96 
OPERATIONS FOR MAY. 
accordant in this particular with the dimensions of the plot. In smaller beds, where special 
dwarfness is i-equired, a lighter and poorer soil should be preferred. 
If beds, or any considerable-sized patches of annuals, are now sown, it will likewise be 
advisable to aid them with a little manure. It is astonishing to note the difference in aspect 
between a bed of annuals that has been liberally manured, and one that is formed of common 
earth. Nemophila insignis is almost twice as large and handsome when grown in an enriched 
soil. And it may be settled as a rule, that all low annuals, which are naturally disposed to bloom 
freely, are immensely benefited by being slightly manured. The taller and more scanty- 
flowering kinds should hardly be thus treated, unless for experiment. For those which are to be 
cultivated in pots, the same rules will apply. 
When tender plants are transferred to the borders, and for some time after they have begun 
to grow, whatever blossoms they may produce should all be plucked off. No exotic plant ought to be 
allowed to flower much ere it has made a tolerable strong and mature growth ; and this is 
particularly the case with the tribes that adorn the open borders during summer. It will be well, 
moreover, to pick or cut off the end of its shoots at the time of planting, and again twice or thrice 
after new ones are formed, Earliness of floral development is generally an indication (and always 
a precursor) of stuntedness or ill health ; and the latter are to be remedied only by repressing the 
former. 
In the greenhouse, show-house, or conservatory, it is not sufliciently made a principle, at this 
time of the year, to keep all plants that are in flower fi'om the direct rays of the sun, by a light 
shading. The blooming season may thus be very greatly prolonged, without any injury to the 
specimens ; provided the material used for shading be nothing thicker than netting or fine loose 
canvass. Heaths and Pelargoniums, though seeming most to demand it, are merely two of the 
many tribes which are all advantaged by such a proceeding. 
As the weather gets warmer, it is a common practice to keep throwing open the plant-houses 
more and more, in order to lower the temperature. When pursued to any great degree, 
however, this plan is erroneous. Plants ought to be subjected to a higher temperature than 
usual in this and the following month ; but the moisture supplied to the roots, thrown over the 
branches, and evaporated from the floors, from open cisterns, or from troughs, into the air, 
should be proportionately greater. They will, by this means, make their growth under the most 
favourable conditions, and may afterwards be subjected to free currents of air, and increased 
drought, with benefit. 
CUmbing plants, whether trained to the rafters of the houses, or to trellises, should, as they 
grow, receive constant attention. Unless the shoots intended to occupy a given position are 
fastened early in their proper places, it will, hereafter, be very difficult to direct them aright, and 
they will have an unsightly look. Those species, too, which bloom from the extremities of the 
young lateral shoots, or which do not produce an adequate quantity of branches, should frequently 
have their growing parts stopped, to throw them into a branching state. 
As this is the most suitable time for propagating the hard- wooded exotics, which are at all 
tender, the operation must now be rapidly proceeded with. A shade for the entire house which 
is employed for propagation, is better than the shades thrown over one or more hand-glasses by 
themselves, because it saves trouble, and is more certain. Extra shading may, however, be 
requisite, for particular sorts. The canvass used for shading, should always be in the inside of 
the propagating-house, this being the most convenient position, and the changes of the atmosphere 
being less likely to affect it there. 
