1879.] CELOSIAS FOR EARLY FLOWERING. 89 



There is always a little dearth for flowers in June, before Roses and 

 other outdoor flowers come in to assist in filling up the flower- 

 basket. 



About the first week in February will be a good time to sprinkle a 

 few seeds over the surface of a pan, and cover them thinly with fine 

 earth. Plunge in a bottom-heat of 85° ; and when the seedlings 

 are about an inch long, remove them to a shelf near the light, 

 and keep them regularly supplied with water. When they gain 

 a little strength and will bear handling, they should be pricked 

 off into shallow pans filled with rich mould, which should be placed 

 on the surface of the bed for a few days, where they can be covered 

 with a handlight, or otherwise shaded, and where they will furnish 

 themselves with bunches of fine healthy roots in the course of a few 

 days. They should then be returned to a place near the light, and 

 kept well watered and syringed till they are ready to be shifted into 

 3 or 4 inch pots. As they are plants of rapid growth, the time or 

 size of the shift is not of great moment (only they must not be 

 allowed to become potbound in a young state, or it will arrest growth 

 and cause them to feather prematurely), but it will be as well to de- 

 termine beforehand what size of pot the plants shall flower in, and 

 gauge the shifting accordingly. 8-inch pots are quite large enough 

 for all ordinary purposes, so that 4-inch pots will answer for the first 

 potting, and will leave ample room for working in a good addition of 

 fresh soil at the last potting. The soil may consist of any rich com- 

 post that has been in use for growing Melons or Cucumbers, with an 

 addition of rough leaf-mould. It should be warmed to the tempera- 

 ture of the house in which the plants have been growing ; and if the 

 weather is inclement, it is a good plan to take a portable potting- 

 bench to the house in which the plants are, and have them potted off 

 without incurring the risk of giving them a check. After potting, 

 plunge them again into the bed for a few days, and withhold water, 

 except what is applied through the medium of a syringe, to keep a 

 steady growing atmosphere ; and when the roots take hold of the 

 fresh soil, water freely as before. The increase of roots, and the 

 rapidity of growth under this treatment, will hasten the development 

 of the plants in an incredibly short time ; and when they are nicely- 

 furnished plants, they can be lifted out of the plunging material, and 

 set on the surface of the bed for a time, and afterwards toned off to 

 a growing atmosphere of between 60° and 70°, where they will 

 require more air, to harden them gradually to stand a lower tempera- 

 ture. At the last potting the size of pot may range from 6 to 8 

 inches in diameter. Of course those that are shifted into the small- 

 est-sized pot will show their feathery plumes first; so that by usiDg 



