MONTHLY CALENDAR. 293 



cular genus, or species, as the Auricula, and many private growers excel in 

 the culture of this, so as to surprise experienced gardeners : I have known 

 them grown very fine on a window-ledge. Others take a fancy to the Pink 

 or Carnation ; — others again to the different species of violets ; and it is chiefly 

 by growing one particular plant that this degree of proficiency is attained, 

 and new varieties given to the world — those improved varieties which are 

 constantly eclipsing old ones. In the management of plant-frames, I find that 

 nothing is better for the bottom or floor, in spite of all that has been said against 

 it, than finely-sifted coal-ashes. The ashes .should be firmly trodden down 

 and made perfectly level. So treated, it never gets sloppy, but absorbs all 

 surplus water, — a great consideration. "Worms or slugs also dislike crawling 

 through or over it. A plant-frame generally has short legs, or a block project- 

 ing below the boarding : these should be sunk in the ground to keep it steady. 

 The glass should be kept quite clean, and there should be room sufficient to 

 admit of drawing the lights off at the back. 



805. Ilyacinths should always find a place in the fx-ame, as much from 

 the certainty of their flowering, as from their rich colour and fragrance, and 

 neat habit when in bloom. They should be potted in September, in a mixture 

 of loam and very rotten dung, witth a liberal allowance of sand, placing one 

 in a 4-inch or three in a 6-inch pot : if they are potted lightly with a Uttle 

 sand under each bulb, no more is required than to place them in the frame, 

 watering or exposing them to gentle showers before the soil gets too dry. 

 Some recommend placing them close together and covering with light earth 

 for a short time : it is a good plan, but not imperative : they will flower in 

 April. Dwarf and early Tulips may be treated in the same way. After 

 flowering, the leaves should never be cut off until they decay naturally, nor 

 should water be withheld until the leaves begin to tura yellow. When the 

 foliage has thoroughly decayed, they should be kept dry till the same time of 

 the year as they were potted, when they may be repotted or only surface- 

 dressed. 



806. Violets may be grown in pots, by placing two or three runners or 

 offsets in a pot in May, and keeping them in the frame slightly shaded from 

 the hot sun in summer. Loam and leaf-mould suits them admirably. Russian 

 violets, and sometimes the Neapolitan, will flower all the winter. True 

 violets flower in March and April. 



807. Pinks, Cloves, and CarnoAions are sometimes grown in pots under 

 frame-treatment : they do well in a soil of gritty loam : they flower in May and 

 June, and some sorts even later. The male pink makes a very pretty pot- 

 plant ; so do the Japan and Indian pink. The Dianthus Heddcwegii makes a 

 fine showy plant when in bloom, and is more permanent than most of them. 

 They are all propagated by seeds or by piping, that is, pulling off three or 

 four joints of each side-shoot, and pricking them into very sandy loam, and 

 keeping them close Tinder glass for a week or two. 



