Directions for Specific Culture. 59 
top-dressing must be done with the hand, so that 
the material may be well worked into the plant, and 
not spread on with a trowel or spade as is sometimes 
done. All the time the top-dressing is proceeding, 
continue to press the plant firmly into the ground, 
and the results will be all the better the following 
flowering season, for the shoots will at once start 
to root into the fresh compost, and in the course of 
a year or so make fine healthy clumps full of flower. 
Geranium argenteum (N. Italy). 
A plant of very easy culture which gives a fine 
effect when planted between the crevices of rocks in 
equal, parts of limestone and loam, plenty of room 
being left for the roots to get well down. 
Geranium cinereum (Pyrenees, etc.), 
Treat like Geranium argenteum, but this species, 
being a less vigorous grower, is better fitted than that 
plant for small rockeries ; the colouring of its flowers 
is also more refined. 
Gerbera Jamesoni (Transvaal). 
This plant will grow planted at the base of a 
large rock facing due south in a position completely 
sheltered from the north and east, in a deep soil 
consisting of two parts of leaf-mould and somewhat 
more than one part of sand. Planting should be 
done in early spring, so that the plant may get well 
established before called upon to face the severity of 
an English winter. If winter promises to be very 
severe, a little bunch of bracken should be placed 
over the crown and pegged firmly into position. 
