BRIEF REMARKS. 17 



manure ; such as old Cucumber beds, or night-soil mixed with earth. 

 Sandy loam they like, and if the subsoil is wet they will thrive re- 

 markably well in the summer, but in the winter wet is very injurious to 

 them ; to prevent which, I remove, to the depth of one or two inches, 

 the mould round the neck of the plant, and fill up with white sand, 

 about six inches round the stem, level with the surface : it is simply to 

 preserve them from wet, insects, and slugs, from which, in the winter, 

 they are apt to suffer very much, if not killed. They may be propa- 

 gated by single eyes in July and August, also by cuttings in the spring, 

 placed on a slight bottom heat. Young plants raised from summer 

 cuttings are best preserved by re-potting them in October into large 

 pots — the larger the better — in light rich sandy earth, and placed in a 

 cold frame ; thus they will grow during the winter. In March or 

 April turn them out into the open ground, and they will bloom as fine 

 and as early as if planted in the autumn. Plant them not less than 

 four feet from row to row, and three feet apart in the row. If grouped 

 in beds, not nearer than three feet each way, They will grow well in 

 the shade of distant trees, but by no means must the roots interfere. 

 In May, when the spikes are grown about a foot high, thin them out 

 according to the strength of the plant ; if well established and very 

 strong, leave four spikes ; if weak, two or three, or only one, at the 

 same time placing a stake to each one separately. The most robust 

 grower does not require a stake higher than three feet from the ground. 

 Stake them before they get too high, and secure them well by tying, 

 and they will grow erect. If the weather is dry at this season of the 

 year they must be watered with a solution of guano, or any other liquid 

 manure, poured carefully round the roots, avoiding pouring it on or 

 too near the stems. To grow the flowers fine, cut off' the lateral shoots, 

 thin the flower buds, if crowded together, and take out the top of the 

 spike, according to the height desired, paying attention to the usual 

 height and habit of the plant. Observe, by topping it you may increase 

 the size of the flower, but at the same time shorten its duration of 

 flowering, and perhaps disfigure its appearance. 



BRIEF REMARKS. 



Winter Decoration of the Flower Garden. — Lest the occur- 

 rence of a number of empty beds on a lawn or in a flower garden, where 

 the system of massing summer plants is adopted, should impart to a 

 place a bare and desolate aspect during winter, a store of the lower 

 kinds of Evergreens should be kept in pots, and plunged in some part 

 of the kitchen garden, or in any reserved corner through the summer, 

 to be transferred to the flower-beds directly their gayer furniture has 

 been cleared away in autumn. Such a plan is less troublesome than it 

 appears to be ; for if the plants be kept constantly in pots, summer and 

 winter, and merely be plunged in the ground, a simple re-potting once 

 a-year, with an occasional watering in only the very driest summer 

 weather, will be all the attention they want for three or four years, 

 when they will require renewing by propagation. The fittest kinds for 



Vol. xix. No. 4 'J.— N.S. C 



