150 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



tlie ground, "which will be about the end of June ; after which, a 

 good dose of manure-water, once a week, would benefit them up till 

 the end of August. If continued longer than this, it might induce 

 a too succulent growth, which will be liable to feel the effects of early 

 autumn frost. The remarks which I have made above about potting 

 and syringing will be applicable in this case if they are wanted to 

 flower early. 



To grow the plants from cuttings to make nice objects is, I know, 

 a work of time ; still very much can be done by good cultivation ; 

 but even to buy they are very cheap, for a good stout plant can be 

 had for a shilling, and it is of such plants as these that I shall now 

 speak. Early in the autumn of 1560 I received a dozen such plants 

 to fill a small bed in an herbaceous garden, and I determined to see 

 what could be done by the liberal use of good fat dung and copious 

 drenchings of manure-water through the season of growth. The 

 plants flowered the first and second year in this bed, under the cut- 

 ting-down system, and they had done remarkably well, but as they 

 were not strictly herbaceous plants, the proprietor pronounced them 

 unsuitable for the position they occupied. But they were suftered 

 to complete the season's growth, which I encouraged by the applica- 

 tion of stimulants, for I was anxious to see to what length and 

 substance the young wood could be grown in one year. At the end 

 of the year some of the shoots measured three feet nine inches, but 

 it must be remembered this bed from the first received special atten- 

 tion by being made very rich with manure. The plants were potted 

 with their roots considerably reduced, at the end of November, and 

 placed in a cold pit secured from frost ; and as leisure permitted I 

 took them to the greenhouse, and there trained some of them into 

 a variety of shapes — some on Avire, and some on sticks. It is a 

 great recommendation in this plant that it will admit of its young 

 wood being twisted and turned into any shape that may suit the taste 

 of the cultivator. Amongst the number of plants which I had (for 

 experiment) subjected to the unnatural plan of training, was one of 

 a globe shape ; tliis plant occupied a 10-inch pot. I allowed it to 

 flower naturally in a cool greenhouse, and it was in its greatest 

 beauty about the middle of April. It was admitted by all who saw 

 it to be a magnificent specimen, for it was literally covered from top 

 to bottom with a sheet of white flowers, with just sufiicient of its 

 pea-green leaves to show its full character. It had the honour of 

 being carried nine miles to occupy a prominent position on the 

 table of a wedding breakfast. But for all this I am no advocate for 

 so many sticks and ties ; to me a plant never looks better than 

 when it is allowed to flower in the way that nature has provided, 

 but still there are many cases in which some training is desirable. 

 To secure such plants as the above, they should be allowed to stand 

 through one winter without being moved. This is to be easily done 

 if enough plants can be obtained and planted out, and half of them 

 allowed to stand every year. 



