AUGUST. 181 



potsherds, and pressing down the soil very firm when potting , after 

 this operation is over, it is gently watered with a fine-rosed watering 

 pot, to settle the soil round the ball. It is then returned to the 

 house, being particular neither to over or under water it, that is to 

 say, I never water until it requires it, and then I apply it with a 

 liberal hand, for it is in this particular that the great secret of suc- 

 cessful plant-cultivation lies. 



If, as I have said, the house is a vinery, by the time the grapes 

 are in bloom the temperature will be too high for a young plant, and 

 it must be moved to other quarters, if a close pit or frame is at 

 hand worked by dung or otherwise, that will suit it, provided the 

 night-temperature does not exceed 55°. If no such convenience is 

 at hand, it will be satisfied with greenhouse treatment, if draughts are 

 at first avoided by keeping the lights close for a time where it is 

 placed. As its shoots lengthen, they must be stopped by picking out 

 the points when about four inches long, and as the plant increases 

 in bulk, it must be properly staked out, in order that the air may 

 circulate freely through the branches. If it is found to have filled 

 the pot with roots by August, it must be shifted into a sixteen-sized 

 pot in the same soil as already recommended, and placed in a cold 

 frame, which, if kept close, will suit it for a time, admitting air gra- 

 dually, in order that the wood may be matured by autumn, so as to 

 enable it to stand the same treatment as other greenhouse plants, 

 keeping it moderately dry from December until February, where the 

 treatment given above may again commence for another season, 

 keeping the flowers all pinched out ; and should it perchance be at- 

 tacked by that pest, the white or brown scale, winter is the best time 

 to get rid of it, as the wood being then hard will bear severe treat- 

 ment. Water heated to the temperature of 180° will rid it of any 

 vermin exposed on the stems or leaves, i.e. if it is applied freely with 

 a strong syringe, and it will not seriously injure the plant. If the 

 plant is intended to make one at our great exhibitions, it will be 

 wanted by June or July; and to have it in good condition then it 

 will require some harsh treatment, not to be endured by many New 

 Holland plants with impunity. Suppose it to be wanted by June, 

 in that case it will be necessary to cut back the young shoots in Oc- 

 tober, and place the plant in a closer house or pit than a greenhouse, 

 where a night-temperature of 55° is kept up, with plenty of air by day 

 and night, in order that the plant may push thick short growth. It 

 may remain in this pit or house (being careful of over- watering in 

 the dull winter months,) until February, when it will require a higher 

 temperature, say a pine-pit or vinery, where it can have abundance of 

 air; and as the season advances it must be more liberally supplied 

 with water. By the beginning of June the flower ought to be in a 

 forward state, so that the plant can be gradually hardened off to en- 

 dure a greenhouse ; for I find that by keeping it in heat it drops its 

 flowers as fast as it expands them, but that by placing it in an airy 

 situation the blossoms come of a better colour, and are more lasting, 

 indeed the bloom will be maintained to even the end of September. 



If the plant is required for the common purposes of decoration 



