ON THE CULTIVATION OF HELIOTROPE. 195 



stove for a few days, pot them off into 48-sized pots, using the 

 above compost, and allowing as much soil to adhere to the roots 

 as possible. Pinch ofl* the. extremities of each shoot, to cause the 

 plants to grow bushy ; and after giving them a suitable watering, 

 place them in a shady part of the stove till they have taken root 

 and begun to grow, when they should be removed to a more ex- 

 posed situation in a house of the temperature of from 60° to 70° 

 Fahrenheit. Due attention must be paid to repotting them as 

 often as they appear to mat around the outside of the balls, or the 

 plants will soon assume a sickly hue, instead of being clothed with 

 line green foliage. These plants are very subject to the attacks 

 of that destructive inmate of the hothouse — that pest to gardeners, 

 the green fly (aphis). These should not be permitted to remain, 

 but be eradicated as soon as perceived", by syringing them every 

 morning with pure water. If the plants are removed when in 

 bloom to the greenhouse or conservatory, they will continue in 

 flower much longer than when remaining in heat. When they 

 have done flowering, set them in a cool part of the greenhouse 

 until the following February, when they should be cut down, their 

 balls reduced, themselves repotted in the above soil, and plunged 

 in a hotbed, to produce healthy young shoots for propagation ; 

 after which the old stools may be either turned out into flower 

 borders, or thrown away, as young plants raised every year are 

 far preferable for flowering in pots. 



Cultivation for Flower Borders. — Alter the cuttings are struck, 

 let them be potted off in the same sized pots and sort of soil as 

 above noticed, and wintered in the greenhouse, or in a house I 

 have recommended in a former Number. In the following March, 

 pot tliein into pots a si/e larger, to cause them to produce fresh 

 shoots and roots. Towards the middle of April, begin to expose 

 them gradually to the open air; so that about the end of May, if 

 the weather prove mild, they may be able to bear being planted 

 out into beds or baskets, composed of good mellow, rich soil. 

 Should cold nights happen after they are turned out, as is some- 

 time^ the case, they must be defended by means of hoops and mats, 

 en camst ; Una protected^ they will grow and flower freely till 

 the chilly nights of autumn put a cheek to their vigour; they 

 must th<ii be taken up with their balls entire, and potted in suit- 

 ably >izod pots. If placed in the stove, and shaded for a few days, 



