180 



balls of earth about their roots, about the beginning of March or the 

 following month. The work is performed by closing the holes iu 

 tlie bottoms of the pots with pieces of oyster shells or tiles, then 

 filling them half way up with the earth prepared as above, placing 

 the plants with their balls of earth in them, and filling up the vacan- 

 cies on the sides with more fresh mould, closing it well up about the 

 bodies of the plants so as they may stand nearly as high as the tops 

 of the pots, giving a/good watering at the time. 



When the plants have been thus potted they should be placed in 

 a sheltered sunny situation in the open air, being frequently refreshed 

 with water in hot dry weather. 



It is the practice with some florists to plant two flowers in a large 

 pot ; but it is better as well as more convenient for layering only to 

 have one, the plants flowering stronger and making more free shoots. 



In the summer treatment of the flowers the care of frequent wa- 

 tering should be continued when the weather is hot and droughty, 

 and the surface mould be occasionally stirred to promote the growth 

 and preserve neatness; and when the flower-stalks are a little ad- 

 vanced, handsome painted sticks should be placed for their support, 

 both in the pots and other situations, to which they should be neatly 

 tied as they proceed in their growth. When they approach the pe- 

 riod of flowering, the curious sorts should be removed to a stage 

 constructed for the purposse, and provided with an awning to pro- 

 tect them from being injured by the scorching heat of the sun in the 

 middle of the day, and the effects of too much wet, by which they are 

 continued much longer in beauty. 



Stages of this nature are formed in different methods, according 

 to the fancy of the persons who make use of them. The following 

 is a neat mode of constructing such apparatus: a platform is erected 

 at the height of eighteen inches or two feet, constituted of two ranges 

 of planks, in order to contain two rows of pots, sustained by posts 

 in one or two rows underneath with an open-work roof five or six 

 feet in height, covered by means of painted canvass, or some other 

 suitable material, the whole being supported by upright posts, accord- 

 ing to the taste of the proprietor. 



