PROPAGATION BY SINGLE BUDS. 27 



time for re-potting is when the roots have reached the 

 sides of the pot and become crowded. The fresh soil put 

 around the roots should be pressed in firmly, to make it of 

 the same "density as the ball of earth containing them. The 

 plants should always be kept tied to stakes, and the ends 

 of side shoots pinched off, not allowing more than two 

 additional leaves to remain on them at any one time. The 

 plants should also be allowed plenty of room, so that their 

 leaves may fully expand, and receive plenty of light and 

 air. If this is not attended to, they will grow tall and 

 slender, and often fail to ripen their wood ; besides, they 

 will be very likely to be attacked by mildew. The plants 

 should receive the direct rays of the sun from the time 

 they are firmly established in the small pots. 



To hasten the ripening of the plants, toward autumn 

 pinch off the top and lower the temperature by giving 

 them more air. A little close observation during the 

 growth of the plants will enable the propagator to judge 

 of their wants and the proper amount of water, heat, etc., 

 they require. Sometimes it will be necessary to give 

 them a little liquid manure, but this will seldom be re- 

 quired if the compost in which they are grown is properly 

 made and the plants allowed good-sized pots. 



PLANTING IN BEDS. 



To avoid the expense of a sufficient number of pots of 

 the various sizes required for re-potting a large number of 

 plants several times during the season, cheap glass struc- 

 tures, without artificial heat, may be erected, and the soil 

 in them made rich, into which the plants may be put 

 directly after they have become well rooted in the small 

 pots in which they are placed at the first potting. These 

 beds may be made with the natural soil in the house, or 

 they may be made of strong plank frames, deep enough to 

 hold a foot of soil, and elevated some two feet from the 



