228 PLANTS IN POTS. 



few hours. After pouring some of tlie liquid upon the soil, I filled 

 the saucers in wliich the pots stood. 



The plants which were in bloom when I began to apply it to them 

 changed to a beautiful lilac, and those in bud when commencing are 

 now in bloom of a fine lilac-ldue ; the heads are verj' large and superb. 

 By this simple process tiie cliange takes place so immediate, that any 

 person desirous can evidence the effects. 



CULTURE OF THE CHINESE PRIMROSE. 



Althougu this may be easily and successfully cultivated in pots, yet 

 it is more easily and advantageously cultivated in general by planting 

 it out in some shady situation during the summer months. For au- 

 tumn-flowering specimens tlie seed should be sown about tlie middle of 

 March, in pots or ])ans, and placed in a little heat until the young 

 plants appear, when they should be removed to a greenhouse. As soon 

 as they are large enougii let tliem be pricked out into pots or pans, 

 keeping them in a shady part of the house. They will thus, with a 

 little attention, be strong plants, ready for planting out by the end of 

 May. Prepare a frame under a north wall (the most suitable situation 

 for them) with a compost of three-parts leaf mould and a little turfy 

 loam or sand. Let the plants be placed about six or eight inches apart ; 

 keep them close for a few days, after whicli tlie covering should be re- 

 moved entirely, to allow the dews and rains to fall on them. They 

 Avill require no more attention until the time arrives for potting, but 

 they should have a liberal supply of water and liquid manure occasion- 

 ally. The bed specimens should, of course, be removed as they come 

 into flower, in order to give the others more room to giow. About 

 the middle of September the)^ should be taken up and potted in six, 

 seven, or eight-inch pots, according to the object of the cultivator ; 

 afterwards replace them in the frame, keeping them close for a few 

 days, and constantly wetting' the foliage three or four times a-day to 

 keep them from flagging. In about a fortnight they may safely be re- 

 moved to the greeidiouse, and watered moi'e sparingly as they come 

 into flower. You will thus insure a good succession of bloom through- 

 out the autumn. Seed for specimens to flower in spring should be 

 sown about the middle of April, and treated as above, keeping them 

 free from damp and frost during the winter months, and giving them 

 more water as the spring advances, which is all that is required to 

 make them flower abundantly. After the plants have done blooming, 

 plant tiiem out again as before, and they will make fine specimens for 

 flowering in the following autunm. — Gardeners' Chronicle, 



PLANTS IN POTS. 



If in the gardener's vocabulary there is one expression more anoma- 

 lous than another — alike calculated to mislead the professional tyro 

 and the amateur — it is that simple combination of words which theo- 

 rists are for ever writing, and practical men are for ever talking about 

 — proper compost. Opinions, both practical and theoretical, so widely 



