344 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



placing a bushel of soot in a canvas bag and sinking this in a tub of water, about a 

 week before it is wanted for use, is a safe and excellent manure. The tub may be 

 replenished with water two or three times before substituting fresh soot for the 

 stale, and at each watering use enough of the solution to make the water the colour of 

 fairly strong tea. Soot water may be varied with nitrate of soda, occasionally, with 

 advantage. If one pound of nitrate of soda is dissolved in a gallon of water, half a pint 

 of the solution is ample for use in two gallons of water. Two applications of this 

 are sufficient after the plants are housed. If farmyard or other liquid manure be 

 used either before or after housing the plants, let this be as clear as possible : anything 

 that clogs the surface of the soil is injurious. 



Syringing the plants with soft water, and occasionally with clear, thin soot-water 

 is a detail the importance of which is frequently lost sight of. On hot, bright summer 

 days much moisture is evaporated by the foliage, which might be retained by sprayings 

 with the aid of either syringe or hose. The timid need fear no ill results, such as 

 scalding, from this practice ; on the contrary, it freshens the plants surprisingly. 

 Syringing is not advisable very late in the evening, nor during dull weather, and 

 should seldom be attempted after housing the plants, though it may benefit them 

 the first week should dry, hot days ensue. 



Showing Cut Blooms. 



Boards, on which cut blooms are shown, have been enlarged of late years, in con- 

 sequence of the increased size of the blooms now so extensively grown. Various 

 attempts have also been made to break away from the formal methods of staging, but 

 with no substantial result. By the introduction of improved adjustable cups and tubes, 

 the flatness, at one time painfully evident, is no longer observable, and it is possible 

 to so arrange the stands that each bloom can be seen in its full beauty. Boards to hold 

 a dozen blooms of Japanese varieties, allowing a space of 7 inches for every bloom, 

 would be 28 inches by 21 inches; while for the incurved, reflexed, and anemone- 

 flowered sections, the boards may be 24 inches by 18 inches, and the holes 6 inches 

 apart. The boards should have adjustable legs, those at the back being 6 inches and 

 those in front 3 inches long. Boards are painted dark green in colour, and finished 

 with a coat of varnish. Tubes, 3 to 4 inches long, for holding water, and cups, with 

 funnel-shaped tops, for the blooms, are made of zinc. In the old style, the cups were 

 simply dropped into the holes in the boards, but in the Springthorpe and other 



