THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 75 



pots should be stirred, and fresh added to the depth of about two 

 inches. Take a shoot in your left hand, bend it towards the stem of 

 the parent plant with your forefinger, make the incision about half 

 an inch below the third joint, extending it upwards, then cut half 

 way through the joint", severing the tongue from the shoot. 

 The layer must be gently lowered into the soil, and retained 

 in its proper position by a peg cut out of the common brake fern and 

 dried. Too much earth must not be placed upon the layer, and the 

 more upright the layer itself is the better. In layering, water should 

 be given the day before, and also through a fine rose after shading 

 carefully. The best time to perform the operation is from the 

 middle of July until the middle of August. In about six or eight 

 weeks the layers will be ready to take off ; the peg should be drawn 

 out, the layer detached with a sharp knife, and lifted with a flat piece 

 of wood about an inch wide, cut rather thin at the point. The por- 

 tion of the stem beyond where it is rooted must be removed, and 

 then they must be planted in pairs (two in a pot) in 48 or 54 sized 

 pots. Be careful not to pot them too deep, and do not use a rich 

 soil, but let it be of a light nature. After pottiug, water them, and 

 let them be placed in a frame on bricks, so as to admit air underneath, 

 and the pots placed upon a good layer of ashes. They should be 

 kept close for a week or ten days, and be fumigated once to destroy 

 green-fly. The lights should then be propped about six inches above 

 the frame, and lowered to about one inch in case of frost, with a 

 mat thrown over, taking care to uncover when it disappears, and in 

 fine weather the lights may be thrown oft" altogether. During the 

 months of January and February the plants must be kept as free 

 from damp as possible ; all decayed leaves must be picked off, and 

 the surface of the soil stirred. Should the weather prove frosty I 

 generally cover the frame over with a mat, and as long as frost lasts 

 I give water very moderately. 



Potting fob Bloom. — The best time to repot them is in 

 March. The compost should comprise two-thirds loam from rotted 

 turves, and one-third decomposed cow manure, with a little sand, 

 if the loam does not partake of it. This should be prepared in 

 November, and be frequently turned over during the winter, and be 

 kept from heavy rains. The size of pot I consider best to bloom 

 them in is twelve-inch. There should be plenty of drainage, viz., 

 about two inches of broken crocks, over which spread a thin layer 

 of coarse-riddled dry soil, and then fill the pots about two-thirds 

 with the compost. The next thing is to turn out the plants care- 

 fully from the pots they were wintered in. Keep the ball entire, 

 and remove at least an inch of the top soil from each. I have fre- 

 quently found the aphides in concealment there, and the removal of 

 the top soil clears them away. If the small fibres of the roots 

 round the ball are matted very much, and injured by the frost, I 

 sometimes pare some of them lightly off with a sharp knife, being 

 careful not to cut or disturb the strong roots or loosen the ball of 

 earth. Next place them erect in the centre, if for one plant ; but if 

 they are potted two or three in a pot, place them symmetrically as 

 far from each other as from the side of the pot, leaving the plants 



