THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



207 



safety of glass for whatever is worth keep- 

 ing. Refrain from using fires as long as 

 possible, but if any special reason requires 

 it, let no rules without reason interfere ; 

 set the fires going, dry the house, and have 

 a change of air while there is no fear of a 

 chill. By good management much may 

 be done now with sun-heat. Plants re- 

 cently potted and housed must be fre- 

 quently sprinkled, and kept a little close to 

 encourage root action. Do not keep them 

 very wet at the roots ; in fact, after the 

 first watering when potted, let them go 

 nearly dry at the root before watering 

 again, but sprinkle frequently, and as the 

 lower leaves wither remove them. Keep 

 the houses clean and dry, so as to allow of 

 as much ventilation as possible among 

 hard-wooded plants. If the weather is 

 mild, and wind westerly, give air at night 

 to Camellias, Azaleas, Heaths, Epacrises, 

 •and other subjects of like habit and 

 hardiness. 



Calceolarias may be propagated now 

 in quantity ; they need no bottom-heat. 

 Take shore stubby side-shoots, dibble them 

 into a mixture of leaf, very rotten dung, 

 tmd about a fourth part sand. They strike 

 •quickly, and make fine strong plants in 

 cocoa-nut waste well rotted ; so if the 

 plunge-bed can he cleared out, the rotten 

 cocoa-waste will be the best stuff that can 

 be used for them. 



Cinerarias, Primulas, Calceolarias, of 

 the herbaceous class, and other soft- wooded 

 plants now growing freely, should be care- 

 fully looked over to see that they are in a 

 fit state for housing as required. Some 

 will want a shift ; some will be found in- 

 fested with fly, etc. None of these things 

 should suffer for want of water, as it will 

 spoil their looks by causing the leaves to 

 turn yellow. 



Fuclisias may be kept in bloom late 

 by the aid of weak manure water and a 

 close warm house. The shading may be 

 removed, and the pots have a sprinkling of 

 fresh sheep or deer dung as a top-dressing. 

 Gather ripe berries of any varieties from 

 which seed is required ; bruise the berries 

 with sand, and expose the mixture of pulp 

 and sand to the sun till quite dry ; then 

 store it in chip boxes till spring, when sow 

 sand and seeds together. Raisers of seed- 

 lings who can keep the young plants in 

 the stove all winter may sow (at once in a 

 mixture of three parts leaf and one of sandy 

 loam, and start in a gentle heat. 



Gladioli to have very little water now 

 the bloom is declining ; when the soil in 

 the pots is nearly dry, lay the pots on their 

 sides in the full sun, to promote their 

 ripening. Those in beds will take care 



of themselves till time to take them 

 up. 



Hard-wooded Plants must be kept well 

 aired and in full sunshine, to ripen the 

 wood and give them strength to pass the 

 winter in an ordinary greenhouse tempe- 

 rature. Heaths, Epacrises, Pimelias, etc., 

 to have free ventilation, and the rank 

 shoots pinched in, to preserve uniformity 

 of growth. 



Intermediate Stoc7cs to be potted in 

 thumbs singly, and kept shaded till they 

 make fresh roots. Sow Queens, Interme- 

 diates, and Bromptons ; the soil to be a 

 sound turfy loam, without dung ; manure 

 will make them too sappy to stand the 

 winter well, but a poor soil will be likely 

 to cause a large proportion of single 

 flowers. 



Liliums to be treated the same as re- 

 commended for gladioli. Give water till 

 the leaves begin to fade, then lay them on 

 their sides. 



Mildew will show itself in all close 

 damp places now, and do incalculable mis- 

 chief if not checked. Sulphur dustings 

 are the best remedy, but fresh air and 

 cleanliness will do much to prevent it. 



Winter Floivers must be thought of 

 now or never. Give a few Begonias a 

 shift, and push them on for flowering ; 

 look to Euphorbia fulgens and splendens, 

 Poinsettia pulcherrima, Achimenes picta, 

 Lily of the Valley, and pot up from the 

 borders Dielytra spectabilis in plenty ; it is 

 one of the best things to force, and though 

 "common," exquisitely beautiful. 



Orchid House. — Orchids generally 

 should have less moisture as the days 

 shorten. The majority of growers keep 

 them too damp and too warm all winter, 

 but they should now ho prepared to pass 

 the winter at as low a temperature as will 

 be safe, and in as dormant a state as pos- 

 sible. Fires will be useful now on dull 

 days to dry the house, and allow of the 

 admission of air. Young plants of Aerides, 

 Dendrobium, Vanda, Cattleya, and Sacco- 

 labium to be kept growing in the warmest 

 compartment. 



Pits and Frames. — Auriculas to be 

 housed for the winter, and watered very 

 sparingly. Look over the stock in remov- 

 ing them to the frames ; see if the slugs 

 are hidden in the hole next the crocks ; 

 and if the surface of the soil in the pots 

 has moss or liverworts growing on it, you 

 may be sure there is something the matter 

 with the drainage, which see to at once. 



Cucumbers are mostly beginning to 

 fail now, or will be shortly, so those who 

 want a succession of fruit must be on the 

 alert. Bow or strike cuttings, the latter 



