296 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



are the best. They should be potted in much the same manner as 

 the last-mentioned, and as tliey do not make new roots until after 

 they go out of bloom, any rather light soil will do for them. The 

 soil must be pressed rather firmly, or the moisture will drain away 

 quickly, and leave the middle of the clump quite dry. After they 

 have done flowering they can be planted out, but they must remain 

 two years to acquire sufficient strength to bloom satisfactorily. They 

 may be had in bloom in seven or eight weeks from the time of being 

 placed in the forcing-pit. The Solomon's Seal is most useful for 

 table decorations, as medium-sized clumps put into five-inch pots 

 are very graceful in appearance when in bloom. The slender arch- 

 ing sprays, furnished with the drooping flowers, are very elegant 

 inserted in the trumpet-shaped glasses now so much in vogue on the 

 dinner-table. After they have done flowering, a bed can be formed 

 with them to aftbrd a supply in subsequent seasons, care being 

 taken to renew it by lifting and dividing a few of the roots not re- 

 quired for forcing, or by planting out in the spring those lifted and 

 potted the previous autumn. 



Beut-da gracilis is one of the most easily forced, and one of the 

 most beautiful of white-flowered plants of small growth. Nice 

 bushes, about fifteen inches in height, should be procured, and put 

 in six-inch pots. Place them under cover until the end of January, 

 and then start them in a genial temperature. Use the syringe 

 freely to assist the buds to break, and the result will be most satis- 

 factory. To maintain an annual supply of plants for forcing, there 

 should be two sets, each set to be forced every alternate year. The 

 best practice is to plant them out as they come from the conserva- 

 tory, prune them moderately in tlie autumn, and then let them 

 reniain until the following year. The partly ripened shoots strike 

 freely, and a few cuttings should be put in annually to maintain the 

 supply of small thrifty plants. 



Diehjtra spedabtlis, when properly managed, is one of the most 

 eft'ective of pot plants, but it is so generally forced in too high a 

 temperature, and placed so far from the glass, that the growth is, 

 as a rule, drawn, the foliage spare, and the general appearance 

 altogether unsatisfactory. Clumps of various sizes may be obtained, 

 but those of medium size are the most generally useful. They 

 require potting in much the same manner as the other herbaceous 

 plants mentioned, but the temperature of the structure in which 

 they are placed should average sixty-five degrees, and they must be 

 near the glass and have sufficient space for the natural development 

 of the gracefully arching sprays of flowers. 



Funkias are not so generally useful as many other of the sub- 

 jects mentioned ; but several of the variegated forms, if potted up 

 in rather large masses and placed in a temperature similar to that 

 advised for the dielytras, are particularly handsome, and the ample 

 leafage presents a most pleasing appearance in contrast with the 

 flowers of the other subjects in the conservatory. Even the green- 

 leaved forms are attractive. 



Laclienalias are amongst the most attractive of spring-flowering 

 plants ; but as they have been frequently alluded to in these pages, I 



