VARIETIES FOR POTTING. 197 



the pot, they may be much shortened, merely 

 taking off the tips of the small roots and fibres. 



Stems from four to six inches may be taken 

 generally as the most eligible height ; but, to form 

 plants for the back row, varieties of the following 

 families may be on stems one foot to eighteen 

 inches : they will increase the effect ; viz. Hybrid 

 China, Hybrid Bourbon, and Hybrid Perpetuals. 

 Many of these will form, when in full bloom, fine 

 rounded heads. When plants of the above de- 

 scription have been selected, they may be potted 

 into No. 16's, or 9-inch pots, in a compost of 

 two parts of nice turfy loam and one part of rotten 

 dung; the loam should, if possible, be more 

 rich and adhesive than that recommended for 

 the plants under greenhouse culture. If some of 

 the plants are very strong, pots a size larger, called 

 1 1-inch or eights, may be used ; they should then 

 be plunged in the open air on the suface of the 

 soil, in sawdust, rotten leaves, or old tan, which 

 should be four inches deep on the surface of the 

 mould in the pots, care being taken to place the 

 bottom of each pot on a slate, for reasons before 

 given. I recommend the pots to be placed on the 

 surface, rather than to be plunged in the ground, 

 as they then receive the full influence of the sun to 

 their roots. Towards the end of February each 

 plant must be pruned to within six or eight buds 

 of the base of the strong shoots, and to within 

 two or three buds of those that are more weak : it 



