ON PINKS. 33 



winter in the naked earth, and come to no damage. Not that I ad- 

 vise you to leave your pots exposed in this manner ; that would be too 

 much neglecting a flower that deserves a particular esteem. 



As soon, therefore, as the frosts begin to pinch, let all your pots be 

 carried into your conservatory, if you have one ; and if not into a 

 chamber or some other place, where they may be sheltered from the 

 rough violence of the air. 



If the winter be mild, and consequently the earth in the pots that 

 are in the conservatory should grow too dry, it will not be amiss to 

 give them a little water, drawn fresh from the well, or some other 

 place of that nature : but if it freeze, or if there be any likelihood of 

 frost, you must not do so on any account ; for to water them, woud do 

 them more harm than good. 



There is no animal more dangerous to Pinks than rats ; you must, 

 therefore, be very watchful that they do them no mischief, and make 

 use of all the means whicb have hitherto been invented to destroy 

 them. 



There can be no fixed time prescribed to take the Pinks out of the 

 conservatory, for the end of the winter must determine it ; though 

 about Easter we see the florists generally set them out in the air, but 

 in a place of shelter from the hoar-frosts, to which the season is still 

 subject, and where the sun never comes : for plants, that have been 

 as it were imprisoned, must be accustomed by degrees to endure the 

 open air, otherwise they will be suffocated by it, and die away. 



If there be any leaves on the Pinks, that seem to be rotten, you 

 must be careful to take them off, which must be done by pulling, or 

 cutting them off as close to the stem as you possibly can. 



When the Pinks have been for some little time in a place like that 

 I have described, you must carry them to another, where they will 

 thrive, and grow better ; that is to say, you must set them in the 

 easterly aspect, which is favourable to them ; though I have seen 

 some exposed to the south, that have done very well, and that grew in 

 a short time by the help of frequent waterings ; but the water ought 

 always to be warmed by the sun. 



These waterings should never be given them till after sun-set ; and 

 always with a little watering-pot, that the water falling gently on them 

 like rain, may not beat down the earth : as to the quantity of the 

 water, it must always be left to the discretion of the florist, to give 

 them as much or as Jittle as he thinks fit. 



When the pinks begin to spindle, they require a little more care 

 from him that looks after them, than they did before: for we then take 

 little hazel-sticks, of about the size of the little finger, the bark of 

 them being stript off, set them at the foot of each spindle, and tie them 

 with a small rush as fast as they rise up : for without this prop, the 

 stem, which is naturally weak, would not be able to support the 

 lowers it produces, but would be apt to grow very crooked. 



