THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 163 



reduces the vigour, and therefore extra vigour in the broad petaled 

 varieties is favourable to the production of fine specimens. 



There is a material difference between growing plants for home 

 decoration and for exhibition. The specimens for the exhibition- 

 table must be grown in the usual watch-glass shape to meet with 

 much success ; whereas those intended for the conservatory are best 

 grown in a more natural manner, with the aid of a few sticks. To 

 get up specimens quickly for either purpose, the plants must be 

 turned out in the open ground the first summer, to form a founda- 

 tion of stout wood. The way I proceed is to dig up deeply a piece 

 of ground in the open garden, mix therewith a little leaf-mould, and 

 plant stout little plants at a distance of about eighteen inches apart 

 each way. Heavily-manured soil is not desirable, as we want a 

 free but short-jointed, rather than a rank luxuriant growth. If the 

 plants have been stopped once, and have three or four stubby 

 shoots when planted out, a month's time will be saved. Our object 

 now is to get symmetrically-shaped plants ; therefore we must keep 

 them regularly stopped throughout the summer, to make them 

 bushy. No stopping should take place after the 1st of August, 

 when all the growing points ought to be nipped out. In a fortnight 

 afterwards the shoots will be bristling with young growths, and the 

 plants can then be taken up and potted. 



The principal points to be observed in taking the plants up are, 

 to trim the roots moderately, pot as quickly as possible after they 

 are out of the ground, and keep rather close and shaded for a week 

 or so. A six-inch pot is the most convenient size to use, as it will 

 admit of their being transferred comfortably into eight-inch size in 

 the spring. Through the winter, just sufficient moisture to keep 

 them fresh and green, and good ventilation, are the principal atten- 

 tions the plants require. In the spring, shift into larger pots; eight- 

 inch size is generally xised for exhibition purposes, but for home 

 decoration the exact size of the pot is of no material consequence. 

 Training must be begun in earnest for exhibition specimens directly 

 after the spring shift. A ring of stout wire, with two cross pieces 

 attached at each end to it, and fastened securely with pegs fixed in 

 the soil, affords the most simple training-frame that can be used. 

 The shoots can be easily tied down to this framework as occasion 

 demands. The flower-stems must also be neatly tied down, for, 

 however unnatural it may appear, it is necessary for giving that 

 finished appearance which is looked for on an exhibition-table. 



The soil I use is good turfy loam, mixed with a sma}l propor- 

 tion of leaf-mould and decayed manure, and a moderate quantity of 

 silver sand. It is important to pot firm, and have the pots well 

 drained ; about an inch depth of medium-sized crocks will be suffi- 

 cient. Plenty of soft water, with occasional supplies of manure- 

 water, will be necessary when the plants are growing freely ; but it 

 must not be overdone even then. In the autumn cut back, and 

 after the dormant buds have started, shake away a large portion of 

 the old soil, trim the roots, repot, and treat as advised for young 

 plants the previous autumn. Do your best, at every point in the 

 cultivation, to avoid so absurd a result as pimping little plants in 



