MAY — SECOND WEEK. 



5;; 



the plant fresh potted in a smaller-sized pot, and the peat 

 soil rammed as hard as it was possible to make it ; then 

 watered, and introduced to heat. The plants treated in 

 that manner are now covered with bloom, and in a high 

 state of vigour. 



Heaths. — Keep the tops pinched off, to form bushy- 

 plants. 



ISTew Holland Plants. — Some of them of weak 

 growth, and which naturally make long, straggling shoots, 

 are much improved by bending down the branches, and 

 fixing them to a wire hoop, or string attached to the rim 

 of the pot. By such means the nakedness of the plant 

 at its base is hidden, and the check imposed on the ascent 

 of the sap will induce an increased supply of shoots. 

 Pick off the seed-pods as the plants go out of bloom. 

 Cut back and arrange the shoots in the best manner, to 

 produce compact growth. 



Pelargoniums. — All that are showing bloom, unless 

 of very gross habit, will receive benefit from a supply of a 

 little weak manure water. For that purpose put cow, 

 horse, or sheepdung into a tub, and to one peck add fiv® 

 gallons ot rain or other soft water. When taking it for 

 use draw it off clear, and give the plants a watering twice 

 a week. Give air freely, shut up early, and syringe the 

 plants overhead till the flowers expand, when syringing 

 should be discontinued. As the petals are apt to drop 

 very soon in hot weather, it is recommended to touch the 

 centre of the flower with a camel-hair pencil, or small 

 feather, dipped in gum water, which will stick the petals 

 together and prolong the blooming. Such is the general 

 practice at our metropolitan exhibitions. 



STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE. 



As the stove plants grow, allow them more space,- 

 especially such plants as are prized for the beauty of 

 their foliage. Give frequent attention to stopping and 

 training. Look to the climbers frequently, to regulate 

 their growth and to prevent entanglement, and a world of 

 trouble and confusion. Put in cuttings of such plants as 

 Brugmansias, Clerodendrons, Eranthemums, Erythrinas, 

 Poinsettias, and those winter-flowering plants Euphorbia 

 jaquinijlora and the Gesnera bullosa. Where there is 



