252 G LENNYS HANDBOOK 



to flower, for the fruit takes up a good deal of nourishment 

 as the}^ swell. When tlie fruit sets they may be removed to 

 the greenhouse near the glass, otherwise thej will draw. If 

 the pots fill with the roots again give them another change ; 

 hut those intended for market are merely watered with 

 manure water^ which excites them enough for that purpose. 

 The manure water should be made with cowdung thoroughly- 

 decomposed— a good spadeful iu eighteen gallons of water, 

 stirred round two or three da3^s before using, and diluted 

 every time it is used : a shift, however, is far better for the 

 plant, and therefore is recommended when we grow it for 

 home show instead of market. The ripened fruit contains 

 the seed for the next year. 



SOLDANELLA. '[Primulacese.] A beautiful little group 

 of minute perennial plants, hardy, and among the most in- 

 teresting of the alpine families. They increase with facility 

 by the process of dividing the roots, and should be kept in pots 

 — a store at least — protected from wet, and slightly from frost 

 during the winter season. The pots must be well drained, for 

 they will not bear stagnant moisture with impunity. When 

 grown vigorously in pots, and flowered in good-sized tufts, they 

 are very ornamental objects. The compost for them should 

 be sandy loam and peat, made very porous. The few species 

 are all beautiful, and no one should be omitted if all can be 

 obtained. The following are perhaps the best : — S. alpina, 

 S. minima, and *S'. montana, flower blue. S. imsilla, flowers 

 violet. 



SOLIDAGO. Golden Rod. [Compositse.] Hardy her- 

 baceous perennials, all producing yellow Daisy-shaped blos- 

 soms, small individually, but for the most part produced so 

 abundantly as to have a very conspicuous appearance : they 

 mostly bloom in autumn, and some very late in the season. 

 They are increased by dividing the roots, separating some of 

 the young suckers, which are annually produced in al)undance 

 at the base of the plant. This may be done iu autumn or 

 spring, and the divisions planted in ordinary garden soil. 

 The patches should be replanted every three or four years, 

 or they are liable to spread, and become too large. The 

 most vigorous young plant-s are always to be obtained from 

 the outsides of the old patches. But few of the numerous 



