CrT FLOWERS. 133 



pail of Iiot water. Before housing the plants, it is a good plan 

 to give them a thorough syringing with a mixture of two 

 pounds of flowers of sulphur and one pound of soft soap to 

 twenty gallons of water ; and after they are housed they ought 

 to receive a thorough fumigation, not too strong at one time, 

 but repeating it on several nights in succession, which will 

 clean them of aphides. When the leaf-mining grub is noticed 

 to be at work, by the pale grey or brown spots and streaks on 

 the leaves, these should be at once pressed between the finger 

 and thumb to kill the grubs, or if only a few leaves are 

 attacked, they should be picked off and burned. 



Housing the Plants. — Some forethought is required here to 

 arrange the plants as far as possible to get them into flower at 

 the proper time. The end of September is the best time to 

 house the late varieties, leaving the early ones out for a week 

 or ten days longer, according to the weather. Those wanted 

 forward should be set in the warm end, and others too forward 

 in the cool end of the house. In order that the sudden change 

 from the open air to a close atmosphere may be felt as little as 

 possible, the house should be kept slightly moist at night, with 

 a free circulation of air about the plants until they get inured 

 to the changed conditions. "When the buds begin to open, a 

 drier atmosphere should be maintained, and fire-heat may 

 be used if necessary for this purpose. Feeding with liquid 

 manure should still be continued, but only of moderate 

 strength, remembering that high feeding and a close moist 

 atmosphere are the agents which cause much of the damping 

 of the blooms. A slight shade from strong sunshine should 

 be given, so as to preserve the colour of the flowers. Artificial 

 heat must always be cautiously employed in pushing forward 

 the blooms ; but Japanese varieties are improved by a little, 

 if it can be applied without risk of having them too forward. 

 Sudden changes of the atmosphere should be avoided, and no 

 liquid manure given after the blooms are about two-thirds 

 expanded. A bloom takes from three to four weeks to develop 

 itself fully after the opening of the bud, and the grower knows 

 whether to force or retard the plants to bring the flowers in at 

 the proper time. After the flowers are full blown, they keep 



