302 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



JULY. 



Any labor omitted last month should now be attended 

 to without delay. Biennials and perennials should be 

 planted out in damp weather, about six inches apart, to 

 gain strength. Dahlias should be tied up securely, to pre- 

 vent the wind and rain from breaking them down. Cut- 

 tings of Dahlias may be taken and will root freely in the 

 shade, and should be kept in four inch pots. Plants thus 

 struck and kept in pots will do better to propagate from 

 next season ; large plants in the open ground will not 

 flower well the second season as they are apt to be ex- 

 hausted, which is not the case with pot plants. 



It would improve Dahlias much to place manure around 

 the roots, to keep them moist in dry weather ; syringe 

 them occasionally to keep off the red spider. 



Carnations, Picotees, and choice Pinks, should be 

 layered without delay, if strong plants are wanted in the 

 fall ; twenty-four hours prior to which, water your plants 

 freely, to make them bend with greater facility, or the 

 greater portion will snap off, being rather brittle. 



The easiest way to propagate Pinks is by piping, they 

 being more susceptible of making- root by this process, 

 than the Carnation. In layering Carnations, sometimes 

 the part intended to be layered will snap off notwithstand- 

 ing all the precaution you may use ; should the plant be 

 valuable, then pipe them as I shall point out for Pinks. 

 In the first place get some garden soil, and make it light 

 by mixing plenty of sand and rotten leaves, that will pass 



