1879.] MIGNONETTE-CULTURE. 361 



strength, and require a shift into larger pots, using stronger soil, such 

 as good turfy loam, leaf-mould, and thoroughly-decomposed cow-dung, 

 with a dash of sand, and charcoal broken up into small bits, to keep 

 the soil free and open. Pot rather firmly, and shade for a few days 

 until the roots take to the fresh soil, after which they will grow away 

 vigorously, and must be carefully attended to as regards watering and 

 airing, so that they receive no check. The shoots will require to 

 be supported with small neat stakes, and pinched to secure a dwarf 

 branching habit to those which are to be grown as pyramids. We 

 always retain some of the strongest for umbrella-shaped trellises, 

 which are very suitable for standing on the corners of the stages in 

 the greenhouse. This mode of training is easily accomplished by 

 keeping the leading shoot tied to a stake, and rubbing off all lateral 

 growths as they appear from time to time, till it reaches the height 

 of the wire. Then pinch out the point to form the "head of the 

 tree," and tie down the branches to the wire as they grow, bringing 

 them down gently, as they are apt to break off at the heel. As the 

 plants advance in growth they will require another shift into 9 or 10 

 inch pots, which is large enough to flower them in; and if the flowers 

 are pinched off as they appear for a time, this will generally produce 

 enough breaks to fill the whole trellis. "We prefer a few strong 

 branches thinly distributed over the trellis-work to a thick mass of 

 weaker ones, as the vigorous shoots produce larger and better spikes 

 of bloom. Plants having the greatest tendency to branch should be 

 trained as pyramids, and staked and tied out as they advance in 

 growth, till they are required for cutting from or for decorative pur- 

 poses. In cutting it is well to take the oldest spikes first, as they 

 are apt to form seeds, which greatly reduces the vigour of the plants ; 

 and also, to put fresh vigour in them, water occasionally with weak 

 liquid-manure water made from cow-dung and soot, and make it a 

 point never to let them become too dry. 



After the earliest-sown plants are well advanced they can be care- 

 fully hardened off, and grown in a cool sheltered place out of doors, 

 and taken in again, about the middle or end of September, to a warm 

 pit or greenhouse, where they will flower for a long time, and will 

 repay the care and attention that have been given them throughout 

 the summer. In cold exposed situations, where the weather is very 

 changeable, it is better to keep them in a cool frame all summer, and 

 shade them when the sun is very strong ; or place the frame in a 

 shady position, and ply the syringe amongst them in the afternoon 

 in fine dry weather, to keep up a moist growing atmosphere. 



DUNDONIAN. 



