84 Gardening in Egypt. 



them, and place the pots in a frame or a shady 

 position until they are well rooted, and then pot on 

 singly into larger pots. Keep the tops pinched off 

 until they make nice bushy heads, and see that the 

 plants are well watered and syringed to keep down 

 the black-fly. Any buds that appear in May should 

 be pinched off, and about the end of the month 

 plant out in well manured beds and give plenty of 

 water. Cut tall growing varieties to within ift. or 

 i ft. 6in. from the ground in August, and give them an 

 occasional drenching of manure-water at their roots 

 during the summer. The plant will then be of a 

 dwarf character and produce good flowers in great 

 abundance in November and December. This treat- 

 ment applies only to strong-growing varieties in the 

 open ground. 



POT CULTURE. 



For large flowering varieties, cuttings should be 

 struck about the middle of March, only strong 

 cuttings should be chosen, and not the side shoots 

 from the base of the old stems, using light sandy 

 soil and a little leaf mould. They should be planted 

 singly in small pots, and placed in a shady frame 

 until rooted. About the end of May they should be 

 potted into larger size pots, with a little well-decom- 

 posed or patent manure added to the compost, and the 

 pots well drained. The soil should not be filled up to the 

 top, but an inch or two should be left so as to hold 

 the water, and the plants placed in a half shady 

 position and syringed morning and evening until they 

 are well established. The tops should be pinched off 

 occasionally until the plants become bushy, allowing 

 from three to five stems only to remain, according 

 to the number of flowers required. The plants will 

 then commence to grow quickly ; and by the middle 

 or the end of June they will have filled their pots 

 with roots, and they should then be potted into their Sin. 

 or loin, flowering pots, using a compost of rich sandy 

 soil, chopped or charred turf with a few finely broken 



