178 HOT-HOUSE OF REPOTTING, &C. 



OF BRINGING OUT THE HOT-HOUSE PLANTS. 



Where the hot-house is very crowded with plants, the 

 best method to have them exposed without danger is, to 

 take out those of the hardiest nature first, that have no 

 tender shoots upon them, thereby thinning the house gra- 

 dually. This may be done from the sixteenth to the twen- 

 tieth of the month, which will admit of a free circulation of 

 air among those that remain. All may be exposed from the 

 twenty-fourth to the twenty-eighth of the month. This is 

 a general rule, though in some seasons there may be ex- 

 ceptions. Having previously given all the air possible to 

 the house, that no sudden transition take place, which 

 would make the. foliage brown and otherwise materially 

 injure the plants, choose calm days for the removing of 

 them. 



There are few plants while in pots that agree with the 

 full sun upon them ; or, if the plants receive the sun, the 

 pots and roots ought not. The best situation for them is on 

 the north side of a fence, wall, house, or other building, 

 where they are excluded from the mid-day sun, and they 

 should stand on boards or gravel, with the tallest at the 

 back, firmly tied to a rail or some other security, to pre- 

 vent them from being overturned by high winds. Make a 

 fanciful bed, and cover it with sand or coal ashes, for the 

 reception of the smaller plants, and setting them thinly and 

 regularly thereon, is preferable to crowding them with the 

 taller sorts. And it may be desired to have some of the 

 plants plunged in the garden through the flower borders. 

 Of those that are so treated, the pots must be plunged to 

 the brim, and regularly turned round every two weeks, to 

 prevent the roots from running into the earth. If the roots 

 were allowed to do so, it might for the present strengthen 

 the plant, but ultimately would prove injurious. 



Where a sufficiency of shade cannot be obtained, it 

 would be advisable to go to the expense of a very thin 

 awning, that would not exclude the light, but merely the 

 powerful rays of the sun, attending to roll it up every even- 

 ing. Plants will keep in beautiful order by the above 

 method, which amply repays for the trouble or expense. 



