120 THE TREE PROPAGATOR AND PLANTER. 



No water should be given till they begin to grow, 

 and when 2 inches of growth have been made, I 

 would pot them off, putting three in a 4-inch pot, 

 and put them back for a week or fortnight. When re- 

 established, harden them off, and shift them into larger 

 pots, or use them at pleasure. 



I used to fill wire baskets with them, having moss for 

 the outside, and leaf-mould and moss for the inside, 

 bedding them in, roots inward, and with the tops of 

 the small plants through the wires. Give them a good 

 watering, and suspend the baskets from the roof of the 

 conservatory or greenhouse bj r a wire ; here they will 

 form balls of flower, and give a kind of celestial beauty 

 to the house. 



Their propagation consists in obtaining 3 r oung bulbs 

 from the root, and by seed sown as for the Gloxinia — 

 (see page 118). 



The Petunia (Solanacece). 



The Petunias are too well known to require any 

 description here ; suffice it to say they make very good 

 plants for the conservatory if they are frequently 

 stopped, and get plenty of air and light ; but they will 

 not bear much heat and close confinement, nor a dull 

 house. The propagation of the Petunia is by cuttings 

 and by seed ; the best plants are from cuttings. They 

 are easily struck at any time by selecting short young 

 growth, and inserting them in pots filled with peat, 

 leaf-mould, and sand, and put in a mild heat in the 

 spring, and under a handlight in the summer without 

 heat. 



By Seed. — Sow it in seed-pans in the spring, and 

 set them in a mild heat ; prick them off into other 

 pans or pots as soon as they can be handled. I rather 

 prefer seedlings for bedding purposes. 



The Verbena (Verbenacece). 



The Verbena is a most accommodating class of green- 

 house plant. As a pot plant for the conservatory 



