54 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



satisfactory returns ; for the flowers will be excellent in 

 quality and carried on stout stems of good length. Whether 

 the plants will flower continuously over a protracted period 

 very largely depends upon the persistency with which the 

 grower keeps the blooms picked ; if he allows seed pods 

 to form, then he must expect to see the productiveness of 

 the plants fail rapidly. Just before the flowers attain to 

 perfection is the best time to gather, as well in the interests 

 of the flowers themselves as of the plants. 



Immediately the plants are in their permanent positions 

 the grower should provide the supports necessary (where 

 wires are used it is better to set them in place beforehand and 

 plant up to them). The sticks must be sufficiently long to 

 permit of a good length going into the soil, or they will in- 

 evitably be blown down when the plants are in full activity 

 and there comes a high wind. They should be carried 

 perfectly uprightly or, and still better, lean outwards slightly 

 at the top, and not inwards, as is too commonly seen. When 

 the latter style is adopted not only is the support insuffi- 

 cient at the top, where it is more especially required, but 

 air is prevented from circulating freely among the growths, 

 and the result is that they do not blossom as profusely and 

 continuously as they would do were the conditions more 

 favourable. If the plants are grown in parallel lines, these 

 should run slightly north-east and south-west if possible, 

 and not dead north and south ; there ought to be a distance 



