36 APRIL 



with one part of peat, one of leaf mould, a little 

 soot, and a liberal quantity of sharp sand. The 

 results are almost incredible, except to one who 

 has seen them. 



My dislike to growing greenhouse plants which 

 have to stand a winter before their flowering 

 season comes does not apply to such things as 

 may be kept through that season in a cold 

 frame, so I have just been sowing seeds of the 

 chimney campanula to decorate the greenhouse 

 a year or more hence. They are sown thinly in 

 a pan of sandy soil in the cool house, and the 

 seedlings, when they are large enough to handle, 

 are pricked out into thumb-pots in a light compost, 

 and then moved to a frame. They are given a 

 shift as often as they need it, which may be twice 

 or thrice throughout the summer, care being taken 

 to prevent their getting pot- bound at any time. In 

 the winter they are kept in a protected cold frame, 

 although no special anxiety is felt about them if 

 they suffer a few degrees of frost. At the end of 

 February, or soon after, they receive their final 

 potting into seven-inch pots, or even larger if 

 necessary, and they are then placed in the green- 

 house to encourage them to move. As soon as the 

 flower stems appear weak liquid manure is applied 

 twice a week, and at all times plenty of air is given. 

 They make large and well-furnished plants, pro- 

 vided that care is taken to keep them as cool as 

 I have indicated through all their stages of growth, 

 for hardy things will not do their best if unduly 

 coddled. These and the cup-and-saucer campanulas 

 are among the most beautiful plants which can be 



