308 



CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS FOR MARCH. 



to bear the temperature of the 



greenhouse. 



G trail imm. — The great bulk of 

 the late -blooming plants require 

 repotting into larger pots, and 

 they should now be placed in 

 those in which they are to bloom. 

 Do not pot them all at once ; make 

 two or three sets, selecting first 

 the strongest, then the most vi- 

 gorous of the remainder a week 

 or so afterwards, and, lastly, the 

 smallest. This will do something 

 towards keeping up a succession 

 of blossom ; but the topping of 

 the shoots has also a bearing on 

 this point. After the plants are 

 put into their blooming pots the 

 outer branches should be tied down 

 towards the pot-rim, which will 

 give the others more space. Select 

 some large bushy plants of some 

 of the fine varieties of Scarlet 

 Pelargonium, and shift them into 

 large pots of rich soil. They will 

 be splendid objects in the course 

 of the summer for standing out 

 in conspicuous parts of the garden. 



Heating. — Light fires in damp 

 weather, and give air at top of 

 the house to dry the place. Let 

 this be done in the morning, and 

 continued all day, apportioning the 

 opening at the top to the tempera- 

 ture, which the ventilation should 

 prevent from being materially 

 raised, the object being to dry the 

 house, and not to raise the heat. 



Japan Lilies should now be 

 potted for blooming in pots. Pot 

 tb.era so as to leave a space of 

 three or four inches in depth for 

 the addition of fresh soil when 



they are grown up to some size. 

 The bulbs should have no water 

 until they commence growing. 



Rhodudendrona of the tender 

 kinds going out of flower must 

 have their young growth encou- 

 raged. Next season's bloom de- 

 pends upon its being well formed 

 and perfect. 



Seedlings of soft-wooded plants, 

 as Calceolarias, Cinerarias, Gera- 

 niums, &c., sown in autumn, 

 should have their final shift now, 

 previously to bloom.ing. Do not 

 put them into very large pots — 

 at least not until they have in- 

 dicated that they are of some 

 value. 



Tkunbergias sown early this 

 month in a hotbed, potted singly, 

 and nursed on in a frame until 

 they can bear the greenhouse tem- 

 perature, make fine pot-creepers 

 for blooming towards the end of 

 summer. Use unctuous peaty soil. 



Watering. — In watering waste 

 as little as possible, as the frequent 

 necessity of closing the house 

 against frost makes the damp the 

 principal enemy to be feared, and 

 slopping quantities of water about 

 unnecessarily increases the evil. 

 Many of the hard-wooded plants 

 will begin to swell their bloom- 

 buds, and must have constant at- 

 tention paid to the degree of 

 moisture in their compost ; for they 

 must not have too much, and what 

 they have should be soft, pure, and 

 rather of a higher than a lower 

 temperature than the house. There 

 is a great good or a great evil ad- 

 ministered in watering plants. 



