1880. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



861 



lou8 forms from the other, but at the pushing out 

 of the leaves in spring, we may come pretty near 

 accuracy by selecting those which push out a 



little later than others. When one has a variety 

 they wish to perpetuate, it can be done by layer- 

 ing.— Ed. G. M.] 



Greenhouse and House Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



To grow flowers well, good potting is essential ; 

 but few know in what good potting consists. 

 The hole in the bottom of the pot is to let out 

 the water ; but few take care to keep the earth 

 from choking up the hole. The bottom of the 

 flower pot is often as flat as a pancake, and, when 

 set on a flat board, there might as well be no 

 hole in the bottom. A perfect pot is convex at 

 the base. A piece of old pot. or some stones 

 should go over the hole, and some moss or rooty 

 material to keep the earth from getting in among 

 the stones. Then the soil should have sand with 

 it, as this keeps the whole mass porous, and the 

 water is enabled to pass rapidly away. It is best 

 to use soil for potting rather dry, and so dry that 

 a lump will powder when crushed; then it can 

 be pounded firmly in the pot, and the more it 

 is pounded the more air spaces there will be, 

 and this is what perfect potting desires. It wants 

 air to the roots — moist air, to be sure, but still 

 air ; and a soil in which water does not drain 

 rapidly away, has no air. 



If plants are not growing they do not need 

 much light. Such plants can be put in the 

 shadiest places, but if they grow they must have 

 light ; and if flower is desired, then the light 

 ought to be sunlight. 



Oranges and Lemons will require the coolest 

 part of the house, and to receive no more water 

 than will just keep them fresh. 



The most interesting tribe of planUs at this 

 season of the year is, imdoubtedly, the Camellia. 

 The buds frequently drop off before flowering ; 

 this may spring from three causes— from the 

 plants being kept too dry, or from the drainage 

 being bad, whereby the soil becomes sodden, or 

 from the house being kept too warm by insuf- 

 ficient ventilation. As the leaf-buds burst, the 

 plants are benefited by occasional syringings; 



and, indeed, an increased supply of water alto- 

 gether, in order to accommodate the demands of 

 the young growth. 



Cinerarias will soon be the chief attraction. 

 The least frost kills them, yet they will not do 

 well if kept in a high temperature. They love 

 moisture, yet are very impatient of damp. No 

 plant is more improved by the use of charcoal 

 in potting than this. 



Hyacinths that have been out of doors, or in 

 any reserve place for protection, may be brought 

 in a few weeks before wanted ; they should not 

 have much heat, light or moisture for a few days, 

 and then only gradually. 



Carnations and Pinks are much admired when 

 grown in pots and flowered there early. They 

 do not flower well if too much warmth be given, 

 but the usual temperature of the greenhouse will 

 bring them forward a month before they can be 

 had out of doors. Whenever the roots make 

 their appearance through the bottoms of the 

 pots, they should be shifted into a size larger. 

 They require very little water, and love the light, 

 and whatever manures are used to enrich the 

 soil should be thoroughly rotten. The Pansy, on 

 the other hand, delights in half-rotten, strawy 

 manure and turfy loam. If a quantity of seed- 

 lings have been raised in the fall, they will re- 

 quin? potting this month. They do not flower 

 well here when the weather becomes warm ; but 

 when grown in pots, and forwarded slightly by 

 the aid of a cool frame, they do very well. 



Cac/i and succu/<?n< plants generally, will scarce- 

 ly require water at all, unless in very dry situa- 

 tions, and then receive but a slight sprinkling 

 with a syringe. The rule " When you water a 

 plant at all, let it soak right through," does not, 

 by any means, hold good with these plants, if 

 there be not some other good exception. 



A good supply of young Fuchsias should be 

 coming on now. Re-pot as their roots fill each 



