102 



THE GERANIUM HOUSE. 



such a medium tliey require abundance of water. Tliis latter method 

 may be all well enough for plants intended to be brought into the drawing 

 room to flower ; but for the production of the best class of flowers a rich 

 light loamy soil is required. 



WATER. 



During winter Geraniums must not be over-watered, as that would 

 have a tendency to create damp, which would be extremely injurious to 

 them, and should be guarded against by all possible means, such as free 

 ventilation, occasional heat being thrown into the flues during the day, 

 so that the superfluous moisture or damp may be allowed to pass off in the 

 shape of steam, and above all, taking care not to spill water unnecessarily 

 while applying it to tlie plants. Dui'ing spring, while they are growing, 

 and during the period of flowering, they can hardly have too much water, 

 so tliat the pots are drained in a proper manner to allow of its passing 

 through. It is not well, however, to place the pots in pans of water at 

 any time, neither is it necessary to apply water over their tops with the 

 engine at any period, particularly during winter. 



SHIFTING OR POTTING. 



The season for potting Geraniums depends upon circumstances. Those 

 that are propagated annually from cuttings, and intended to flower the 

 same season, can have no stated period of shifting, as that entirely depends 

 on the progress they make in rooting. For, to grow them in the first 

 degree of excellence, they must be shifted into larger pots as soon as 

 their roots have fully extended to the outside of the ball, and this process 

 must be followed up till they have been placed in the pots in which they 

 are to flower. At each removal they must be carefully taken from one 

 pot to the other ; the ball left unbroken, and the roots undistm'bed, else 

 the plants would sustain a considerable check. 



Geraniums grown in the more ordinary manner are shifted, as has been 

 already observed, soon after they are cut down after flowering, and placed 

 in smaller pots in which they are to stand during the winter : again, in 

 February or ^larch they are to be re-potted into the sized pots in which 

 they are to produce their flowers. 



Draining and the routine of potting has already been sufficiently 



