MISCELLAXEOCS EXHIBITIOX PLANTS. 119 



supplied until the buds begin to open. The plants should be 

 neatly staked out in bush foi'm, keeping the stakes well hidden, 

 the foliage free, and the flowers standing boldly out. Hybrid 

 Perpetual Roses require the same treatment as the Tea?, 

 except that they should be prvmed closer, and the shoots tied 

 out and kept in position without stakes. The points of merit 

 are : (1.) Size and health of the plant ; (2.) number and quality 

 of the fi.owers ; and (3.) richness and purity of colour and 

 fragrance of blooms. 



SPIR.4iA. 

 This is a hardy and extremely useful tribe of plants for 

 decorative purposes, of which S. japonica and S. palmata make 

 beautiful specimens for exhibition, the feathery flowers of the 

 first being pure white, and of the second crimson. They are 

 easily forced, especially the former, and can be had in flower 

 for several months. Strong well-prepared specimens may be 

 lifted from the open ground and potted in rich loam, leaf- 

 mould, and sand, and placed in a fox'cing-pit. When the 

 spikes appear, the plants should be removed to a greenhouse 

 and supplied with weak liquid manure. When done flowering, 

 the plants may be broken up, and should be planted in a rich 

 open border, where they should remain for two years to pre- 

 pare them for being again lifted and forced for exhibition. 

 The points of merit are : (1.) Size and condition of the plant ; 

 (2.) size, number, and freshness of the flower-spikes. 



TULIP. 

 These bulbous plants are divided into several sections, viz.. 

 Early, Late, Double, and Single Tulips. The following are 

 some of the best for pot culture and exhibition : — Double 

 Flowered : Blanch Hative, Clothilde, Kaiser Wilhelm, Premier 

 Gladstone, Rosa Bonheur, Violet Superior. Single Flowers : 

 Catafalque, Cerise Blanche, Comte de Xassau, Grand Monarch, 

 La Superb, and Marie Theresa. They succeed well under the 

 same treatment as the H3'acinth, and should be freely fed 

 with liquid manure when the pots are filled with roots, to 

 bring the flowers to the highest state of perfection ; but when 



