354 THE PRINCIPLES OF FLORICULTURE 



547. Culture. Cuttings made in December and Janu- 

 ary make the best stock plants for planting in the house 

 during May and June. The soil best suited to the young 

 stock is a turfy loam, enriched with about one-fourth its 

 bulk of well-rotted cow manure. Some sand should be 

 added to give good drainage, and great care should be 

 taken to pot the cuttings firmly. The young plants should 

 be placed near the glass and in a temperature of 65 to 68 

 at night. The air should be kept pure, but free from 

 chilling drafts. Nothing should retard the growth of 

 gardenias during their growing season. 



By the first of March, the plants should be in four-inch 

 pots, and not again re-potted, but planted in benches in 

 June. Atmospheric conditions play a most important part 

 in the healthy development of gardenias. The walks should 

 be dampened several times a day, especially during the 

 hot days of late spring. The soil should be carefully 

 watched, and never allowed to become too wet or too 

 dry. 



When planted in benches, a good compost for the soil 

 is three parts of very fibrous loam with one part of well- 

 rotted stable manure. If the soil is heavy, some clean 

 sand should be added to make it porous. Excellent 

 drainage facilities should be provided for the benches, for 

 imperfect drainage causes the foliage to become yellow. 

 The plants should be set about sixteen inches apart. Dur- 

 ing the summer, they should be given very careful atten- 

 tion. They are injured if the temperature falls too low on 

 cold nights, and by the twentieth of August it is best to 

 have heat available, so that a night temperature of about 

 65 may be maintained. The atmosphere should be pure, 

 however, and it may be necessary to leave the ventilators 

 open part of the time. 



