166 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



their prime ; and their places may be filled up with another later lot 

 turned out of pots, or with late stocks, or something that will keep 

 up the gaiety of the border till the frosts come. 



You will easily judge, from the above directions, that, under pot 

 culture, the balsam may be brought to a grand perfection. It is 

 tender, it likes warmth, revels in moisture both at the root and in 

 the air, and it must have a generous soil if fine plants and double 

 flowers are required. Now, here's a field for any amateur who 

 desires to win distinction as an exhibitor, and especially in the 

 neighbourhood of London, for in and about the metropolis there is 

 no flower so badly shown ; indeed, we know not where, except 

 in the midland counties, where amateur growers know what balsams 

 should be, we may safely count upon seeing good balsams at summer 

 exhibitions. It is all a question of growth, there are no secrets ; keep 

 them growing, stop, disbud, give them moist warm air and liquid 

 manure in plenty, and give them not one check either by neglect in 

 watering or letting them get pot-bound, and you are sure of grand 

 specimens, provided you begin with seed worth the pains you pur- 

 pose to bestow upon it. 



To have a succession of fine plants, sow the first lot in a hot-bed 

 in March, and sow again in April, May, and June; and as each lot 

 comes on, you may select the forwardest, and allow them to bloom 

 early, and prolong the others for the production of grand specimens. 

 If the plants of each sowing were divided into two portions, one lot 

 to be allowed to bloom three months after sowing, and the remainder 

 to be grown on for another month or six weeks, you would have a 

 splendid succession of both border and specimen plants, the size ot 

 the plants and time of blooming being so completely under control. 



The soil for pot specimens should be two-thirds loam from rotted 

 turves, and one-third well-rotted dung, or one-third hazelly loam 

 that has been ridged up all the winter, one-third leaf-mould, and one- 

 third powdery dung. As fast as the plants come from the seed-pans, 

 prick them into the smallest pots ; when they fill these with roots, 

 and before they get pot-bound, shift to sixties, then again to forty- 

 eights, then into thirty-twos for blooming. They should have green- 

 house culture till they come to the last shift, and may then be put 

 out on a bed of coal ashes on an east or west border, so as to have 

 morning or evening sun, but be sheltered from the fierce mid-day 

 heat. The compost at the last potting should be very rich ; well- 

 rotted cow-dung, with a little sand added to the loam, will, with 

 plenty of water and liquid manure, help them to set their buds well 

 and bloom strong. At every potting they should be stopped all over, 

 and if they show bloom-buds before they are as large as you want 

 them, take off every one, or allow one only to open to prove the sort ; 

 and if of good substance, well doubled, and a desirable colour, take it 

 off immediately after it has opened, to prevent it setting for seed. 

 Search the plant well, that there are no other buds left, and grow ou 

 again for a month, and then let them bloom in their own way. The 

 blossoms ought to be as large and waxy as double camellias, and the 

 plants perfect trees on stout stems, and without a single gap any- 

 where in the filling out of the side-branches. 



