APRIL. 



627 



APRIL. 



plunged in a bottom heat of about 60. In 

 three weeks' time the rooted cuttings may 

 be potted in 3-inch pots, and replaced in 

 the same bottom heat until the end of June, 

 when they may be shifted into pots for 

 blooming, 6- or 9-inch pots being used if it 

 be intended that they shall bloom in July, 

 and 12-inch pots for September or October 

 flowering. 



Fumigation. Insects, and more par- 

 ticularly the troublesome green fly, will 

 find their way into every house, and the 

 (atter will infest the succulent ends of 

 shoots, robbing them of their sap and 

 moisture. To clear them off every crevice 

 must be closed, arid the house filled with 

 tobacco smoke, generated by a fumigator, 

 until a cloud is formed so dense that it is 

 not possible to distinguish any plant in the 

 structure. Let this state of things continue 

 for a few hours, the fumigating being done 

 in the evening ; and next morning well 

 syringe the plants, in order to clear away 

 the dead insects. The smoke will do no 

 injury to the plants. 



Geraniums t Scarlet. These require 

 similar treatment to promote their growth. 

 Cuttings struck now in 48- or 32-sized pots 

 will fill the pots with roots by the autumn, 

 and bloom through the winter months. 



Greenhouse Plants, Classification of. 

 These divide themselves into hard and soft- 

 wooded plants. Among the former are 

 boronias, hoveas, acacias, and chorozemas, 

 Epacridge, Genistas, and Pultenaeas, which 

 will now be coming into bloom, if well 

 managed. 



Heaths. These plants in full growth re- 

 quire an astonishing quantity of water at this 

 season of the year ; mere driblets are cer- 

 tain death to them. When the pots are 

 full of roots, they should be gone over two 

 or three times a week, and filled to the 

 brim with water. The longer it is in pass- 

 ing through (provided the drainage is all 

 right), there is the greater necessity for re- 



peating the dose, as dry peat earth is one 

 of the worst conductors of water. When 

 the water remains longer than ten minutes 

 on the surface, a cold bath for twenty-four 

 hours is the only remedy. Unless the soil 

 is hopelessly dry, this will cure it, and it 

 must not be watered again until the ball is 

 turned out and examined. The evil of ex- 

 cessive dryness is often increased by exces- 

 sive drainage. Heaths, while they cannot 

 endure stagnant water, like a moist genia 

 soil when making rapid growth. They re- 

 semble neither epiphytes nor orchids, and 

 some of them naturally inhabit almost 

 swampy districts. Give air more liberally 

 as the sun strengthens and the days lengthen, 

 but avoid the cutting draughts so charac- 

 teristic of the month. 



Pelargoniums. These and other soft- 

 wooded plants, now growing rapidly, re- 

 quire every attention. Water carefully, so 

 as to avoid any check in their growth, 

 using manure water occasionally, composed 

 of equal parts of sheep, cow, and horse 

 dung, and a little lime. Fill up the tub 

 with soft water, and mix it well, and draw 

 it off clear, when settled, into another tub ; 

 to this mixture add two parts of soft water 

 to one of the liquid, and water once a week 

 with it during the growing season. Venti- 

 late freely on warm sunny days, and syringe 

 with water of the temperature of the house. 



Routine Work. All dead leaves should 

 be removed from growing plants, and if 

 moss appears on the surface of the soil in 

 any of the pots, clear it away and replace 

 with a. little fresh mould as top dressing. 

 Keep all shelves and stages well scrubbed, 

 and the entire house as clean as possible, to 

 keep down insects, etc., and to preserve a 

 neat appearance throughout. 



Shading. Slight shading is desirable at 

 this period of the year for every kind of 

 plant, pelargoniums excepted, which should 

 be placed near the glass and fully exposed 

 to the sun's rays. As the days grow longer, 



