THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 69 



They will nevertheless be very much assisted by being gently 

 syringed mornings and evenings. About the end of May or 

 beginning of June, the plants which were shifted in the spring may 

 be supposed to be again well established in their pots, and growing 

 freely ; if so, occasional waterings of weak liquid manure will very 

 much encourage a healthy action, and enable them to form large 

 trusses of flowers in autumn. But to old plants, with their pots 

 pretty full of roots, liquid manure may be applied with advantage 

 from the time they commence growing. Or, what answers a very 

 good purpose is, a good mulching of half-decomposed cow or sheep's 

 dung, through which all the water applied to the plants must pass, 

 and consequently carrying with it a certain portion of the fertilizing 

 properties of the dung to the roots ; and by preventing evaporation 

 in some degree, will so much encourage the roots nearest the surface, 

 that the dung at the end of a few weeks will generally be found 

 matted by them. A practice prevails with some gardeners of 

 placing their Daphnes out of doors, with other greenhouse plants, 

 during summer ; but unless the means be at hand of protecting 

 them from the direct rays of the sun on the hottest days of summer, 

 and heavy, drenching rains in autumn, no advantage can be gained 

 by adopting such a course, as they will be found to succeed much 

 better in a pit, where shading can be easily applied when necessary, 

 taking the lights off in the evening to give the plants the benefit of 

 the night dews, and putting them on again in the morning, before 

 the sun gets too powerful ; admitting plenty of air during the day, 

 to make the plants stiff and short jointed. 



If in hot, dry weather, red spider should make its appearance 

 upon the leaves, let them be well syringed with clean water, applied 

 with considerable force, early in the afternoon, shutting them up 

 close for the night, to keep a moist atmosphere about them ; 

 repeating the operation for several days in succession, and that pest 

 will soon disappear. 



By a little attention in summer, their flowering season may be 

 very much prolonged. This is to be effected by setting aside some 

 plants, and giving them only a partial supply of water for about six 

 weeks, which will check rapid growth, promote the ripening process, 

 and act on them, in some measure, as a season of rest. Then 

 induce them, by giving copious waterings of weak, liquid manure, to 

 make another growth in autumn, thereby causing their flowering 

 points to be formed at a much later period than they otherwise would 

 have been. Plants treated in this way will not commence flowering 

 generally till some time in January, instead of the usual season, 

 November. 



The Daphne Odora is easily propagated by cuttings in February, 

 planted in sandy peat, and placed in a gentle bottom-heat, with a 

 close, humid atmosphere. The cuttings I have found to make the 

 best plants are the tops of last year's shoots, which have flowered 

 during the winter ; allowing that portion where the truss of flowers 

 had dropped from to remain on the top of the cutting, which, from 

 the number of buds formed close together around that place, will 

 generally break from three to six young shoots ; thereby laying the 



March. 



