;-!0 IJJIEEXIIOCSE FLOWEKIXG PLANTS. 



Am oner the best for exhibition are B. Drummo7idi, B. elaUoi\ 

 Jj. lirdrophijllo, and B. pinnata. They thrive best in fibry 

 peat and loam, with a good sprinkling of sand, and small bits 

 of sandstone and charcoal freely mixed. The pots should be 

 well drained, and the soil made very firm. Young plants 

 should be closely pinched, so as to form good bushy specimens. 



HOUVAKDIA. 



There are many species aud varieties of these useful green- 

 house plants in cultivation. Bouvardias are not often used 

 as exhibition plants, but when they are well cultivated and 

 trained, they make very handsome and attractive specimens. 

 A few of the best varieties for this purpose are Alfred 

 Xeuner, Brilliant, Dazzler, Hogarth, President Garfield; and 

 Vreelandi. They should be potted in a compost of two 

 parts of sandy loam, one of peat, and one of sand and de- 

 composed manure well dried and rubbed down. The best 

 way to gi-ow and train them into specimens is to pinch them 

 well while the plants are young, and keep them near the 

 glass to secure strong, sturdj' growth. The shoots should be 

 spread out like those of a trained Erica, and if the flower- 

 trusses stand erect without stakes, so much the better. When 

 the plants begin to flower, they are greatly benefited by liquid 

 manure from sheep-droppings and soot. 



CAMELLIA. 



For many years the Camellia was- the favourite winter and 

 spring flower, and although it has had to give place to a cer- 

 tain extent to the improved forms of the Chrysanthemum, still 

 as a greenhouse flowering plant it has few rivals. The follow- 

 ing are twelve of the best : Alba plena, Augustine superba, 

 Bella portuensis, C. M. Hovey, Countess of Orkney, Fimbriata, 

 Imbricata, Jubilee, Lavinia Maggi, Mathotiana, Targioni, and 

 Valtevaredo. Their cultivation is similar to that of the 

 Azalea, except that the major part of the compost should be 

 turfy loam, with a little peat, rotted manure, and bone-meal 

 added. The potting, when necessary, should be done after 



