420 THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



trusted. To save much needless labour a shift should now be made 

 into the blooming-pots (No. 12's is a good size for that purpose); and 

 as the plants are to remain in these for a long time, a really good 

 compost should be used, nothing being better than yellow loam, well- 

 rotten manure, especially cow-dung, and a fair mixture of sand. I 

 find it to be desirable to pot firmly, otherwise the soil will settle very 

 much by the autumn, and therefore it is better to make it all the 

 firmer at the first. When the plants are thus potted, and especially 

 potted low down, an open situation in the garden is selected that is 

 convenient for watering. A good hard and level bottom should be 

 secured, or, if soft beneath, pieces of slate should be used to place the 

 pots upon, to exclude the worms. Here the plants should be placed 

 at proper distances from each other to admit of growth without crowd- 

 ing, and then filled in all round to the brim of the pots with ashes or 

 some other good plunging material, so that the roots are thus pro- 

 tected from the force of the sun's rays, and consequent drought and 

 exhaustion. The bedding Pelargonium can bear almost any amount 

 of solar heat with impunity if its roots are kept moist and cool. As 

 I usually put my plants in the open air at the end of May, and get 

 them under glass from a week to ten days only before showing, they 

 thus get about three months of thorough exposure to the weather, and 

 are as dwarf and short-pointed as could possibly be wished. Of course 

 the process of stopping has not been neglected, but rather has been 

 maintained with constant regularity, every strong shoot having its 

 extremity nipped out as fast as it had made three or four joints, care 

 being taken also to encourage the centre growth, so as to secure a 

 somewhat rounded form. An occasional turning round the plants 

 will also facilitate the production of a good shape. Pinching out all 

 points and flower-buds is rigidly continued until within one month of 

 the time of showing, when the process is discontinued, and the plants 

 are allowed to grow away as freely as they please. 



As a result of all this careful attention and exposure, the grower 

 will find that he has a lot of robust dwarfy bushy plants that will now 

 commence to throw up a mass of flower well above the foliage, that 

 will, when expanded, need but the finish of a week or so under glass 

 to make them perfect specimens. There are no yellow or discoloured 

 leaves to be seen, all is fresh and vigorous ; and the plants, after they 

 have brought the highest honours at the show, will, with a little atten- 

 tion, make a greenhouse or conservatory look very gay indeed nearly 

 up to Christmas. 



The Zonal Pelargonium is naturally a gross feeder, and will take 

 up an abundance of strong diet. The use of such material, however, 

 to plants in the open ground would have a most undesirable ten- 



