AND CONSEKTATORT, 



139 



tHem if we wish to appear votaries of fasliion. Those that are 

 required for winter decoration should be pUiuted out from the 

 end of May to the end of August, and be carefully stopped, as 

 requisite, to promote a dense bushy growth. After potting 

 keep them cool 

 and airy, and 

 otherwise treat 

 them as advised 

 for the zonals 

 that are required 

 for winter Ho wer- 

 ing, but with ex- 

 tra caution as to 

 watering. It is 

 common enough 

 to meet with 

 starving bits of 

 tricolors that 

 havebeeninpots 

 for years and in- 

 cline to grow 

 smaller rather 

 than larger ; but 

 if they were first 

 cut back, and 

 then planted out 

 from the latter 

 part of May to 

 the middle of 

 June, and taken 

 up in September, 

 they would be- 

 come respectable plants in the course of one season. 



In propagating tricolors, cuttings should be taken as early 

 in the summer as they can be obtained, as they root slowly, 

 and must be potted early to ensure their well-doing through 

 the winter. If propagated in quantity, a bed should be made 

 in a cool greenhouse by mixing equal parts of sharp sand and 

 cocoa-nut fibre refuse, as in such a mixture they root quickly 

 and make better roots than in any other kind of compost. The 

 amateur in tricolors must learn to bud and graft them on the 

 stems of seedling zonals, for all of them grow more vigorously 



