IGO THE GARDENER. [April 



in cool airy positions close to the glass. In fact they are kept here 

 on the shelves in our late Peach-houses, which are used for Strawberries 

 in their season. 



The soil should be pressed firmly into the pots. The plants with 

 me grow dwarfer, and produce better spikes of flower, than when potted 

 lightly. 



If the supply is likely to run short, we sow early in a cold frame, to 

 come in between our pot-plants and those outside. The earliest out- 

 doors here in every case are what are termed " self-sown plants." 



Wm. Bardney. 



HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 

 GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



With useful selections of flowering-plants, at this season of the year, 

 show-houses, we think, are more interesting than at any other period. 

 What are known as spring flowers always create a charm : and for cut- 

 ting purposes good things are always abundant. The kinds need 

 hardly be mentioned, as those of well-known popularity have been 

 noted in past months. Abundance can be had with very little forcing, 

 so that proprietors with a few pits, or a glass shed or two, may have 

 plenty of floral beauty around them. The numerous kinds of hardy 

 flowers which can be lifted to make a display are very attainable, 

 and look well anywhere. While one has plenty of flowers for the 

 present, it is well to give a reminder that the display at the end of 

 the season, and early part of next, depends on steps being taken now 

 to secure a harvest of floral beauty. Azaleas and Camellias are always 

 telling, and much valued. To get their flower-buds set early, and the 

 plants to flower at the desired time, they should be in a mild moist 

 temperature (shutting up early with sun-heat), kept clean, carefully 

 watered, kept free from worms at the roots, in healthy soil, with free 

 drainage, and shaded from bright sunshine : a vinery, moderately 

 forced, or Peach-house at work, suits well till shade is too much. Then 

 a pit shaded judiciously is a mode of treatment congenial to these 

 plants, and when the buds are prominent they may be aired more 

 freely, and placed outside (choosing a dull day) in June, behind a 

 thick hedge or wall. But in structures where they are planted out, 

 the preparation for early display is much more simple, and the plants 

 do better. 



A similar treatment suits early-flowering Heaths till their wood has 

 a good start, and after this they must not be coddled. Epacris and 

 Cytisus may now be pressed into growth for winter flowering. No 

 greenhouse plant should suffer for want of pot-room. Over-potting is 

 a great mistake with any plants in pots, and makes them more diffl- 

 cult to water. Pot firm, encasing the ball of roots all over with the 

 new soil. Most hard -wood plants require abundance of air when 



