PELAKGONIUMS. 39 



these well will have no difficulty in managing the others ; and, I 

 think I might add, all other kinds of plants, requiring, as they do, 

 perfect drainage, pots not too large, and the greatest care in 

 watering ; in fact the last point is the critical test of a gardener ; a 

 man who can water plants with judgment has little more to learn 

 in his profession. 



Tricolors have been in such demand in England that every 

 shoot, as soon as it appeared, has been taken off for striking, and 

 the result is that the parent stock has been enfeebled, and in many 

 cases killed outright ; the young plants go through the same pro- 

 cess, and, until the supply overtakes the demand, and the price 

 falls, there is no chance of getting them of any strength ; in my 

 experience about one-half have died on the voyage here. If they 

 arrive alive the}'^ should be shaken out, put into small pots which 

 should be plunged in spent hops, and watered with extreme care 

 until they begin to grow ; if you are fortunate, in a year from the 

 time they come you can get one good cutting from each, and these 

 cuttings properly treated will make good plants ; the imported 

 plant, from its weakness, and from becoming hard and stunted in 

 its early growth, cannot be depended on to make a good specimen. 



In March take the cutting off, strike it in mild bottom heat, 

 and, as soon as rooted, put it in a two-inch pot, to be plunged as 

 before ; shift it from time to time by small shifts as the pots get 

 filled with roots ; the point can be pinched out when the first shift 

 is made ; never let it get a check until it is time to give it rest, 

 which will be about the middle of June, then gradually withhold 

 water to ripen and harden the wood, and about the middle of 

 August shake the roots entirely out, and pot in as small a pot as 

 will hold them without much cramping. The plants are benefited 

 by being out of doors during June, July, and August, but should 

 be kept plunged to prevent evaporation, and sashes should always 

 be put over them in wet weather ; care should also be taken that 

 worms cannot get into the pots. Tricolors do not keep their 

 bright color and do well without this season of rest. 



For soil I use two parts loam (pieces of sod with the grass just 

 dead when I can get them) in as rough a state as possible, one 

 part thoroughly rotted manure and one of coarse sand. I keep all 

 soil for potting in small heaps, or in ridges about a foot high and 

 eighteen inches wide ; it has always seemed to me a mistake, after 

 taking the pains to get the best of the top soil of a pasture for this 



