.272 GAEDEN MANAGEMENT. 



731. All other annual seeds may remain until the next month, and biennials 

 and perennials may also be left till then. 



732. Proceed with the potting-oflf of all bedding- plants ; keep them close for 

 a fortnight after potting. Noplace is so good for them as a frame, with a hot- 

 water pipe run round it to exclude frost : in the absence of this, the frame must 

 be kept quite close for a few days, partially shading it at noon rather than giving 

 air. Where there is not room in the pits, they are often placed in vineries, or 

 other structures, at work. This is unavoidable, generally, but never desirable : 

 the plants are always sure to become draton, audit requires great judgment 

 to harden them off fit for the garden, without checking them severely. In 

 cold-pits they will still require protection on fi-osty nights. Use light rich soil 

 for potting. A single crock, or a hard bit of manure, over the hole, will be 

 suflBcient drainage for bedding-plants at this season. The whole of the pot will 

 then be filled with food for the roots. Keep the propagating-house at a tem- 

 perature of from 60° to 70°, and try and finish increasing your stock during the 

 month. Pot as soon as rooted, and m-ge the cuttings on to a vigorous growth, 

 in a genial temperature of from 50° to 55°. 



733. This is also the best month for increasing dahlias by cuttings. If the 

 old stools were placed in a warm pit or house, as recommended last month, 

 cuttings three or four inches long may now be secured. Cut them off close to 

 the stem, if you can find as many as you want by this mode ; if not, leave one or 

 two eyes on the old stool, and in another week these eyes will furnish two, four, 

 or six more cuttings. Place them in light sandy soil ; plunge the pots in a 

 bottom-heat of 80° and a top-heat of 60° : in a week or ten days they will be 

 rooted. The white, scarlet, yellow, and purple bedding sorts should also be 

 placed into heat, where an increase of stock is required. I find the dwarf whites 

 much more difficult to increase than the other colours : nothing can look 

 richer than rows of these dwarf dahlias in ribbon-borders, or groups of them 

 in front of shrubberies. 



734. ShruLheries. — Let all planting and alterations cease for this season at 

 once. Top-dress rhododendron-beds with equal parts of cow-dung (thoroughly 

 decayed — say four years old) and leaf-mould. On poor soils this imparts a 

 rich gloss to the foliage, and causes luxuriant healthy growth. Where such 

 material is not procurable, a thick layer of leaves may be pointed in with 

 excellent results. Finish digging and clearing all this department, and 

 manage to have a clean home for the shrubs, before they robe themselves in 

 their beautiful flowers. Attend to staking, tying, and mulching all newly or 

 recently-planted trees and shrubs, before the March winds tear them half up 

 by the roots. Choice specimens, recently moved, would be much benefitted by 

 a copious syringing with the engine, on the evenings of dry pinching days 

 to check perspiration, and husband the scanty juices of the plants. The 

 usual routine of sweeping and rolling turf and gravel must be assiduously 

 attended to : if the weather is mild, the grass must have a first mowing during 

 the month. 



735. Reserve Garden. — Stir the soil among winter-sown annuals; transplant 



