THE POTTING-SHED 131 



tions for any possessor of a greenhouse. A bed of cocoa-nut 

 fibre, or even ashes, under a north wall is a good situation for 

 some plants. Others, again, require a more open, sunny 

 position, that they may get their wood well ripened to ensure 

 the next year's flowering. Therefore it is well to choose sites 

 in both aspects. A cold frame with a brick or concrete floor, 

 safe from garden vermin, and facing south, is admirable for 

 Cacti and such like plants which enjoy summer rains as well as 

 summer sunshine, and the lights can be entirely removed for 

 two or three months with great benefit. Similar quarters will 

 suit Cape bulbs at rest, such as Freesias, Nerines, and 

 Lachenalias, but in their case the lights must be left on, as it 

 is essential that they be kept absolutely dry and baked during 

 the weeks which intervene between the fading of the leaf and 

 potting-time, which comes in most cases about the end of 

 July and during August. Cold frames are useful, besides, in 

 a hundred different ways. In addition to these plunging-beds 

 and wooden or brick frames, there should always be a reserve 

 space, generally to be found in the kitchen garden, where 

 certain plants and bulbs may be planted out to recruit after 

 a season of flowering under glass. This is always a weakening 

 process, though much less so in an unheated greenhouse than 

 when stronger forcing is in practice : still, most plants are 

 benefited by a term of free growth in the open air. Some 

 may be lifted every autumn, and can be trusted to do their 

 duty well, but others require to be treated on the alternate 

 system, flowering one year and resting the next ; while in the 

 case of bulbs, if we wish to raise our own stock, a longer 

 rotation will be necessary. 



The treatment of pot plants at rest is a part of gardening 

 sadly set aside by the average amateur. The professional 

 gardener knows too well how much his future success depends 

 upon the care then given to neglect it. It is true that it is 

 not always easy to provide all the accommodation that is most 



