174 HOT-HOUSE — OF BRINGING OUT, ETC. [May. 



"We wish it to be understood that^ when plants are repotted, 

 any irregular branch or shoot should be lopped off that can- 

 not be tied to advantage. And repotting may take place 

 either before or after the plants are exposed^ to the open air, 

 according to convenience. 



OF BRINGING OUT THE HOT HOUSE PLANTS. 



Where the hot-house is very crowded with plants, the best 

 method to have them exposed without danger is to take out 

 those of the hardiest nature first^ that have no tender shoots 

 upon them, thereby thinning the house gradually. This 

 may be done from the sixteenth to the twentieth of the month, 

 which will admit of a free circulation of air among those 

 that remain. All may be exposed from the twenty-fourth 

 to the twenty-eighth of the month. This is a general rule, 

 though in some seasons there may be exceptions. Having 

 previously given all the air possible to the house, that no 

 sudden transition take place, which would make the foliage 

 brown and otherwise materially injure the plants, choose 

 calm days for the removing of them. 



There are few plants while in pots that agree with the full 

 sun upon them^ or, if the plants receive the sun, the pots 

 and roots ought not. The best situation for them is on the 

 north side of a fence, wall, house, or other building, where 

 they are excluded from the mid-day sun, and they should 

 stand on boards or gravel, with the tallest at the back, firmly 

 tied to a rail or some other security, to prevent them from 

 being overturned by high winds. Make a fanciful bed, and 

 cover it with sand or coal ashes, for the reception of the 

 smaller plants, and setting them thinly and regularly there- 

 on is preferable to crowding them with the taller sorts. And 

 it may be desired to have some of the plants plunged in the 

 garden through the flower borders. Of those that are so 

 treated, the pots must be plunged to the brim, and regularly 

 turned round every two weeks, to prevent the roots from 

 running into the earth. If the roots were allowed to do so, 

 it might for the present strengthen the plant, but ultimately 

 would prove injurious. 



Where a sufficiency of shade cannot be obtained, it would 

 be advisable to go to the expense of a very thin awning, 



