9 o PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



more agreeable vase plants than a Violet bearing numerous 

 expanded blossoms. If used for this purpose in a dwell- 

 ing room, however, they do not remain decorative for 

 long, and they seldom continue blooming well after they 

 are returned to the growing house or frame. 



We will suppose that division of the crowns takes place 

 in May ; the younger crowns may be put singly into pots 

 straight away, or be planted in the shady border for the 

 summer and potted up early in September. The plants 

 can be kept in 6 or 7 inch pots, if they are permanently cul- 

 tivated in these receptacles ; but on the contrary, if they are 

 potted up from the border at the end of the summer, it will 

 be found that 6-inch pots are too small ; probably 8-inch 

 pots will be more convenient for the roots must not be 

 sacrificed. So much has been said in regard to maintain- 

 ing proper conditions in the frame, it is unnecessary to 

 repeat it, for the reader will know that the nearer he can 

 grow his pot plants to those conditions, the more likely 

 he is to succeed in their culture. .The pot plants need 

 light and fresh air just as the others do, and the atten- 

 tion to watering must be much more frequent ; when the 

 flowers are being produced, some diluted, non-smelling, 

 manurial stimulant may be given in the water. Nothing 

 has been said about the potting compost. If the cultivator 

 can choose his materials, then he had better select good 

 turfy loam, which has been stacked for at least twelve 



