136 THE FRUIT-TREE AND SHRUB PRUNER. 



men. Let any one try to get a pot of good Migno- 

 nette without a constant nipping out of the leaders, 

 and a short time will soon prove how futile is the effort, 

 however good all the remainder of the treatment may- 

 be, soil and situation included. 



As soon as the plants have grown two inches above 

 the soil nip -out the point, and do so again as soon as 

 every lateral has made two inches of growth. Continue 

 to do so till you are satisfied that the framework for a 

 good, full, and symmetrical specimen is formed. 



The Jacobcea. 



Here is another plant that can never be made a 

 handsome specimen unless due attention is paid to the 

 thinning and the nipping out of the leaders ; then I 

 scarcely know of a more beautiful specimen for the 

 greenhouse than the double crimson and double purple 

 kinds. As soon as the plants are two or three inches in 

 height, nip out the points of the leaders, and do the 

 same with the laterals till a symmetrical plant is 

 formed. 



The Schizanthus. 



These are annuals, but S. Retusus is no doubt one of 

 the finest pot plants imaginable when sown in August, 

 and grown as a greenhouse plant through the winter. 

 The seed should be sown in the pot in which it is to 

 flower, or if sown in five-inch pots, thinning out all the 

 seedlings but one in the middle will be necessary. 

 Then it must be shifted as soon as the roots fill the pot 

 into a seven or eight inch pot, in which it should flower. 

 "While the plants are young, and through the winter 

 until February, continue to nip out the points of the 

 leaders and leading laterals. Then a full and hand- 

 some specimen will be formed, which, when in flower 

 (which it will be by March or April), will be excelled 

 by no other plant as regards its beauty. 



