JIISrELLANEOUS EXHIBITIO^' PLANTS. 115 



sand. They should be set near the glass, and kept moving 

 duiing winter. In early spring the plants should be re- 

 potted, and afterwards shifted on as they require it, using 

 richer soil, and feeding the roots as the soil becomes eshausted. 

 The shoots should be pinched until suificient are obtained to 

 make a full specimen. Instead of staking, they should be 

 trained over wires fixed outside the pot, in the same manner 

 as the Pelargonium. Near the glass, in a cold frame, is the 

 best place to grow them in summer, and if they are regularly 

 pinched and watered with liquid manure twice a week, excel- 

 lent specimens should be the result. The shoots should be 

 tied in, and all flowers pinched off till within three weeks of 

 the time the plants are wanted in flower. The points of 

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

 and number of flowers; and (3.) quality, and colour; the 

 petals being thick and of good texture, and the colours bright 

 or pure. 



POLYANTHUS. 



A pretty and interesting class of florists' flowers, originating 

 probably from a cross between the Cowslip and the Primrose. 

 To grow them well in pots for exhibition, thej' require the 

 protection of a frame, and to be treated otherwise much in 

 the same way as the Auricula. They should be potted in 

 ^\.ugust, shaking the soil carefully away from the roots, and 

 cutting off all signs of rot or decay, to which they are often 

 liable. Any that do not need re-potting should be top-dressed 

 in February with good rich loam, leaf-mould, and dry well- 

 rotted manure. When newly potted, keep the frame close for 

 a few days until the roots run through the soil and the plants 

 begin to grow, when the sashes may be gradually removed 

 and the plants be fully exposed to the light and air. The 

 frame should be constructed to allow a free current of air to 

 play over the plants even when the sashes are on, except 

 during severe frost. "Water should be carefully given at all 

 times, but particularly in winter, sufiicient being given to 

 saturate the soil, and no more, until it is really required, 

 taking care that the plants are not allowed to flag, and that 



