CHAr. IX VILLA GARDENING 363 



pottiug is finished plunge them in tlie prepared bed in the sucker- 

 house or pit, keeping close and shading from bright sunshine, 

 lightly dewdng them over with the syiinge ever}' fine day to maintain 

 a moist atmosphere. Very little water will be required in the pots 

 till roots begin to form. After the first watering, which may be 

 given a day or two after potting, little more will be required till 

 the roots strike out. Sometimes suckers are planted thickly in a 

 bed in prepared compost or in a warm pit to facilitate rooting, and 

 then potted as soon as roots are formed ; but there is not much 

 gained by that, as when once established in i)ots no further check 

 need be given. They will simply be shifted from the sucker pots 

 to the successions, and in due time will reach the fruiting size, 

 which, for Queen's, need not exceed 10 inches in diameter. The 

 strongest of the suckers potted in March will in September be 

 moved to the succession -house, and be shifted into 8-inch pots. 

 The March following, at the latest, all wilKbe in their fruiting 

 pots, the strongest plants having been weeded out and potted into 

 10-inch i)ots in September. When shifting plants from a small 

 l)ot to a larger one, remove two or three leaves from the bottom 

 and drop the ball a little deeper in the new pot. By earthing uji 

 the stem in this way a new set of roots is produced, and the more 

 strong new roots the i^lants have the better. In all cases perfect 

 drainage is very necessary, and the soil shoidd be rammed in 

 firmly with a jjotting stick. If the roots are healthy the balls 

 need no reduction. It sometimes happens that from some cause 

 or other the plants have lost their roots. Too much water, in 

 association with imperfect drainage, will cause this ; so will a 

 c!heck arising from deficient bottom-heat. Too much of that heat 

 is also hurtful. Checks and chills of all kinds must be avoided, 

 but with careful management and proper places to grow them in 

 there is no difficulty in Pine culture. 



When a plant loses its roots from, any cause, it is best to trim 

 them all off", and the bottom part of the root stem also. Strip oft" 

 the bottom leaves, and start the plant again as a sucker in a 

 smaller pot. 



Succession AL Plants. — With these the chief thing is to 

 encourage robust growth, and every cultural detail should be 

 adjusted so as to promote that object. The proper regulation of 

 the heat, moisture, and ventilation — the prime factors in the work 

 — is of great importance, and some experience is necessary before 

 these can be so adjusted as to work together harmoniously. Then 

 again light and shade — the light of the sun, and the shade with 

 which the burning jwwer of the rays are extracted — nmst be con- 

 sidered, so as to balance them and derive the greatest benefit from 



