98 MISCELfANEOUS EXHIBITION PLANTS. 



during winter and spring, with very little trouble and at small 

 expense. A few of the best Japanese varieties are Apelles, 

 Baron E. de Rothschild, Consul Pecher, Flora, Phcebe, and 

 A. sinensis alba grandiflora ; and of Ghent varieties, Admiral 

 de Euyter, Ooccinea Major, Madame J. Baumann, Macrantha, 

 Princess of Orange, and Viscosa floribunda. They are easily 

 grown, fair success being attained by lifting healthy plants 

 well set with flower-buds from the open border, potting them 

 in sandy peat, and introducing them to the forcing-house. 

 Plants that have been well managed and established in pots 

 previous to forcing are, however, more reliable, and should 

 be preferred. In a brisk heat they will flower in about six 

 weeks, but too rapid forcing is detrimental to good qualit}'. 

 Liquid manure should be given when the buds begin to swell, 

 and continued till the flowers are opening, when the plants 

 should be removed to the greenhouse and shaded. The points 

 of merit are: (1.) Size and health of the plant; (2.) size and 

 form of flowers and profusion of bloom; and (.3.) substance of 

 petals, pureness of colour, and distinctness of marking. 



BALSAM. 

 This makes a showy and effective exhibition specimen when 

 grown and flowered to perfection. Being an annual, it is raised 

 from seed, which should be selected from the best strain, sown 

 early in March, in shallow pans filled with fine loam, leaf- 

 mould, and a sprinkling of sand, and placed in a hotbed to 

 germinate quickly. When about two inches high the seedlings 

 should be potted into four-inch pots, set near the glass, and 

 kept shaded till the roots are running freely, when abundance 

 of air and light should be admitted to keep the plants dwarf 

 and compact. When the pots are well filled with roots, shift 

 the plants into two sizes larger, giving them richer soil. The 

 final shift into nine-inch pots should be given as soon as the 

 roots reach the side, using rich soil, and potting moderately 

 firm. When the flower-buds appear, the plants should he 

 placed in an airy greenhouse, fully exposed to the light, and 

 supplied with weak liquid manure twice a week ; that made from 

 sheep-droppings and soot is excellent. The points of merit are ; 



