THE CRIMSON PETUNIA. 1 31 



crown that the enterprising lad starts from home with when 

 destined to marry his master's daughter and become Lord 

 Mayor of London. The way to make your floral fortune 

 is to plant them, let them run to seed, and thereby begin 

 the world anew by means of seed of your own saving. 

 You will sow, and grow, and select as befoi'e ; and there 

 is in truth no knowing to what glorious pitch of perfec- 

 tion you may eventually, by patience and skill, bring the 

 petunia or any other flower that you may deal with in 

 the same way. 



We began on a cheap plan ; but there is a better. It 

 consists in buying plants of the best named varieties, and 

 raising seeds from these, thus securing all that has been 

 done by a thousand florists at the first start. But you are 

 not bound to raise seedlings at all. If you want to have 

 the best possible petunias for the least possible trouble, you 

 have but to purchase the named sorts and grow them well, 

 and there is an end of the matter. 



To grow nice pot specimens of petunias is evidently not 

 an easy matter, because we meet with very many at exhi- 

 bitions that are not nice. The general fault consists in 

 the growth being prolonged and rusty, suggesting to the 

 critical observer that the plants have been crowded and far 

 from the glass, and in soma degree neglected as regards 

 watering. The petunia is a veiy accommodating plant ; it 

 is very nearly hardy, and therefore should have plenty of 

 air when growing freely. A light, rich, sandy soil should 

 be employed in the growth of pot specimens, and the shoots 

 should be pinched back in a slight degree in the early 

 stages to promote a dwarf, bushy habit ; and of course the 

 training to neat stakes should proceed with every advance 

 in the growth of the plants. 



