36 THE FLORIST. 



But there is another way which, until tried, would be supposed 

 to produce the very opposite effect, namely, to plunge them in a hot- 

 bed for a few days. When a plant, spindling and weakening itself, 

 is subjected to bottom -heat, the effect is astonishing. The growth 

 upwards is immediately checked. The branches swell, instead of 

 Lengthening themselves, the leaves recover a deep and healthy green ; 

 and not till these effects are produced does the upward growth recom- 

 mence, when they should be removed again. 



One of the most common mistakes by which pale leaves are pro- 

 duced is by stimulating applications, by liquid manure, or placing a 

 coating of manure on the top of the pot. The effect of this is not 

 dissimilar to that of giving gin to a child. The minute and tender 

 rootlets cannot bear the strong excitement. They perish, and the 

 plant soon after follows their example, if the pernicious system be 

 persevered in. Eschew all impatient desire of stimulants. Give 

 entirely fresh mould once a year, and let that, if possible, be maiden, 

 and, if you please, pot off into smaller pots for the winter, as I 

 do, to save room; only remembering to re-pot into larger ones in 

 the spring, without breaking the ball of earth. Be sure also to remem- 

 ber the drainage, to prevent the soil becoming sodden and sour — not 

 a mere piece of oyster-shell over the hole, but a handful of broken 

 pieces of pot put in carefully. 



One word more about training. One who recommends such a 

 thing must expect to hear a good deal of well-meant nonsense about 

 suffering the plant to grow as nature meant it to grow. Nature never 

 meant any thing. But the Author of Nature has imposed training 

 and discipline as a duty, nor is any person or thing ever brought to the 

 highest perfection it is capable of without restraint, and pruning, and 

 direction, from a fostering hand. Not an apple-tree or a currant-bush 

 will long repay the use of the land they grow on, if their owner for- 

 gets the duty incumbent on him in virtue of his descent from Adam, 

 on whom the sentence was pronounced. Thorns, and thistles, and 

 barrenness will soon be found in all things to be the point to which, 

 if left to themselves and to their nature, they will tend. Cultivation 

 is necessary, in order to exhibit the good of which every sublunary 

 nature is capable. Never speak slightingly of training, even in a 

 Geranium. It may teach you a lesson respecting yourself, and the 

 persons committed to your care by the providence of God ; and it 

 will amply repay you for your trouble in its floral results. Persons 

 who have never seen a trained plant are incredulous of its effects. 

 The gardener of a country gentleman in this neighbourhood who had 

 three conservatories under his care, would not believe, on my testi- 

 mony, that a single stem could be made to support from eight to six- 

 teen or twenty flowering branches, arising from nearly the same 

 height above the pot ; but endeavoured to persuade me that it must 

 be done by cheating, and putting many plants into one pot. The 

 method, however, is very easily practised, and is well worth any per- 

 son's employing on at least a few of his most striking and useful sorts. 

 The principle is this, that no more branches can thrive than can be 

 supplied with a free circulation of air, so as not to interfere with 



