80 



Lrreenhouse and iStove Maids. 



BOUVARUIA. 



enough to tlower well in the autumn and 

 winter, it is necessary to begin in the last 

 niduths (jf the year previous, say about the 

 middle of October. Then select a few plants 

 ot the different sorts grown, these place 

 wliere an ordinaiy greenhouse temperature 

 is kept up of about 40° ; give no water to 

 them, but allow the leaves and soft tojDs of 

 the shoots to flag freely. When most of 

 the leaves have shrivelled up, removeall the 

 soft immature points of the shoots, cutting 

 them back into the hard wood ; moisten 

 the soil well and place them in a tempera- 

 ture of about 60° in the night, with a 

 proportionate rise in the day. Here they 

 will break freely from most of the joints, 

 and when the young shoots have grown to 

 a length of about two inches they must be 

 taken off at the base, whence they have 

 sprung from the mature wood. Insert 

 them closely in 5 or 6 inch pots, in sand, 

 in the way Fuchsia cuttings are treated, 

 and put them in a temperature of 65° or 

 70°, where, kept close and moist, they will 

 root in a few weeks. Tlien move them 

 singly into small pots, filled with a mix- 

 ture of sifted loam, three-parts to one of 

 leaf-mould and a little rotten manure, with 

 sand as required. Keep them at a tempera- 

 ture similar to that in which they have 

 been struck ; as soon as they begin to gi'ow 

 give them plenty of light to prevent their 

 being drawn, and when they have made an 

 inch or so of growth, pinch out the points of 

 the shoots. Keep the soil fairly moist 

 and they will move freely ; in a few 

 weeks, say by the end of March, they will 

 I'equire stopping again. It is necessary to 

 attend to this pinching out of the points, 

 otherwise the plants Avill not be furnished 

 with enough shoots low clown so as to make 

 them bushy, as they should be to look well. 

 They will bear keejjing up to 65° or 70° in 

 the night by the end of April, and 10° 

 liigher in the day with sun-heat. They 

 will require a thin shade when the days 

 are bright, but must be stood near the 

 glass where they will get plenty of light. 

 If not, kept thus warm the growth will be 

 iveak and spindly. By the end of May 

 move them into the pots in which they are 

 to be grown in and flowered, and again 

 pinch out the extremities of the shoots. 

 As soon as they begin to move freely, give 

 more air, keeping the roots well moistened, 

 and still shading as far as found requisite. 

 From the beginning of April all through 

 the gi'owing season they should be syiinged 

 every afternoon. In July each of the 

 principal -'l^^ots should be tied out to a 

 thin stick, vvhich will give the necessary 

 support ; any that show bloom during the 

 next five or six weeks (unless flowers are 



wanted early) should have them pinched 

 out or they will come in too soon. Give 

 plenty of aii' through August and Septem- 

 ber, and u]} to the middle of September, if 

 the plants have attained size enough, they 

 may with advantage occupy a pit where 

 the lights can be taken oft' in the daytime ; 

 this will strengthen them much. They 

 will set flowers freely, which will open in 

 October with no more heat than requisite 

 to prevent their being too cold in the 

 nights or when the weather is chilly iu 

 the day ; but after this time, if the flowers 

 are expected to come up to their full size, 

 and the white kinds pure in colour, they 

 should have heat, increased as the external 

 temperature lowers. 



The most successful growers keep the 



Slants they want for blooming about 

 hristmas, and during the three following 

 months in a brisk stove heat ; but under 

 such conditions they must be close up to 

 the roof glass in a light house or pit. It 

 is necessary to regulate the supply of 

 flowers by keeping some of the stock 

 cooler, so as to be brought on at two or 

 three intervals in succession. When well 

 managed the pots get full of roots, and it 

 will much benefit the plants if supplied 

 once or twice a week with manure-water 

 during the time they are being brought into 

 flower. By this means they will continue 

 to throw up strong successional flowers for 

 a couple of months at least. 



In place of growing them through the 

 summer in pots as alieady described, it is 

 a good j)lan, where there happens to be a low 

 light pit at liberty where they will be well 

 up to the glass, to plant them out about 

 the time that has been advised for their 

 final potting. When so treated, they should 

 be put in, 15 inches apart, in good soil, 

 and with tlie requisite attention they will 

 attain double the size that they do in pots, 

 and give proportionately more flowers. 

 Where this course is followed, they should 

 be taken up about the middle of September 

 with good balls, put in 8 or 9 inch pots, and 

 kej)t a little close for two or three weeks : 

 in this way they make very sti'ong shoots, 

 which bloom profusely, and keep on in 

 succession longer than pot-grown plants. 

 In spring such of the old plants as may be 

 required for a second season shoixld be cut 

 close in, as soon as they have broken into 

 growth shaken out and re-potted in new 

 soil, and treated through the summer as 

 advised for the young stock. More root- 

 room, however, should be given, and so 

 managed, and well attended to, they make 

 larger plants that flower abundantly. 

 In this way, being annually cut back, 

 they may be grown to a large size. 



