112 BRIEF REMARKS. 



old soil is shaken clean from tlieir roots ; the latter are trinimed-iii a 

 little, and the plants are repotted and placed in a frame till they have 

 become established, when they are placed out of doors till they are re- 

 moved to their winter quarters. To come in for exhibition in May 

 and June, they are repotted in November, and for July in February. 

 When they begin to show flower-buds, liquid manure is occasionally 

 given them. The latter is made by putting into a large tub of soft 

 water half a barrow-load each of cow, sheep, and horse-dung, and a 

 peck of lime, mixing well and using the clear liquid, after two-thirds 

 of clean water has been added to it. During the blooming season 

 plenty of water (not liquid manure, that is only given five or six times 

 just before they come into flower) is required, otherwise the foliage be- 

 comes discoloured, and the blossoms come small and deformed. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



A BED FOR THE CROCUS, VERBENA, &c. 



BY DAHL OF MANCHESTER. 



Having been applied to for advice to give effect to a bed that fronted 

 a sitting room window, for the early part of the year, I proposed the 

 following, which proved all that could be desired. 



Suppose a bed of any shape or size, according to fancy, and extent 

 of room : in the autumn plant it with Crocus, in rows about a foot apart ; 

 let each row be of diffierent colours ; these in the spring will have a 

 beautiful effect ; in May, or the beginning of June, plant in between 

 the rows. Verbenas of diverse colours, of which now there are a great 

 variety ; stop the leading shoots, to make them throw out, pull out or 

 cut off the stems of the Crocus as they die off, and cover with a little 

 fresh earth ; as the Verbenas make foliage, spread them over tiie bed, 

 and at each joint peg them down, or lay upon each joint a small stone 

 to keep them down, they will soon make roots, and penetrate the earth, 

 and cover the whole bed, and be one mass of flowers : the effect will be 

 splendid. 



But to add to its beauty, place some neat painted uprights, all round 

 the border of the bed, about two feet apart, eighteen or twenty inches 

 high ; from each of these uprights, suspend some pliable copper wire ; 

 in the border, then insert some plants that have been j)repared of the 

 following climbers, one or more as the size of the bed may admit, or 

 the fancy may dictate : the Corben Scandens, the Sophaspermum, the 

 Tropseolum Canariense, or the Eccremocarpus Scabra ; let these be 

 trained in graceful festoons to the wire, and tlie effect from the sitting 

 room will be so pleasing, that I am sure that the person who has had it 

 one year, will have it continued. For the present season the Crocuses 

 are past, but for the other part, the present is the time to have it done, 

 the Crocuses may be planted at the proper time. 



BRIEF REMARKS. 



Calceolarias. — This flower has long been a favourite of mine, and 

 each season I have purchased the best new ones, but as regularly lost 

 them after they had bloomed. The plan I adopted was to grow them 



