AXD CONSERVATOKT. 109 



pompons. These latter will thrive in a mixture of equal parts 

 of good turfy loam and well-rotted hotbed manure, and about a 

 sixth part of the whole bulk of sharp sand and pounded oyster- 

 shells. Keep them in a cold frame with plenty of air and 

 light, and stop and tie out loosely as the growth progresses, 

 endeavouring to obtain an abundance of side-shoots to form 

 the foundation of a large plant. Shift into the blooming pots 

 about the middle or end of June. The proper size of pot for 

 au exhibition pompon is eight-inch, for the large varieties 

 eleven-iuch. About the lOtli of July stop them all over for 

 the last time, and prepare for training. The basis of the train- 

 ing should be a ring of No. 3 iron wire level with the rim of 

 the pot, with four cross pieces to preserve its shape, and stout 

 pegs to keep it firmly in its place. An immense amount of 

 training may be done with a very small proportion of sticks 

 or wires, and the cultivator will find that by patiently tying 

 down the shoots with loops of good bast, so as to lay out the 

 branches in the fashion of a spider's web, he will in the end 

 obtain a very compact and handsome head of leaf and bloom. 

 The proper time to begin the final training is about the 10th 

 of September, when the growth will be completed and the 

 points will be knotting for bloom. The plants should never 

 sufier a check, and should be liberally supplied with water 

 at the roots in the growing season, and frequently refreshed 

 by means of the syringe overhead. The pots should be 

 plunged in an open sunny border from the middle of May 

 until the first or second week in October, when they must 

 be transferred to the pit or cool house to flower. From 

 the time the final training begins until the flowers are 

 opening freely they should have the aid of weak liquid 

 manure. If the weather is mild and sunny, they will not 

 need the help of fire heat when housed, but if cold raius 

 or frost should occur, keep the fire going to assist the 

 bloom. The temperature of the house must be kept as 

 nearly as possible at fifty to sixty degrees during the day, 

 and forty by night. 



From the- time the flower buds are visible the process of 

 thinning them must commence. In disbudding the large 

 varieties remove from every cluster of buds all except the top 

 bud. In disbudding pompons, leave the top bud on every 

 shoot, and two or three buds of the same cluster. If you 

 allow all the buds to remain, the appearance of the plant will 



