VII.] 



LIST OF FLOWERS. 



263 



put into it, in your left hand, and with as good a ball of earth 

 about its roots as circumstances will admit ; hold it in the pot to 

 see if there be enough, or too much earth in. The earth should 

 rise up about the stem of the plant to where it did before you 

 took it up, and neither higher nor lower : nature shows the exact 

 line at which the root ends and the stem begins ; and you must 

 follow this. Place the plant on the earth : hold it steady, while, 

 with your right-hand, you put in fine earth round the roots so as 

 to touch them in all parts ; that done, take hold of the edges of 

 the pot with your two hands, and rap it gently down on the 

 ground two or three times ; put on a little more earth, and finish 

 by giving a little water, which will cause the earth to settle im- 

 mediately about the roots. — If your pots be to remain out of 

 doors, place them on a flat surface that has been previously 

 strewed over with coal ashes, and this will prevent worms getting 

 to them. Always observe to keep pots upright, so that the water 

 which you give them may run out, which, unless this be observed, 

 it will not, and rotting at the root takes place assuredly. Water 

 must be given every day in hot weather, and towards the close of 

 the day. In winter it need not be given so frequently, and it 

 should be in the fore part of the day, as then the plant has time to 

 imbibe the moisture before the cold of night comes on, which, 

 coming with the water, might hurt, if not destroy, it. In the 

 winter, the greatest care is necessary to keep out damp ; there- 

 fore, watering should be very sparingly performed, and none 

 splashed about the house or room in which the plants are kept. 

 When there is any appearance of moss on the surface of the earth 

 in the pots, stir it up with a little stick cut in the form of a knife : 

 break the earth fine, and, if you have any in reserve, strew a little 

 fresh earth over, after taking off that which had become mossy. 

 If there appear mouldiness at the joints of the plants you may be 

 sure that there is not air enough given, or that the place is damp. 

 In either case, open the lights when the sun is out, if it be not 

 exceedingly cold ; and keep up a steady and moderate fire by 

 night till the place be thoroughly dry. — In glasses filled with 

 water, bulbous roots, such as the hyacinth, narcissus, and jonquil, 

 are blown. The time to put them in, is from September to No- 

 vember, and the earliest ones will begin blowing about Christmas. 

 The glasses should be blue, as that colour best suits the roots ; 

 put water enough in to cover the root of the bulb ; let the water 



