JANUARY. 



S86 



JANUARY. 



they have flowered and are making wood 

 that they require most water. 



Cinerarias. Many cinerarias are now in 

 bloom, and may be removed to the window 

 or conservatory, while those reserved for 

 blooming in May and June should still be 

 kept in cold pits or frames, take care to 

 guard them from severe frosty weather, and 

 especially from moisture. If large cinera- 

 rias are required, shift a few into larger 

 pots, and pinch off the tops to produce a 

 bushy head, tying or pegging down the 

 side shoots to keep them open, keeping 

 them supplied moderately with moisture, 

 and giving air on every possible occasion. 

 As cinerarias begin to throw up their 

 flower stems, they should be removed to a 

 house where a very moderate heat can be 

 kept up. They do not require much 

 warmth, it is true, but at the same time 

 they would produce but a very poor 

 display of bloom were they allowed merely 

 to take their chance. 



Cleanliness. This is specially required 

 in plant houses of every kind. No litter 

 should be suffered to remain on the floor, 

 stages, or shelves, and every dead leaf 

 should be removed from the plants before 

 it falls. 



Compost for Potting. A constant and 

 ample supply of compost, well turned and 

 thoroughly dry, should now be prepared 

 for spring potting, and the pots washed and 

 dried for use when wanted. Advantage 

 should now be taken of any enforced absti- 

 nence from outdoor work to prepare stakes, 

 labels, compost, &c., and everything that 

 will be required by and by as the season 

 advances. 



Fuchsias. Fuchsias may be started this 

 month, and large early flowering specimens 

 produced by cutting down the old plants 

 and shaking the roots out of the old soil as 

 soon as they have broken, re-potting them 

 in a good rich compost, with sufficient drain- 

 age. Strike cuttings for bedding plants as 



soon as the shoots are long enough. To 

 start them, place them in the light, and 

 water moderately. 



Hard- Wooded Plants. It is usual, where 

 circumstances permit, to grow hard-wooded 

 plants, such as heaths, azaleas, camellias, 

 and others of similar habit, in a seperate 

 house ; and some cultivators go so far as to 

 recommend those having limited accom- 

 modation to confine their culture to one 

 family, contending that it is better to have a 

 houseful of finely grown heaths, geraniums, 

 or camellias, as the case may be, than a 

 miscellaneous collection of indifferently 

 cultivated plants. This, however, must be 

 a matter of taste. 



Hard- Wooded Plants Watering. Care 

 should be taken that hard-wooded plants 

 do not suffer from the absence of moisture 

 at the roots. After severe frosts, when the 

 fires have been used, the evaporation by the 

 sides of the pots is very great, while the 

 surface seems to be moist enough : this 

 should be seen to. Among the hard- 

 wooded plants the same remarks respecting 

 heat are applicable ; a temperature of 40 

 should be aimed at during the night, rising 

 a little by natural causes during the day. 

 Air should be given from above, or by 

 means of ventilators, without exposing the 

 plants to cold draughts, and a moisture 

 encouraged by sprinkling the floor, flues, 

 and pipes, when warm, with water. 



Heaths. With heaths, guard against 

 mildew, but water moderately. Avoid 

 artificial heat if possible, but keep out 

 frost ; and, if heat becomes necessary, re- 

 move such plants from its influence as are 

 required for later flowering. 



Management. Should frost appear or 

 the weather prove damp, light the fires in 

 the afternoon, and shut up the house before 

 the sun disappears, keeping the heat as low 

 as is consistent with excluding frost and 

 dispelling damp, giving all the air possible 

 in fine weather. Water those plants which 



