1870.] GOLD AND BRONZE PELARGONIUMS. 61 



During the winter months the plants should be sparingly supplied -with 

 water at the roots, and be allowed a temperature of from 40° to 45° at 

 night, and not higher than 50° to 55° during the day in cloudy weather 

 through the months of November, December, and January. About 

 the end of the latter month they should be shifted into 6-inch pots, 

 using the same compost, only rather rougher. Keep the plants in a dry 

 airy situation, and w T ater carefully till the roots are through to the 

 sides of the pots, when they will take plenty of it ; and care should be 

 taken that at each watering the ball of the plant is thoroughly 

 moistened, as failure is often attributable to careless and insufficient 

 watering. If not already attended to, the branches will now require 

 pegging or tying down to the sides of the pot ; and if not sufficiently 

 branched they should be pinched back to induce it, a process about which 

 the grower is required to exercise some forethought, for some varieties 

 will form a nice plant with fewer branches than others, owing to the 

 much larger leaves they produce : for instance, Crown Prince, or Beauty 

 of Calderdale, will form a good plant with half the number of shoots 

 required to make a nice specimen of Sybil. By the end of March the 

 plants will be ready for their final shift into 8-inch pots; use the same 

 kind of compost, but let it be very rough, and be particular that the 

 pots are well drained : broken oyster-shells are very suitable. Pack the 

 soil rather firmly in the pot, but not so firm as to prevent the water 

 from passing through pretty freely. A pit where a little heat 

 can be given, should the state of the weather render it necessary, 

 will now be the place for them, and if fine and mild, the lights 

 could be taken off entirely on all favourable occasions, as the 

 plants do best with the fullest exposure to sun and air. Thus 

 the plants will be gradually inured to entire exposure to the 

 weather, for after the beginning of May the lights should seldom be 

 on during the day (unless, indeed, the weather proves exceptionally 

 wet and cold) ; and should the nights be mild, the plants will be bene- 

 fited by being without them even then. Beyond watering, training, 

 and removing superfluous leaves, they will require no other attention 

 than what has already been indicated. To have them in fine colour 

 during the whole of the year, of course something depends upon the 

 varieties cultivated, and it unfortunately happens that some of the 

 varieties which gained the strongest hold of the public mind are not 

 the best for exhibition. For the guidance of those who may be un- 

 acquainted with the names of the varieties in cultivation, I may be per- 

 mitted to mention a few suitable for exhibition — viz., W. R. Morris, Cri- 

 terion, Sybil,' Prima Donna, Imperatrice Eugenie (D., L., & L.), Crown 

 Prince, Mrs Allan Lowndes, Countess of Kellie, Red Ring, Black 

 Knight, Cleopatra, Harrison Weir, and Princess of Wales. These are 



