ON BEDDING PLANTS. 



167 



reception of the occupants are necessary. It is now a recognised 

 thing that the cultivation of the majority of plants for a long- 

 continued display of flowers is very exhausting to the soil, and 

 consequently they require as good a foundation laid for their 

 culture as many of our vegetables. It is therefore indispensable 

 that the beds should be well-drained, well-manured, and deeply- 

 worked, if their occupants are to be creditable. What can be 

 worse than stagnant water about a bed of plants ? It keeps 

 down the temperature of the soil, and prevents the air from 

 entering and sweetening it, thereby bringing about a condition of 

 things fatal to the life of the plants. As to deep cultivation, 

 the benefits to be derived from it are many : it gives a greater 

 degree of openness to the soil, so that the roots can penetrate 

 the more easily, and in dry seasons descend to where the soil 

 is moist, thus escaping, to a greater degree, the evils of drought. 

 In wet seasons, the surplus water also escapes more readily to 

 the drains and subsoil, instead of standing about the roots of 

 the plants and causing their decay. An excellent plan to adopt 

 is to trench the beds to a depth of 2ft. every second season, 

 and time thus spent will be well repaid by the superior health 

 and beauty of the plants grown. Then as to soil, the best for 

 the cultivation of the majority of bedding plants is undoubtedly 

 a deep, light loam, resting on a dry subsoil. In a soil of this 

 description, it is surprising how well these plants grow and flower. 

 If the soil is very light and sandy, it is greatly improved by 

 having a quantity of heavy loam incorporated with it ; but if it 

 is naturally unsuitable, the best way to remedy the evil is to 

 excavate the original soil to a depth of 2ft., replacing it with, 

 say, a compost of two parts friable loam and one of leaf-mould. 



If plants are to be grown in the same ground for several 

 consecutive years, manure must be applied to the soil, or it 

 will soon become exhausted. For this purpose, nothing is better 

 than old hotbed- or well-decomposed cow-manure, on no 

 account using the latter in a fresh state. The dressings are 

 best applied when the beds are trenched, mixing the manure 

 well with the soil. If trenching is not necessary, the manure 

 might be scattered over the surface and forked well in. In 

 districts where the rainfall is great, as in the neighbourhood of 

 hills, many plants, such as Pelargoniums, produce leaf at the 

 expense of flower. In such localities, the soil should be raised 

 more above the ground-level, and, of course, manure should be 

 more sparingly applied. 



