94 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOJTERS. 



Daring the summer the plant should be out of doors, 

 and care should be taken to keep it safRciently sup- 

 plied with water. It has been our practice to pot the 

 pilants in larger ]iiits from year to year, until they become 

 too large to be useful, when they are destroyed. As a 

 matter of course, a stock of young plants is alwaj's coming 

 forward, these being raised in the usual way from cuttings. 

 Old plants in large pots need not be re-potted for two or 

 three years, but a little of the top soil should be removed 

 in spring, and its place supplied by rich loam nr very 

 much decayed manure. 



A matter of some importance is that Cythm raeemo'^vx 

 is one of the best plants for an amateur to cultivate with a 

 view to acquire experience in practical horticulture. Nice 

 young plants may Ije purchased to begin wdth, and it will 

 afford agreeable pastime thereafter to propagate and make 

 specimens to any extent commensurate with conveniences 

 and requirements. 



The simplest mode of propagating is by seeds, which 

 the plant produces in pjlenty. When ripe, they should 

 be sown in ]ians tilled with sandy loam, and kept in a 

 shady spot until the plants appear, a very little moisture 

 being sufficient to persuade them to germinate. When the 

 little plants are tall enough to be handled, they should be 

 potted singly in the smallest pots, called "thumbs," in a 

 light sandy compost, and have careful attention, to save 

 them from being scorched by the sun or debilitated by 

 damp. Air and light they should have in plenty, and l.)e 

 kept as nearly hardy as possible. When the pots are quite 

 full of roots (and not before) they should be shifted into 

 the next size, called " sixties," which are three inches in 

 diameter. 



