GOMPHOLOBIUM. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
POE 
sprinkling of sand; shade, and keep the 
atmosphere of the house close and moist 
until the little plants have begun to grow 
away freely, when give a little more air, 
stopping the shoots to help the lower eyes 
to break ; syringe overhead lightly in the 
afternoons, and keep the material on which 
the pots are stood damp. Shade when the 
sun is at all powerful, and give water to 
the soil before it gets too dry ; continue to 
treat in this way until the end of August, 
before which a small stick or two will be 
needed to support the shoots. After this 
cease shading and syringing, and give more 
air through the autumn ; winter in a 
temperature of 46° to 48° in the night, 
standing the plants near the glass, where 
they will keep on growing. About the 
middle of March shift into 4-inch pots, in 
soil similar to that of the first potting ; 
pinch out the points of the shoots, and 
keep a genial growing atmosphere. As the 
sun’s power increases give a little shade in 
the middle of the day, syringe overhead in 
the afternoons at closing time, and keep the 
material on which the pots stand damp. 
Give more air as the summer approaches, 
and about the end of June move into 
6-inch pots ; treat subsequently as hitherto 
advised, again stop the shoots, and give 
more sticks, to which keep the shoots 
trained. Dispense with shade and the use 
of the syringe as the autumn comes on, and 
winter at about 45°. At the end of March 
the plants will be in a condition to remove 
into larger pots. Being of moderate 
growth they do not require nearly so much 
root-room as plants of larger, more vigorous 
habit ; pots 2 inches larger will be suffi- 
cient, except in the case of any plant that 
may be more than ordinarily full of roots. 
Use good fibrous peat, at this potting, about 
the size of common acorns, not larger. This 
is of importance with rather weak-growing 
subjects, for if used in a bigger state the 
lumps, having in them no more sand than 
the peat naturally contains, are unsuitable 
for the roots of plants of this nature. Add 
one-sixth of clean sand, as gritty and free 
from dust as it can be obtained. Pot firm, 
using the potting-stick to make the new 
soil sufficiently close ; place the plants 
where they can be kept a little closer for 
two or three weeks, and shade slightly. 
Each plant should at this time have about 
a dozen thin sticks placed to it, over which 
the shoots should be evenly dispersed, 
training all over the surface and keeping 
the base well furnished. This must be 
attended to from the first, or there will be 
some difficulty in remedying the defect 
afterwards. Use thin bast to tie the shoots 
with, and do not allow them to twine 
round the sticks so as to get too fast a hold. 
Do not let them intertwine with each 
other and become twisted cord-like, or 
they will get injured when being undone. 
By the end of April the plants should, 
if all goes well with them, be growing 
apace. They will at this stage of develop- 
ment be benefited by a dash with the 
syringe every afternoon—get well under 
the leaves and occasionally turn them 
round, so that all sides may get the benefit 
of the water, which they require to keep 
down red spider. In the summer season 
stand them on a bed of ashes, or ashes 
with a little sand mixed. Keep this re- 
gularly damped morning and evening, and 
this will materially assist them. As soon 
as the bloom buds, which they will push 
freely, get large enough to handle, they 
should be picked off before they expand, or 
the plant’s natural disposition to free 
flowering, even in a small state, will 
materially interfere with the growth they 
ought to make. By the end of June, or 
beginning of July, they should need a 
second shift, to pots again 2 inches larger, 
using soil similar in every way to that 
used in spring. At this warm season they 
will need to be kept closer, and to have 
more shade for some days, and will also 
require an abundant supply of water 
thrown about the paths and under the 
stages, as well as on the bed on which they 
stand. They will likewise now want a 
few more sticks to support the extending 
shoots. In a fortnight or three weeks they 
will get hold of the new soil, and will bear 
more air and do with only such shade as 
will break the sun’s rays in the middle of 
the day. Through the autumn gradually 
inure them to plenty of air and all the 
sunlight possible, so as to get the growth 
ripened before winter comes, when they 
must receive less water at the roots, and be 
treated in other respects as advised before. 
Pot again in April, as in the preceding 
season, using the soil in a little rougher 
state. They should now bear a 3-inch 
shift, and as soon as potted ought to be 
taken off the sticks, and new ones put in 
of a sufficient length to support the plants 
for the season; disperse the shoots, as 
previously, evenly over them. 
After potting treat as before, so far as 
the necessary shade, air, and moisture in 
the atmosphere are concerned. If the 
plants do weli they will this season show a 
profusion of flowers, which may be allowed 
to open, as they will make beautiful 
objects for decoration, and can be used for 
this purpose in the conservatory or else- 
where ; but while in such situations they 
must have a good position, where they 
