144 THE amateur's aREEITHOTrSE 



for the roots are too slow in finding their way into the fresh 

 soil, and the whole mass will in consequence get sour. 



For a compost use two parts nice fibry loam, and one part 

 thoroughly decayed manure with a little rotten leaf mould and 

 a good sprinkling of silver sand. If the loam is deficient in 

 fibre, it is best to have one part of rough peat and two of 

 loam. A little cocoa-nut fibre refuse is very well to mix with 

 the soil ; it keeps it open and porous, and assists the formation 

 and easy extension of the roots ; but it is not advisable to add 

 much of the refuse, for it will not afi'ord much nourishment to 

 the plants. The soil should be used rough; the larger the pot, 

 the more lumpy should the soil be. The pots should be 

 moderately well drained and the plants potted firm, but not 

 rammed too hard. If the plants do well, they will make good- 

 sized specimens, suitable for exhibiting in September ; but it 

 is advisable not to allow them to flower the first year when 

 they are intended exclusively for exhibition, and then they 

 make good plants for the following season. 



The best shape to train them to is the pyramidal, and every 

 care must be exercised to get them well furnished to the very 

 bottom. Sometimes the plants will throw side shoots close to 

 the soil, and at others they will not do so without stopping. 

 But at all times it is as well to nip the top out when they get 

 about a foot high ; it strengthens the side shoots. As soon as 

 these shoots are three or four joints long they must have their 

 tops nipped out, and as they grow again they must be regularly 

 pinched, to get them into a good shape, and if the leading 

 shoot is inclined to rob the side branches, it is best to stop it, 

 and let another young one run up. The main stem must have 

 a good stout stake to keep it upright. For standards no 

 training is required beyond rubbing off" the side shoots, and 

 letting the main stem run up to whatever height is required. 

 It must then be topped and allowed to throw out shoots, which 

 must be pinched twice or three times to form a handsome 

 head. For dwarf bushes, the young plants must be stopped 

 when eight or nine inches high, the young shoots again stopped 

 and then trained out neatly with sticks. 



The plants should be stood out of doors for a month or so 

 to ripen the wood in the autumn, but they should be housed 

 before any severe frost sets in, for though a few degrees will 

 not do much harm, they are quite as well without it. It is a 

 bad plan to store the plants away for the winter in outhouses, 



