264 0>r PLANTING OUT PINKS IN BEDS. 



Diosmas, are always injured by being placed where there is a current 

 of wind. Let each plant have all the space possible, and the robust 

 large-leaved kinds, and the very slender delicate sorts, should be kept 

 as separate as can be arranged, so as to allow a due circulation of air. 

 Always be careful that the pots, &c , be perfectly clean before arranged 

 for their winter situation. Re-pot Cinerarias, &c. Let Camellias 

 which are to bloom early* be placed in a warmer situation, also any 

 Chinese or Indian Azaleas, so that they may be gradually advancing. 

 In watering the stock of plants, let it be done, as far as practicable, in 

 the early part of the day, so that any excess may be dried up before 

 evening, and damps be avoided, or otherwise mouldiness will ensue. 

 Give all possible air in suitable weather. 



ON PLANTING OUT PINKS IN BEDS. 



BY DIANTHUS. 



The present being the period of planting Pinks in beds, and being a 

 successful exiiibitor of this lovely flower at all the first-rate shows held 

 in London and its neighbourhood, I am induced to forward the par- 

 ticulars of my method of forming and planting my beds. 



I select a fresli piece of ground every season ; having fixed upon it, 

 I mark out the bed four feet wide upon its surface. I lay four inches 

 thick of two years old cow-dung, which is dug in a spit deep, being 

 careful to incorporate it well with the soil. Cow-dung is much superior 

 for growing the Pink in than any other manure ; it is cool as well as 

 enriching, and, whilst the flowers are more vigorous, they possess the 

 colours, &c., more perfectly, and the white grounds are pure. I take 

 care to have tlie sides of the bed about five or six inches higher than 

 the path, whicli is two feet and a half wide. The surface of the bed 

 is crowned, having the centre raised and gradually sloping to the 

 sides, so as to admit of any superfluous water running off. 



In planting I am careful to retain as much soil to the ball of roots 

 as possible. I arrange the plants so that they are in squares, each 

 plant being six inches apart. A row of these squares is planted along 

 the crown of the bed, and the sorts are the tallest-growing flowers. 

 Two other rows of squares are planted, that is, one on each side of the 

 centre one, and midway between it and the edges of the bed. By tliis 

 arrangement the squares can be easily covered over by glass or other 

 preservati\'e, when requisite ; and the squares being formed crosswaj'^s 

 of the bed, in what is termed the quincunx manner, it allows that 

 facility much better tlian if the three squares across the bed were in a 

 line. I always have each square of four plants the same kind. In 

 planting I have tliem put in so that the soil reaches up to the lowest 

 leaves, but not deeper, and have it pressed closely around the stem of 

 each, so that the plants are firm in their situations. After being 

 planted they are properly watered, to settle the soil around the fibrous 

 roots. By this attention, and tiie subsequent management required at 

 their various stages, I liave grown the flowers to a state of perfection 

 which has not yet been exceeded. 



