456 General Notices. 



the outsides and the top of the ball are rubbed off by hand. They are 

 potted moderately solid, and with about an inch of small crocks over the 

 oyster-shell covering the hole. If the weather comes bright they are 

 shaded, and the house is kept close until they feel at home in their new 

 quarters, which is soon the case. As the shoots grow, they are stopped 

 according to the time their bloom is required, and training commences from 

 the moment their shoots are sufficiently plastic. Fire-heat is avoided as 

 much as possible ; the air given is admitted in the morning, and the after- 

 noon sun warmth is shut in from two, three, or four o'clock, according to 

 the months. As general rules, keep the night temperature no higher than 

 45°, when fire is required ; when aphides appear, smoke the house directly, 

 and be sure and do so immediately before the blooming commences, whether 

 their presence is detected or not ; do not allow the plants to become dirty, 

 wash without fear with rain water, of which there ought to be a good 

 supply in every well-arranged house. As the season advances, draw the 

 syringe over the plants when the temperature of the house is raised, from 

 closing it in the afternoon sunshine. Water two or three times, just before 

 the plants bloom, with water in which sheep's dung has been steeped, but 

 avoid any further stimulants ; they more frequently promote fine foliage 

 than fine bloom. Bear in mind that the best preparation for a race in 

 spring and summer, is repose during the winter months. 



Such are the broad outlines of our general practice. But the careful 

 cultivator will find there is much room for the exercise of his observation 

 and judgment in the treatment of individual plants ; and it may be well to 

 give " A Purchaser," and others interested, a little evidence on this point — 

 the result of experience with the varieties I am sending out. Arabella and 

 Juno are two plants very impatient of the knife, and if it be too greedily 

 used for cuttings, they are very likely to thn>w blind shoots. Again, 

 Othello, when in perfect health, scarcely shows a root at the outside of the 

 ball, nor have we by any arrangement of soil induced it to do so ; yet its 

 foliage will be quite robust, and it has produced a good head of bloom. 

 Marc Antony requires some confinement in the pot to make it throw its 

 flower-stems well up from the foliage ; this is the case with another flower 

 of mine, now extensively grown, Zanzummim. Some varieties bloom well 

 from the opening of the season, others at the close; and these distinctions 

 require to be noticed when the cultivator is an exhibitor. Of the former 

 son are Arabella, Rosy Circle, Sunset, Musiee, Isabella, Juno, Beliona, 

 Favorita, and Zenobia ; of the latter, are Marc Antony, Desdemona, 

 Othello, and Margaret, which improve as the summer advances. But the 

 above cannot be laid down as a rule; season, situation, soil, and many 

 other things, exercise their influence and produce different results in a 

 variety of hands. The sporting of flowers, at present so inexplicable, is 

 also worth close attention. Our plan is to destroy all parts of a plant that 

 have produced false flowers, and propagate only from those cuttings which 

 are true ; but even with this care, the tendency remains, and is productive 

 of great mortification. {Gard. Chron. p. 623.) 



