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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



lends itself, so to speak, to the means of the amateur and cot- 

 tager, who can cultivate it with success, pleasure, and profit. 



Take first the propagation of the plant. This can be done 

 at any season of the year. In large gardens plants are raised at 

 different seasons for different requirements, viz. December and 

 January for the production of large blooms ; February and March 

 for ordinary bush plants, for conservatory decoration and general 

 cutting ; and again in May and June for small table plants. 



Growing large blooms for exhibition entails an enormous 

 amount of time and labour, and daily close attention ; it also 

 necessitates plenty of room to accommodate the plants, and, unless 

 all these requirements can be provided, far better not attempt 

 their culture at all, but adopt a different style altogether, more 

 suitable to the particular circumstances. In the first place I 

 would advise a careful selection of varieties of naturally dwarf 

 habit — the majority, of course, Japanese — with a view of having 

 compact little plants, from one to two feet high, of both early and 

 late varieties, so as to ensure a display for as long time as pos- 

 sible. Small plants carrying several dozen blooms have much 

 more to recommend them than plants with one or two blossoms 

 on tall leafless stems, and occupying large unsightly pots. 



Then, again, the work connected with small summer-raised 

 plants is light and interesting, and results are obtained in some- 

 thing like half the time required for the production of large 

 blooms. We will suppose a grower with limited accommodation 

 having a number of plants cut down after flowering. He is 

 anxious to secure his cuttings and destroy the old plants to make 

 room for other things. This he can do by selecting a plant or 

 two of each variety. Turn these out of their pots and pack them 

 closely in a cold frame, protecting them from severe frosts, yet 

 exposing them on all favourable occasions to promote sturdy 

 growth. They will require no more attention until March, when 

 they should be planted out of doors to form stock for future 

 propagation. After planting firmly a little mulching would be 

 beneficial to protect from drying winds. In a short time strong 

 young growths will be found pushing up from the base. These 

 .should be thinned to six or eight and encouraged to make clean, 

 healthy growth, nothing more being needed until the end of 

 M;iy or beginning of June, when steps should be taken to pre- 

 pare young plants for the winter. Propagation taking place at 



