292 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



mum night temperature of 45 degrees with a rise of 5 degrees to 10 degrees 

 during the daytime being sufficient. When the weather is very severe 

 the thermometer may fall five degrees lower than the temperatures 

 given without injury. As spring advances and the sun gains power a 

 moister atmosphere is necessary, and to maintain this the plants should 

 be occasionally syringed, and the floor and exposed portion of the stages 

 damped. By the middle of March if the greenhouse is fully exposed to 

 the sun, shading for a few hours during the brightest part of the day is 

 beneficial to plants in flower, and unless the structure is differently 

 situated, it may be kept up until October. Shading, however, should 

 only be given as a protection from the full sun, because, used at any 

 other time, it tends to weaken the plants. Permanent shading alluded 

 to previously cannot be recommended for this reason. By the end of 

 May many greenhouse plants that have finished flowering may be placed 

 out of doors, and the structure used for numerous summer blooming 

 plants. Such things as Azaleas, Heaths, and Rhododendrons set their 

 buds in preparation for a future display of bloom more readily in the 

 open air than when grown altogether under glass. Remember, however, 

 that by the end of May the sun is very powerful. Shading from bright 

 sunshine will be necessary for a few days for the plants brought from the 

 greenhouse, otherwise the foliage is apt to turn brown, and being per- 

 manent, injury of this kind is serious. Water must be cautiously given 

 to greenhouse plants placed out of doors, particularly during showery 

 weather, for with the surface slightly moistened, one is apt to be de- 

 ceived as to the condition of the soil, and two or three hours' sunshine 

 and wind will work havoc. As worms quickly injure many plants by 

 choking up the drainage, stand the pots on a firm and level bed of coal 

 ashes or some other rough material. The trouble of watering is greatly 

 lessened if the pots are plunged, but this should not be done in ordinary 

 garden soil. Ashes are vastly preferable, or cocoanut fibre refuse may be 

 used. About the middle of September is a good time to return again to 

 the greenhouse those plants that have spent the summer out of doors, 

 as by then frosts and heavy rains frequently occur. A free circulation 

 of air should, if possible, be allowed for a week or two after their change 

 of quarters, as if kept too close many leaves are liable to drop. 



Insect Pests were at one time a source of great tribulation when 

 the only method of destroying aphides or green-fly was by means of 

 fumigation, but the different forms of vaporising that is, distributing 

 the nicotine in the form of steam are now so simple and effectual as to 

 occasion no personal discomfort whatever. The XL-All Vaporiser has 

 been before the public for some years, and grows in favour. A small 

 spirit-lamp is the medium of disseminating the steam. Not only are 

 aphides destroyed by this insecticide, but thrips also, while mealy-bug is 

 greatly checked by its occasional use. Scale that stick principally on the 

 under sides of the leaves and on the stems may be removed by one of the 

 various washes sold for the purpose, but the greatest care must be taken 

 to carefully follow the instructions given with the preparation. It is 

 always safe to err on the weak side. 



