TnE FLORIST. 



when convenient. The pLants should be kept as near the glass 

 as possible, and should be shaded during bright sunshine. If 

 they do well, they will require shifting about once in five or six 

 weeks ; and before the operation, the mould about the roots should 

 be rather dry than wet. After they are shifted, give a good 

 watering, and replace them in their old situation, keeping them 

 close for a day or two. In potting, drain well, and place some 

 moss (Sphagnum) over the crocks, then some of the roughest of the 

 conpost, which (after the January shift) may consist of one part 

 silver-sand, two parts turfy or fibry peat, and one part dry cow- 

 dung, all well mixed together with the spade, and used without 

 sifting. As the season advances, pot rather firmly ; and we find 

 it a very good plan to put some of the moss on the top of the soil ; 

 when potted, the roots seem quite at home in it, and it prevents 

 the mould from being washed over the pot. Use rain-water 

 both for the soil and for sprinkling the plants overhead with. In 

 the latter operation be guided by the weather, and in the 

 former by the wants of the plant. Also water about once a week 

 with very weak manure water. Train the main-stems to stakes, 

 allowing them to branch out right and left, never pinching the 

 side-shoots back, except when one seems to take the lead of the 

 others. By following these directions, we are certain that every 

 success will attend your labours. 



NOTES ON APHELANDRAS. 



Amongst evergreen hothouse plants Aphelandras may not inaptly be 

 considered as constituting some of the best or showiest flowerino- kinds 

 cultivated. In fact, it is difficult to conceive anything more truly 

 beautiful than A. cristata when in a high state of cultivation ; although 

 it is one of the oldest inhabitants of our hothouses, yet one rarely sees 

 a good specimen of it. At no very distant period it was the only 

 Aphelandra known in a cultivated state, but, owing to the rapid intro- 

 duction of exotics within these last half-dozen years, or so, there are, at 

 the present time, several of them met with among collections, some of 

 them when in flower being extremely beautiful, and well worth any 

 trouble that may be bestowed on them. As winter flowering shrubs 

 they are invaluable ; their flowers, when once become developed, re- 

 main in perfection for a long time, enlivening the stove for several 

 months in succession. They are Acanthaceous shrubs, and are culti- 

 vated with facility if kept in a moist stove while growing, and in a httle 

 bottom heat, near the glass, and at a moderate temperature. When in 

 a dormant state keep them rather dry, and at a temperature of about 

 50°. Before starting them cut them well back, if they require it, so as 

 to cause them to break and make Ijranches, otherwise some of them will 

 soon become unsightly, by being naked at the bottom. A mixture of 



