27 



ber. After the soil in the garden is pretty well saturated we 

 begin to lift these plants; many of them are not potted, but are 

 planted out on the benches in the greenhouses. All are lifted 

 very carefully, allowing all the soil to remain on the roots that 

 will. After the plants are lifted and before they are potted we 

 remove all the soil we can without greatly exposing the roots, 

 the object in this is to put the plant in as small a pot as the 

 roots will admit of. In this operation great care and judgment 

 must be used not to seriouslj^ injure the roots by breaking or 

 exposure. Remember that the plants will need but little pot 

 room for new roots, and that if the pots are too large some of 

 the plants will grow too much and bloom but little, and also 

 that if there is more soil in the pots the plants will feel just like 

 a person who has eaten too much and is suffering from an 

 overloaded stomach. Such a person is not in fit condition to 

 do much work, and neither are plants in such a condition. 

 They w^ill be potted in accordance with directions given in the 

 chapter devoted to that subject. Immediately after potting 

 they should be thoroughly watered and placed in a shaded 

 position in as moist an atmosphere as possible, protected from 

 drying winds. In about a week or ten daj'S they will have 

 partially recovered and may be given sunlight until nearly 

 noon; after another week they may be given full sunlights 

 We always prefer to lift the plants in dull, cloudy weather. 

 When the season has so far advanced that at night the ther- 

 mometer indicates forty degrees or less the plants should be 

 protected by removing them to a warmer place for the night. 

 During the dav when the thermometer in the shade outside in- 

 dicates fifty degrees or more, the plants will be better in the 

 open air until evening. The plants should not be allowed tO' 

 become chil ed, as at this season it might blast all our hopes for 

 future flowers. The plants that require a winter temperature 

 of sixty degrees will chill at a higher temperature than those 

 that only require fortj^-five degrees of heat, so you must be 

 governed according to these requirements. 



If you have no garden in which to grow these plants 

 summer thej^ can be grown successfully in pots, (and perhaps^ 

 this is the best mode for the amateur to pursue,) in fact such 

 plants as Camellias and Azaleas are never planted out, and 

 only neel re-potting while young once a year. Large plants are 

 only re-potted every alternate j'ear or only once every third 

 year, and always after they have done blooming. Roses for- 



