FLORICULTURE. ■«W 



To Preserve Searlet Geraninnw throagh tlie Winter^Take them 

 out Of the borders in antanm, before ther have rcceiTe^d anyiiijury from 

 frost, and let tbia be done on a dry day. Shake off aU the earth from Uieix 

 roots, and auapend them, with their beads downward, m a cellar or dark 

 room where they will be free from frost. The leaves and shoote wUl be- 

 come yellow and sickly; but when potted about the end of May^ and expos^ 

 to a -entle heat, they will recover and vegetate luxuriantly. The old plants, 

 stripped of their leaves, may also be packed closely in sand; and m this way 

 if kept free from frost, they will shoot ont from the roots, and may be re- 

 potted in the spring. 



9Ianare for Bnlhs — An ounce of nitrate of soda disaolved in four gal- 

 lons of water Is a quick and good stimulant for bulbs, to be appUed twice a 

 week after the pots are filled with roots, and the flower spikes are fairly viai- 

 ble. A large handful of soot, or about a pint, tied up in a piece of old can- 

 vas, and immersed in the ' " 



same quantity of water for 

 a day or two, will fur- 

 nish a safe and excellent 

 stimulant; also good and safe 

 is a quarter of a pound of cow 

 manure mixed in a large gar- 

 den pot of water, and used as 

 required. Any of these stim- 

 ulants wiU do good, or the 

 whole of them applied alter- 

 nately will lienefit btdbe that 

 need more sustenance than 

 the soil affords. 



Trellia for Plants — 



With a little slightly-galva- 

 nized wire any one can make 



the Uttle iron 'trellis shown in .^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ 



our illustration on this page, 



in a very neat maimer — and it will look much neater and prove handier and 

 more graceful than the painted stick trellises which are so common. 



How to GroTV the Pansy. — The pansy delights in a cool, rich loam; 

 the richer, the larger will be the flowers, in a panially shaded situation. It 

 never flourishes as well during the hot days of July and August as later in 

 the season. Youug plants, from seetls sown early in the spring, if the bed 

 be very rich, will come into handsome bloom during the latter part of June. 

 All the first blossoms should be picked off that the plant may first become 

 robust. Even with the old plants, the great secret of keeping them in con- 

 stant bloom is to pick off the blossoms early and constantly, since it weakens 

 the plant more to ripen one seed-pod than to yield a dozen flower* 



Aatnmn Sowing of Flotver Seeds. — Persons say that the finest floir« 

 crs they ever had of certain aimuals were from " volunteer " plants from 

 self-gro'wn seeds. The real reason for their superiority is not due to tb« 

 manner, but to the time of sowing. Seeds are " self-grown " soon after they 

 are ripe, and the superiority of the plaata from these suggests autoom bow» 



