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WINDOW GREEN-HOUSES. 



very opposite effect, namely, to plunge 

 them in a hot-bed for a few days. When 

 a plant, spindling and weakening itself, is 

 subjected to bottom-heat, the effect is as- 

 tonishing. The growth upwards is imme- 

 diately checked. The branches swell, in- 

 stead of lengthening themselves, the leaves 

 recover a deep and healthy green ; and not 

 till these effects are produced does the up- 

 ward growth recommence, when they should 

 be removed again. 



One of the most common mistakes by 

 which pale leaves are produced is by stimu- 

 lating applications, by liquid manure, or 

 placing a coating of manure on the top of 

 the pot. The effect of this is not dissimi- 

 lar to that of givtng gin to a child. The 

 minute and tender rootlets cannot bear the 

 strong excitement. They perish, and the 

 plant soon after follows their example, if 

 the pernicious system be persevered in. 

 Eschew all impatient desire of stimulants. 

 Give entirely fresh mould once a year, and 

 let that, if possible, be maiden, and, if you 

 please, pot off into smaller pots for the win- 

 ter, as I do, to save room ; only remember- 

 ing to re-pot into larger ones in the spring, 

 without breaking the ball of earth. Be sure 

 also to remember the drainage, to prevent 

 the soil becoming sodden and sour — -not a 

 mere piece of oyster-shell over the hole, 

 but a handful of broken pieces of pot put 

 in carefully. 



One word more about training. One 

 who recommends such a thing must expect 

 to hear a good deal of well-meant nonsense 

 about suffering the plant to grow as nature 

 meant it to grow. Nature never meant 

 anything. But the Author of Nature has 

 imposed training and discipline as a duty ; 

 nor is any person or thing ever brought to 

 the highest perfection it is capable of with- 

 out restraint, and pruning, and direction, 

 from a fostering hand. Not an apple tree 

 or a currant bush will long repay the use 

 of the land they grow on, if their owner 

 forgets the duty incumbent on him in vir- 

 tue of his descent from Adam, on whom 

 the sentence was pronounced. Thorns, and 

 thistles, and barrenness will soon be found 

 in all things to be the point to which, if 

 left to themselves and to their nature, they 

 will tend. Cultivation is necessary, in or- 

 der to exhibit the good of which every sub- 



lunary nature is capable. Never speak 

 slightingly of training, even in a Gerani- 

 um. It may teach you a lesson respecting 

 yourself, and the persons committed to your 

 care by the providence of God ; and it will 

 amply repay you for your trouble in its 

 floral results. Persons who have never 

 seen a trained plant are incredulous of its 

 effects. The gardener of a country gentle- 

 man in this neighborhood who had three 

 conservatories under his care, would not 

 believe, on my testimony, that a single 

 stem could be made to support from eight 

 to sixteen or twenty flowering branches, 

 arising from nearly the same height above 

 the pot ; but endeavored to persuade me 

 that it must be done by cheating, and put- 

 ting many plants into one pot. The method, 

 however, is very easily practiced, and is 

 well worth any person's employing on at 

 least a few of his most striking and useful 

 sorts. The principle is this, that no more 

 branches can thrive than can be supplied 

 with a free circulation of air, so as not to 

 interfere with each other. And the mode 

 by which this is insured is equally useful 

 in keeping the origin of the branches low, 

 so as to make a compact bushy plant. 

 And it is so simple, that you may do it, 

 Mrs. Wilkins, as well as Mr. Dobson him- 

 self. If you have a nice young healthy 

 and stocky plant to operate upon, it is bet- 

 ter, but not absolutely necessary. If you 

 have, pinch off its head ; and when it breaks 

 out at the sides, either peg down the side- 

 branches as nearly straight out as you can 

 without tearing the joint, or tie them down, 

 which must be done thus : tie a string 

 tightly round the pot, just under the rim ; 

 and under this pass a loop of thick worsted 

 over the end of each branch, to keep it 

 down in the position you wish it to grow 

 in. 



When the branches reach out as far as 

 you wish them, a little beyond the rim of 

 the pot you mean the plant to flower in, 

 pinch off their ends, and, after they have 

 pushed out their eyes into branches, you 

 may remove the strings, and you have 

 thenceforward a trained plant, to last you 

 many years, and each year better than the 

 last ; which only needs cutting down in 

 summer after flowering, and ordinary care 

 afterwards, to be a perpetual beauty in the 



