind 

 of trough ; this should be filled with 

 moss or sand, into which the small 

 pots containing fresh potted seedlings 

 or cuttings should be plunged ; for 

 if not plunged in some such manner, 

 there would be danger of their roots 

 becoming too dry. 



Placing Plants out of Doors. — 

 This is necessary in order to properly 

 ripen the wood and flower-buds of 

 many greenhouse plants. They 

 should in all cases be placed upon 

 some hard floor, through which 

 worms cannot penetrate, and it is 

 also good practice to surround the 

 pots with coal-ashes or moss, to arrest 

 in some measure evaporation, and 

 render watering less necessary. 



Shading the House. — The most 

 graceful way of effecting this is by 

 training a moderate screen of climbing 

 plants beneath the roof, upon wires 

 fixed for that purpose, but care must 

 be taken that they do not run wild, 

 or they will speedily become too 

 dense for the well-being of the plants 

 beneath them. Tiiey must likewise 

 be freely cut back and thinned in 

 autumn after flowering, that they may 

 not obstruct light during winter. If, 

 however, no climbers are used, 

 " Shaw's Tiffany " is an admirable 

 article for the purpose, and requires 

 no rollers, but may be tacked over 

 the outside of the house, there to 

 remain as long as it is wanted. 



In the following directions for 

 the treatment of plants, the kind of 

 soil required has, in many cases, been 

 left unnoticed, for sake of brevity ; 

 where such is the case, the mixture 

 recommended under the head Soil 

 is to be used, but where peat and 

 loam are recommended, it is to be 

 understood that the plants do best in 

 a mixture of peat, or the substitute 

 for peat already described, and the 

 common mixture of loam and dung. 

 A mixture of the two in about equal 

 proportions, passed through a flue 

 sieve, may likewise form the standing 

 compost for the first potting of seed- 

 lings or cuttings. We shall begin 



our list of amateur's plants with that 

 glory of the greenhouse in summer, 

 the 



Fuchsia. — Strike short-jointed 

 cuttings in July ; remove to the front 

 shelf, and pot off in September, re- 

 placing them near the glass during 

 the autumn ; keep rather dry in win- 

 ter, and repot in spring into larger 

 pots until June, pinching back ill- 

 placed shoots, and picking off flowers 

 until that time ; the pyramidal form 

 of training is best, therefore encou- 

 rage the growth of the main stem, 

 and regulate the growth of the side 

 shoots by pinching back the strongest, 

 that the weaker may compete with 

 them successfully to form a uniform 

 plant. By the end of August they 

 will probably have done flowering, 

 when they may be set out of doors 

 for a month, but must not be left to 

 get frozen ; they may then be stored 

 away at the back of the greenhouse, 

 or even in an attic, if secure from 

 frost, and affording them a moderate 

 amount of light. The following Feb- 

 ruary they mayhavetheir side-shoots 

 pruned back to within a joint or two 

 of the main stem, and be taken out of 

 their pots in March. Some of the 

 old soil to be shaken from their roots, 

 the latter slightly pruned, and then 

 be repotted in clean pots, taking care 

 to work the new soil amongst their 

 roots with a pointed stick. They may 

 then be encouraged to grow, and will 

 flower earlier than the young plants. 

 Soil, peat and loam. 



Chrysanthemums. — These are fine 

 things for the autumn months, and 

 are grown on single stems to great 

 perfection by professors of the art, 

 but those who cannot aim at such 

 perfection, may still enjoy them. 

 And so long as they have roomy pots 

 and are never allowed to get dry at 

 the root, they will flourish, but some 

 little training will be necessary, and 

 liquid manure will improve them 

 towards the flowering period. The 

 very simple plan of dividing the old 

 pUnts in March, and potting a very 

 small morsel in each pot, to be nursed 

 for a month in the greenhouse, then 

 to be grown out of doors throughout 

 the summer, with occasional potting 

 into larger pots, and pinching back 



