174 VILLA GAKDENING takt ii 



are matters of detail requiring careful atteution. If the chief 

 object is to keep the plants in health, then the lowest temperatiu-e 

 that will ensiu-e regular steady gi'owth is all that is needed. 

 The night temperatm-e should never exceed 40°, and may fall iu 

 extremely cold weather, as I have stated, even to 32° without 

 doing much harm if there is a little fire going. The best con- 

 structed houses are not air-tight, and in frosty weather, or when a 

 keen wind is blowing, sutticieut fresh air may get in through 

 the chinks and crannies without opening a light at all, and cold 

 draughts should always be avoided. 



The Soil for soft-wooded plants need not vary much. In this 

 respect our predecessoi-s very often complicated matters by the 

 various ingredients they mixed up in their soils. September is a 

 very good month for laying in a stock of potting soil, Avhicli shoidd 

 consist of two-thirds top spit, 4 inches thick, from an old common 

 or pasture, and one-third manm-e, packed up in alternate layers of 

 horse droppings in the proportion I have stated ; and the heap 

 shoidd be built up in a ridge-like form to throw off the wet, and 

 should remain for six months, or till the grasses are killed. I 

 have for special things used horse -droppings, with the grit as 

 gathered up in the road mixed with it. Carnations, etc., do well 

 in this Avith the usual ])roportion of loam, and it will grow all 

 soft-wooded plants ■vs'ith the greatest perfection. 



Potting. — Pot firmly in order to ensure a free-flowering habit ; 

 loose potting leads to gross growth and large leaves, which are 

 always accompanied with a paucity of flowers. Shift on young 

 plants before they become pot-bound and stunted, as they, like 

 yoimg animals, seldom cast aside the ettects of a starved youth. 



CHAPTER VI 



The Pelargonium — Show and Fancy. — In treating of the 

 life-history of a plant, the simplest way is to commence at the 

 beginning, which in this case will be A\-ith 



Propagation. — Though cuttings of Pelargoniums may be 

 taken and rooted any time, yet, except in the case of choice, scarce 

 sorts, the best time is immediately after flowering, when the wood 

 is firm and ripe. If cuttings are plentiful, only the best need be 

 selected, as strong ones always make the best plants. The 

 old stems of new or scarce sorts, if cut into lengths of two or three 

 joints each, will, in most cases, root and make plants, inferior of 

 course to good, strong, leading shoots, but still usefid. In cer- 

 tain cases cuttings of the roots may be utilised, as thick fleshy 



