224 



THE FLORIST. 



of 75**, and as the summer advances they will thrive in 90° well. 

 Masses of this flower in a conservatory are very attractive ; there is 

 no flower lasts so long upon a plant; one bloom has lasted twenty- 

 nine days before it faded. 



The best time to sow the seed of this splendid plant is in March; 

 and as the seed is very small, it requires additional care in sowing ; 

 for when sown in the usual way upon a loose soil, the first watering 

 carries it along with it, and hence failure. 



Prepare the following compost : half loam, the other half made 

 up with le^af, peat, or bog-mould, with a little sand ; place plenty of 

 drainings in the bottom of a 48 or 32 pot, fill it with the compost 

 very tightly, and on the top place half an inch of sand ; damp the 

 sand with water to harden the surface, sow the seed and sprinkle a 

 very Httle dry sand on the top ; place a propagating glass over the pot, 

 or a piece of glass will do ; place your pot into a heat of 70° Or 80° 

 with a pan under it, for the future watering ; at no time water on 

 the top ; the pan ought never to be allowed to get dry. The seed- 

 lings will appear in three weeks or more ; when about three weeks 

 up, plant them singly in a 60-size pot in the above compost, with 

 plenty of drainings in the bottom ; place them again in the back of 

 your cucumber-pit or frame ; after this you cannot give them too 

 much water overhead and in the pans ; and by the autumn, if they 

 have been kept in a good growing heat, they will be fine Httle bushy 

 plants ; top them at every joint. In September, shift them into large 

 60's, merely to keep their roots in a more intermediate state for 

 the winter ; after this all top-watering must cease, and a pan placed 

 under each pot to receive the watering ; and as the winter approaches, 

 not a drop of water must be allowed to fall on the plant. The drier 

 the top^ mould gets next the leaves and stem, the more certain of 

 preserving your plant. The best place I have found is the coldest 

 part of the stove, very near the glass ; I have also kept them well in 

 the warmest part of the greenhouse ; in all cases just water sufficient to 

 keep the plants from flagging. If the winter be dry, water once a fort- 

 night; if damp weather, once a month or so ; towards the end of Feb- 

 ruary place them in a cucumber-pit or frame, in a heat of from 70° 

 to 75°; and when they begin a fresh growth, shift them into as large 

 pots as convenient, remembering the larger the pot the finer your 

 specimen ; my largest plant had 600 blossoms on it, and was grown 

 in a no. 8-sized pot. As the spring advances, it is almost impossible 

 to give them too much heat and moisture ; they are very fond of 

 liquid manure. It is useless to try to grow a fine plant in any place 

 approaching to dry heat, nor less than 70° to 80°. I have grown 

 them five inches in seven days. 



In removing out of the pits, great care must be taken in not 

 allowing the sun to shine on them for some days, as the change from 

 a damp close heat to a dry house will be too much for them. By 

 the above treatment they will come into flower about the 1st of July, 

 and keep blooming from two to three months, forming a most splen- 

 did ornament for the drawing-room, conservatory, or greenhouse. 



Camberwell. James Cuthill. 



