POTTING MALMAISONS 51 
was in its original quarters. Firm potting is necessary, 
but not any ramming with a rammer, as is sometimes 
practised. When the potting is completed, the soil should 
be half an inch below the rim of the pot. Each plant 
should then be secured to a neat, green-painted stake, 
and placed on a bed of ashes or small coal, in a cold 
frame or some such structure. Beyond careful water- 
ing and judicious airing, nothing further is required, 
but shading the plants when bright sunshine prevails. 
Assuming that the plants are potted early in September, 
they will be ready for a further shift at about the end of 
October. The pots for use on this occasion should be 
6 inches in diameter, and very firm potting must be carried 
out. The compost for use at this and subsequent pottings 
should be similar to that recommended already, except 
that, in the larger-sized pots, it should be left slightly 
rougher in character. As spring approaches, the plants 
commence to make roots, and young growths may be 
observed pushing up from the axils of the leaves near the 
base of each plant. When these shoots are sufficiently 
large to handle, they should be thinned out to about 8, 
10, or 12, according to the strength of the plant. These, 
in their turn, as the season advances, will require to be 
supported each with a stick, arranging them so that each 
shoot will have ample room and proper exposure to the 
sunlight, keeping in mind the fact that the more robust 
the plant, the better it will flower. 
The flower spike will appear with numerous buds upon 
it, but only one can develop into a really good flower, 
therefore all the lower buds should be removed as they 
appear. To ensure the flower having a perfectly symmetrical 
