1879.] RIPENING WINTER-FLOWERING PLANTS. 449 



than many people would suppose, notwithstanding the part it plays in 

 the ultimate return that plants will yield in the way of flowers. The 

 present season has been a most difficult one to manage in this respect, 

 owing to the soft nature of the growth that most plants of a succulent 

 tendency have made, both out of doors and under glass. The rough- 

 and - ready makeshift of shading glass with lime, which has to 

 answer in ordinary seasons, is a practice that, this year, will not com- 

 mend itself to the observation of those who understand the influence 

 that solar heat and light have upon plants. On the one hand, shade is 

 indispensable even to plants that in ordinary seasons do not require it ; 

 and, on the other, the shade should be of the thinnest possible texture 

 compatible with safety to the plants, and be used only for a short time 

 during the hottest part of the day. 



Plants that are planted out for the summer are the worst to manage 

 this season, owing to their growth being retarded by the inclement 

 weather in the early part of the year, and which is consequently soft, 

 and will require skill to perfect and mature it. This refers to Salvias, 

 Solanums, Eupatoriums, Deutzias, Bouvardias, &c. 



The cure for these will be to have them lifted early and put under 

 glass in a shaded aspect, and keep them rather close and syringed until 

 the roots begin to work — a process which will only occupy a few days — 

 and then place them in the warmest and brightest position that can be 

 afforded them under glass, full in the sun, and set them thin enough 

 apart for air to play about them on all sides. It is possible that, under 

 the changed conditions, the plants will require a little extra attention, 

 especially if the days are bright ; but they will gradually become hard- 

 ened, and with a partial cessation of root-growth, the tissues of the 

 shoots will soon " fill up firm," and turn hard to the feel. 

 ¥» Of course the tops of Solanums will have been pinched out, so that 

 the flow of sap will have been directed to the formation and swelling 

 of the berries, and other plants will have been treated according to 

 their several requirements. 



We have a capital example of the advantages of growing plants under 

 glass in a season like the present, in two sets of Deutzias, which looked 

 dead in the beginning of last May. The plants were cut down right 

 to the bottom, and plunged in bottom-heat, which was increased as 

 symptoms of active growth appeared, and continued till the shoots had 

 grown to their full length and changed to a sort of greenish-white, 

 which is the first indication that growth is complete, and that atmo- 

 spheric conditions must be altered. These plants were exposed by 

 stages, and are now plunged full in the sun in the open air, and are as 

 brown as hazel ; whilst their neighbours, cut down at the same time, 

 and planted in a south border, are as green as Leeks. 



The general body of plants for winter flowering will need more than 

 ordinary care this autumn in order to prepare them for the winter ; for 

 although they may look quite green and fresh now, their soft leaves will 



